A Bunch of Daffodils.

A Splash of Colour on the Roadside.

Once the snowdrops have appeared, it won’t be long before the rest of the spring flowers follow. Daffodils begin to stand proud in roadside verges, parks and gardens.

We all recognise the bold yellow colour. They are a joy to behold – especially when then appear in vast numbers. This was actually a very small cluster around a tree in a quiet residential road in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex. Most likely planted by one of the residents.

Even in the poor light this evening, when this was taken, the light shining through the delicate petals made this difficult to photograph. Using a long lens, and a medium aperture has given a fairly shallow depth of focus. This makes the blooms nearest the camera nice and sharp, but enable the slightly cluttered background to blur.

By going in close, it is possible to fill the frame with the flowers. The background, whilst present, pails into insignificance, thanks to the blur, although a couple of stalks can be seen glinting on the right-hand side.

The balance of the image has been manipulated in Photoshop simply to get the balance right so that the trumpets of the daffodils can be distinguished from the petals. Because they are the same colour, they lose clarity in a two-dimensional photograph.

Photograph Details

• Taken: 12 Mar 2017
• Camera: Canon 5D MkIII
• Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm 1:2.8 L IS II USM
• Focal Length 200mm
• F/5
• 1/60 Sec
• ISO 500