The Cowslip Gang (please view larger)

It is an appr. 30 minutes drive from my home to the Jurassic cliffs called "Hohenstein" being around 50 m high (and pretty steep, an "Eldorado" for hikers and even ambitious rock climbers) - they're located in the Süntel Range in Lower Saxony. It is a nature preserve area. Found these little guys here on my way hiking up to the top of the cliffs.

Had to remember a poem of Goethe:

Found

I was walking in the woods
Just on a whim of mine,
And seeking nothing,
That was my intention.
       
In the shade I saw
A little flower standing
Like stars glittering
Like beautiful little eyes.
       
I wanted to pick it
When it said delicately:
Should I just to wilt
Be picked?
       
I dug it out with all
Its little roots.
To the garden I carried it
By the lovely house.
       
And replanted it
In this quiet spot;
Now it keeps branching out
And blossoms ever forth.

But have to point out: I did not dig out anything!

Thanks for viewing anyway.

Volker

Lovely shot, appears just as you 'described' your walk.  Love your little 'story', a treat to read.  Nice work Volker.  Most kindly, Gail

increadible glowing effect.  i particularly love the flower that's leaning over.  also wonderful to see qualititatively different blur in different depth planes.  best, j

Hello Gail,

Thanks so much for your thoughts, I appreciate a lot! I'm glad that you like the story as well. :-) These cliffs and forests around are one of my favorite places "to be" (pondering, relaxing, hiking, even climbing... ;-)) because one may discover a lot of beautiful things (plants, animals, creeks, ponds, rocks etc.) throughout the year. Now, in spring, of course, it is very nice there.

Hello Jamie,

I waited for the setting sun in the background so that especially the upper parts (blossoms) of the flowers were nicely illuminated. I also changed the lens (the Canon 24-70 mm f/2.8 zoom against the 85 mm f/1.2 prime). The 85 mm prime proved its superior quality once again IMO - stunning sharpness plus the potential for an enhanced DOF by managing to step up beyond f/2.8 (up to f/1.2, simply great). I took numerous shots from f/1.2 down to f/16, just to check the different kinds of DOF produced. This shot here was taken at f/1.2.

Thanks for your analysis.

Volker

Volker...  The backlighting is very well managed to provide spectacular highlights; the DOF isolates these fragile blooms perfectly, but I particularly like the "dog's eye" view.  Excellent shot and this sounds like a great place to unwind... Mike

How unusual this DOF - in focus on the right, blur on the left. Adds to all the other good stuff that went into making this one a winner. Congrats!

Cheers ~

Alberta

Volker,

  Beautiful capture with amazing lighting.  Love your story, sounds like my kind of place to go hiking.   Thanks for sharing.  Take care, Patsy

I like that inner glow that Jamie refers to, beautiful golden radiance that sits so well with the green foliage. Love the image and the poem.

Very well done!

Best Regards

Alf

Simple, but very well done! Compliments!

I did read your response quite a while ago, and I very much appreciate all the information.  Again, congrats on that lens!  best, j