"Floating..." posted on 500px

Just posted another photo from the series I took a few weeks back now, in Canterbury Gardens, not too far from home.

I'm not quite sure what species of flower this is - maybe a fuchsia? But I found it beautiful and delicate. The shallow depth of field reinforces the impression that it just floats in the air.

"Floating..." (c) Gilles Royer 2015

And here is the link to the +500px page: 
https://500px.com/photo/105473511/floating-by-gilles-royer

Thanks for your visit!

"Chrysanthemum Heart" posted

Went into the garden this afternoon, and shot this macro of the heart of a pink chrysanthemum. I cropped it to remove some of the background at the top, and focus on the yellow centre

"Chrysanthemum Heart" (c) Gilles Royer 2014

The link to this photo in my +500px gallery is here: https://500px.com/photo/91855361/chrysanthemum-heart-by-gilles-royer

"Lost in Bokeh" uploaded on 500px gallery

This is shot over the weekend in the garden - Saturday was a beautiful sunny winter day (winter has been too long and cold this year in Melbourne, bring us spring!), so I ventured in the garden.

This was effectively a weed flower in one of the pot plants, but is still very beautiful, and the contrast of the yellow on the green background worked quite well.

"Lost in Bokeh" (c) Gilles Royer 2014

The more I use my Tamron macro lens (the 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro), the more I like it. It's an excellent package for a reasonable price, and produces very nice bokeh in backgrounds. 

And here is the link to the 500px gallery:
http://500px.com/photo/80905223/lost-in-bokeh-by-gilles-royer

Thanks for stopping by!

The Story Behind... Bouton d'Or

The Story Behind... Bouton d'Or

I've just posted a new photo on my 500px portfolio, titled "Bouton d'Or" (http://500px.com/photo/62475749)

Bouton d'Or - (C) Gilles Royer 2014 - Nikon D200 / Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1

As for most of my images, this one was again captured in natural light. Those little yellow flowers (of which I don't know the name, actually) grow in a pot, in a bush. The flowers are quite small (only  2-3cm in diameter) but the colour is very nice and strong, and I find them very elegant.

I shot this one in the afternoon, but because they are in the shade of some much bigger trees, the light was more diffused, not too harsh. The 'dew' drops were conveniently placed with the use of a spray bottle! I found that having water drops really enhances the structure and texture, so if I'm not early enough to catch some dew, I use that little trick :-)

As for composition, I cropped the original shot, only by a small amount, to remove some of the green background (and let the yellow petals stand out more), and decided to place the flower just slightly off-centre (fully breaking the rule of thirds, but rules are there to be worked around in the name of art, aren't they?). I added a bit of contrast and saturation in Aperture, to see more of the details, and opened the shadows so that the bokeh in the background shows a bit more.

Happy Sunday!