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.

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!

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 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.

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.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Poppy Field

A beautiful field of Icelandic Poppies. The interesting background is a tree with the sunlight filtering through.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Diffuse Hibiscus

This Hibiscus was in the garden of a mission by San Diego. It was an overcast day which made for some nice soft light. I particularly liked this flower since most of the others were tightly closed or all the way open.

Sunday, June 10, 2007
Poppy Field

This photo almost looks like a painting to me. The narrow field of view gives it a very dream-like quality. I keep intending to play with some other subjects, but the flowers have really captured my attention lately!

Saturday, June 9, 2007
Calla Drops

The sun was in and out of the clouds when I took this shot. I only had about 30 seconds while the light was interesting.

Friday, June 8, 2007
Glowing Gerbera

This is another Gerbera from last week's farmers' market. They are still beautiful, maybe we'll have to see if they have anything else interesting this weekend.