Is the right exposure always right? An exercise in overexposure

This weekly photography challenge is about exposure, not getting it right but purposefully under or overexposing the images.

When I set out I didn't have a strong idea in mind on which approach to follow, I tend to underexpose my images because I like blacks to be very black so I thought that would be would I would do. But as often happens in life I ended up doing the exact opposite: overexposing all images.

Strolling around the city I noticed a beech tree with some fresh leaves bathing in the sun. I love the gentle lush green of the new leaves, in my mind it's probably one of the colors that best represent spring and it's renewal energy.

I decided to position the sun behind the tree to make the most out of the greens. In hindsight the composition could have been better but overall I'm happy with the outcome. I like the contrast between the dark branches and the light green leaves in the center of the frame.

Green leaves f1.4, 1/4000, ISO 100

As I kept walking in the park I came across a patch of orange tulips.

The flowers were quite far apart from one another so I looked for a composition that included some petals on the foreground on the left and the out of focus shape of other flowers in the background to give a better context to the image.

The deep green in the bottom third of the image creates a nice contrast with the vivid orange of the flowers. The light coming from the top also gives a dreamy look to the image.

Orange tulips f1.4, 1/2000, ISO 100

In the afternoon the wind picked up and some dark clouds quickly covered the sky.

I headed into to forest hoping to capture some macro shots but the wind was just too strong so I decided to make the wind the subject of the photos. How do you capture wind in images? Another beech tree helped me answer this questions.

The gentle bends in the truck of the tree combined with the almost horizontal leaves lifted by the wind made for a compelling composition.

Sinuous tree f2.8, 1/320, ISO 800

I don't recall the last time I overexposed some images on purpose but I'm glad I refreshed this technique. When used with moderation, overexposing can give a dreamy and positive look to the images that can help tell a compelling story.