Monday, April 23, 2012
Poppy Profile

This beauty was found in one of my favorite local nurseries, Terra Sol. There are a lot of beautiful poppies around this time of year, but the advantage of taking my camera to Terra Sol is they have them up on shelves which makes it a lot easer to get nice angles like this. Of course I have been known to lay down on the ground with my camera when necissary to get these beauties, but it's nice to have a variety of subjects all in one place.

Sunday, May 1, 2011
Poppies and Dasies Playing in the Sprinklers

I didn't intentionally put the water drops on these flowers when I was taking care of a friend's yard. But I did have my camera along for just such an occasion. I loved the way the light caught the huge drops of water. The beautiful curves of the drops complement the small ridges of the poppy petals nicely. And then the daisy decided he wanted to be in the picture and leaned in from the right and said CHEEEEESE. Ok, maybe I spend a little too much time in the garden, but I'm making up for a very busy year that saw my plants too neglected.

Thursday, September 4, 2008
Cleared for Landing

Sometimes I have to chase them forever to get the shot I want. But this one was very cooperative. I got quite a few nice shots It's always nice to work with good models.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Red Gold

We often try to get these guys to grow all around our property but with the exception of one pretty hearty yellow one that came up this year from seeds planted last year they seem to have a mind of their own. Even the first poppy that was the inspiration to start this site was a volunteer that popped up in one of our potted plants. This is one that we purchased from the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. The red color was really striking and I couldn't pass it up. Which is probably not a bad thing considering we were there for a Bonsai show so there were much more expensive and delectate things I could have fallen in love with.

Monday, November 26, 2007
Low Aperture Poppy

I've always liked playing with low aperture shots. I like the way the stem of this poppy goes out of focus fast. For comparison, the apple from Thanksgiving was about as tight (high) aperture as this lens gets. Which kept the nice texture of the skin in focus over the whole surface.

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!

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.

Thursday, May 24, 2007
Orange Centered Poppy

I found this guy the other day at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens along with his friend. Unlike the dark one they actually had quite a few of these, but only one with a flower with this cool shape. This particular one caught my eye first through my camera lens as I was chasing a bee hovering by it!

Sunday, May 20, 2007
Dark Poppy

About a year and a half ago I found some beautiful dark poppies in Ventura. Yesterday we went to a Bonsai show at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. Along with a really cool grape and curly willow we found a single dark poppy. Of course I had to bring it home. I went a little crazy yesterday. In addition to the Bonsai sale, my wife found a bunch of Epiphyllum cuttings for sale. I think it's about time for a real back yard!

Monday, October 16, 2006
Poppies

I like the look of the closed poppies, but the one over achiever that decided to stay open later makes it much more interesting.

Saturday, March 4, 2006
Poppy Pollen

There are not may California Poppies blooming at the moment. But the ones that are sure do put on a nice show.

It was the pollen that attracted me to this particular flower.

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Wild Petals of Gold

If you have been around the site for a while, or just looked back through the history of images you already know I love California Poppies. This one is a little bit different than most of my poppy photos. I really like the imperfection of the petals, the wild angles seem to bring out the beautiful texture more.

Sunday, November 20, 2005
Poppy from a different point of view

I thought this would be a nice contrast to the Photo of the day for the 17th. They are quite different images, but they were taken only moments apart of exactly the same flower.

Thursday, November 17, 2005
Backlit Poppy

I had fun getting this image. I actually had to lay on the ground to get this perspective. (and it was a very HOT day to lay on the sidewalk)

This is one of my favorite subjects, in fact it was the subject of the first image on this site.

Sunday, October 2, 2005
Poppy of the Day

I had a lot of fun with the Poppies this year. I can't remember a time when I saw so many different California Poppies. Perhaps it is a result of the amazing rainy season we had last year. I believe it was the second wettest year on record. Perhaps the beauty here is our reward for the precarious spot we choose to live. Right now we are seeing some nice sunsets as a result of the wild fires. Not a lot of consolation for those that have lost their homes, but the firefighters have done nothing short of a heroic job this year keeping that to a minimum.

Sunday, September 4, 2005
Abstract Poppy

I like the simplicity of this one. There is enough texture in the closest petal to keep it interesting. One of my favorite subjects!

Monday, August 29, 2005
Poppy Pod

It has been an amazing season for California Poppies. Which has made a lot of fun for me and my camera. Sometimes I keep at a certain subject to try to work out as many angles as I can, and they have kept me busy this summer.

Now for the hard part... I have to pick my favorites!

As we move into the fall season the art show season is picking up. And, I am in the process of trying to increase the number of images I display. I have been seeing a few repeat visitors now that I have been doing this for almost a year (which is very exciting) and I love to have something new to show them!

I am not sure what format it will be in, but this will be one of the images that will make it's debut soon.

Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Sunlit Poppy

The first explorers to California dubbed these little beauties "Copa de Oro" or "Cup of Gold". I can see why.

Thursday, July 21, 2005
Poppy Petals

Another scan from my recent lunchtime walk in Ventura. The red of these poppies looks like it was brushed on to a normal orange California Poppy. They are a beautiful variant.

One of the interesting things about these poppies is the way they adapt to their local area. There can be a slightly different variant that lives only in an area as small as a single small valley. This variation actually makes them more hearty in a specific area, they are adapted to the exact conditions and climate.

In fact, it is actually possible to hurt the wild poppy population by plating seeds. Since most of the seeds you would get from the local garden supply shop are from stock that was originally exported to Europe. Being acclimatized for European gardens, releasing these plants in an area with native plants can actually weaken the resulting cross-pollinated next generation. Strange but true. Oh, and don't even think of collecting seeds in the wild, thats illegal. Oh well, some things are just meant to be enjoyed where they live!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Poppies in the Sun

A couple of weeks ago I was in Ventura to meet a client that I am doing a little development work for. Fortunately, I try to carry my camera with me everywhere. While I was in Ventura I found these beautiful poppies in a parking lot. They are much redder than the average California poppy. Although, it is a little hard to tell in this image because of the backlighting. More to come though as I finish scanning the other rolls of film from that day (it was a good day for pictures!)

Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Reclining Agave and Poppies

It's easy to get an interesting photograph when you find good contrast in your subjects. And I'm not just talking about the lighting. The delicate flowers with the backdrop of the imposing-looking Agave makes for a nice composition. And yet, there are similarities between the graceful curves of this particular Agave and the soft curves of the flowers that make this composition work particularly well.

• Agave americana