Figure 1 – Bedpost bathed in a winter sunbeam. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

One of the things that I really like about winter is that the sun is low in the sky, and when you least expect it can suddenly fill a room with a golden sunbeam.  It is almost a contradiction to have this kind of friendly warmth on a February’s day.  Still there it is there, transforming something as ordinary as the bedpost of Figure 1 into something and almost magical. I played with this sunlit bedpost for sometime, paying close attention to how much of the post should appear in the photograph and exactly what the out of focus background should be.  In the end I decided that it should be only the door with vertical and parallel lines that complement the post.  I especially like the solidity of the wooden post and the way in which the angle of the shot creates the illusion of vaulting height.  The post seems to hold the image up, and I also like the double bokeh of the doorknob. For my taste at 70 mm the degree of out-of-focus of the door is perfect for the composition.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 70 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture-Priority AE mode, 1/125th sec at f/8.0 with -1/3 exposure compensation.