Finally, A Final Photo

It took years to get this photo.

Acorn Nursery's greenhouses covered in plastic for the winter sit along Alum Creek just below the Alum Creek Park dam, in the background. My Final Photo for February 12, 2024.

There is a very simple story to this drone photo of Acorn Nursery. I’ve attempted to make the photo for several years with little success.

The primary reason is that although I knew there would be a time when almost all of the nursery’s acreage would have plantings and greenhouse coverings, it was always spotty. Some greenhouses wrapped in white plastics but rarely so many and in such a configuration.

Making a good composition from 300 feet in the air, especially in the winter when the ground is a dull brown and lends little to the dynamic, requires a set of geometric designs that fill the frame, a set of lines that lead the viewer to the top of the photo, and light from the proper direction.

Using the road to bisect the frame, the composition is divided into two sections. The lower section with the roadways and shapes acting as a small golden ratio becomes a separate element.

Above the road, the upper section has balancing elements with the darker objects at the top left -the trees - and the greenhouses beginning at the center. The luck of the design was good for me that day as the greenhouses in the upper section all line up as pointers to the lake at the top of the frame.

The lake is a great element setting the location and orientation for the viewer to see making the photo more familiar than just a set of objects composed well.

It took years. It was well worth the wait.