Month: April 2014

Friday Floral – Opulent, Frilly and Feathers

Published on by tbeckerphotos8 Comments

I spent the morning of Earth Day shooting at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  I had heard the iris were in bloom and gorgeous.  Iris are not native to Arizona, but can be grown here.

lavender iris in bloom

Growing up in the midwest, iris were quite common.  My hometown’s official flower is the iris.  My mom had iris and her eldest brother had iris.  My uncle was quite proud of his iris and the show they displayed every year.  So it’s no wonder that I have a personal admiration for iris.  As I won’t be shooting flowers in the midwest this spring, this was not an opportunity to be missed. Especially as Earth Day is an extra special day for me.

purple iris in bloom

This was the first time shooting iris with my 105mm macro lens and was more challenging that I expected.  Not only are the flowers much larger than the wildflowers in Arizona, they have more shape and texture.   While processing my images, I wondered what images could have been made with my 50mm 1.8 lens.  Sometimes that lens works better for larger flowers and also has a greater depth of field.  As it is 150 miles roundtrip to the arboretum, a second trip is unlikely.

lavender iris

Happy Friday everyone, hope you enjoy this week’s post!

Vellum

Published on by tbeckerphotos2 Comments

I spent the morning of Earth Day shooting at  Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It had been almost a year since my last outing there making my trip long overdue.  I had heard from another photographer that the Demonstration Garden was full of flowers and was anxious to see what I could find.

The Desert Meadow was full of Mexican Evening Primrose (Oenothera belrlandieri).  The flowers are about 2 inches in diameter and the petals are paper-thin with pink veins and a sweet fragrance.  Although they look delicate, they are easy to grow and can be invasive as they spread.  They require little water and maintenance and look great as a ground cover.

I use to have them in the front yard of another home we lived in and enjoyed them each spring.  Maybe next spring I’ll find a place in the yard of our current home to plant them.

pink wildflowers