June 19, 2012

Photo of the Week: June 19, 2012

 
HOW I GOT THE SHOT: My love affair with the Pomegranate tree is seemingly boundless. Since landing in Israel 13 years ago and soon after buying a home with a single, mature tree in the garden, I have watched the trees bud, blossom and burgeon, moving regally through various growth stages until branches droop under the weight of mature, crimson fruits. Complementing the spring and summer drama, the trees bow out post-harvest with a golden display of fall leaves before settling in for a well-earned winter respite.

This is a close up of a flowering fruit, as they normally appear in late spring. Younger buds, pre-flower, are seen at the base of the main fruit. As I almost always try to do with leafy flowers, I looked for the backlit angle set against a dark background to make the subject “pop.” Exposure is critical so using a spot metering mode, I measured the highlights on the tips of the orange flower and set my aperture-shutter speed combination accordingly. I also composed the image with some of the foreground leaves and buds to give the image greater depth. The flowers eventually dry out and fall, but the fruit hangs on, perhaps destined to adorn a table come the Jewish new year.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D70, tripod mounted, manual exposure, spot metering mode, f10 at 1/500th sec., ISO 400. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-105mm macro zoom at 105mm. Date: Mar. 22, 2007, 1:49 p.m. Location: Efrat, Judean Mountains, Central Israel.