The Azalea Garden by F.M. Kearney

 

The new azalea garden at the New York Botanical Garden has become one of my favorite places to shoot. Hosting a collection of 3,000 azaleas and rhododendrons from around the world, this hillside garden erupts in brilliant hues of white, pink and magenta each May.

I positioned myself atop the hill and captured this image of a somewhat isolated azalea branch. I say "somewhat" because although the branch was rising several feet above the pack, a sea of other azaleas were in the background. To make better sense of this busy scene, I used a limited depth of field to throw the background out of focus. This definitely helped to highlight the subject, but it was the overall lighting that really made this image work. I specifically chose to take this photo on a cloudy day. Clear sunny days may look beautiful to the human eye, but the proliferation of dark shadows creates a level of contrast that can wreak havoc with film and digital sensors. The cloud cover of an overcast day acts as a giant diffuser for the harsh, direct light of the sun. This not only evens out the light, but also helps to produce richer colors. Sometimes, I'll use a polarizer filter to saturate them even further. A polarizer is more commonly used on sunny days to darken blue skies, but it can also work equally well on cloudy days to reduce glare.

There are definite advantages to shooting on cloudy days, but it can be a bit of a gamble. You need a sufficient amount of clouds to filter the sun, but you don't want so many clouds that it actually starts raining. However, if it does rain, the polarizer filter will have an even bigger impact by removing the shine off wet leaves. Of course, you'll want to wait until it stops raining. You also want to crop out as much of the boring white sky as possible. Shooting from a high vantage point, as I did here; effectively solved that problem.

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F.M. Kearney is a fine art nature photographer, specializing in unique floral and landscape images. To see more of his work, please visit www.starlitecollection.com.