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.

Thursday, June 7, 2007
Pollen Covered

Well she wants you to think she has been working hard. But actually she just got done raiding a bag of Doritos.

The hummers have been elusive this week, but the bees have sure put on a show to make up for it!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Ackermanii in the Morning Sun

My wife pointed this blossom out to me this morning. It's a good thing too. The sun was so harsh this afternoon that the top of it got burned! This is on our biggest Orchid Cactus. It has been blooming non-stop for about a month which is pretty impressive since even in the shade each blossom only lasts for a few days.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Evening Bee

My intention was to chase hummingbirds. But they must not have been very hungry tonight. Of course the bees are always good for a few nice shots.

Monday, June 4, 2007
Glowing Garden Rose

We recently got this rose a trellis because it was getting huge. And, like I mentioned yesterday, I hate to cut my plants! I don't believe it is a climber usually, but it really seems happy on the trellis. This photo was taken when there was just a shaft of afternoon sunlight shining down between our umbrellas. Made for a nice dappled background.

Sunday, June 3, 2007
Studio Daisy

Usually I like to take pictures of nature where I find it and leave it for others to enjoy. (My neighbors have told me repeatedly to take some of their flowers but I just can't bring myself to cut them.) The trouble is, I have never seen a Gerbera growing that looked quite like this.

There was one cool one that I wish I had gone back to the Nursery for, but it was not variegated. So I had to bring this one home from the farmers' market and set up a little studio shoot.

Of course, he had friends. So you'll probably see more in the next few days.

Saturday, June 2, 2007
Armored Bee

Well my description was not quite as scientific as I usually like... "Big Black Bee!" But it's late and I was not able to track her down. I did have fun taking pictures of her though! Her copper colored wings were reflecting the evening sun beautifully! I was trying to get a shot that really hilted the wings and their amazing structure but this ended up being my favorite.

Friday, June 1, 2007
Sunset Dinner Flight

The hummers have gone wild around here lately. We have three feeders up, but it is a little hard to compete with all the flowers. There are actually three birds that fight over this bush regularly. Even though the bush has plenty to go around.

Thursday, May 31, 2007
Glowing Kalanchoe Close-up

I have been having a lot of fun with my plants and cameras lately. This flower is less than a quarter of an inch across. When you see it normally as just one in a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence) the colors look continuous. Fading from red to yellow. However, on closer inspection you can see the speckled nature of the color like the printed page in a magazine.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
White Peacock on a Flower

A really little peacock.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Cup of Gold Nectar

Kind of like The Hound when she gets into her food "Face First".

This bee was very cooperative. She spent a lot of time on each blossom. I guess she wanted to make sure she did not miss anything.

This was the only flower on the plant that had the cool "crumpled" look. All of the other flowers were more cup-like. Fitting, since their name in Spanish (Copa de Oro) means "Cup of Gold."

Monday, May 28, 2007
Poppy Seed Pod

No, it's not upside down! Well, the photo's not anyway, the flower is.

This is the same flower from the Photo of the Day on the 20th. By the looks of things there will be poppies all over the place in our back yard next year.

I like the "cross section" look of the flower. And the ruffled edge of the petals too.

Sunday, May 27, 2007
Kalanchoe & Star

I was tinkering with using the Kalanchoe as a nice backdrop to get some shots of the green tipped Sun Star blossoms. In the end I was happiest with the shots that had them both in the mix. I really like the Kalanchoe in this shot because one of the flowers in the upper right has five petals. There are hundreds of blossoms and only two of them have five petals. The rest all have four.

Saturday, May 26, 2007
Salmon Epi

Another of our new Orchid Cacti cuttings is showing off. This one surprised me. The bud did not seem to grow when we first got it. And as a cutting, I did not expect it to. Unlike the Iridescence cutting that started opening the day we brought it home, this guy's bud was very small. Once we got it in the pot however it was a different story. The pad perked up and the bud got bigger and, as you can see, it is very happy now.