Knowing that I would be busy on the job all day, I ran out at lunch to the park to try to find a quick photo for the day. I was attracted to these purple flowers with white stems ( I can’t find what kind they are) that were obviously knocked down by the previous rains in the area. I liked the color and the unusual stems and the way they were all lying down. I took a few shots and went back to work knowing that I had something “in the can”. I picked this photo for my 365 shot because of the funky composition compared to my normal flower shots. I’m also throwing in another photo of flowers that isn’t anything spectacular except for the fact I caught a bee in mid-flight. Usually when a flying bee is in my photos it’s a blurry mess. But this one came out kind of sharp. Pentax K20D, DA 55-300.
Click on pics for larger view
Under Pressure
© David Guidas
Now for the one not like the others. Later in the day at work I spotted this roller on a slope with the late afternoon sun creating long shadows. I immediately thought it would make a strong black and white image. I tend not to show too many work/construction oriented photos because they generally have limited appeal, except to a small fraction that actually does the work. For some reason people like farm photos but not construction. If this was a tractor in a wheat field it would be a winner! I think this is a stronger image than either of the flower pictures but I hesitated to make it my 365 photo. Maybe I’m overthinking.
What I Pic 
That that purple color..
Thanks. I have to chase color while it’s still around. Winters are dull around here.
*Love* that purple color 🙂 Thanks for knowing what I meant to say!
So pretty!
Thanks!
I like construction photographs, but I worked in construction so that confirms your observation. You’re right it was a good choice for b/w.
I like how the bee looks as if it’s just taking off.
I try to be somewhat artistic with my approach and not simply documenting construction. I’m on various landfills for long hours and I have to work with what’s around me. BTW thanks for looking around.
Freshly pressed is nice, but if you only take the time to look at that one page you miss a lot of interesting stuff. There’s a lot of cool people out there with neat things to say, with words and photography and whatever else! Keep it up!
Lovely photos – the black and white one is especially striking.
Great photos. The first one of the purple flowers is really nice. The black and white image is nice also. It is a photo we would have discussed when I took a photography class at Rutgers.
Thanks for sharing. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Love the pictures of the flowers. And I’ve tried catching a bee before on camera and it’s like catching Bigfoot, the bee is always fuzzy and you can’t get it in focus. The one you caught in the photo is very sharp!
Thanks. It was a pleasant surprise. I guess if I purposely went out to get a mid-flight bee picture I could manage a good shot with due diligence. But, yeah, they’re usually blurry blobs.
Thanks for sharing these photos. They are wonderful. Beautiful color and detail. Connie
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Congrats on the Freshly Pressed…excellent work as always!!
Thanks Astra. I just happened to check my stats on my phone and noticed the upsurge. Exposure 😉 is always good. Too bad I’m in the middle of nowhere.
Ah, my kind of photos – lovely all three!
Thanks Robin
I love the contrast of the black and white. I didn’t even think about it being a contruction site. My thought is that lots of people can take pictures of flowers and make them look decent, but very few can take a picture of a construction site and make it look like that.
Thanks. I have to find the shots wherever I am and I’m usually nowhere exciting 😦
love the unique stems on the flowers…but also the black and white is wonderful!
Those would be Fall blooming Crocus (Colchicum)…and the second is Cleome ‘Linde Armstrong’. So lovely!! Thanks for posting.
Thanks. I kind of thought crocus but wasn’t sure. I think of spring when I think crocuses.
Actually that second shot could be Cleome ‘Senorita Roselita’…little hard to tell..
Well, as lovely as the purple flower photos are, for some reason, I can’t look away from the last black and white one…it just feels like there’s such a story behind it. 🙂
Thanks. I like it more than the flower shots. It hits all of the right points of a good image, IMO.
You’re the first blogger that I’ve ever looked at on this site and what a treat it was to find you. These are fantastic and I’ll be looking forward to seeing more in the future.
Thanks. Hope you enjoy my work.
I like all three photos…and the B&W would have made a nice 365 photo. I like the contrasts and the patterns that you captured.
Thank you. I thought of making it my 365 and chickened out. But if I did, I probably wouldn’t have made Freshly Pressed. So it was a good thing after all!
The grid textures in roller image along with the shadows are quite something – make a v good image for the wall. Are the purple beauties some sort of autumn crocus? They usually have white stems and these look a bit like crocus blooms. Love the blog and the quality of the images you take. Thanks for sharing 😉
Wow, that first flower is properly purple! Fantasic shots, priceless. K
how big was the “F”-value on the first pic?I had the same problem sometimes, that only a small part of the “main part” of the photo was getting sharp,because of small F-values. Although the photo is great and I like the colors and the dynamics.
It was shot at f8 but at 210mm. so the depth of field is relatively narrow at that focal length and distance. I usually don’t try for overall sharp photos of flowers. Makes them look too sterile.
I really like the black and white one, lovely contrast in this shot.
right on, i’m researching people that do blogs with “every day ” in them. posting a day, new dress a day, collection a day is a good one and now yours etc.. mine is make something every day. nice post.
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cheers
The first flower picture is absolutely gorgeous! Love the colors! Thanks for sharing!
Good job catching the bee!
Congrats on being freshly pressed.
my vote goes to the farm picture…it looks like a weaving…stunning! – marcia
my vote goes to the farm picture…it looks like a weaving…stunning! -marcia
One thing you may notice when you visit my blog is the highly professional photography – crisp and clean, never blurry, always relevant to the blog post. Every time. Some people think I take low-res photos of various patterns on tissue boxes, pillows, chairs, booths, floors and 7 foot tall mosaic eggs, but nope – it’s highly professional fine art!
