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.

Amaryllis Galaxy

I have a story to tell about my black pearl amaryllis but it will have to wait.  Business at the end of the year has been busier than anticipated.  That and the demands on my personal time are eating me up.  The next couple of photos were shot at f/2.5 creating a very narrow depth of focus.  The black pearl’s second set of blooms are now appearing.

Amaryllis Galaxy

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/200s at f/2.5, ISO160.  In Lightroom, adjusted light and color.  Increased contrast and decreased clarity.  Mask unsharp.  It reminds me of when I used to do astronomy.

Garlic

With all of the vampire movies out, I thought I better protect my blog with some garlic.

 

Garlic for Vampires

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/2s at f/11, ISO160.  Photographed against a black background, lit by a large window and a 52 inch reflector.  In Lightroom, cropped slightly, increased clarity and contrast, decreased darks to get the background jet black.  White balance and camera profiles left untouched producing a cold, slightly blue/white tone.

 

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.

 

Rain Soaked Hibiscus Flower

A week or two ago, rainstorms went through the area blowing out the last of summer and bringing cool, fall air.  I went out the morning after and picked up this fallen blossom.  I spread it out and set it up in my little flower studio.  I used a small aperture to create depth and pick up all of the lovely creases in the petals.  I used the gold side of my 52-inch reflector to cast light from the bottom of the flower, offsetting the natural light coming from the top.  I did not want a soft image but rather a sharp, hard, fading and wrinkled flower.  This was its last hurrah before it faded to the soil from whence it came.

 

Morning After

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  8/10s at f/16, ISO160.  In Lightroom, I adjusted the white balance, adjusted light levels bringing the petals up in contrast to the dark background.  I wanted to be sure and capture the whole blossom including the short stem.  I increased contrast and clarity and sharpened the image.  I adjusted the camera scene value, starting with Lightroom’s own Adobe settings and went from there.  In flowers, these adjustments help bring many of the subtle floral colors out.

 

Red Cyclamen

This photograph is the beginning of something new for me.  More details later (I don’t like to jinx things).   It is cyclamen and is now in my garden enjoying our beautiful weather.

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  It is interesting when half your guests are over 75 and the rest are under 10.  Well, my brother is in his 40s but he preferred the under-10 crowd and, as usual, fit in well.

Cyclamen Blossom

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/200s at f/4, ISO200.  In Lightroom, the photo was cropped and tilted.  White balance was adjusted and light levels were adjusted.  Clarity and contrast were increased.  Shot in Landscape mode with adjusted settings.

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.

 

Moment in time

 

 

Moment in Time

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  1/320s at f/4, ISO200.

 

The Blueness Within

When the blossom first opens, the stamen are cyan/purple.  The flower is emotive, exhibiting an almost painful shyness as it exposes itself to the world.  Flowers are purely sexual creatures but they must remain stationary and they depend entirely upon other creatures to procreate.  I think deep down inside living creatures is a basic comprehension of sexuality upon which the flower depends.  A flower must be appealing in the most sensual way.

 

Blueness Within #1

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  5s at f/16, ISO125, Landscape Mode.  Photographed with a white reflector just after sunset.  Changed white balance to Tungsten and then adjusted to maintain the red channel.  This allowed the purple cyan to stand out and I was able to lighten them through both light level adjustment and vibrance adjustments.  The velvety sheen is just apparent on some of the petals.  Make no mistake, the amaryllis is my favorite flower.

 

Black Pearl

The black pearl amaryllis is beginning to bloom.  Its petals have gradually deepened in color and I imagine the darkening will continue.  This shot is taken with the narrower side of the bud showing.   The bud itself seems larger than other amaryllis.  More of this over the next few days.  I think it will open tomorrow or Thursday.

 

Black Pearl Amaryllis Bud

Nikon D90 with Tamron 90.  4s at f/16, ISO160, Landscape Mode.  In Lightroom, adjusted white balance.  Increased contrast and clarity.  Increased light, especially the greens.  Adjusted colors to bring out the velvety bud.  Used mask sharpening.