Spring Beauty Up Close

Gallery: FloraPosted April 19, 2012132 views14 comments

Another shot of the spring beauty, Claytonia virginica. I used a high ISO (no problem for the 5D Mark II) to quickly grab 13 images to stack between jiggles from breezes and raindrops.
Not crazy about the curled petals on this one, but I like the way it shows off the colors of the tiny flower.

Canon 5DII
Sigma 150 Macro
1/50 sec. @ f/16; ISO 1250
I used the lens blur filter in CS5 to blur the leaves at the bottom of the frame.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Eirini Pajak on April 19, 2012 at 8:15 PM

I love the colors & the composition! I also think it worked well to blur at the bottom.

Registered on December 13, 2011, 216 Posts, 1671 Comments

Comment posted by jack jaeger jr on April 19, 2012 at 8:25 PM

Very nice Wayne, Whats the common name for these flowers I see them in the woods when walking and dont know what they are called ?

Registered on April 2, 2012, 26 Posts, 355 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on April 19, 2012 at 8:40 PM

Thanks Eirini and Jack.

JACK -- This plant's common name seems to be causing a lot of confusion because it sounds more like a descriptive title than the name of a flower. I know of two plants in this region that share the name "spring beauty." This one -- Claytonia virginica -- is often called "Virginia spring beauty," and there is another with apparently identical flowers (but shorter, wider leaves) -- Claytonia caroliniana -- called the "Carolina spring beauty."

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on April 19, 2012 at 10:03 PM

I don't think I will get to see this flower here anytime, Wayne. Great job on the stacking - I like how your stacking exercise accommodated even the front tip of the petals. Great colors and water drops surely add more to the aesthetics. I would not mind a cleaner background but I guess its a big luxury while shooting in the wild.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Larry Lynch on April 19, 2012 at 10:34 PM

I agree, a beauty for sure. Wonderful color and comp.

Registered on September 16, 2006, 773 Posts, 9940 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Diffley on April 20, 2012 at 12:15 AM

Ok, the main subject here, the foreground flower is captured very well. My bias is not to have a busy or distracting background, which I see here. If it was possible to shoot a different f/stop to blur the background, I would experiment with that. Not sure what the circumstances were for you for the shot.

Registered on April 8, 2012, 52 Posts, 279 Comments

Comment posted by Miro Susta on April 20, 2012 at 4:53 AM

Beautiful colors & details. Excellent POV. Nicely done Wayne.

Registered on August 18, 2006, 719 Posts, 3736 Comments

Comment posted by Sally Wood on April 20, 2012 at 5:36 AM

Nice colors and detail Wayne. I ran across these when I was out shooting bluebells, and was intrigued by them . so tiny and pretty.. great to know their name. Will see if my shots are anywhere as nice as yours. As I remember mine were whiter and the colors were less pronoucned. will share as soon as I find time to work with them.

Registered on March 8, 2012, 39 Posts, 509 Comments

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on April 20, 2012 at 11:25 AM

Hi Wayne

You caught me with my guard down, on the last post !!! I'm LOL about the title

I wish we had this beautiful flower in Canada

To get 13 images outdoors is a great accomplishment

The end results are worth it, Sublime detail, color and light

Albert Darmo

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments

Comment posted by Soubhik Patranabis on April 20, 2012 at 11:48 AM

Beautiful flower and very nice details.

Registered on January 25, 2010, 54 Posts, 610 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on April 20, 2012 at 12:34 PM

The focus stack worked perfectly here Wayne. You've showcased this beauty very well.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by jack jaeger jr on April 20, 2012 at 8:03 PM

The more I look at it the more I like it, again great shot.

Registered on April 2, 2012, 26 Posts, 355 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on April 22, 2012 at 9:34 AM

Spectacular shot of these lovely, but tiny flowers. I like the curled petals and the detailed colors, especially the yellows near the petal base. Terrific job!

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on April 23, 2012 at 2:47 PM

Strong work again, Wayne in this fine portrait!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments