While they have been out of town, I have been watering the flowers in my neighbors’ garden and watching (and feeding) their three cats. The garden was planted by my photography mentor, Cindy Dyer, who always selects particularly photogenic species. She asked me document some of the flowers as they bloomed in case she does not return in time to see them herself.
Yesterday I was particularly struck by the beauty of the different lilies that are now blooming. Some of them probably qualify as day lilies, but there is another cool variety that has blooms that face downward. The big star of the show, though, is undoubtedly an enormous cream-colored lily that just opened and is the one that is featured in the first photo.
Many of you know that I am generally in ceaseless pursuit of animate subjects, but it is good to periodically stop and take the time to smell the lilies.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
They’re all lovely but the top one is especially luscious! So they are scented lilies?
They do have a certain amount of scent, though it is not as pronounced as that of the lilies that we have at Easter. The initial shot was the only one in which I tried to get “artsy” and worked to get a composition that I liked. I remember when I first started shooting seriously that I had to overcome a kind of mental block that insisted that I need to photograph the entire flower.
Yes that would be true for me too. Even when running around with just a cellphone camera, composition is still important. Flowers are challenging! I bet you’re happy with that top one 🙂 Thanks!
That center shot is amazing – very nice, Mike.
The cream lily photo is amazing! No words for the beauty and you captured it. Many thanks.
>
Very nice captures, Mike. I especially like the first one with that rich yellowish color and excellent definition.
Thanks, Ellen. I tend to have trouble figuring out a composition when there are multiple flowers, so my normal instinct is to go in close and capture the details of a single flower.
oh how lovely! and ssshhh! but I just had a brand new granddaughter born 2 weeks ago and her beautiful name is Lily! ❤
Congratulations, Jodi. Lily is such a beautiful name for a little girl.
☺️💕
Nice Mike! Flowers are always fun to photograph!
Thanks, Reed. I really do love flowers, but somehow they have fallen lower in my priorities as I have begun to spend most of my photography time at wildlife locations rather than at gardens.