Special offer

Go to my etsy shop to enjoy special offers on 8x12" prints.  You can purchase 2 for £25 (a saving of £5), or 3 for £30 (a saving of £15).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RachaelDawn?section_id=8127941

Plant names aka nomenclature

Today we use the classification system introduced by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (However the English man, John Ray, was an early pioneer in this field and is commonly forgotten about).  Prior to this plants had long winded names which could include ten or more words.   

The Linnaeus system splits plant names into two words.  The first is the genus (always started with a capital letter) and the second specific epithet (always in lower case).    Plants in the same genus share certain characteristics which are not always obvious to the naked eye. Allium, Rosa, Tulipa are all genera, and contained in each genus are species - Allium schoenoprasum (chives), Allium sativum (garlic), Allium christophii.

The specific epithet gives details about the plant.  This could be about where if has come from or who discovered it:

Locations

• sinensis– from China (Camelia sinensis)
• australis – from the Southern hemisphere (Livingstonia australis)
• europaeus – from Europe (Ulex europaeus – European gorse)

Details about the habitat:

• sylvaticus – from woodlands (Fagus sylvatica)
• pratensis – from meadows (Geranium pratensis)

Descriptive details:

• macrophylla – big leafed (Hydrangea macrophylla)
• grandiflora – large flowers (Magnolia grandiflora)
• sanguineus – blood red (Haemanthus sanguineus)

However as with any system, not everything is foolproof.  There are some plants which do not agree with their names like Scilla peruviana which actually comes from the Mediterranean and not Peru as their name suggests.

Experimenting with f-stops

When using a macro lens it is vital to have an understanding of f-stops.  If I left my camera on the automatic setting it would always pick f/2.8 or f/5.0 when I'm taking macro images.  The f-stop will determine the aperture.  The aperture determines how much light enters the sensor on the camera.  The smaller the f-stop number the larger the aperture so the more light hits the sensor.  Alternatively the larger the f-stop the less light will enter the camera.  With larger f-stops the shutter speed is slower so a tripod may be necessary, increased noise may also arise leaving images looking grainy.

For the following images of an asiatic lily, I had the camera on the AV setting.  I fixed the ISO to 200 and changed the f-stop.  The camera determined exposure automatically.

Here I used f/2.8, exposure 1/1000s, ISO 200

F/2.8 gives a minimal depth of field which results in the stigma being the only part which is in focus.

f/5.0, exposure 1/400s, ISO 200

Slightly more detail is starting to reveal.

f/13.0, exposure 1/50s, ISO 200

Now you can see the spots on the petals and more detail in the anthers.

f/25.0, exposure 1/13s, ISO 200

A larger depth of field is given showing the most detail.

Return of the lily beetle

Guess who came back?  Yes, lily beetles in abundance.  This time I grabbed my camera.  They are so mean looking.

The Language of flowers - ABC

I love how sentimental the victorians were, decorating their jewelery with hidden messages.  Here are what some flowers mean:

Alstromeria - Devotion, Friendship

Bluebell - Humility, Constancy

Calendula - Joy

Asiatic Lilies

Asiatic lilies give great impact and are really easy to grow.  They may not be fragrant like their oriental hybrid relatives but they come in more colours and flower earlier.  I grow mine in containers on the patio.  They are really simple to grow from bulbs and it works out a lot cheaper than buying them in bud from a garden centre.  They're simple to look after too, I just stake mine if they are getting to big to stand up straight by themselves.  Just watch out for lily beetles.  When I was watering my plants a few nights ago there were about eight of these little critters on my lilies.  They are red with black bodies, and make lots of holes in the foliage.  I have to admit the horticultural part of my brain kicked in before the photographer part, because they were all dead before I had chance to take a photo of them.  I prefer to be organic and knock them off the plant and stand on them rather than spraying them.  If you need to use chemicals to get rid of them, use one with contains thiacloprid or imidacloprid.

To view full picture:

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/p381546101/h3ff67e96#h3ff67e96

Dicentra spectabilis

Dicentra is one of those plants that you either love or hate.  I don't think that there is an inbetween option with this plant because it is so different.  Common names for this plant include bleeding heart and Dutchman's trousers.  I may not have been to the Netherlands, but I have met a few Dutch people, and their trousers, I'm glad to say, are not comparable to these flowers.  I would love to know who makes plant names up, because they must have a great imagination.

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/flowers/h112c5613#h112c5613

Dicentra spectabilis should really be called Lamprocapnos spectabilis but I still call it by it's old name, and garden centres still sell it under the Dicentra name too.  It grows in Eastern Asia in the wild, but in cultivation it can also be white . 

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/flowers/h112c5613#h112c5613

If growing this lovely plant keep it in partial sun, and make sure that it is not in acidic soil.  Then you will be guaranteed a lovely display from spring to summer.

