Wild Oat Flower

Gallery: FloraPosted May 5, 2010110 views8 comments

This obviously is not the wild oat grass that grows in Europe, but this sessile-leaved bellwort is also called wild oats, although it is actually a lily. It's pale, nodding flower may not be showy, but it is a graceful plant. I like getting down to ground level to view flowers like these that hide beneath the leaves on the forest floor.

Canon 50D
Sigma 150 mm. Macro
1/40 sec. @ f/8 ; ISO 200
Camera on Superclamp on tripod foot; Mirror up; Cable Release

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on May 5, 2010 at 8:29 PM

Wayne: Very thoughtful comp with the juxtaposition of the flower stem against the BG limb. Perfect DOF choice as well. You continue to be the master of the woods.

>=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Ramamohan Pai on May 5, 2010 at 10:30 PM

Wayne, I thought this would be a Bellwort from the thumbnail but looks different from the regular Bellworts I see here. I like how you managed to shoot this without making the background stem not distracting with just about the right separation between the two blooms.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 550 Posts, 9037 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on May 5, 2010 at 10:51 PM

A lovely environmental portrait!

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Nathan Buck on May 6, 2010 at 12:57 AM

Nice plane of focus with the bloom Wayne. I would not mind a smidge less DOF, but it is also nice as is.

Nathan

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1101 Posts, 13589 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on May 6, 2010 at 7:24 AM

How about that Wayne, your my 6,000th comment, aren't you lucky. This is what I would call a true portrait of nature, I wish I was better at words, but I'm not, all I can say is you portrayed it beautifully, love the light color and detail. You definitely have an eye for this. Take care.
John & Patty

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on May 6, 2010 at 9:19 AM

Thanks everyone.

BILL: I am very honored by the grand title you have bestowed on me! (But sometimes I don't feel like "the master of the woods" when I am lying on the damp forest floor getting these low shots -- See below.) Your encouragement and support for contributors is one of the big reasons why the NPN Flora Gallery is indeed "the finest Flora gallery on the planet."

NATHAN: I did not want the leaves next to the flower to be too blurry, but the real reason I stopped my DOF experimenting on this shot is the driver who slammed on his breaks when he saw me lying on the ground, peering at my LCD, and said "Are you all right?! I had to stop because I didn't want to go home and hear on the news that there was a dead guy on this road!" (I shot this only a few yards off the dirt road after emerging from the woods where I was shooting Trillium.)

JOHN: I am lucky! Congrats on 6,000 comments -- almost 15 for every time you posted. (...and you are good enough with words to make us feel like posting more -- mission accomplished.)

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on May 6, 2010 at 4:06 PM

Wayne,

I like the depth of focus and the composition of this. Normally one would try to avoid the OOF stick in the background but I think it works well in this photo.

Now that I have a macro, I might have to take you on for your new title

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Southard on May 7, 2010 at 9:56 AM

Wayne, excellent capture of this natural scene. Everything looks spot on, and great story to go along with the image.

Registered on July 15, 2007, 258 Posts, 3892 Comments