Oil on Canvas Painting: Irises, by Vincent van Gogh (1890)
Photographed: 20 June 2014
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (5th Avenue, New York City)
Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens: Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
Focal Length: 36mm
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 500
Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec
Tripod: Yes
Editing Suite: Lightroom 6
Vincent van Gogh painted four exuberant bouquets of spring flowers: two of irises, two of roses, in contrasting colour schemes and formats. This one is my favourite.
In this version of Irises, Vincent sought a ‘harmonious and soft’ effect by placing the ‘violet’ flowers against a ‘pink background’, which have since faded owing to his use of fugitive red pigments.
I think I was the only person in the museum that day with both a tripod and a DSLR. Everyone else was taking ‘photographs’ with Ipads or Iphones.
I was really pleased how this photograph turned out, particularly showing the colour and the detail of Vincent’s brushstrokes.
Cheers
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.
