As someone who loves to travel and seek those opportunities to capture worthwhile scenes, I’m not one to overlook what’s available just steps away from the front door of my home. That was the case with this expression. I was in the process of doing my morning cardio power walk in my condo community. I saw this calla lily in its early stages of growth. I did my cardio a couple of times a week, following the same path that took me by the lily. Each week, I observed its growth, along with the growth of the other colorful flowers growing around it.
After doing my walk on one particular Thursday, I took the next 4 days off. When I resumed my cardio sessions, I made my way to where the lily was growing. I saw that it had grown quite a bit since my last visit. I figured, I’d better make my move and capture some pictures of it before it was cut down or pulled up and placed in a vase by one of the nearby neighbors. I finished up my cardio session and went home and grabbed my camera gear. Since it was near the front door of one of my neighbors, I didn’t want to intrude on their space. I placed my 70-200mm zoom lens on my camera so that I could capture it from a good distance away. One of the really cool effects that you can accomplish by using a zoom lens is the bokeh (boh-kay) [out-of-focus] effect that appears outside of the main subject that is in focus. The sun was shining bright on that particular day. As a result, both the calla lily, the nearby purple flowers and the greenery in the background were well illuminated. After capturing several exposures of the flower, I returned home.
Some time later there was an art competition being held at a local art institute. After applying my artistic process to the work, I decided to enter it into the competition. As a result, “Calli Lily Blossom" was selected as one of the winning entries. I am still thrilled to have had this expression on display in the art gallery for others to see and enjoy. Of course I took full advantage of each opportunity to share how I came to capture the original image. This was 15 years ago and I guess you could say that those cardio sessions are still having a lasting benefit to this very day!
"A work of art should not be hidden from view. Rather it should be showcased so that it may be a catalyst that brings about positive emotion, a feeling of relaxation or simply a feeling of enjoyment!" —Kenneth L. Montgomery
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