Bench with Petals

Yes, I missed yesterday due to travel (really quite as bad as it sounds). But I am back.

Yesterday started with a rainy cab ride across Manhattan to the Central Park Boathouse where I was involved in an event for work. The rain persisted as a general gray dampness, dreary morning kind of thing, but during the event I was able to slip away for a few moments to explore the area around the lakes and the Ramble. And wouldn’t you know, Central Park has its charms, even on a rainy morning.

I am thinking these are flowering plum petals, which had fallen in drifts in the rain. These few had found a resting spot on a well tended park bench for a pleasing composition. The light was pretty dim and the H50 was pushed to ISO 400…but the amount of detain in the image does a good job of masking high ISO noise.

Sony DSC H50 at about 325mm equivalent (for framing). F4.0 @ 1/100th @ ISO 400. Programed Auto, -1.3 EV exposure compensation to hold detail in the petals against the dark wood.

In Lightroom, I applied just a little Recovery for highlights in the petals and raindrops. Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Landscape sharpen preset. I cropped down from the top of the image slightly to improve composition.

From Central Park.