Everyone takes pictures of flowers. I usually try to take a different kind of flower photo... I try to view the flower from a different angle, or emphasize a part of the flower that usually goes unnoticed. I'm not sure how successful I am, or if other people appreciate this kind of photo. Nonetheless, here is one of my favorites from yesterday.

I got home from work at about 8am yesterday and took advantage of some of the best light I have seen all summer. When I uploaded the photos, I was disappointed in all of them. Today I must be in a less critical mood because I managed to identify 5 or 6 good ones. I'll post more in the coming days. This hosta leaf is about all my poor laptop can handle tonight.

When I visited Costa Rica, I kept trying to take photos of giant red leaves illuminated by the morning sun. the result was the same every time - completely washed out with blown highlights. This time I finally managed to get it right.

I've been thinking about this photo since I took it a couple of weeks ago. Only tonight was I actually able to locate it in my archive. I was starting to wonder if I had maybe just dreamt about taking it. The original version had a very dreamy, washed-out look - kind of like staring out the window of a bus, watching the scenery whip by in a blur while thinking about other things. At first, I modified the photo to make it very vibrant and contrasty. It looked like a completely different photo, but both had their merits. I debated for a long time over which version I liked better: dreamy and surreal vs. bright and contrasty. In the end, I settled for this (highly experimental) monochrome version.

I may post the other two versions of this photo later. My poor laptop has had just about all of the photo processing it can take for one night.

This is Rudbeckia (or Brown-Eyed Susan). I admit that I cheated and bought a few for our yard, even though I had vowed not to get any more plants. I was looking them up on the internet, and found a site that referred to the leaves as "hairy, itchy, and generally not one of this plant's best features". I disagree. The soft leaves and petals are what makes this such a fun and interesting flower to photograph.

It has rained almost every day since I moved to Ottawa. I don't really mind. I like rain, and rainy weather makes me feel better about being stuck inside studying in all of my spare time. Colors always look more vibrant after it rains, and there was an evening last week when the sun came out for a few minutes between cloudbursts. I managed to get some flower photos in very good light.

I like photos of flowers with water droplets on the petals. I know that anyone can stage these shots by spraying the flowers with water... To me it seems kind of fake. It's more exciting to capture the real thing -- flowers still dripping after a summer evening rain shower.

This photo was taken before I left Saskatoon. I wanted to line the vertical stems of the lilies up with the vertical lines of the fence. Graem commented that it must have taken a long time to line up this shot, but it didn't really. The hardest part was ensuring that the fence would be slightly blurred in the background, but not so much as to be obliterated. I probably should have taken a few shots to make sure of this, but I only took one. I guessed and got lucky.

Last night I stuck my nose into one of my roses and went to give it a big sniff. I jumped back a bit when I noticed three beetles in the centre of the rose. I examined the other flowers, and noticed that most of the roses had at least one beetle in the centre. Of course, I ran inside to get the camera. I took a few photos of the beetles in the roses, but most didn't turn out. To avoid stepping on the other flowers in the flowerbed, I had to stand on my tiptoes and lean out over the flowers. I couldn't actually see through the viewfinder to frame my shots.

Stepping back, I noticed that the beetles were not confined to the roses... They were pretty much attached to every other kind of flower in the bed. I managed to get a good shot or two, including this one.

These beetles are quite interesting with their iridescent color, white tufts of "fur" on their sides, and little hooks on their legs. This is another type of bug that I have never seen in western Canada. Unfortunately it's also a hungry bug. I suspect that these beetles are responsible for the chewed condition of most of my flowers.

Update: A helpful reader supplied that this is a Japanese Beetle, and that certainly appears to be the case. These beetles are well known for their destructive tendencies.

If I had my way, I would have a massive greenhouse/garden/orchard/pond with a variety of plants and trees. I would have no obligations in life other than caring for my garden (and, of course, taking the occasional picture). Unfortunately, I don't have my way. I love plants, but have very little time for them. I'm always acquiring more plants than I can look after properly; then I'm fated to watch them suffer from lack of water, food, space or attention. I also form emotional attachments to plants and trees. Not a day goes by when I don't miss the elm, willow, pear trees, cherry tree, Norfolk pine, poppies, etc. that I left behind in SK.

Knowing all of this, I decided to only bring a couple of my favorite houseplants to Ottawa. This living situation is temporary, so I vowed not to acquire any new plants for the yard. This vow lasted all of 30 seconds once I got near a garden centre.

These are mallow flowers. When I bought the plant, it had a plethora of geometrically interesting buds. I thought it would be fun to follow the evolution of these buds with my camera. I didn't really have a chance... These buds open fast. The buds evolve into saucer-sized flowers, literally overnight. The flowers remind me of the hibiscus I saw in Costa Rica. I haven't seen flowers like this in Canada before.

Unfortunately, the mallow fell victim to a storm with violent wind and rain. The plant is still alive, but the stalk with all of the flowers and buds was snapped right off and didn't rejuvenate or grow roots when I put it in a glass of water.

Clematis is one of my favorite flowers. I tried unsuccessfully to grow it in Saskatoon. I have some nice clematis in my new backyard, but unfortunately, they seem to get eaten right away by some kind of insect that targets flowers rather than leaves. In this photo, the light was shining right through the petals of the clematis, making the flower almost glow in the late afternoon light.

This photo was taken in June 2008 with my point-and-shoot. I remember the day very clearly. Graem had decided that we needed to measure the perimeter of our house. I don't remember what project this was for, but it was something that had to be done immediately and couldn't wait. I was standing there for an interminable amount of time holding the end of the tape measure. It was about 8pm, and light was rapidly fading from the sky. The whole time, I was looking at our caraganas and thinking that I must photograph them. It also seemed like something that had to be done immediately.

As soon as the measuring was done, I grabbed the camera. I wasn't hoping for too much given the lighting conditions. I know the photo isn't perfect - I must have been using the "super macro with LED" function on my camera as there is reflection from the flower petals and the leaves have an unnatural green glow. Nonetheless, I was quite pleased with the results. In fact, I ended up having a print made of this photo to hang on my wall. I had never really taken notice of caragana flowers before.

I debated long and hard about removing this photo from Red Bubble. It had the least views of any of my photos currently on the site, but it is the first Red Bubble reject that had been favorited by someone. I know that some people are quite liberal with their photo 'favoriting', but it still seemed kind of mean to remove someone's 'favorite' photo. I ended up removing the photo... After all, as I become a better photographer, and as I become more well-known on the site, a higher proportion of my photos will probably be 'favorited'. If I leave them all on Red Bubble forever, I risk ending up with one of those 200-page profiles I am trying to avoid.

This photo was teetering on the brink of Red Bubble elimination even before I left Saskatoon. I decided that I would try to take a better photo of the caraganas with my DSLR and macro lens to replace it. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to it the caraganas had finished blooming.

Spring and summer are far too transient. Right now, I am especially goaded by the fact that it is summer and I'm in an exciting new city, but I'm always either stuck at work or at my desk studying for exams. There isn't nearly enough time for photography or enjoying life in general.