Lupine

 The Lupines in Maine bloom in early to mid June.  That is the time to really shoot the lupines at their peak.  When in peak bloom, they are vibrant and bold.  They can also be an incredible challenge to photograph.  This is one of my favorite lupine shots.  It's not that the image itself is terribly unique or anything, it's that it just stands out.  It's a simple shot that conveys a certain grace.  It also is a clean plant and bloom which in itself can be challenging to find. 

To meter this, I spot metered the bloom and bracketed around that.  Here is an example where average metering can get you in trouble.  If I were to average meter this, chances are the highlights would blow out.  This would happen because there is much more shadow area for the meter to contend with than highlights.  Therefore the metering would want to bring the shadow area into a more normal range on average with the rest of the image - however there aren't enough highlights to balance that average and so the shot would have most likely blown out the highlights in its averaging.