In my Backyard

I am having quite some trouble getting up early these days and we all know early morning light is essential for great landscape photography. That's why I spent most of the summer focussing on my flower portfolio. I also started experimenting and creating abstract flower photographs. Just recently, on one of my runs through the neighborhood, I discovered some beautiful large black-eyed susans. Once back home I grabbed my gear and went back to my neighbor's garden. First I took a few portraits but then got into more abstract compositions. Usually I set up my tripod with the camera, then selected maximum aperture setting at 70-80mm. From here I started composing the image. I achieved the best result by focussing on one of the more interesting petal edges and then re-composing the image so that the center of the flower moved completely out of focus and into the upper left corner of the image.