African violet, very close up

[paddler4]

Last night I took a bunch of images of small African violet flowers to use in experimenting with image stacking. The experiments with stacking were a flop, but a few of the individual images struck me, even though I would have taken them a little differently had I known the stacking wouldn't work well. (I would have ignored diffraction and opted for more DOF. I also should have blown the tiny filaments off, but I did not see them until I blew up the image.) So here is one: 50D, 60mm macro, 48mm tube, illuminated primarily by a shoe-mounted flash with a Demb reflector.

Comments welcome.

Dan

http://dkoretz.smugmug.com/photos/661803881_pDFLk-XL.jpg

[Joie]

African violets are so cool in Macro or close-up - they look like they're beaded.

[NaturePics]

I love the intense color. I react to and enjoy such strong color immediately without regards to the details of the picture.

The tube in the middle of the flower is striking too. I don't fully understand the function of the white to yellow flower part but it provides a lovely contrast to the purple color.

Bill

[paddler4]

Thanks to you both.

Bill--here's my guess. The yellow part and the long purple part must be the pistil and stamen. I can't see any pollen, but I am guessing that the yellow is the stamen. An even wilder guess is that the function of the color in the middle is to attract pollinators. A lot of flowers have something similar. E.g., you will see the same colors in the center of morning glories. I have watched bugs crawl down the long tube to get to that part of a morning glory, passing the stamen and picking up pollen on the way. But just a guess. And I agree with you about the color.

Dan

[GOLDENORFE]

very nice, good composition.
light a touch bright but good texture showing
phil

[paddler4]

Phil,

Thanks. I think you are right about the light. I'm just experimenting, but I think that this close, a Demb reflector on a shoe-mounted flash is not ideal--maybe better to get the flash off the camera and use a diffuser of some kind

Dan

[cadred]

Intense colors and sharp as a tack! :)