VD 25
And this is the end of my Valentine's Day flower spectacular! Hope you've enjoyed all the flower close-ups. Now I can go to sleep, it's been a long day!
Monday, February 14, 2011
VD 24
Well, it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a rose, now would it? So here's the first rose of the day, from the rose garden at the Ringling Museum.
VD 23
I've changed venues slightly at this point. Instead of shooting flowers at Selby Gardens, I'm shooting flowers inside the Ringling Estate. And this time, I think I know the name of the flower. I think this is an Ice Flower, or something like that. I first saw these in San Francisco almost ten years ago. I think they were an invasive exotic from South Africa. I don't remember all the details, but I know they make pretty pictures.
VD 22
Enough with the purple, I think it's time for some yellow. Many of these shots show the very narrow range of focus when shooting macro lens at a wide aperture. Only some of the shot is in focus at a given time. I had a hard time holding the camera still, too, and add in a little wind at the same time, and I was lucky that any of these shots came out at all. But on the whole, I've been pretty happy with them.
VD 21
What's that? You didn't get enough purple before? No problem, here are a few more for you.
Hope you're having a great Valentine's Day!
VD 20
I think butterflies loose a little of their beauty when you get too close to them. They start to look more like bugs and less like flying works of art. I might be able to get a clearer picture if they weren't constantly moving...
VD 19
A little more purple for you, this time from a much smaller flower. The fuzzy purple glow in the foreground and background are more flowers, way out of focus. Cool effect, I thought.
VD 17
OK, the reason I was out looking for flowers yesterday was in hopes of finding one of these. This is a bombax tree, and it puts out these giant red flowers right about this time of year. This one had only started blooming, and all the flowers were 50 feet off the ground. Thus, all you can see are the backs of them, and I think they loose a little something in the distance. But I had to show you my motivation.
VD 16
OK, so this isn't a flower. It's a leaf, and it's got some sort of fungus on it that's making these spots. But I still thought it was colorful enough to shoot and share with you.
VD 15
Another blossom from the bromeliad family. Which reminds me, it's got to be getting about time for another plant show and sale at the local exotic plant nursery. That's always good for some great flower pictures.
VD 14
The flowers at Selby Gardens are many and varied. No idea what this is, but it's cool looking.
VD 13
Lucky number 13 and halfway through today's Valentine's Day flower spectacular. Hope you're enjoying some of these great pictures. This is some sort of bromeliad, no idea which one, and I shot it at Selby Gardens. They've got lots and lots of great things to see and shoot.
VD 12
Don't forget that I'm taking all these flower pictures with a 100mm macro lens. Those flowers above are less than a quarter inch across. I'm amazed at how well come of these came out. There are plenty of ugly ones that I'm not showing you, but most of them came out surprisingly well.
VD 11
Sort of the opposite of a black-background picture. In this case, the flower in the foreground is relatively dark, so when I expose for it, the background gets too bright. It's not a bad look, but I think I prefer the black background.
VD 10
There's that black background again. I think there have to be three or more stops of difference between the foreground and the background for it to go black like that. The flower was illuminated in the sun, and the background was in dark shade. It's great when things work out like that.
VD 9
So many fine little details in there... If I were an insect, I'm sure I'd quickly become trapped and eaten.
VD 8
Uh-oh, an orchid. That must mean I'm in the greenhouse at Selby Gardens. They always have the coolest stuff in there, even in the middle of February.
VD 7
When you get in too close, sometimes it's hard to know what you're looking at. These are the stamens deep inside of a yellow blossom on something. I think stamen is the word. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. I love being able to get in there and shoot things this small. I didn't even have to crop this one. I'm really learning to love this lens!
VD 5
Way back when I first started getting interested in photography, these were one of the flowers I was always trying to shoot. Problem was, I could never find them near the ground. I always saw them up in trees, 30-40 feet off the ground. I found these on a fence near Selby Gardens, so I was able to get nice and close.
VD 4
While there is technically a flower in this picture, for me it's all about the bee. Click on the shot so you can see it really big. These guys don't just collect the pollen, they wear it. She's covered in the stuff. And there's another little bug on the petal way out to the right. No idea what that is, but it's awful small.
VD 2
Here's another entry in today's flower-palooza in honor of Valentine's Day. I just love how flowers look when you get in really close. There's so much detail in there that's so easy to miss if you aren't looking for it.
VD 1
Happy Valentine's Day! I know it's been a while since I posted many pictures on the blog, so to make up for that a little, I've got a whole bunch of pictures to share with you today. I think they're all flowers, or at least some sort of vegetation, and they're all extreme close-ups with my new 100mm macro lens. So sit back and enjoy some great color. Most of these were shot at Selby Gardens on Sunday, and I have no idea what any of them are. Some are fancy rarities, some of them are just your garden variety ornamentals.
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