Spring Undulations, a photo from British Columbia, Western

Photographer's Note

This morning I drove to Agassiz to check out the status of blossoming of the tulip field. I was surprised to see how late we were in the month of April and it appears that these tulips only are beginning to blossom. Funny thing was I drove back to Abbotsford in blowing snow conditions. Now while I am posting this photo its clearing outside. The last time we had this cold temperatures in BC where in 1957 according to the weather report.

So in the rain this morning I deliberately focused on the tulips in the lower section of the frame and threw the background into a blur for this composition. Hope you like it!

BitterMoon, jafadabret, jean11-3, gneufeld, jjcordier, Dyerco, japiey, manatee, fayeulle, branley, doubay, jvachon, Wanda1 oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

rgarrigus (0) 2008-04-18 11:30

Hi Paul,

Beautiful color and excellent choice of depth of field. The blurring of the background accentuates the abstract feel and the graphic effect of the image.

Cheers!

Bob G.

devimeuxbe (58557) 2008-04-18 11:33

Hi Paul
Theses waves are very nice. The graphisme is interesting.
Excellent focus
Bertr'and

magui (630) 2008-04-18 11:41

Bonjour Paul,
C'est une photo formidable. Deux couleurs font de cette photo une des plus extraordinaires dans ce genre. Excellent effet graphique.
Nice shot,
Regards,
Magui

BitterMoon (2776) 2008-04-18 11:45

Hello Paul

If I like it?.I really love this shot.
Not only because I like to offer flowers to womens...:-D,
But because of the great DOF,the saturated colors,point of view...everything it`s perfect IMO.
Excellent job Paul.

My kind regards

jafadabret (56501) 2008-04-18 11:54

Paul, cette photo est une splendeur. J'aime beaucoup les couleurs et les vagues rouges qui parcourent cette composition.
Jacques

clio (27961) 2008-04-18 12:28

Bonjour Paul,
Fantastic and very original photo. The play between neatness and vagueness of these waves of tulips is formidable.
Bravo for the idea and for the realization.
Diane

erdo (569) 2008-04-18 13:23

Hi Paul,
Beautiful composition and colors. Very well balanced and seen.TFS.
Erdogan

batalay (41261) 2008-04-18 13:43

Hello Paul,

The undulating conditions have created a very interesting perspective, with the tulips in the foreground possessing high resolution, then layer after layer falling into more amorphous form. As I looked at the image, I also thought, how difficult it would be for the red-green color blinded individual to distinguish between the two dominant colors in the photograph. I understand the condition afflicts 1/7 of the male population and a much smaller number in the female. A famous physicist at Oxford who I knew was 42 when he discovered that he was red-green color blind. On a strawberry picking outing, his family discovered that he was going for shapes rather than colors.

Great shot, and thanks for sharing with me the images of the Punjabi festival.

Bulent

jean11-3 (2799) 2008-04-18 14:36

Hello Paul, this is an eye catching shot; and in answer to your question---yes I do like it.
The blur makes for an interesting bg.
Good sharpness in the fg.
[The wet weather is very obvious from your picture.]
Hope the weather improves.
Tfs, regards Jean.

gneufeld (15890) 2008-04-18 19:15

Hi Paul,
Cool shot (literally) given the snow earlier today. I drove by this field last night and decided to wait for more color. But your shot is a one of a kind - I like the brilliant use of clarity and blurred effect, and the sparseness of undulating color is really quite intreguing. Well done and TFS. Gerald

jjcordier (79299) 2008-04-18 22:22

Paul
Tu as réussi ŕ obtenir un étonnant effet d'ondulation, comme si ces tulipes s'approchaient de nous par vagues. Bien vu!
Amicalement
JJ

baba_flies (8829) 2008-04-19 0:21

Hello Paul! I was just easily moving around TE, not in a hurry to comment anything, when I came over this one, and I find it so different to all the tulip pictures I have seen over these years that I really wanted to comment this one. I truly love the smooth waves of red and green and I find the idea really cool to have just some of the tulips a little sharp and that you left the rest in a constant unshaprness. I find the wet part really nice and it also shows your spring situation which is very much like ours. Have a good weekend, Barbara.