Spring flowers

 

After the cold winter weather and relative scarcity flowering plants spring flowers are a welcome sight into any garden.  Snowdrops are one of the first to arrive.  It is almost surprising to believe that rare snowdrop bulbs can sell for hundreds of pounds, like the snowdrop bulb in Scotland which sold for £725.

Hundreds of years earlier in the seventeenth century tulips were all the rage for collectors.  Large numbers of bulbs became infected by tulip fire which caused striped flowers to occur.  In the Netherlands these rare specimens sold for as much as the price of a house in Amsterdam.

Daffodils are always popular.  Who can resist a vase brimming full of yellow daffodils?

Cherry blossoms flower in abundance, and provide a really stunning sight.  The only downside of this wonderful tree is the almost infinite amount of petals that fall to the ground after a windy day.  One of my favourite spring flowers I have seen this year has got to be the Japanese quince.  I was mesmorised by the beauty of Chaenomeles speciosa 'moerloosei'.

There are so many other spring favourites like bluebells, bleeding heart, magnolia and hyacinth.  The list could just go on and on...

Moving water with camera tv setting

To make water appear frozen or as droplets you can use the tv setting on your camera.  With tv mode you can control the shutter speed. I use a tripod and a remote so you don't get camera shake with longer exposures.

f/40, 1 second exposure (ISO 100) makes the water look more like steam in this shot.

f/11, 1/15 second exposure, ISO 100

f/2.8, 1/400 second, ISO 500

f/11, 1/1600 second, ISO 800 

You can see from the above settings, as the shutter speed gets faster the ISO increases which may increase noise in the image.  The best way to learn is to experiment with the tv mode, so go out and have fun.



Orchid aftercare

I often get asked about what you should do when your orchid has stopped flowering.  Well, this depends on what type of orchid it is.  For most orchids you cut the stem at the base.  Phalaenopsis, the most common available kind in shops are different.  You cut the stem at a node below where the last flower came from.  This should allow the Phalaenopsis orchid to flower much sooner than if you had cut it from the base.

Watering is also a common question.  For Phalaenopsis orchids I go by the colour of the roots.  If the roots are looking nice and green then they don't need water (this is why you should keep your orchid in a clear pot).  If your orchid's roots are looking a creamy colour and are shrivelling then water is needed.  You probably need to water every 10-14 days.  Either water by dunking in a bucket of water or place the pot in a sink and water from the top.  Make sure that you don't get water in the leaf rosette because this could encourage rot.  Also don't let your orchid sit in excess water because they don't appreciate this.

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/cut-flowers/h46e3ad3#h46e3ad3

Basic manual photo stacking in adobe photoshop elements

Focus stacking is one of the most useful tools for me in adobe photoshop CS5.  There is no in-built facility to do this in photoshop elements 9 but this is a tutorial on how I improvise.  For this to work, all photos must have all elements in the picture aligned.

I took two pictures of the same orchid.  The first has the front white part of the orchid in focus and the second has the red dots in the centre of the orchid in focus.

 

1. Edit both photographs in the RAW editor so the colours match.
2. Open both photos in photoshop elements
3. With the photo open which has the majority of the details which you want to keep from the menu choose select>all
4. Then from the menu edit>copy
5. Then open the window with the other image and from the menu edit>paste.  This pastes the first image over the second as a new layer.
6. Add a layer mask by clicking on the rectangle button with a white circle in the middle.

 7. When you paint the layer mask with black paint then you can remove the area of the image of the top layer.  If you've removed too much then using white paint will bring the area back.
8. When you've finished you can flatten the image.  From the menu Layer>flatten image.
9. If your happy with the result then save, but don't forget the change the file name.

This is the final image I achieved:

 You can see this image on my website: http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/cut-flowers/hc84cf23#hc84cf23

Frosty morning

So, it is a long time since I posted anything, and that was not even a proper blog post; just an intro.  I won't let that happen again, and my next blog post will be much sooner.

It was a frosty Sunday morning, so I ventured out for a walk in the woods. I was feeling lazy, so I just put my 18-55mm lens on my camera.  I didn’t feel like carrying my macro lens and tripod, which I am normally never without.  I was so happy with my macro lens that I literally forgot about other lenses. 

The frost left everywhere looking magical.  Even the leaves and dead grasses seemed to come alive.  The ground was frozen solid, so every footstep was accompanied with a crunching sound.

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/leaf/h817bbd4#h817bbd4

The berries on the ivy, which were coated in frost looked almost good enough to eat.  They look like they'd been dipped in sugar!

http://www.flower-pictures.co.uk/leaf/h2e44ec90#h2e44ec90

I am not a landscape photographer, and don't even pretend to be.  I can't imagine getting up at four in the morning just for the possibility of getting a great shot.  The only thing that would make me get up at that time would be the chance to see a supernova, or the aurora.  The image below, is my attempt at a landscape photography.  It is not perfect but I like how the green gate contrasts with all the brown colours in the image.

 You can see more of my images at my website: www.flower-pictures.co.uk