Flora
Water Lily
Dying Lily
For some reason, the beauty of water lilies, as seen through a view finder, never seems to be quite as beautiful on film as it is in real life.
This image is a little different. The lily is past its prime and is lying in some ruffled leaves which generally lie flat on the water except when cramped into a small area as was the case in this situation. A 200 mm micro lens was used.
The light was soft for mid day, but strong enough for shadows and limited reflection. There was a lot of extraneous light reflecting off of the lily pads which was controlled with a polarizing filter.
Using a spot meter, I exposed for the bloom itself and hoped that the lighting differential to the background would throw some black into the frame.