Erotic Amaryllis

It is Friday and there is a winter storm bearing down on Houston.  There is excitement in the air because any bit of freezing precipitation brings the city to a halt.  If it does snow this afternoon, everyone will head home around lunch.  We don’t have salt down here, instead we sand bridges, which creates a mess and does very little for traction.  No one has snow tires.  At any rate, it might be an early day.

Sometimes with amaryllis, I feel as if I have gotten deep inside them.  The images can be abstractly sexual.  I have mentioned before that flowers must rely on other species to consummate their procreation.  This amazing fact means they must appeal to species in away nothing else does.  Sort of like the ultimate nature orgy.

Amaryllis Erotica

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/200s at f/2.5, ISO160.  Cropped and rotated, adjusted white balance, increased contrast and clarity.

Impatiens

The Impatiens is a simple flowers, always around and seldom admired.  I have some, still growing happily in a pot.  They survived the heat of the summer and have enjoyed the cooler temps  of  fall.  Yesterday morning, I sat on my patio and thought they looked happy.  I snapped a portrait or two.  Today, it is raining and getting cold.  It is Monday and my first day back at work in a week…sigh; so I need to post something cheerful.

 

Impatiens

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/640s at f/4, ISO 160.  In Lightroom, cropped, adjusted white balance, adjusted light levels, reduced clarity and increased contrast, adjusted exposure mode and switched from Landscape to DX2 Mode 2.  Unsharp mask to finish.

 

Closed Anemone

This is a beautiful, long-lived bloom.  It opens and closes and interacts with its environment.  I think it is an intelligent flower.   This shot was taken towards the end of a cloudy, rainy day as the light faded away.

 

Closed Anemone

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/10s at f/4, ISO160.  In Lightroom, adjusted white balance, increased contrast and decreased clarity.  Adjusted light levels to bring out the flower and darken the background.

 

Rough Softness

I recall seeing a 700 year old European tapestry once.  It was beautifully preserved and age had imparted a distinct patina upon its threads.  Processing this photo reminded me of the tapestry.  Perhaps it was the colors or, more likely, it was the texture.  Undeniably soft, yet textured and course like ancient fabric.  The lighting reminds me of Renaissance painting.  With the old feel, perhaps it is a self-portrait!

Rough Softness

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/6s at f/11, ISO160, Normal mode.  Purslane shot against black background with light from a large picture window and a large white reflector on the other side.  In Lightroom, adjusted light levels, increased saturation and increased clarity; together, these two actions created a soft texture.  The light was brought down to emphasize this and the orange yellow-orange-red is very easy on the eyes.

Changing themes again with purple flower

Well…I had too many complaints about the last theme so I am going to try this one out until I figure out what to do.

My daughter picked this flower right after a rainstorm on Sunday.  She was out with binoculars trying to find hummingbirds.  She insisted I photograph it because she was bringing me rain drops.   I added a spritz from my brass mister (the rain drops had mostly fallen off)  and snapped away.  Not sure what this small flower is but it comes from a large bushy plant with whitish-green leaves.

Rain Drops for Daddy

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/6s at f/16, ISO160, Normal mode, near a picture window with black background.  I used a small silver reflector from the opposite side.  In Lightroom, I adjusted light levels and added clarity to bring the water drops out.  I worked the white balance until the purple was just so.  This is the darker of the two version I processed and I hope it is light enough on your monitor.  I preferred this one because you can see more subtlety in the colors.

Leaf

Saturday morning was hot and humid, the rain had come and gone.  I saw the leaf on the patio and knew I had to photograph it before the light changed.

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/125s at f/11, ISO200, Normal Mode.  In Lightroom, converted to grayscale, increased contrast and clarity, adjusted light levels, darkening the dark areas and brightening the lights.  I wanted the curve of the stem to be pronounced and then to have the leaf fade into darkness.

One more hectic day after a hectic weekend (interesting photos, though).  Tuesday a quick trip to Austin and then Wednesday things should get back to normal for me.  I miss your blogs greatly.

One Last Look at Rose no 1

I need to photograph.  It’s an addiction.  A good one, I hope.  One last rose photo, side detail view.  Pushed back into the shadows so that only the front and side of the rose are lit by the window and the reflector.  The original photo had more of the stem and I took some others that included more of the vibrant greens of the…well, I don’t know what you call the green parts.

In Lightroom, I cropped and brought out the light tones of the rose as well as darkened the background just a bit.  I saturated the red and increased clarity to give it more definition.  I processed further as a portrait because the white part of the rose reminded me of skin.

It is budget time and I have a proposal due today.  My sister and her children come to town this weekend.  I crave looking around at my favorite blogs and taking more photos but those are luxuries I must deny myself for now.  Sigh…

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  3s at f/16, ISO200, Portrait Mode.  Tripod and 52-inch reflector on white side.

One Last Moment in the Sun

I set this in front of a window with Venetian blinds.  I placed it against a black background.  I cracked the blinds open until a small shaft of sunlight illuminated the top part of the tendrils.

This is an orange trumpet flower which had dropped off its vine to be scooped up by my patient hands.  I carefully cut the bloom open to reveal a world destined to disappear, unconcerned that its beauty would pass anonymously.  Instead, it gained one last moment in the sun.

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/4s at f/16, ISO200, Portrait Mode.  In Lightroom, desaturated, increased black for the background, increased contrast and clarity, increased fill light, brightened light and dark tones, decreased shadow tones, adjusted green hues, cropped, sharpened and done.

Twisted Passion

Red evokes feelings in people; anger, passion, guilt and love.  Red is the color of blood and of sex.  Red is beauty.  Complicated feelings in red…

Hibiscus.  Another in my experiments with flowers past their prime.  I know it is dark, Ed but this photo is not really about flowers.

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/10s at f/13, ISO200, Landscape Mode.  In Lightroom, sharpened and adjusted light levels.  Cropped slightly.

White Hibiscus

White hibiscus are relatively small flowers, beautifully white with a deep, blood red inside.  When their time has passed, hibiscus blossoms fall on the ground.  I was interested in the way this blossom fell away from the stamen, like meat from the bone.  My grandmother has a way of cutting chicken for frying.  It is unique and it causes the chicken to cook differently.  When she cooks chicken, which is rare now, all my cousins gather for the treat.  I am not a big fan of fried food and its related cholesterol but mi abuela’s chicken is special.

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.   1/8s at f/11, ISO500.  In Lightroom, adusted the light levels and increased vibrance to bring out the color in the petals.  Increased contrast and sharpened.