Sabatia stellaris

Gallery: FloraPosted August 4, 2010121 views19 comments

I went in search of a specific osprey nest at a county park near my house and didn't find what I was looking for. But I did find a large swath (in addition to a second small patch) of Sabatia stellaris (salt-marsh pink) which is a NYS threatened species of plant. I had previously discovered a population of this plant at a marsh near my house (this was about 10 miles away) and reported that population to the state which had been previously unknown. A quick check on the states site and this population appears to have been unknown as well, so it certainly was a good find.

Unfortunately for me, the mosquitoes made it nearly impossible to spend any amount of time composing my shots... but it reminded me that they are in bloom so I can check out the other location with full mosquito gear on and try to get that ultimate shot.

Nikon D300s 105mm f/2.8 VR HH, kneeling
f/6.3
1/500s
ISO 400

Cropped out an OOF bloom, added as trip of canvas to the top (oh how I love that content aware fill feature in CS5!), sharpened and noise reduction. Minor curves adjustment.

- Luke

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Mark Stahlke on August 4, 2010 at 9:18 PM

Nice find. That's a beautiful flower and well photographed.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 97 Posts, 782 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Southard on August 4, 2010 at 9:59 PM

Great find Luke and good to let the state know about it so hopefully it can be protected. Really good color and DOF/POF; nice and sharp in the center. For some reason, I wish there was a bit less space on the left, but that's probably just a preference on my part. Superb BG and nice job on the HH.

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

Comment posted by Pat Sampson on August 4, 2010 at 10:26 PM

Good looking image Luke and sounds like it was a great find. I think I might have preferred a little more dof but on the other hand the bg doesn't intrude at all and I like that separation. I probably would crop some from the left as Philip suggested. I'm looking forward to seeing the next one of these you capture.

pat

Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments

Comment posted by Kathy Odiorne on August 4, 2010 at 10:45 PM

Beautifuly done, Luke. I like how it seema to float in a sea of green. You've done well braving the mosquitos, too

Registered on November 1, 2003, 211 Posts, 1471 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on August 4, 2010 at 11:22 PM

Luke, the dof concentrated on wriggly center section works perfectly. Your signature seems to add balance and eye-direction to the shot...hmm. Cool shot!

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on August 4, 2010 at 11:50 PM

Luke, I love the detail in the center of the flower.

The content-aware fill sometimes works so well!

I know what it's like to shoot with mosquitos as company. ARGH!

In this image, I find the in-focus petal on the right to be a bit distracting, and I certainly wish you the best getting back to take a series of bracketed images. Sure takes time, doesn't it?

Cheers,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on August 5, 2010 at 4:00 AM

Very nicely done!

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on August 5, 2010 at 4:52 AM

Excellent color and detail Luke, and presented beautifully. By the way, I always carry Deep Woods Off.

John

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

Comment posted by Bob&Charly Nelson on August 5, 2010 at 6:27 AM

Great eye, capture and presentation Luke. Well done.

Bob

Registered on October 27, 2005, 289 Posts, 4202 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Benner on August 5, 2010 at 7:33 AM

Beautiful, Luke. Great job of isolating the center.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 482 Posts, 1868 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Gallo on August 5, 2010 at 9:28 AM

Beautifully caputerd and presented Luke, I like this a lot

Registered on September 14, 2005, 182 Posts, 1471 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on August 5, 2010 at 10:32 AM

Love the choice of dof here, Luke - the centre is such a remarkable feature of the flower it deserves full attention ! The simplicity of the bg works well.

Registered on May 18, 2007, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments

Comment posted by Brigitte Lorenz on August 5, 2010 at 2:18 PM

wonderful details in the center, Luke....interesting plant I`ve never seen before

Brigitte

Registered on January 10, 2009, 187 Posts, 1507 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on August 5, 2010 at 6:22 PM

This is sweet. If you are planning to top this with the ultimate shot, I can't wait. That is a tall order.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on August 5, 2010 at 7:13 PM

Lovely image Luke.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 5, 2010 at 8:48 PM

Great find Luke. Never seen one before. The center of the flower is really interesting with jagged yellow, red and white. A very nice capture (considering that you were tormented by mossies) and lovely bg.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

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

Wonderful color, background, and dof.

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

Comment posted by Bill Fach on August 7, 2010 at 12:52 AM

Luke: 2 thumbs up on the comp and DOF/POF choice. I actually like the space on the left and the center is spectacular. You're really going to be awesome when you pull the trigger on a tripod. Well done.>=))>

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

Comment posted by Albert Darmo on August 8, 2010 at 10:42 PM

Hi Luke

Thanks for sharing this almost endangered species. I like how you isolated the center of this beautiful flower. great work.

Albert Darmo. Canada

Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments