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Closed Gentian
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Closed Gentian

by Wayne Jones

Gallery: FloraPosted April 9, 201495 views8 comments
Wow, it's been a long time since I have seen a flower in my area, and a longer time since I posted in this gallery. But I remembered that I did shoot a couple of late bloomers last fall that I never got around to posting, since I got so busy with the fall leaf landscapes.

The flower of this species of gentian changes colors from more red to this deep blue as it matures, but it never opens. Like many flowers, this one is built to accommodate specific pollinators who will concentrate on one species, thus making it more likely that they will bring the pollen from flowers of the same species, instead of from other kinds of plants. In this case, larger bumble bees are virtually the only insects strong enough to push their way into the tight, bud-like flowers.

I shot this with a long lens from my canoe, bracing the canoe near shore with my tripod "anchored" in the shallow water. The woods are so dark here that these flowers mostly grow on the river banks, so they must be shot from the water.

Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 100-400mm. + 1.4X TC
1/30 sec. @ f/8

Comments

8 comments
Comment posted by Dennis Plank on April 9, 2014 at 12:48 PM
Superb image quality, Wayne. I'd never guess you shot this from a canoe-particularly with that shutter speed. Excellent composition, and I like the dark bg.

:toast:
Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments
Comment posted by Albert Darmo on April 9, 2014 at 3:33 PM
Hi Wayne :wavey: Glad to see you back :eek: :jump: :eek: i missed your fine work :smile: thanks for sharing this beautiful wildflower... well composed with stunning colors :toast:



Albert Darmo
Canada
Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments
Comment posted by gary phillips on April 9, 2014 at 9:59 PM
Wonderful composition and really sweet color combo, Wayne. The dark Bg sets it all off beautifully. :toast:
Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
Comment posted by Mike Ramy on April 9, 2014 at 11:04 PM
Hey Wayne,
As you know, its always better from the water. :wink:
This image is really gorgeous and as already mentioned, the colors and BG are outstanding along with the detail.
Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on April 10, 2014 at 3:57 AM
That blue is extraordinary, Wayne ! Can't imagine it's easy shooting from a canoe but this is beautifully executed, with the petal and leaf textures so well brought out. Might just have liked to see the front leaf sharp too, but that's very minor. Lovely image !!
Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on April 10, 2014 at 10:57 PM
Wayne:

Great to see you posting here again.

The blue really stands out from the dark bg. In fact the graduated light to dark bg works well for this image. :toast:
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on April 11, 2014 at 3:17 PM
Good image Wayne, and thanks for the botany lesson! :smile:
Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments
Comment posted by Bob/Charly Nelson on April 11, 2014 at 7:31 PM
WOW, wonderful blue and detail Wayne. No nits here.
Bob :wavey:
Registered on January 29, 2014, 35 Posts, 398 Comments