an old favorite revisited

My all-too-brief stay in California was a constant series of inspirations and explorations. These callas grew in a neighbor’s yard just up the street from us in Camarillo, but I only managed to shoot them once. These were the larger variety of callas, with long, thick elegant stems and impressive blooms.

Although the crop factor on my digital cameras is usually 1.5, I composed this mentally as a panoramic view when I took the shot. It was a challenge to photograph, due the Santa Anna winds that time of the year. There is a slight blur noticeable in the closeup, which was an intentional recording of the natural movement.

The first version below, entitled “WhiteWash”, has hung at the Colorado Technical University installation and is part of their permanent collection. It has also hung at Cliff Hangers Gallery and the Horse Barn Arts Center.

The second version, entitled “WhiteWash Revisited”, is a new (late 2006) derivative work designed to capture a mood similar to “Wisteriance” (to be showcased in a later post) while maintaining its feeling of subtle movement and tension. The light glow along the edges of the callas is both a by-product of the treatment used, and a way of bringing focus to the center of each flower.