California Poppies

The photograph below is really of orange shapes with a semi-blurred background. The orange shapes are California Poppies, which grow wild across the state. On a whim, I planted the wildflower from Burpee seeds in January. The poppies have done well so far in our flowerbeds, though the coming summer heat may change that.

The semi-blurred background was intentional. I wanted focus on all five blossoms, so I stopped down to f/8 and focused where I judged the near 1/3rd point of the grouping to be. This smaller aperture doesn't produce the bokeh of f/2.8, but there is a mild blur that draws the eye back to the blossoms. Shutter speed was 1/250. 28mm Nikon manual focus lens.