red poppies by summerfield

red poppies

"in colour photographs, both the range of tones and the range of colours establish the structure of the composition, although colour often has the greatest impact on our emotions." freeman patterson so states in his book "photography and the art of seeing" in elements of visual design.

he states further that "one fascinating aspect of colours is that they symbolize so many different emotions." do we not associate red for all things intense and passionate, yellow for joy or happiness, purple for royalty or mourning, pink for love and romance, blue for peace or tranquility?

"Scarlet corn poppies (popaver rhoeas) grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers.

"In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.

"The significance of the poppy as a lasting memorial symbol to the fallen was realised by the Canadian surgeon John McCrae in his poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy came to represent the immeasurable sacrifice made by his comrades and quickly became a lasting memorial to those who died in World War One and later conflicts." - bbc.co.uk

partner's daughter-in-law planted several red poppy plants on the sidewalk in front of their house last month. they have since grown and are bearing so many beautiful flowers i almost wanted to harvest all of them. poppies, however, are not good vase flowers. they are better enjoyed attached to the plant and photographed for posterity.

i commend you for reading this far. thank you for your kind views and comments; they are much much appreciated.
Very pretty- that red is very striking.
August 27th, 2013  
Beautiful Reds.. They are hard to get that bright.. well done my friend
August 27th, 2013  
Gorgeous pic of the poppies! I love the light green in the background with the red in front. I did a writing activity today where the kids drew a Skittles candy from a bag. What color they chose determined their topics. I said "blue...wrote about a time you felt sad." And when I held up yellow, they said " happy!" And for red "mad!" I think red was really listed as something else, but they were really into this lesson, so I just went with it. Got some good pieces of writing too!
August 27th, 2013  
@espyetta - writing from skittles candy bag. brilliant, my friend! i say it's brilliant!! thank you, MB.

@cheribug - sun was shining bright on them, i got lucky. thank you, my cheribug!

@olivetreeann - thank you, ann.
August 27th, 2013  
Good shooting, Vikki! I would prefer that the far away blur of poppy was not so close to the front focused poppy. The dark background suits the colour so well!
August 27th, 2013  
Fabulous info and such a gorgeous shot;
I tagged you in a cream tea shot but don't this the tag worked. Check out my Saturday shot
August 27th, 2013  
Gorgeous shot. Just love the vibrant color.
August 27th, 2013  
Great splash of red
August 27th, 2013  
great balance in your composition and great color.
August 27th, 2013  
Beautiful colour and I really like the pov
August 27th, 2013  
Amy
great find Summerfield. I love poppies.
August 27th, 2013  
Such good focus on the red poppies. It looks 3-D
August 27th, 2013  
Now this is amazing and pretty
August 28th, 2013  
@maggiemae - you are right, maggiemae. i was actually in a quandary whether i'd clone it out or not. i will revisit this photo in the future with a good processing. thank you, maggiemae.

@claireuk - thank you, claire.

@denisedaly - thank you, denise.

@peterdegraaff - thank you, peter.

@catsmeowb - camille, thank you, my friend. haven't forgotten you, you know that.

@salza - thank you, sally. i haven't forgotten you, too.

@atooner - thank you, amy.

@henrir - thank you, henri.

@sarasdadandmom - thank you, terry.
August 28th, 2013  
Such a beautiful close up shot of this flower. Great capture.
August 28th, 2013  
lovely colors
August 28th, 2013  
Beautiful capture of these poppies. Nice composition!
August 29th, 2013  
Lovely composition, and stunning colour poppies.
August 29th, 2013  
wow -- gorgeous! Love this!
August 30th, 2013  
I love the light in this shot - a really beautiful photo, and a fav for me. I enjoyed reading your commentary too.
September 2nd, 2013  
Love the poppies! But, then again, I am always drawn to red.....which by the way, I find hard to photograph properly.....you did a great job here!
September 14th, 2013  
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