High Key Sakura Blossom

This photo is my submission to Brian Auer's "Blown Away" photo project. This project's aim is to encourage creative over exposure, and to create images where the highlights have deliberately been "blown".

This is a close up photo of a cherry or sakura blossom. Spring has just arrived in Australia, and everywhere you look, explosions of colour are appearing. Cherry blossoms are a favourite of Melbourne residents, and these vivid cotton-candy pink trees catch the eye wherever you look. I wanted to share the delicate beauty of these blossoms, and I thought they suited this project well.

I picked a small blossom and brought it home where I could light it in my home-made light tent. Using strobist techniques, I lit the flower with a pair of flashes. Using my Canon 350D and Tamron 24-135mm lens at maximum zoom, I added 65mm of macro extension to get as close as possible to the tiny blossom. Though it only measured about 15mm across, I filled the entire eight megapixel frame with the flower.

Using a "high key" technique (letting the highlights become over exposed) allowed me to bring out detail and the subtle red and pink hues of the centre of the flower. The fragile and pale pink petals are merely a frame to the intricate stamens and centre, showing a strong contrast.

I hope you enjoy this photo, and I look forward to seeing the other submissions.

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