A Bloy and his Blog » Flowers

Carnivorous orchid

Jonathan — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:44:57 +0000

Another shot from the conservatory at Olbrich Gardens.

Testing the new lens

Jonathan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:48:51 +0000

I’ve been interested in getting a longer lens for a while (especially to get closer to wildlife). A few days ago I bought a Promaster 70-300mm F/4-5.6 macro lens. Since normal telephoto shooting is fairly straightforward, I was anxious to test the lens’ macro capability. The conservatory at Olbrich Gardens would be the perfect spot to do that.

I’m going to like being able to get in close, like the above shot of the very young and fuzzy ficus leaves.

With macro photography, you really need to pay attention to the depth of field. Notice how the lower edge of the peace lily is nice and sharp, compared to the center of the blossom. Using manual focus can help a lot in these situations, and the Promaster lens in manual focus mode is very smooth. Fine adjustments are easy to make.

The Promaster 70-300mm lens isn’t the highest end lens on the market, but I believe it does give you decent quality for a reasonable price. A worthy addition to my camera bag.

Winter orchids

Jonathan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:37:23 +0000

Spending time in the warm humid air of the glass domed conservatory at Olbrich Gardens does wonders during a spell of frigid winter weather.

When I was there several days ago, I found these two orchids right next to each other. Fitting that the white and purple flowers are almost a negative images of their neighboring plants.

The wonder of trains

Jonathan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:10:28 +0000

I went to Olbrich Botanical Gardens to check out their annual Holiday Express display. I found the look of wonder on most of the children’s faces the best thing about the exhibit.

You could almost see into their minds, as they picture themselves piloting the engines.

Of course I couldn’t help but stare with a sense of wonder myself…

Christmastime is here

Jonathan — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:58:19 +0000

One of my favorite Christmas songs. I love the melancholy mood of it. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmastime is Here (mp3)

Christmas time is here.
Happiness and cheer.
Fun for all that children call,
Their favorite time of the year.

Snowflakes in the air.
Carols everywhere.
Olden times and ancient rhymes,
Of love and dreams to share.

Sleigh bells in the air.
Beauty everywhere.
Yuletide by the fireside,
And joyful memories there.

Christmas time is here.
We’ll be drawing near.
Oh, that we could always see,
Such spirit through the year…

Last nectar of the season

Jonathan — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:11:27 +0000

While I was shooting my stonecrop plant the other day, I wasn’t the only one interested in it. There were also a couple of bees collecting the last nectar of the season.

Store it up girls. Winter is on the way…

Stonecrop

Jonathan — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:01:32 +0000

Back in July, I thought the perennial flowers blooming at my house were done. A couple of weeks ago the stonecrop began to flower.

Thanks to my sister Chris who told me what the name of this plant is.

Yellow lilies

Jonathan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:59:38 +0000

The surprise perennials at my house just keep blooming. These lilies are about the last of the blooms for this year.

Purple clematis

Jonathan — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:08:24 +0000

Yet another surprise perennial in the front of my house.

The clematis flowers go through a transition: from dark purple, to having light streaks, before the petals fall off.

I think this is my favorite of the perennials I’ve acquired with my new house.

The deep purple color is just gorgeous. The vines of the clematis plant seem to go on forever, with a huge amount of blossoms.

Peonies as metaphor

Jonathan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:23:20 +0000

Yet another surprise perennial at the house I bought a few months ago.

With all the petals of the flower jammed into the half-open bud (above), it really is kind of ugly. But the change in a few days is a complete turnaround.

That transformation reminds me of the work I’m doing on the house. It started out somewhat dirty and unkempt. But when I’m done with the house, it’s going to look real nice. At least the perennials that popped up added beauty without any work.

I caught a few ants crawling around, looking for the peony nectar they’re attracted to.