I returned home after a peaceful walk around my neighborhood and conditions were perfect for a backyard photoshoot. The wind was calm and the temperature was mild, exactly what I love to shoot in. I grabbed my camera gear from inside and went out to the backyard to check on the many plants starting to come up. We had received a good amount of rain and sunlight leading up to this particular afternoon, so many plants were beginning to grow toward the sky. Many of the plants grabbing my attention were the big, green leaves growing up on the bushes and the tulip plants beginning to blossom. I planned to take intimate and abstract photos using the patterns created by the many layers of leaves.

After some time of walking around the backyard and setting up many different compositions. I came to this tulip plant that was just blossoming in the far corner of the yard. Since it was one of the few plants already blossoming I initially tried to incorporate the flower into the photo, but the more I looked at the composition, the more I realized what I liked the most, which was the big leaf growing from the stem of the plant. So, I zoomed into the longest end of my 70-200mm lens to fill the frame with the leaf. I decided to use a relatively shallow depth of field to emphasize the leaf as the subject of the photo. I carefully framed my composition so the background was filled with the surrounding foliage from the other plants. This made for a very clean and neutral background that lets the leaf stand out. If I stepped an inch to the left or an inch to the right of where I had my tripod, the background would begin to become cluttered with the mulch on the ground, which made the photo feel very messy. While shooting this photo I took in into account all the small details that I felt hindered or improved the photo. Everything from what elements were placed in the corners to what the background was filled with. And I believe  

This was a skill I focused on improving while practicing my photography in the backyard. I took my time to look at every small detail in the scene to ensure the cleanest photo possible. Trying to develop this skill was not easy but I feel I have gone a long way in the last couple of months while shooting intimate scenes of the plants in the backyard. I plan to continue practicing this so that once I’m able to begin traveling to my favorite locations again, I will be ready to make the best photos I can.