J is for …
Jug - Still life with fading flora.
Fujifilm XT-2
60mm Macro Lens
f/2.4
1/60
ISO 500
Big window light to the left. Slight hint of a tungsten light coming from the right.
Comments: Yes, yes, I should’ve gotten the tripod. But to do that I would’ve had to move a big heavy pot plant out of the way to fit it in. As it was, I was crammed in between said pot plant and the couch to get this shot.
It’s one of those shots where you see it in camera and hope it looks as good as you think it does. Or whether you’re just sentimentally attached to it and it’s really crap.
I love the tones and textures in this image. I like the feeling and sense of depth and mystery the shallow depth of field provides by having the foreground leaves out of focus. The movement through the foliage gives it life. It feels windswept. and unkempt. Free! And yet the delicate jug invokes a mixture of fragility and yet a stability that feels safe in that freedom.
Side note: My partner bought me these flowers over a year ago and has been waiting for me to throw them out ever since they essentially passed their prime. He often gives me quizzical looks and patiently shakes his head in a bemused way. I added an extra branch I had found on a daily walk that was laying around just waiting to find a purpose and ‘voila’ that added the extra sweep of leaves out to the right which, I think. provides the essential balance and flow of movement through this ‘still life’.