Friday, July 20, 2012
Man Eating Jungle Cactus

Ok, well maybe not man eating, but if you see him in person you might think it's possible. This is one of my Epis, and although there is not much in this image for size reference the blossom is at least eight inches across. These beauties are more like orchids than cacti. They, or more specifically their non-hybridized ancestors, grow in the South African jungle canopy and in the wild they are polinated by bats. Nature never ceases to amaze!

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.

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Agapanthus in the Morning Rain

Friends and family who live in a "less temperate" climate make fun of me when I mention the different seasons here, but I do love the change in our seasons. This is a fun early spring shot. The Agapanthus are just starting to bloom in our yard, and on this day an early morning rainstorm had just subsided to let the sunlight through. This combination of weather and sunlight can capture my attention for hours without even leaving my front yard. I actually had to tiptoe through the wet flowers to frame up the second blossom (or inflorescence), out of focus in the background.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Varigated Miniature Rose

Most of my recent work has been architecture and Santa Barbara city related. Most of those images take a bit logner to plan and execute so the photo of the day has fallen behind a bit lately.so I decided to spend some time last weekend looking through some of my older flower shots looking for interesting unpublished images.

Monday, December 27, 2010
Tendril in the Rain

The excessive ran we've had in California for the last week and a half has caused no end of problems. (Yeah, I know, if you're in the north east under three feet of snow, you probably can't feel much pity.) On the plus side the rain gives many interesting options for beautiful photos.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sun Star Water Drops

Well it's officially fall. Can't believe it, but it's time to start to look for some good bulbs for the garden. This is one of my favorites, the Sun Star. It is a fairly new hybrid and I have not been able to find it as a bulb. But I'm going to keep looking!

Thursday, September 18, 2008
Mallow in the Rain

Another shot from the back yard. This is our Sea Tree Mallow. Zoe pointed these flowers out to me on an early morning vacation walk in monterey. (She was a good dog!) Once we got home from the trip we found this Mallow, a small tree at the time, at a local nursery and brought a little piece of our vacation home.

Monday, September 15, 2008
Resting Damsel

Well, you learn something new every day. One of the things that help you identify Dragonflies vs Damselflies is the fact that the Dragonflies usually hold their wings out to the sides and the Damselflies fold their wings back along their body.

Of course, this evening I learned there is a group of Damselflies called "Spreadwings". And, if you have not already guessed by the name, they hold their wings out like Dragonflies.

The thing that gave it away is the other distinction is the fact that Dragonflies' eyes usually touch. (Check out my blue-eyed Darner for an example.) So this guy (or more likely girl) was a little hard to identify at first.

My wife pointed her out to me when she was watering some plants yesterday. In fact you can see a couple of water drops on the base of her right wing (top wing in the photo). She was very cooperative! (that would be the damselfly, not my wife. Although she is pretty cooperative too.)

Saturday, April 12, 2008
Break time for the farmworker

Another lady bug fresh from work on our epi farm. They are doing a great job, the aphids are virtually gone! So she (he?) deserves a break. This is a rose from our first anniversary. Lasted well didn't it? Well, it helps to buy the bush rather than the cut flowers. :-D

Unlike the Ladybug from yesterday I shot this one with a macro lens attachment and no bellows. This was the closest I could get as compared to yesterday when I was actually at the maximum focal distance of the bellows. This way I can get a little bit of the beautiful surroundings. Oh, and as you can probably tell it's dark outside. I was using a hand-held light to get these shots. I'ts best to release the lady bugs in the evening unless you just want them to fly away.

It was interesting though, they were much warmer and therefore much more active tonight. It finally got to the point where I had to go inside because I was covered in ladybugs. Fortunately these don't bite unlike the apparently carnivorous ladybugs in the farm country where my parents live. When the farmers harvest the fields the ladybugs run... and then they descend upon my parents' house in a swarm.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Pink Petals

When I took the photo a couple of weeks ago I knew what the flower was. But today I'm drawing a blank. Sure is pretty though. When my memory starts working I'll add a note. Of course that could take a while. :-D

Monday, August 20, 2007
Lily of the Rain

The yard is a completely different place in the rain. Unfortunately for my camera I love the look of the flowers when it's raining. It's not just the drops of water. If it was I could just spray them. The soft lighting from the clouds changes the feel of the photo completely.

