Flower Photos

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Sun Star Bloom

Well it's that time of year the Sun Stars are in bloom! This is a beautiful Orange hybrid related to a Star-of-Bethlehem. This particular flower was my first one. It took a rest last year, but it is back strong.

If you landed here looking for care and feeding of your new plant take a look at the Sun Star page. And my earlier shot from the first time this one bloomed. Most importantly, it's a perennial bulb, so No!... you did not kill it! It dies back every year down to the bulb. And pretty fast after it's done blooming! If you're looking for one, they are available as live plants now. Or you can get bulbs in the fall. I've had a few requests for sources of bulbs so I'll try to get some links online soon.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Tulip Feather

More plants followed us home from the grocery store the other day. One of them was this beautiful Tulip. The bellows was still out from the recent Ladybug fest so this shot was inevitable really.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Break time for the farmworker

Another lady bug fresh from work on our epi farm. They are doing a great job, the aphids are virtually gone! So she (he?) deserves a break. This is a rose from our first anniversary. Lasted well didn't it? Well, it helps to buy the bush rather than the cut flowers. :-D

Unlike the Ladybug from yesterday I shot this one with a macro lens attachment and no bellows. This was the closest I could get as compared to yesterday when I was actually at the maximum focal distance of the bellows. This way I can get a little bit of the beautiful surroundings. Oh, and as you can probably tell it's dark outside. I was using a hand-held light to get these shots. I'ts best to release the lady bugs in the evening unless you just want them to fly away.

It was interesting though, they were much warmer and therefore much more active tonight. It finally got to the point where I had to go inside because I was covered in ladybugs. Fortunately these don't bite unlike the apparently carnivorous ladybugs in the farm country where my parents live. When the farmers harvest the fields the ladybugs run... and then they descend upon my parents' house in a swarm.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Lady in the Epi

The ladybugs seem to really love our epis. Probably because when they start to bloom (the epis, not the bugs :-D) there's a lot of nectar around the buds. The nectar seems to attract aphids. This time we tried to get the jump on them. We bought a small bag of ladybugs from the hardware store. Of course I was not going to let them go until the camera was ready!

I used a bellows to get close enough for this shot. The whole background of the shot is the same flower that the ladybug is sitting on.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Ranuculus Close Up

It may not seem like it, but I have finally got off the sofa to start to take some pictures again. This was during a nice walk through a local nursery the other day.

I appreciate all your kind notes and thoughts over the last few weeks. Zoe's still a great inspiration. I think of her often when we are out and see something beautiful like this, or the amazing flowering pear trees that are covered in white blossoms right now. The kind of things that she would have got me out of the house to take pictures of. Now it's all up to Tweetums to get us out of the house once in a while! I wonder if he would like to go out for a walk? ...hmmm

closeup ₂₆ | flower ₃₁₂ | orange ₄₅ | petal ₃₈ | Ranuculus ₁

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Fluttering Monarch

This was from a trip to a local nursury just before Christmas. Santa Barbara is a popular place for them to hang out in the Winter. We actually have a grove of Eucalyptus trees they congregate in. I'd love to go take more shots of them, but the way it's raining right now I don't think I could make it through the mud.

butterfly ₂₃ | Danaus plexippus ₈ | flower ₃₁₂ | Monarch ₈ | wing ₂₆

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Iridescent Epi Blossom

One of our Orchid Cacti, blooming like crazy. It may look like a close macro shot, but it is actually THAT BIG! 'Bout 9" across. I have kind of gone wild with Orchid Cacti. We actually have about a hundred epis now. Most started from small cuttings.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Painted Orchids

This is another one of my low depth of field experiments. I really like the way it helps you focus on one flower, but you can still see the others fading into the background. The lighting was something special on this one too. It was in a nursuy in Carpenteria, CA. The roof of the building we were in was translucent. It let the sun through, but the light was filtered and beautiful.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Low Aperture Poppy

I've always liked playing with low aperture shots. I like the way the stem of this poppy goes out of focus fast. For comparison, the apple from Thanksgiving was about as tight (high) aperture as this lens gets. Which kept the nice texture of the skin in focus over the whole surface.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Orange Gerbera Closeup

More beauty courtesy the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Echinacea Honey

So I wonder how Echinacea Honey would taste?

