1510_0101 Foxtail Barley
Common across the prairie, this species is also known as Wild Barley and Foxtail Grass. When I found it growing in a roadside ditch with a background in perfect shadow, I knew I had something striking. It looks like a studio shot, but this plant was growing wild, and I didn't cut it, move it, or even touch it. (Even if that had improved the angle of view somehow, all the melted frost would have been lost!)
I posted a different take on this wild grass three years ago, from a slightly pulled back point of view, showing a single leaf, but this was my first shot, closer, showing only the flowering spike. Not as good for I.D. but graphically superior. I cloned out the leaf, which cut through the bottom left of the frame and was a visual distraction. In this image I wanted only the ray-like spikelets that will soon detach, each bearing a seed, scattering on the wind. And the droplets of melted frost.
It's all about intent. Are we documenting or creating art? Perhaps both? In this case, two slightly different interpretations resulted in two separate images in my file. If a client comes calling or I think of a good use for either, I have it covered. Grasses, of course, and even wildflowers, are not big sellers; they aren't sexy like cars or elephants. A photo buyer lectured me about this on the phone a couple decades ago: "You're wasting your time with flowers!" Well... if time is only money, yes. But this isn't about money. I was fifty at the time and had already learned to never let others impose their values on me.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
1510_0101 Foxtail Barley
Common across the prairie, this species is also known as Wild Barley and Foxtail Grass. When I found it growing in a roadside ditch with a background in perfect shadow, I knew I had something striking. It looks like a studio shot, but this plant was growing wild, and I didn't cut it, move it, or even touch it. (Even if that had improved the angle of view somehow, all the melted frost would have been lost!)
I posted a different take on this wild grass three years ago, from a slightly pulled back point of view, showing a single leaf, but this was my first shot, closer, showing only the flowering spike. Not as good for I.D. but graphically superior. I cloned out the leaf, which cut through the bottom left of the frame and was a visual distraction. In this image I wanted only the ray-like spikelets that will soon detach, each bearing a seed, scattering on the wind. And the droplets of melted frost.
It's all about intent. Are we documenting or creating art? Perhaps both? In this case, two slightly different interpretations resulted in two separate images in my file. If a client comes calling or I think of a good use for either, I have it covered. Grasses, of course, and even wildflowers, are not big sellers; they aren't sexy like cars or elephants. A photo buyer lectured me about this on the phone a couple decades ago: "You're wasting your time with flowers!" Well... if time is only money, yes. But this isn't about money. I was fifty at the time and had already learned to never let others impose their values on me.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.