Noh Mai

This morning I found another treasure in one of my neighbor's gardens. I had this location in mind because they have 100+ tulips in bloom and I had visited their garden in the past to photograph their flowers. I was kind of lazy and almost went home before I decided to make that one last stop. I am so glad I did! At first there was a little bug that I got hung up on but then I noticed these tulips with an unusual petal shape. Not sure why I wasn't immediately drawn to them but I remember thinking that the flowers will not run away and let's get the bug first. The red and yellow floral hues were in perfect bloom and the overcast, hazy morning light benefited my attempt. The trickiest part was to find a beautiful composition that eliminated the rather unattractive background. I first located a tulip between two other tulips. Once I found my desired object I focused on the floral in the middle having the other two blown out of focus. The close up lens provided me with the very limited depth of field and the sharpness that I envisioned for my final composition. I named the image after the ancient Japanese dance Noh Mai. Noh Mai is a series of elegant and beautiful body movements performed to the music of flutes and small hand drums.