Window Shopping in Europe

 2023 Alpine European Tour  No Responses »
Aug 222023
 

Bamberg, Germany

Bamberg, Germany

 

Regensburg, Germany

Regensberg, Germany

Passau, Germany

Passau, Germany

Passau, Germany

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Kastelroth/Castelrotto, Italy

Kastelroth/Castelrotto, Italy

Füssen, Germany

Chamonix, France

Chamonix, France

Lausanne, Switzerland

Lausanne, Switzerland

Lausanne, Switzerland

 

I have always been intrigued by shop windows.  I enjoy them as an art form.  I used to try to remove all reflections with a polarizer or blurring, but now I am fascinated by the added dimension and sense of context.  Yes, it makes them more complex and murkier to see, but I feel the interaction is worth it.

Whirlwind European Trip

 2023 Alpine European Tour  No Responses »
Jul 162023
 

We recently spent three and a half weeks in Europe, touring where Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France meet in the great mountains and Alpine meadows.  Here is a whirlwind tour with just one image of every area, with more to come.

Bamberg, Germany from our Hotel

Regensburg., Germany

Art Deco, Passau, Germany

Salzburg, Austria

Alpe di Suisi/Seiser Alm, Italy

Castellroto/Kastelruth, Italy

Neuschwanstein from Hohenschwangau, Füssen, Germany

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Jungfrau and Silberhorn from Männlichen, Switzerland

Near Gruyère, Switzerland

Chamonix, France

Saint-François Church, Lausanne, Switzerland

Lac Léman/Lake Geneva from Lausanne, Switzerland

St. Peter’s Clocktower on the River Lemmatt, Zürich, Switzerland

 

The Trustworthy but Tiring Tiller

 Inspiration  No Responses »
Feb 092023
 

Tiller is nearly 16 weeks of age. His eyes are hidden under his hair. We notice that much of his hair is coming in the wheat color of wheaten terriers. He weighs about 18 pounds and has taught himself to jump up and down off the couch bringing toys back that we have thrown across the room. He is not easy to photograph!

Tiller is a Whoodle, a soft-coated Wheaten Terrier and French Poodle mix. Since neither breed sheds, it means lots of combing and soon a puppy cut.

 

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Orchid Show 2022

 Marie Selby Botanical Gardens  No Responses »
Dec 132022
 

The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Orchid Show 2022 has now closed and I am catching my breath.  This year the curator asked the six volunteer photographers of the Selby’s Living Collection if we would consent to have our orchid photos printed large scale on aluminum and shown in their museum.  We were happy to do so.  He also asked us if they built us a temporary photo studio in the museum, if the four current studio photographers would demonstrate to the visitors how we make such detailed closeups of the flowers. We agreed and it was a delightful experience.  We tethered our cameras to our computers and tethered them to a monitor they provided so the visitors could see on a large scale what the camera’s viewfinder was imaging.  We focus bracketed the images, meaning that we took multiple images of each flower focusing on slightly different planes.  Macro lenses have a notoriously shallow depth of field, so we use this technique to get everything in focus.  We then stack these photos in a computer app and have the app select the most in-focus parts of each image and merge them into a single image.  

This orchid is named Beallara Marfitch ‘Howard’s Dream.’

 

First Blooms

 Inspiration  No Responses »
Apr 012022
 

This is the first time my jade plant has flowered. The flowers are about a half inch across and resemble flowers from other succulent plants I have.

My jade plant has three clusters of flowers.  The plant gets morning sun from the east and shade for the remainder of the day.  The main trunk has grown to about three inches in diameter.  I have pruned and propagated it many times.  The more sun it receives the redder the leaf tips become.

Giraffes at the Naples, Florida Zoo

 Inspiration  No Responses »
Mar 162022
 

According to a Naples zoo keeper, female giraffes live together in herds. The male giraffes leave at puberty, live on their own and visit the females when they want some lovin’.  

On a warm afternoon the giraffes took their turn eating endive right from the hands of visitors.  A young girl shyly offered a giraffe a treat while her mom enthusiastically took photos, blocking a good shot, but definitely made a good memory.  

One giraffe was 16 feet tall.  The protrusions from their heads are not horns, but rather knobs to protect their heads.  I was impressed how gently and languidly they moved.  They enjoyed a shower from a hose.  One rubbed  the  back  of  her  head  against a tree  branch.

Notice how long and dextrous their tongues are!  What a treat to have a telephoto lens and have the viewing stand so close to these beautiful creatures!

Amazing Colors and Textures in Flowers and Leaves

 Marie Selby Botanical Gardens  No Responses »
Mar 062022
 

The flowers are quite small, so I used a macro lens to get very close and fill the frame.  Usually I take a series of 10 to 15 images and stack them together in Photoshop.  If there is any movement during the series, they won’t align and make ghost images, which is interesting in the abstract, but makes it hard to see the details. These live in the greenhouse and bloomed in mid-February.

Bromeliaceae,
Tillandsia_kautskyi

Bromeliaceae, Dyckia_saxatilis

Begonia

Begonia

Begonia

Begonia

Bromeliaceae, Aechmea_recurvata

 Permalink  Marie Selby Botanical Gardens  No Responses »
Mar 052022
 

Bromeliaceae, Guzmania_berteroniana

Araceae, Dracontium_plowmanii

Orchidaceae, Isochilus_carnosiflorus

Bromeliaceae, Aechmea_apocalyptia

Bromeliaceae, Aechmea_apocalyptia

Orchidaceae, Phalaenopsis_schilleriana

Orchidaceae, Phalaenopsis_schilleriana

Photographers in the Gardens

 Marie Selby Botanical Gardens  No Responses »
Feb 262022
 

The Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith exhibit at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens interprets Mapplethorples photographs of plants and flowers in the gardens. Yes, these pedestals stand in the koi pond and yes, those are koi placidly swimming.

 

Scaphyglottis mesocopis is a tiny orchid. Each of these blossoms is about one half inch. This plant originated in Costa Rica.  I made this photo from 10 stacked shots using a macro lens to reveal greater depth of field than from a single exposure.

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