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Posts Tagged ‘hibiscus’

Glowing flower close-up

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on August 28, 2012| 4 Comments »

Usually when I try to photograph this kind of flower I end up focusing on the petals and the stigmata (I think that’s what those five purplish things at the end of the stalk are called) are out of focus. This time I made a concerted effort to have the stigmata in focus and let the rest of the flower—which I am pretty sure is some kind of hibiscus—take care of itself.

It seems to have worked out pretty well and as an added bonus the light caused the inside of the flower to glow a little, giving some depth and texture to the petal.

Glowing hibiscus flower

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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After the rain…

Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on July 22, 2012| 6 Comments »

It rained for most of today and was overcast the entire day. Late in the afternoon I decided to go out to a local garden to see what I could shoot. The light was less than optimal but I managed to photograph some flowers.

My favorite ones are of the red speckled lily (I don’t know its real name). I got really low and shot it against the backdrop of sky (which was white). The other flowers included two hibiscuses, another kind of lily, and two unidentified little purple flowers. I love the effect of raindrops on flowers and most of the shots I took include them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bee hiding from the rain in red hibiscus

Posted in Bugs, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

What do bees do when it’s raining? I never really gave the question much thought until this morning when I saw a really cool photo by the unUrban Studio showing a bee seeking shelter in an orchid in an early morning rain. In an earlier post today I showed a bee clinging to the underside of a leaf for protection from the rain.

During a walk in the light rain this afternoon I was pleased to also discover the bee shown below, sheltered inside of a red hibiscus flower. He appeared to be completely protected and may have been napping. As you can probably tell, I had to lighten the image a little to reveal the bee more clearly. This caused the sky, which was light already, to go totally white and produced an effect that I really like.

I enjoy walking in the rain and sometimes carry my camera under an umbrella if it is not raining too hard. From now on I’ll make a point of peeking into flowers and under leaves to discover more secret hiding places of the bees.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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