This is a Petunia flower, and one of my favourite plants. I spent many years as a gardener before I moved to the building industry and ended up driving a JCB (That's my day job for those of you who don't know) Considering I'm a trained horticulturist and an experienced landscape gardener then there really is no excuse for the state of my garden "I thought nobody lived here any more" was the comment from my Father in law when he visited this weekend. But as with most things, finding the time and the inclination to come in from a 12-13 hr day and then work in the garden is not top of my list. I will get round to it.
So here's the shot, I love how vivid the colour is under the single softbox used to light the subject, and this was my 80mm f/1.8 lens on some cheapo extension tubes. Pity about the slight spoiled patch on the flower caused by the recent rain, but apart from that it's all good.
Here are the links to my buddy's stuff. Keep an eye on the blogs because I know they are working hard to catch up too .
I always forget you're a trained horticulturist. That's cool.
ReplyDeleteThe petunia is one of my favorites as well. This is the first year in a long time that my wife and I have not had any petunias around the house. We were in the process of moving, and it just didn't work out. And the smell! Lovely flowers.
And this is a lovely shot. I think the water drops give it such an added layer of depth.
Thank you mate, the water drops are courtesy of an empty spray bottle, it's a must for macro work :-)
DeleteExcellent shot Pete. Like Bruce said, the water droplets make this photo and I like where you set the focus. Very sharp in there. And I would say a flower IS a plant...it's just a portion of one. Good job again mate.
ReplyDeleteThanks for confirming the plant/flower querey mate. And the lens on the tubes was the FDn 80mm f/1.8 and it's the sharpest glass I've ever had. Not bad for a lens my dad bought when I was 2 . It's pretty much been stuck to my camera since he have it to me .
DeleteThis is a awesome shot. Love the DoF and the water droplets on the flower is a great touch..
ReplyDeleteAs for the flower in question. I HATE petunias, as a teenager I replanted thousands of petunia seedlings and even larger plants at my "summer job" at a plant nursery. They tend to have a sticky substance on the stalks and gets even worse if a leafe stalk gotten broken or damaged and that stuff don't come off easily either. Sure it's a pretty plant but ugh hate handling them and handled WAY to many.. I worked at the plant nursery during all school breaks including many weekends and even after the school on weekdays from the time I was 14 until a bit after I was 18 and during spring might replant as many as 4000 seedlings in a single day.. When it was "petunia season" I was always relived when they had me do building maintenance instead of replanting even if it was oiling and fixing the automatic window openers at the peak of the plant nursery buildings (could easily exceed 55C / 130F up there at the roof peak especially if the opener system had failed)
Cheers mate. I know what you mean, I have the same thing with roses, used to spend hours and hours at work pruning and deadheading, now I can't stand em.
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