Saturday, June 9, 2007
Calla Drops

The sun was in and out of the clouds when I took this shot. I only had about 30 seconds while the light was interesting.

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.

Friday, May 11, 2007
Scentimental

This was taken the on the same hound walk as yesterday's rose. I used to have a Scentimental Rose when I lived in the desert, but I could not keep it alive through more than one summer of 130° temperatures even with an automated dripper.

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Brass Band

This was in the neighbor's yard the other day. When we go out to walk The Hound we like to go by his place, there is always something amazing in bloom there. The day I took this was a little gray and rainy, which accounts for the interesting lighting.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Hidden Violets

I'm not exactly sure where they came from, they kind of appeared in the pot of another plant in the back yard. The other day when my wife was working in the plants she found them and I heard "Hey, get your camera, I've got a photo of the day for you!"

Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Tropical Swirl

I like how this rose caught that drop of water in the top. This is another shot from the backyard. Yeah, I know, it's a theme lately "the Back Yard". But my hound hurt her foot and I did not get my birthday trip to Monterey yet. Maybe later this month! Oooh the flowers that are blooming there this time of year!

Sunday, May 6, 2007
Lily in the Shadows

I thought this photo went nicely with yesterday's cactus. Nice and shadowy.

Thursday, May 3, 2007
Mandevilla Sky

This is one of the plants that recently scored a new pot and trellis. We originally got this vine and one other to feed the butterflies in the back yard. The butterflies (and resulting caterpillars) almost got the best of them. But they have come back strong. A couple of weekends ago I spent about two hours unraveling the two vines from each other and putting them on their new trellises. It was like an elaborate living puzzle.

Monday, April 30, 2007
Friends

When the Epiphyllum get going they really go wild. This blossom (the red one) is from the beautiful cactus that got us kicked out of our last apartment. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but I sure was not going to trim the cactus like the land lord wanted!

The lilies lived here when we moved in. They are actually in the ground in what we now call "Cactus Corner". They have had to stretch a little taller to see the sun. But they make an amazing contrast with the cactus and they always seem to be intertwined, I like to think they are friends.

Saturday, April 28, 2007
Spring Epiphyllum

It's looking a lot like spring around here. We've spent the last couple of weekends working on our yard. New pots and more dirt all around. This beauty now has an automated dripper. Even though it is a cactus, ours are the happiest when they are sitting in a puddle of water for a couple of hours a day. Of course if you have been treating yours like a desert plant, I would recommend making the transition to hydroponics slowly, so as not to shock it.

Thursday, February 22, 2007
Backlit Morning Daisy

Even in the middle of winter there are beautiful flowers to photograph here. That's not to say it is not cold. The day after I took this was the windiest coldest day of the winter so far. But fortunately the ocean seems to keep things just warm enough for things to survive. Even if we get frost it is usually mild and patchy.

Aside from these tough daisies, the Calla Lilies are starting to really put on a show now too. Some of our spring bulbs are already coming up that we planted in the fall. So many beautiful subjects! So little time!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Lotus & Lily Pads

Seems like a fitting image. As I upload this it is raining like crazy.

I love the way the water beads on the lily pads, and the ruffled edges of the pads themselves.

Thursday, February 15, 2007
Mallow After the Rain

This was taken right after yesterday's photo of the day. The rain had just stopped and the sun came out beautifully. This shot is looking up at a couple of exceptionally tall branches of our small potted Mallow tree. The drops of water are actually on the other side, the top of the flower. It would probably be a good idea for us to prune it. But it blooms constantly and if we had pruned it I would not have had the opportunity to get this shot.