![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/aug2011\/ImageTalk_photos\/SagoPalmNeedles3_crop.jpg\")
\u00a0<\/em>\n\u00a9 2011 Marla Meier. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n
Sago Palm: 1\/160 sec., f\/11, ISO 200, -1.00 EV, 200 mm, hand-held<\/strong><\/p>\n Conditions:<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a hot, hot day in Jacksonville, Florida when Marla decided she just had to pick up the camera and get out for an hour. It was close to high noon and the sun was bright, glaring and directly overhead. There was a bit of a breeze blowing that made it nice for the photographer but not so good for any small flowers. These were definitely not prime conditions for photography.<\/p>\n Subject:<\/strong><\/p>\n The area near Marla’s home has some Sago Palms that drew her attention. Since the subject had not been approached previously, she decided to see what she could do with them. She looked at them from a variety of angles as well as from the grass area below them. What attracted her originally was the pattern of the spikes jutting out from the strong center spine. What she saw from below the frond was the checkerboard pattern of the shadows. Marla had her subject.<\/p>\n Compositio<\/strong>n:<\/p>\n 1. The strong spine of the frond on the diagonal added to the impact of the image.<\/p>\n 2. By off centering the spiky leaves, the shadowed area was allowed to have more prominence in the image.<\/p>\n 3. By moving in close, the white hot, uninteresting sky was eliminated.<\/p>\n Noella\u2019s comments:<\/strong><\/p>\n What I really like about this image is that she approached her subject, the Sago Palm, and looked for a fresh angle. It is both a pattern shot and a texture shot. By offsetting the main spine and allowing us to see the shadow pattern, Marla added \u201cweight\u201d to the main subject area. Minimizing the sky and the majority of the hot, sunny look made this image stand out while still maintaining the edgy, transparent look of the leaves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"