Tulip Time

One of our backyard tulips after this afternoon’s rain. Black & white or color, what’s your favorite?

Christmas Cactus - Day 49

Beauty - Day 142 #CY365

A rose in black and white, unexpected beauty. 1/400 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 800.

Hope - Day 138 #CY365

Flowers are a universal sign of hope. This Gerbera daisy is almost perfect. Canon G15, 1/250 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 400 in macro mode.

Poise - Day 127 #CY365

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/100 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 1600, 100mm macro lens, LED Ring Light.

Colorado Blue Columbine - Day 116 #CY365

Our Colorado Blue Columbine has a night visitor. The little spiders are everywhere tonight. Almost every bloom I looked at across the yard had the busy little spiders working away. Canon 5D Mark II 1/160 sec @ f/11, ISO 1600, two LED light panels.

Cling - Day 101 #CY365

Water droplets cling to this yellow pansy near the old Victorian era fountain at Norfolk Virginia's St. Paul's Church. iPhone 5s, Camera+ App

Fill the Frame - Day 97 #CY365

The little assassin bug nymph "Zelus" is stalking a tiny fly on this forsythia flower tonight. I went outside with my LED light panel and macro lens to look for an interesting macro photo to "fill my frame". The wet forsythia seemed like a good place to start. I was amazed at the tiny insects I saw - spiders, aphids, little flies and this cool Zelus. Seconds after taking this photo, the Zelus sprang and caught the fly below.

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/400 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 1600, one LED Litepanel and an LED Ring Light.

Aromatic - Day 84 #CY365

I have a bunch of hyacinths planted near our front door. The smell provides a nice welcome home. Here I tried to capture the fine texture of the blooms with a little loose pollen in an attempt to invoke the wonderful feeling you get from the aroma. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/200 sec @ f/11.0, ISO 1600.

Phone Art - Day 82 #CY365

Calla lily. iPhone 5s, Olliclip macro lens, Camera+ App with an LED flashlight for added illumination.

A Shamrock - Day 76 #CY365

The tiny white flowers of the shamrock. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/25 sec @ f/16, ISO 1600, 100mm macro lens with LED ring light.

Muse - Day 65 #CY365

I had to find my muse on the Capture Your 365 project gallery today. It was easy because I have been admiring the work of contributor Pam Scott since joining the project in January. She has a great closeup eye for photos. I choose her Day 49 "In the Front Yard" photo of a pink camellia as my inspiration. Here's my pink camellia completely desaturated and presented in black and white. I was looking to capture the same texture and feel as Pam did but with my own view. Canon 7D, 1/125 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro.

Focusing - Day 30 #CY365

Our late blooming Christmas Cactus is the subject of my "Focusing" photo for today. Using a macro lens for an extreme close-up results in a very shallow depth of field allowing the photographer to to draw the viewer into a certain part the photo which is in sharpest focus. In this case the purple stigma and the pollen covered stamen are the focal point. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/125 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 1600, one LED Litepanel held below the flower and just barely out of the frame.

Unique - Day 6 #CY365

Winter left a few dried blossoms clinging to the leafless hydrangeas. Backlight from the low angle winter sun brings out the unique details of each blossom. Canon G15, 1/640 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200 in macro mode.

Tournesol

I can certainly see why Van Gogh was so captivated by the Sunflower that he painted a series of sunflowers (tournesols in French) hoping to welcome and impress his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin. You can see a black and white version of this photo at The World in Black and White blog. Canon 7D, 1/160 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Star of Bethlehem

The Star-of-Bethlehem, scientific name - Ornithogalum, has a long stalk bearing clusters of white star-shaped flowers. The five pointed star-shaped flower give the plant its name. Canon 7D, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro with one LED Litepanel.

Schlumbergera

Schlumbergera, a.k.a. the Christmas Cactus. These cacti are species found in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil. Plants grow on trees or rocks in habitats which are generally shady with high humidity and can be quite different in appearance from their desert-dwelling cousins. Hybrids like this one are popular house plants.Canon 7D, 1/80 sec @ f/16.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, two LED Litepanels used for illumination.

Last Mum

An up close picture of the last of the fall mums. Canon 40D, 1/250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 400, 100mm macro with LED Litepnael.

Morning Welcome

This bright yellow daisy provides a nice morning welcome. Canon G11, 1/1600 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 100, in macro mode.

The Well-Behaved Liriope

My liriope muscari is full of tall purple blooms this year. Often refered to as the well-behaved liriope because it is the “clumping” kind that does not spread by runners and basically stays where you put it. It shares all the good qualities of the spreading kind — incredible toughness and adaptability — without the invasive behavior. My green-and-white variegated variety of this plant brightens up the borders in my shady backyard. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/125 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 800, 100mm macro, one LED Litepanel for illumination.