Two things are memorable about this shot: it was getting late in the day and the light was becoming nice and warm, but the location did not offer a wide variety of subject matter. It was then that I spotted this crack in the side of a weathered building and immediately scoured up a flower that was blooming in a nearby ditch. At this moment, one of my students exclaimed with surprise, “What are you doing?” I replied that I was making a picture of color and texture. I could tell by the student’s reaction that she had qualms about how I was composing the photo. Finally, she asked, “It doesn’t bother you that you put that flower in that crack?”

Obviously, it did not bother me to create that image back then—and it does not bother me to create similar images today. If you expect to shoot only shots that do not require any intervention on your part, you will be coming home each day or night with morsels rather than spoils from the hunt. Like you, I am an artist—or at least I like to think that I have flashes of artistic talent. As such, I can be expected to call on “artistic license” and do whatever I feel needs to be done in the name of art. When you are shooting a portrait and directing the person to stand in the doorway, are you not guilty of altering the scene before you? When you place that person against a particular background, are you not manipulating the outcome? So, when I shoot a portrait of a flower, why not place it in a crack, or against the background of my choice? Of course, I have limits to how far I will go. I won’t cut down a tree, for example, no matter how much it might be getting in the way of my shot (unless I cut it down virtually in Photoshop, of course, and if I do that, I’ll let you know). The bottom line is that if you are an artist, be an artist!

Nikon D300S with Nikkor 70–300mm lens at 200mm, tripod, f/11 for 1/60 sec., ISO 200