Uhm, OK. Thanks for stopping by Edward.
Lovley shot!
Nice crisp clear photo!
Keep up the good work!
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Absolutely beautiful. This 365 stuff is addictive.
I love the purple colour of your flowers! You captured the beauty beautifully :)!
I’d say go with the black and white. Yes, it’s construction, not farming, but it is by far the most interesting and unique. The others are gorgeous, but they aren’t anything special. Flower macros like the first one have been done to death, and likewise the shallow depth of focus in the second. Why? Because they produce great photos. The problem is that everyone knows that so everyone does it. (Some, as is the case here, more successfully than others.)
Your last shot, though, is unique. It’s simply about contrast and composition, and both are superb.
I do have a question regarding it, though. Is the darker right side actual shadow or did you do something to get the contrast between where the roller had and had not been. It looks quite natural, which is part of the appeal, but the logical part of my brain says that such a difference should not be natural with so little difference in texture.
Thanks. I know the roller shot is more special, photographically speaking. I went with the color flowers for more mass appeal. Yeah, I sold out!
Since the clay is so moist the part that had been smoothed by the roller becomes quite glossy and is reflecting the sunlight.
These are gorgeous, as are many of the photos on your Flickr page. Keep at it; you’ve got real talent! 🙂 Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thank you. And thanks for visiting my Flickr page. I don’t always show the same photos in both places.
Awesome post! Thank you!
The colour of the crocuses is gorgeous, but the b/w has to be the best. If you hadn’t highlighted it as construction it could easily pass as a tractor in a field! I think the nature of the subject is barely relevant anyway, it’s all about the beautiful linear composition. Lovely work.
great post!!! love the images… keep it up. =P
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SO Beautiful!
The farm photo got me immediately. Terrific photos.
The first photo is incredible… the rich color organically grown is a master piece. Thank you.
I LOVE B&W photos, getting married soon and went through so many meetings with photographers because I desperately wanted someone that had a good eye for shots that work beautifully in B&W as well as colour. This is a skill that is harder than a novice would think!!! So congrats on capturing a beautiful shot!
This post has everything I love about photography, brilliant naturally occurring colours and B&W brilliance! Doesn’t hurt that I am a purple lover! Those flowers are gorgeous! My lavender bush has gone wild over the past few days with all the rain and the colours in it are glorious, getting the camera out tomorrow morning. Have you ever shot lavender in B&W? The detail in lavender flowers is so different that they work really well in B&W!
Stunning.
what flowers are those?soo pretty!
I’ve been told they are autumn crocus.
Nice work with the roller in the field.
Gorgeous pics.
Purple is one of my favorite colours. These shots are great. The black and wite is stunning too. I can’t say which I like best. Great 😀 p.s congrats!
hey, really a good thinking of you, i think you enjoy taking the photoshots, really very good, and the way you written say about ur inner expressions………….all the best 🙂
What great photos. I love the construction shot!
nice pics
Bee to David Guidas: “You lookin’ at me, Bub???”
(Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!!)
Fabulous shots as always. Thanks:)
nice pics.
Nice photos. i like the second one. Great post!
I think the B&W is the strongest image, and I’m not in the construction business. You’re probably right about construction versus agriculture though.
nice shot keep going up
Great photos and I love the purple flowers in this post
Nice work! The colors were so vibrant! I love it!
Cool pictures! 🙂
You’ve a great eye for catching these ‘lunch break’ shots! I’m hoping that whatever it is that you are breaking from has some sort of connecting line to creativity. Your calling is most apparently, that of “Artist”!! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Paris. One can only hope.
Beautiful flowers!!!!!!!!
The last photo is Crazily Beautiful!
Good photography, hats off to you!:)
Love, love, love the purple flowers! The stems remind me of a sort of mushroom I ate in Korea.
I like that the photo looks like you’ve posted it upside down. It makes me wonder…
I know but it’s not. I actually shot it from that direction. I did flip it during processing to see if it looked more “normal” but it seemed odd so I flipped it back to the way it originally was.
Even the flowers are still pretty after being pressed down by the weight of the rain. Makes you wonder how God sees us when were downtrodden and depressed. In our deepest ruts, we are still beautiful in his eyes and worth everything to him.
Thank you for your profound insight Robert
I love the purple flowers with the white stems. Not only are they beautiful, but they represent the changing of the seasons well. It’s almost like the flowers are sad that they will die soon as fall takes over summer.
I hear ya. Season changes are always a bit emotional, I guess.
Beautiful pictures. I actually love construction photos, though I agree farming photos are so great.
Thank you. Maybe because farming is considered a “lifestyle” whereas construction is just a “job”.
Construction projects generally don’t seem very appealing to me either. I’ll eat up a good time lapse of a building going up, but show me anything else, bleh.
Love those time lapse skyscrapers! I’m IN construction and I don’t usually like the photos.
I love being able to catch an insect in flight! It’s not an easy task, good work there. Also, the farm photo is very much worth showing. You take great shots.
As for construction photos, the ones I love involve stage work. Watching a stage get pulled up before a show, and all the intricate details involved make me smile.
Thanks. I guess if I purposely tried to get an insect in flight photo I could do better but I don’t have that kind of patience. I like “behind the scenes” photos also.
Wow…very professional photography you got here.
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Thank you. Good luck on your blog.