Much of the rest of the country braces for the worst that winter can offer, but here the star magnolias are in bloom again. The combination of strong rains in December followed by day after day of brilliant sunshine with warm afternoons have lead to floral displays bursting with energy. Later on, if we don’t get more rain, the weather may lead to drought and unhappiness. But for now, it is all fecund and gorgeous—particularly my favorite star magnolia photographed over the weekend and shown below (links are to previous-year compositions from the same magnificent Magnolia stellata bush). It grows pretty much wild alongside Arlington Avenue a few blocks from me!

If you would like to learn more about my technique in creating this image,  in the Bay Area I’ll be presenting on the topic tomorrow evening (Tuesday Jan 27, 2015) at the Peninsula Photo Club (download the PDF flier here). You can also learn more in my webinar recording Painting in Transparency Using a High-Key Layer Stack. I’ll be leading in-depth workshops related to photographing flowers on a light box in Heidelberg, Germany in June and at the Maine Media Workshops in August.

Exposure data: Shot as a sequence of bracketed exposures using a Nikon D810 and Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 lens on a tripod. All exposures at ISO 64 and f/16, with shutter speeds between 1/20 of a second and six seconds.