Thimbleberry

Images of plants and flowers are challenging as they continue to move with the breeze.  This requires a higher shutter speed.  

The ripest of these thimbleberries stands out strong.  There is a feeling for me that something is wrong with the image.  It follows the rule of thirds; however, normally, I would have placed the ripe berry in the lower or upper left.  

In addition the aperture is set high to keep the depth of field very short.  

Telling the story

John Maschak takes some amazing photographs.  He also makes a good subject.  This image uses rule of thirds to include John and the Alberta Wild Rose as subjects.

Overcoming Adversity

These belles were growing in the glacial deposits at Mt. Edith Cavell.  The bleakness of the climate is apparent with the sparsity of life.  There were about 8 different kinds of flowers growing in the area and only a few trees.

This image interested me as it has two sets of bells.  The image was made with my 70-200mm lens.

Twisted Daisy

Along the Willingdon Beach trail there was a patch of tall daisies.  I found the twisted leaves intriguing.

Normally I like to use the rule of thirds; however, I knew that I should break the rules with making this image.  The high contrast nature of the white daisy with dark background draws your eye to the twisted petals.

Wild Tiger Lilly in Jasper

I enjoy flowers in my garden at home and enjoy them even more when I realize what domesticated flowers look like.  This is a wild Tiger Lilly in Jasper.  Our garden varieties are cared for and replanted and fed and..... 

In nature, the same flower thrives.  It does look different; however, seeing it in a see of green is nicer than my cultured soil at home.

I took several shots with my 70 -200 mm lens; however, I found this was the one with the best composition.

Salmon Berry

It is finally that time of year.  Walking through any park, there will be salmon berries growing.  Their season is usually from mid May to mid July depending on how much light filters through the forest canopy.  This photo was made on a sunny day with my Nikon D-60.

Bumble Bee on Rhododenron

This image was nice before cropping but even better when cropped to place the bee into the upper right third.

Original image - 

I was shooting in RAW with JPEG but Aperture 1.5 doesn't display the RAW files properly.  I have downgraded to just shooting in High Quality JPEG.    Still the images are 3800 x 2600 - they have been scaled down to max 640 to display on this blog.

Paeony with Ant help

Each Year I am amazed at the work of these ants.  Without them, the Paeony blossoms won't open without the help of the ants.  I was trying to capture them at work, but they scurry about incredibly.

Twin Beauties

These two flowers were growing in what looked like dead undergrowth.  They were in sharp contrast to the dull colours in May in Merrit.

Crocus Backdrop

This photo was made in March 2008.  I don't recall the name of the flower in the foreground.

Crocus and Bee

Just before the Crocus started to fade, the bees came out.  I had to sit patiently waiting for a bee to be in just the right spot to make this photo.  (And hope if didn't fly away before I could press the shutter.)

Blooming Crocus

If you check my archive, I love photographing the crocus in my garden. The colours are so vibrant and provide a bed of colour to make photographs.

Family Flowers

My father-in-law loves growing his flowers.  I often get a chance to take and make photos of his displays.  This one was taken last summer.

Wedding White Woses

I couldn't resist the the alliteration.  I have not raised white roses so really enjoy opportunities to photograph them.

Clover

You don't have to go far to capture beauty.  This was taken in my backyard last summer.  

Vibrant colour

The colour range on this is beautiful.  I have not adjusted the colours at all.  When I am making photographs of flowers, sometimes it is a debate of how much flower to show for the right effect.  I think this benefits from the range of colour, but should have been composed either closer or further away.

Field of Daisies

We live near a fen and there is a stretch that has masses of daisies.  This was taken last year walking to work.  I am impressed with how digital photography has advanced to capture such finite details as the pollen on the petals in the top right.

Paeony

We moved into our current house just over 4 years ago at Christmas.  It was neat to see everything for the first time.  I had never grown a Paeony before.  Somebody told me that they would be covered with ants.  I didn't think so since I had never seen these ants around the year.  Each year, they faithfully arrive and chew away at the flowers to help them open.  

This is one of about 8 buds from last year.  I did some research to find out that if you add ash to the soil, the number of blooms increases.  I put our fireplaces ashes on the ground this spring and now have over 100 buds developing.  I hope to be sharing some wonderful photos of this year's display shortly.

Weeds

I don' t know what to say.  I realize as I post these images that I love photos of dandelions.  Such an annoying plant to gardeners (including myself) but providing such beauty as well.

Snowy Crocus

The will power of a crocus to come up through the snow is amazing.  I love making shots like this that seem almost impossible.  These flowers came up in our front yard last year.