Spent Poppy, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

Confession, they say, is good for the soul. I have a confession about this photograph of a poppy past its prime, gone to seed, spent, however you wish to put it.

The red and blue out-of-focus areas in the back of the image contrast nicely with the poppy colors. You might think the background consists of other flowers in bloom, but this is not the case. I moved Mathew’s red and blue scooter behind the flower to take advantage of the scooter’s colors. My assumption was that it wouldn’t look like a two-year-old’s scooter in the final photo (I don’t think it does).

All goes to show that flower photography can be a ruthless business.

Related stories: Fireworks, Zen and the Single Poppy, Popping, Wet Poppy Bud.