two perspectives from a single trail

i used the most telephoto and (very close to) the widest of the lenses from my photo arsenal for these two little living wonders. left. i like how the limited depth of field lets parts of the leaves in and out of the focal plane. the sister flower in the background serves as a mirror image to the flower in focus. strongly defocused branches of fir/pine(?) trees, basked in the afternoon sun provide a soft backdrop. right (sure i am). i am so proud that i used a lens' flaw, the tendency to flare in this case, to compose this isolated branch in leaf. the flare, together with the leaf and the sun, create a nice leading diagonal across the photo. you can count the number of optical elements of the lens set wide open.