For no other reason than I like the picture

It is a while since I went out to take any pictures – a combination of cold, poor light and other, more pressing things to do have prevented me from going out to play.  Last weekend the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I wanted to take my camera out and take some photos – any photos in fact.

I didn’t go far – it was cold and I still had an assignment to finish writing.  These crocus are planted in grassy sections between cherry blossom trees a 5 minute walk from my house (I will be back in a month or so for the cherry blossom).

I loved the way the sun caught the crocus, it really made me think that Spring was coming (although I changed my mind when I realised how cold my hands had become).  I originally took this in portrait, wanting to show the way the crocus weaved between the trees, but I like the cropped shot more as the emphasis is on the flowers, whereas the original had too much grass.

In order to improve the photo I would need to have more depth of field, this would have allowed me to have a less severe crop and have more crocus in the foreground as a lead in – unfortunately they were not sharp enough and had to go.  This was not possible when handholding, and I don’t think I could have go my tripod down low enough even if I had taken it with me.  The alternative is to use a different, possibly image stabilised lens, or, possibly my 17-40mm lens which would have let more light in and therefore allowed a smaller aperture.

The shot was taken with my macro lens (100mm) at ISO200, f/14, 1/125secs.  The settings were to maximise the depth of field, unfortunately I could have done with a bit more.