Category: Flora

Truth is I have know idea what this flower’s proper name is. It is another one from the best residential garden in Canada. Yes, I’m still resting on my laurels. Actually, I have made a commitment to finish my family history book in time to have it printed to give as Christmas gifts. And Friday is my genealogy day.  Eleven more families to scrapbook. One a week should do it. I promise I will take some new photographs tomorrow. Should be easy as I am visiting people with nice gardens. For processing I just tweaked the exposure a little, added a high pass filter and touched up some bruises and pollen on the flower.

I’m still trying to get my life caught up to normal so flower photography did not happen again today. I pulled this one from the Butchart Garden file. I just love the sense of motion in this one, almost like the flower is dancing. I did the usual tweaks with sharpening and exposure, added a vignette and a light texture to the background.

So, I caught the airport shuttle in Victoria at 6:45am and finally got to Portland at 2:00pm after an amazing adventure with customs and TSA in Seattle.  Yep, back in the USA. Then I reclaimed my car and power drove home with only one or two brief stops. Needless to say I did not have time to photograph flowers. In fact, after collapsing in my easy chair I went “Oh, shit… I have to go upstairs and find a flower to post”. But then I realized I had all these amazing flowers on the laptop so I fetched it and started through yesterday’s flowers and chose the first one I liked, which I’m pretty sure is another Dahlia. I just loved this perky little three toned flower and it looks pretty sharp against the dark shrubbery behind it. I did minimal post processing because this laptop is putting out a lot of heat and the air conditioner is still playing catch up. But at least my daily flower is now posted!

It was a tough one today. We visited three different gardens. But this Dahlia from the private garden that won best residential garden in Canada won the day. So many pretty Dahlia. Makes me think a trip to Shore Acres needs to happen soon. Maybe tomorrow. Very simple post processing again. some exposure adjustment and a high pass filter.

I don’t know if this flower has another official name but I thought it and its companions were the most beautiful flowers I saw today. And this was at Butchart Gardens so you know there were a LOT of beautiful flowers. I shot this one with one of the lensbaby lenses. I was switching back and forth so I’m not sure which one. I adjusted the exposure a little and added a high pass filter in post. That’s all.

Today’s garden was that of the Horticultural Center of the Pacific. They had a wide range of plants and garden types but the backlighting on the California Poppy won the day. Just a little exposure adjustment, a high pass filter to bring out the details and a slight vignette.

I don’t know what this flower is called but the bees certainly seem to like it. And they are very clever about finding the ones that are in full bloom. I was impressed by their perfect spherical shape and deep blue color. I found these at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens in Vancouver. Possibly our best garden yet. I adjusted the exposure a little on this one and added some detail and a vignette.

Our first stop this morning was the rose garden at Stanley Park. Unfortunately the local “heat wave” had taken its toll on the roses. I was much happier with this Rudbeckia I found in the landscaping at our second stop at Prospect Point. Apparently the flowers had just been watered. It’s always a bonus if you can get water drops on a flower. Some photographers do it intentionally. I’m more of a purest and try to take what I find naturally, even if it does come from a sprinkler system. I shot this one with the sweet 50 and only added a high pass filter for sharpening.

The only flower garden we visited today was at Queen Elizabeth Park, the highest point in Vancouver. We spent more time looking at the view than the flowers. But we did take a stroll through one of the quarries. Yes, like Buchart Gardens in Victoria the gardens of Queen Elizabeth Park were built in an old quarry. I didn’t have a lot of time to get creative but I was impressed with the Hydrangeas. These are doing much better than mine at home, which seems to be done putting on new blooms.  I suppose they got started a little later too. No fancy post processing today. Just a High pass filter to bring out the details.