It still amazes me how fuzzy honey bees are if you look close. I guess that's why I like chasing them around with my camera so much. It is nearly impossible to see at this size but there are actually furs between the segments of her eyes.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Paradise at the Farmers' Market

This is another shot from last night at the Farmers' Market. I actually spent less time taking pictures than driving the few miles to get there, but I had a good time once I did. Maybe next time I'll get there a little earlier.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Glowing Succulent Blossom

This was a surprising find at a local nursery. I saw the flower as we were coming up to it and I was surprised when I saw that it was growing on a cool little succulent plant. We didn't bring it home with us yet, but I'll probably be going back to get it. Usually when the photos come out like this I regret not going back to get the plant. Too bad they don't sell bigger back yards to go with it.

backlit ₄₀ | blossom ₂₄ | Calandrinia spectabilis ₁ | flower ₃₁₂ | succulent ₂₀

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Purple Nightshade

It's a common flower around here, but I never knew it had so many names. This one was in a nursery in Carmel Valley.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Pink Petals

When I took the photo a couple of weeks ago I knew what the flower was. But today I'm drawing a blank. Sure is pretty though. When my memory starts working I'll add a note. Of course that could take a while. :-D

Monday, August 20, 2007

Lily of the Rain

The yard is a completely different place in the rain. Unfortunately for my camera I love the look of the flowers when it's raining. It's not just the drops of water. If it was I could just spray them. The soft lighting from the clouds changes the feel of the photo completely.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Peach Lantern

This is one of my favorite flowers. I don't usually see them in peach though. It took a very low angle to get this shot, as the name suggests they kind of hang down like lanterns or bells. I was almost sitting on the ground.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Backlit Lantana

We took a walk around one of our favorite nurseries today. The late afternoon light combined with the smoke in the air from the Zaca fire near us made for some beautiful lighting. Well, if we are going to put up with the fire danger we might as well get something out of it!

backlit ₄₀ | creative lighting ₁₈ | flower ₃₁₂ | Lantana ₂

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Mimosa Hummer

Last week we had the pleasure of exploring some beautiful nurseries in Carmel Valley near Monterey. It was a great place to chase hummers.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Zinnia Bee

Well I usually like to try to get a variety of shots on the site, but I have been experimenting with my macro lenses lately and bees are my favorite macro subject. Unfortunately, they seem to be most active around here in the really REALLY hot part of the day. It was actually more work than you would think to get this shot.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Purple Cone Flower

Just in case you could not place the strange thing the bee was playing with, this is one of the flowers from yesterday's bee fest. I love these flowers, it's fun to chase an interesting subject like a bee or a hummingbird, but the truly excellent photographs take more than just the perfect main subject. Everything has to come together. The bees are interesting but they need to be doing something or poking around in a crazy looking flower to really make the shot. That's why I usually don't usually stop when I think I have the image I was looking for. It's important to keep playing with the angles to get different backgrounds especially in macro photography where leaning to the side a few inches can completely change the shot.

Echinacea ₅ | Echinacea purpurea ₅ | flower ₃₁₂ | Purple Cone Flower ₃

Friday, July 20, 2007

Echinacea Bee

I went out today with the intent to try out my new memory card for my camera. I wanted to fill it up once quick to make sure it was working well. I can't think of a faster way to burn a roll of film (or fill up a memory card) than finding some beautiful flowers covered in bees.

I really liked a lot of the shots I took, but this one stood out. I love the background colors, and the bee is absolutely fuzzy!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Dancing Orchids

This is one of the images that has been in a lot of my shows. It is a particular favorite of mine which is funny, because I almost passed on it when we were selecting images for my first flower show. My best friend (now my wife) insisted I should include this one. Once I made a print and saw it more "life size" I changed my mind. People stop and stare at it thinking it is an underwater scene. (Which is fitting since one of the common names for them is "Octopus Orchid".) They are usually quite pleasantly surprised when they realize what the subject actually is.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Rose in the Studio

We stopped at the Farmers' Market again this afternoon. I always love the multi colored petals, but this was my wife's pick. She has good taste!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Pollen Covered Minus One Second

This shot was taken less than a second before last Thursday's photo of the day, and is in response to the feedback on that shot. :-)

No doubt there was too much pollen in her eye! She had to stop to rub it.