Flowers 2010

[Birma]

Thanks Greg, David and Yildiz

The last one the Hydrangea looks like a pink butterfly...hmm how come you get pink Hydrangeas in the woods and we get dry Mitchell grass...if we're lucky.
I like the bokeh in all of those, sort of makes me wonder if my MD70-210 f4 is worthwhile getting an adaptor for, very similar lens to the beercan supposedly, only MF not AF.

I think the abundance of rain helps in our woods, although I'm pretty sure the hydrangea was planted originally and has become surrounded by subsequent changes from formal garden to woodland . I'm enjoying not having to wear wellington boots when venturing into the woods at the moment.

It would probably be worth a try with the MD lens - I guess mount converters are not too expensive? The manual focus thread on the Beercan is a bit mean and I find it fiddley so often rely on the AF despite this not being very fast or smooth.

I used the 70-210 all morning and I enjoyed the longer focal length for a change. (I have just got a monopod which I'm sure helped with stability.) I suspect a more modern 70-200 with f/2.8 would be heavier, although with a smoother AF?

[Greg Beetham]

Thanks DA, I did see mile after mile of wild Wattle trees covered in masses of buds, still green but just on the verge of flowering, dang! I bet the entire area is now a sea of bright yellow. I looked it up and sure enough this is the time of year for some varieties of them.http://www.google.com.au/search?q=wattl ... vQPxyPjfDw
Greg

ps. Caught your post Birma, thing is I tend to like shooting flowers with a nice zoom, the 24-105 is nice and sharp for flowers also, you really need the flexibility I reckon, so you can juggle the size of the flower (individual or bunch) with distance/zoom and f-stop/dof, then you can do the composition just too your liking, a fixed lens can be a bit of a bother sometimes I think. Yeah I think the Siggy 70-200, the non IS one, or the Tammy would be good also, but they are both a bit of a lump...so far I don't think I've got a better lens for flowers than the 24-105, the bokeh isn't totally wonderful stopped down unless it's distant, but you can't have small and light and sharp and close focussing AND good bokeh too...that would be asking too much.

[Rosearodoe]

Greg, I believe what you captured is called a yellow magnolia. It has been introduced here in the states, and it is a little pricey. Will only grow in the warmer southern climates in USA.

[Greg Beetham]

I found a few images for Magnolias in a search and I think you might be on the money Rosearodoe, it does look like a Magnolia type flower. Now I'm wondering if it's a native after all, there are Magnolias all over the place...world. I'm thinking that particular one might be a native because of the rather harsh conditions, one would think anything that can survive there would have too be reasonably well adapted.
Thanks for that, sotof clears up a bit of a mystery.
Greg

[Birma]

I had a couple of trips out this weekend with the camera, and ever patient family . Two very different days, yesterday was cool, grey with heavy showers, and today was gloriously sunny.

First two from a sunny meadow today, last one from a damp wood yesterday. All with A700 and Beercan which hasn't come off the camera for a week. I am finding the addition of a monopod helps a lot and doesn't slow me, and hence the family, down too much.







Flowers (that I want to photograph) are becoming harder to find, so there are more for the insect thread from me this week.

[aster]

I found these shots as interesting as the 'flower' shots...

Your 'impresionist' style goes well with such weed-like plants too. You know, not every plant should have bright and diverse colours that attracts the human eye the most. Only a good photographer's and painter's eyes appreciate the subtle and hidden beauties in nature...

Thanks to the patient family that appreciate a 'weed shooter'!

Yildiz

[Birma]

Thanks Yildiz . I'll keep shooting those weeds and chasing those bugs!

[Greg Beetham]

I think there is an insect on nearly every one of those white flowers in the first photo Birma. I saw a show on wild wheat types that have disappeared and the main people in the show were going all over looking for the rare or supposed extinct ones, I think they found one in Uzbekistan and I think it looked something like that second photo, well too my mind it didn't look much like wheat, looked more like a grassy kind of millet, there were people still cultivating some of those early types here and there, very interesting show.
Yep the can has nice bokeh alrignt.
Greg

[Birma]

Yep - there were a lot of 'buzzers' about - if they got bored of nectar then they could always come and have a go at me The only thing that attracted the flies more than me was the poor cows - no wonder they look so sad. I didn't get a chance to change to WA but there was a large meadow covered in these flowers and grasses - it looked great. We also met a couple of Nikon-isters in the woods, with associated tele lenses and gitzo tripods - they were having an awful day as they were birders and hadn't seen anything except pigeons - we summized that the flies etc. had scared the birds away .

[gio67]

great flower stem pics birma, I've had # 1 as my desktop for 2 days now, something about that pic i really like but just can't put my finger on it, it's a sort of nothings in focus/everythings in focus pic

[Greg Beetham]

Yeah you get those days Birma, we get them too, I think maybe it could be a number of things, maybe regional migration, nesting, or even preditory type birds being more active than usual, most of the ordinary birds seem too know how to disappear when raptors have young too feed.
Greg

ps. Maybe the wrens, robins and flycatchers are all too fat to fly, they might be walking around down in the grass ha ha.

[Birma]

great flower stem pics birma, I've had # 1 as my desktop for 2 days now, something about that pic i really like but just can't put my finger on it, it's a sort of nothings in focus/everythings in focus pic

Thanks Gio67 . I was trying to get a chunk of foreground in focus, and then blur out the background but still give an impression of the colours. I'm very honoured to have a photo as your desktop .

ps. Maybe the wrens, robins and flycatchers are all too fat to fly, they might be walking around down in the grass ha ha.

Ah! that would explain it .

[Javelin]

Heres a few


DSC06154 by JaVelin >X<, on Flickr


DSC06165 by JaVelin >X<, on Flickr


DSC05718 by JaVelin >X<, on Flickr

[Birma]

Very nice Javelin - I especially like #1. I see that variety flower in pictures a lot and it is easy to see why - great colours and textures, and you have added the beastie interest as well .

[Lonnie Utah]