Category: Stories Behind the Photos

Going Light

Published on by tbeckerphotos2 Comments

I have been busy in our yard pulling the once beautiful wildflowers that have now turned brown and dry as can be.  Also the last two weekends on impulse I have purchased an heirloom Amish Paste tomato plant, three 6-packs of flowers and a pink night blooming cactus.  All have need to be transplanted and tended to in order to not go into shock. With all that going on I hadn’t been to the Desert Botanical Garden since last Wednesday.

Late yesterday afternoon I decided to go the Desert Botanical Garden to scout more night blooming cactus and to see what else had bloomed since my last visit.  With the warm temperatures I knew there would be cactus blooms that I had missed.  Since my goal was to scout the garden, going light with just my Nikon Coolpix P7000 was my choice of gear.  Would I regret going light?  A few times yes, I was seeing some incredible late afternoon light and even one night blooming cactus that had opened way early in the day!

Instead of being upset that my DSLR and macro lens and tripod were at home, I made the situation a challenge. What images could I make with my compact camera?  No tripod and no 5 in 1 reflector/diffuser. Besides, how many articles have I read and told people you don’t have to have a DSLR to make a quality image.  There were some advantages of going light.  A few images I was able to hold my camera at arm’s length and make images that would have been impossible with my DSLR as you are to stay on the trail.  Also, it was a very warm afternoon and with less gear, I was able to move through the garden much faster and not be too hot.

The  Nikon Coolpix P7000 does shoot in RAW and has quite a few functions including macro and some of which I have forgotten and should read the manual again.  The current model is a Nikon Coolpix P7800.

Here are six of the images from yesterday.  Even if you don’t have a DSLR and macro lens, you can make some great images!

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Night Blooming Cactus

Published on by tbeckerphotos5 Comments

About a week we were taking Molly for her daily walk on our usual 1.7 mile route.  As we were walking by a home that has night blooming cactus we said hello and I noticed there were several blooms on one of the cactus.  I commented on the number of blooms to the homeowner and how I have enjoyed seeing them for several years.  During the conversation Bob said, “she would really like to photograph them, that’s what she does”.  The homeowner invited me to photograph them whenever I wanted.  Even though they bloom late at night she assured me I would not disturb them.  I was beyond excited!

So for the last week I have been walking by daily keeping a close eye on the blooms. Yesterday I went out to run an errand and drove by this home to check on the blooms.  It looked as if they were started to open and it was early afternoon.  By the time I took Molly for her walk around 6 p.m. the blooms were most of the way open.  This was really early in the day for them to be open, but great for me.  That meant I could photograph them much earlier in the evening instead of very late at night.  I was so excited to be able to photograph these incredibly beautiful flowers at night!  At the end of this post will be a gallery so you can see the images in a larger size.

Trying to focus with a macro lens at night is quite the challenge!white night blooming cactus flowers  However, I was determined to make it work.  Using the flashlight I carry in my camera bag, I lit the flowers with front light to make sure my focus  was sharp.  Due to my flashlight being too yellow I used my headlamp which has a LED light and is much cooler.  Still, getting the white balance correct during post processing was quite a challenge.  Some of the images, l may go back and tweak the white balance.

 

 

 

white night blooming cactus flowers

A few people walked by and looked at me and I could tell they were wondering what I was doing.  Maybe I startled them as the yard was rather dark even with the landscape lighting and the street light.  I continued on my quest to make several images hoping I wasn’t disturbing the homeowners.  After about an hour and a half I loaded up my gear and headed home excited to see the images!

 

white night blooming cactus flowers

 

 

This image reminded me of a spider, I’ll have to come up with a creative title for the image.

 

 

 

I would have shared this last night or earlier today, however, I wanted to show the images to the homeowner before sharing with the world.  As a thank you, I’ll be having a print made of this final image from last night for the homeowners.

white night blooming cactus flowers

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