There is a small creek area I love to visit for a number of reasons. It’s a relatively short drive away. The water is always flowing even in the driest part of summer. It has a lot of small waterfalls to photograph. And, what I like most about it is there is almost never anyone else there. I have it all to myself and can enjoy the peaceful solitude and relax while I listen to the sounds of water and singing birds. It is such a tranquil place.
I recently took another trip to the creek accompanied by my wife and dog. When we arrived, not only was the light provided by the heavily overcast sky perfect for photography, but the temperature was perfect, too. I was extremely thankful for that. I couldn’t have had better conditions for photography if I had tried to plan it that way.
As I almost always do, I began photographing the waterfalls on the creek. My wife and dog, as they almost always do, took off down the trail that runs along the creek. Where they go or what they do I have no idea. All I know is they disappear, I take pictures, they reappear. And, that is exactly how things happened again this time.
I eventually began making my way down the creek. Standing on the bank, I listened to the sound of the water as it flowed and the birds as they chirped and sang. As I was about to leave, I happened to look down and see this small plant (I have no idea what it is – a small iris of some kind perhaps?) growing on the top of a rock. This rock had virtually no soil on it, but yet this little plant had found a way to take root, sprout, grow, and stand tall. At least compared to the moss around it, it seemed tall.
Setting my camera relatively close to the rock allowed the small plant to appear larger in the frame while also including a small section of the flowing creek in the background. Using a somewhat larger aperture, f/9, I was able to ensure the plant was sharp while, at the same time, rendering the background somewhat out of focus.
In Lightroom, I darkened the background even more and brightened the foreground. This provided even greater separation between the foreground and background. Finally, I cropped the image into a 1:1 aspect ratio which further served to draw attention to this small plant standing tall on its rock.