Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, g. Tradescantia, green spring gardens, spiderwort, Tamron 180mm on June 6, 2022| 9 Comments »
I love the triangular shape of Spiderwort plants (genus Tradescantia). I tend to think of spiderworts as being a bluish-purple in color, but was delighted to discover them blooming in a variety of colors during a recent visit to Green Spring Gardens, a county-run historical garden near where I live. I think my favorite color combination may be the one in the middle photo, with the white flowers and the purple “fuzz” in the center.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Alexandria VA, allium, Canon 50D, g. Tradescantia, green spring gardens, spiderwort, Tamron 180mm, viola on May 14, 2020| 21 Comments »
I often feel a bit overwhelmed when I visit a public garden—there are so many flowers all around vying for my attention. I am rarely attracted to large clusters of flowers, but instead tend to gravitate toward individual flowers that I can photograph up close with my macro lens.
Here are three of the flowers that I photographed during a recent photographic foray to nearby Green Spring Gardens with my friend Cindy Dyer. The first is a spiderwort (g. Tradescantia), a flower that I love for its simple geometric shape. I am not sure if the plant in the second photo, some species of allium, counts as a flower, but I love the way that the partially open “bud” reveals the complex structure inside. The final flower is a simple viola that I spotted amidst a bed of green ground cover—like pansies, violas always make me smile.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Arachnids, Flowers, Gardening, Humor, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Canon 50D, g. Tradescantia, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, spiderwort, Tamron 180mm, Vienna VA on May 17, 2017| 2 Comments »
The simple shape and spare palette of spiderwort plants (g. Tradescantia) really appeal to me and I found myself taking innumerable photos of them during a visit with fellow photographer Cindy Dyer to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia this past weekend. Be sure to check out Cindy’s blog for some awesome colorful images of many of the other flowers that we observed.
My friends all know that I have a warped sense of humor, so it would come as no surprise to them when I confess that I can’t help but think of an abnormal growth on an arachnid every time that I use the word “spiderwort.” As the weather continues to warm up, I’m pretty confident that I will soon be featuring images of spiders, warts and all.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Flowers, Gardening, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Augusta GA, Canon 50D, g. Tradescantia, Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center, spiderwort, Tamron 180mm on February 27, 2017| 5 Comments »
During the winter months, my macro lens doesn’t get used much, but I was happy to have it with me during my recent trip to Georgia when I spotted this beautiful flower in bloom at the Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center in Columbus. I’m pretty sure that it is a variety of spiderwort ( g. Tradescantia), a commonly seen flower where I live, but not in February
I grew to love this kind of shot when I first started shooting with Cindy Dyer, my photography mentor and muse. She infused me with a love for macro photography and for botanical subjects that is re-energized each spring. As I look at this image, I imagine her telling me how much she likes it, but also gently reminding me that I should have shot it with a tripod to get the extra degree of sharpness and more precise framing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, g. Tradescantia, green spring gardens, pollen sacs, spiderwort, Tamron 180mm on June 18, 2016| 6 Comments »
As I was looking over a whole range of the colorful flowers yesterday at Green Spring Gardens, I gradually realized that I was drawn most to those with simple shapes and relatively subdued colors, like the modest spiderwort (g. Tradescantia). There is a real beauty in its simplicity.
The bees seemed to like the spiderworts too, including one that I photographed with overfilled pollen sacs.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 