Green Bokeh

My iris are blooming all over the yard, and just slightly out of sync with each other. Every day I have a new bunch hitting their peak. Certainly no master plan of mine, but I definitely am enjoying the unfolding show. Our spring has been long and cool this year. That makes for a splendid showing of flowering trees. The magnolias are hanging on to their blooms for weeks. If the temperature gets too warm, the blooms drop off right away and the tree starts leafing out.


Green Bokeh

I've been paying more attention to the bokeh - the out of focus portion of my photos - when I'm using a narrow depth of field. In this shot, I originally lined up where I happened to be. Then I lowered the camera and took a second look at the surrounding garden and realized that by moving only a few inches I could frame the bloom with a halo of bright green-yellow blooms in a field of green. Thus a photo that had an indifferent background became one with a background that is just as important as the subject. If I were making this photo again, I might opt to open the aperture a bit (it was at f/1.8) to get a little more depth of field. I think the iris would stand out better if it was completely in focus rather than just the leading edge. The drawback would be that the deliberate out-of-focus background would resolve a bit more, and perhaps draw the eye away from the bloom. Next time I'll try a brace of apertures and see the result.