Panasonic LUMIX GX8 + Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8/Pro @40mm, ISO 200, 1/640 s, f/5

Nowaday’s, Poppy flowers are mostly known as friendly and fragile companion on the side of forests and fields.  In fact, they are not as innocent as one could think. They are a symbol for sleep, peace, and death. Papaver somniferum is used to produce opiates and heroin and thus affected many lives in good and bad ways. The use of opiates as seditation for medical purposes makes the connection to sleep.  The connection to death is due to the blood red color.  Remembrance Poppies are arificial flowers used since 1921 to  commemorate soldiers and military personnel who have died in war (connection to piece).

Seen from a photographer’s view, Poppy flowers are interesting but not totally easy subjects. Because they are so fragile, many of them are damaged or withered. Their intense color also easily is clipped, when the picture is not carefully exposed (check the histogram in in every channel). Apart from that, Poppy flowers offer great structure. Depending on the direction and harshness of the light, this can yield interesting effects of depth and structure.