Dyerco (10185) 2008-04-19 11:23

Hi Paul
I've been there. It's a great place to photograph tulips. Yes they are late this year. I may try and get there again on Sunday if the weather holds. I like your composition of using a telephoto to condense the undulating land an focus on just a few tulips. Well done.
Phil

japiey (10163) 2008-04-19 15:09

Hi Paul,

Passion of photography.

Where the concepts pave way for creative interpretations !!
Beautifull composition.
All the best, dear friend.

jp

manatee (4668) 2008-04-19 15:38

You made an ASOME picture here, your technique works and give us an exquisit picture, I love the color and the soft and blurr areas, is very languish.
I love it

Thank you, have a nice weekend

fabio_ts (13696) 2008-04-21 3:25

Outstanding picture Paul, a fantastic use of shapes, colors, perspective, and shallow DOF, compliments!!

have a good week,
Fabio.

fayeulle (27827) 2008-04-24 19:09

Hi Paul
Very good use of the depth of field to emphasize the tulip field.
Really well done.
Cheers
JP

keribar (43841) 2008-04-26 0:04

Hello Paul

One of the best pictures I find in TE today.
Congratulations * Izzet

danielswalsh (13597) 2008-05-11 18:33

Another interesting shot Paul as you've returned to the tulips I can see...
Sharp detail just shy of midframe there, leaving the background in a nice bokeh (no punn intended as we're talking about flowers after all...)
Composition is good as are the colors, but I think a bit more contrast would really make it 'pop'.

Cheers,
- Dan

branley (3681) 2008-05-31 1:19

Hi Paul, it's the colour which caught my eye in the thumbnail. I like the way you've used such a large aperture, it's given the shot a great abstract quality and I think the dull weather has highlighted the colours more than usual. It's really special capture and well seen, congratulations. I hope all's well with you my friend?

Regards

Stephen

trewheeler (1971) 2008-06-24 16:34

I think the DOF is pretty much spot on and has totally made the picture what it is - a piece of art. It is bordering genius with it's simplicity. Kind regards, TW

doubay (674) 2008-07-07 23:58

Looks a bit like the Netherlands (less flat though). Well seen and captured geometrical structure of this tulip field with excellent DOF.
Cheers
Andreas

jvachon (548) 2008-07-27 0:05

Hello paul,
What a pleasant surprise is this image. From the thumbnail I thought it was rivers of molten magma. Instead, I find flowing rivers of tulips.Brilliant composition!
And, I did not realise that tulips in this number were grown in the Lower Mainland.
I like how the BG fades into blur. Very effective and very graphic.
Bravo!
Joni

Cormac (26565) 2008-09-02 19:32

I'm baaaack! I'm glad to see that some of my friends like you are still around. Great shot, with the brilliant colour and those amazing lines of the tulip rows as they climb up and down the small hills. I visited this place in the spring too, and got some nice shots too, which I will post eventually. I see that you're looking at getting a new camera (Canon of course!) and after going full frame myself I would say it may be worthwhile to wait until the 5D replacement comes out, because I'm finding that full frame gives you quite a different look, one that you might like.

Wanda1 (15142) 2008-09-07 0:08

Hi Paul,
I really lke the effect with your creative use of depth of field, it was a good idea. The red is so bold and striking against the deep green and I love the undulating curving lines. Nice!
Regards
Wanda

npecanhuk (79329) 2009-04-09 11:04

Hi Paul!
Wonderful colorful visual effects in this one!
Perfect balance between sharp fg and blurred bg!
Correct exposure, well chosen pov and great composition!
It's simple, but seen by talented eyes, with a camera in hand, the result is a pretty attractive photograph!
TFS - Congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

yquem46 (38752) 2009-08-28 0:17

Hi paul
just discovering this oldie posted this morning at the welcome page of TE
Simply superb in its waviness and the way red and green match so well together
very enthusiast
Bravo
patrick

supi4u (601) 2009-12-28 18:28

Hi Paul

A wonderful shot with 2 major color of the base is just beautiful.
-Supriya