Narcissus at Biltmore House, originally uploaded by snapdragginphoto.

Location: Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina
Date: April 7, 2013
Copyright and comment: snapdragginphoto

It was taken last Sunday, April 7 at the Biltmore House gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. Narcissus, or daffodils, herald the coming of spring just about everywhere spring is heralded (who’s Herald and what’s he got to do with this?). It’s no different here in the Walled Garden at Biltmore House www.biltmore.com/. While the tulips were a no-show at this point, these narcissus were all too happy to oblige. I use a Gitzo Explorer tripod with a centerpost that can pivot… perfect for getting down at ground level for this type of shot. I positioned it so that the forsythia beyond the gate helped to round out the narcissus. After setting the focus, all I had to do was wait around with the remote release for the wind to stop moving and for people to keep moving. That “wait around” part seemed like an hour, though more likely was about 15 minutes… either way, I think the image was worth it.

For those using Photoshop: These types of images, with a definite point of interest, are perfect for adding a vignette… it draws the eye to that point of interest. Though Lightroom has a “vignette” setting, a subtler and more controllable way to do it is through Photoshop. Select the “Elliptical Marquee” tool (the round one) by pressing “M” (if it doesn’t show up immediately, repress “M” until it does). Use it to make a selection around the focal point. In this image, I used an oval just large enough to cover the forsythia and the narcissus… the right side of it extended beyond the image, but that doesn’t matter. Go to the top tabs for Select>Modify>Feather, and enter a high setting of 400 pixels or more (for this image, I set it to 700 pixels) to soften the edges. Invert the selection by hitting ctrl/shift/I, then ctrl/J to put the selection on its own layer (ctrl = command for you Mac users). Change the blend mode on that layer from “Normal” to “Multiply”, then use the “Opacity” slider for a more suitable percentage (this image was set to 40%). Flatten the layers, and you’re done. Works nicely on big landscapes, too… just be judicious with the percentage of that “Opacity” slider.

Farm Pond with Daffodils–Webb’s Chapel Road: Crisp, Edgecombe County, NC, originally uploaded by EdgecombePlanter.

Photographer EdgecombePlanter tells us about this March 16, 2011 photo: It is on a rural road in southern Edgecombe County (which is in northeastern North Carolina. The road is Webb’s Chapel Road. It is a small pond right beside the road that the Macclesfield Volunteer Fire Department uses for their fire truck tanks. Evidently, the fire department members must have planted all of these bulbs, which really caught my eye today. I had really never seen this place before, and I was born and raised in this county only about 7 miles away. It is quite a pretty place! I don’t know much about the variety of daffodil this may be, but it is a pretty common one around here and is often used for naturalizing and spreading.

Dissin’ Daffys, originally uploaded by T i s d a l e.

Photographer T i s d a l e tells us about this March 1, 2011 image: I write about my adventures with the camera on my blog which you can find here: Tisdale Photograpy Blog. The Dissin’ Daffys were shot at the location discussed on the blog.

As regards the shot particulars. I used a Nikon D90, Manual Exposure Program. Shot at f/8 at 1/250th using a Sigma 10-20 mm lens. I was flat on the ground for the shot because I really wanted to get the tall lob lolly pines in the background in the shot. I use the wide angle a lot in floral shots and on the deep blooms I’ll usually shoot at f/22 or thereabouts to get the depth. f/8 got me where I wanted to be on this particular shot. I also use a Nikon 60 mm Macro on a lot of floral shots. It’s a very fast and very sharp lens.

I was a late converter to digital and still have my F3 Nikon which I still use in bad weather.

emerging, originally uploaded by mySadiegirl.

Photographer mySadiegirl tells us about this February 21 emerging springtime image: The photograph was taken in Raleigh NC on February 21st, a beautiful, springlike winter day with a Nikon D60 using an AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f1.8G lens.

Though these are in my yard, I did not plant them; therefore, I’m not sure of the species.

Daffodil Flats, originally uploaded by akunkle99.

This magical space in the middle of the North Carolina wilderness area known as Linville Gorge has been captured by photographer akunkle99. Andy says: A little past the peak bloom. Either that, or the cold snap the night before kept the flowers from looking perky.

This photograph was taken on March 20, 2009. Photos from 2008 are here.

The fact that this area is virtually impossible to access except by advanced hikers makes a photograph like this priceless. Here is the Linville Gorge page from daffodilfestivals.com which includes links to the Linville Gorge website and Yahoo users group.

, originally uploaded by Michele Lee Grant.

We love these colors. Photographer Michele Lee Grant tells us about this March 10 image: It was made at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, NC.