Tag: #hydrangea

Spinning Flowers

I nudged myself to get out in the backyard and experiment with some flower photography today. Summer 2020 should be the summer of experimentation, right? I played with long exposures and spinning the camera while pressing the shutter. My favorite image was this one of my hydrangea plant that preserved the outlines of the leaves.

#hydrangea, #experiment, #creative, #july #flowers, #flowerphotography, #nature, #outdoorphotography, #abstract, #spin
Hydrangea blossoms in pink and blue appear slightly abstract in this spinning image, nicely framed by a wreath of vibrant leaves. © Catherine Kelly

If you want to try this method, you need to set the camera to manual and dial in a long exposure like a third of a second. To achieve a correct exposure, you will need to stop down the lens (to perhaps f/11 or f/16), and set a low ISO (such as 100). The settings will vary for you based on the available light. Focusing is still important. Once you have achieved a good exposure with shutter speed, aperture and ISO, it’s time to play.

Hydrangea Twins

Just outside my back door, I found fraternal twins on my hydrangea bush: a pink and a blue blossom on the same plant. All the rain in the past few weeks are helping the blossoms last. Stay away, hungry deer!

#hydrangea, #july, #pinkandblue, #favoriteflower, #nature, #flowers, #nikon, #sewickley, #pennsylvania
Fresh pink and blue blossoms on my hydrangea bush. Shot with Nikon D800, at 1/500 second, f 2.8 and ISO 100. Shallow depth of field gives the photo an intimate feeling.

The hydrangea may be my favorite flower, thanks to associations with my daughter’s  June wedding as well as memories of seeing them on Cape Cod.

Early Hydrangea

My own hydrangeas around my house won’t bloom until the end of June, but a visit to the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh allowed me to dream of a summer day.

#yellow, #blue, #hydrangea, #summer, #phipps, #Pittsburgh #conservatory
This early blooming hydrangea reveals delicate shades of yellow and blue at Phipps Conservatory.

Does the lush hydrangea bloom evoke memories for you? A daughter’s wedding? Or perhaps a summer vacation in Cape Cod?

Sharing the Hydrangeas

Who enjoys the hydrangeas the most? Is it the deer? The bees?  Me?  The good news is that the bees and I can share the love and leave the plant for each other.

#white, #bee, #pollinate, #oakleafhydrangea, #hydrangea, #macro, #macrophotography
The bees and I both love the white Oak Leaf Hydrangea, and fortunately neither of us damage the plant.

The blue hydrangea is a favorite snack for the deer. The bad news: the deer have stripped my garden and only left one bush with beautiful blossoms for me to enjoy.

#blue, #hydrangea, #summer, #july, #blueandgreen, #blossoms, #flowers, #nature #macro, #macrophotography
My only hydrangea bush that was not eaten by the deer.

These two photographs are also good examples of different ways to process an image. In the white one, I was going for a clean and crisp look; for the blue one, I choose a creamy, more painterly look. I choose an approach based on the strong elements of the photo.

 

Oak Leaf Hydrangeas

Yesterday while walking in Central Park with my daughter and new baby granddaughter, a new variety of Oak Leaf Hydrangea caught my eye. The leaves on the bush look just like the Oak Leaf Hydrangea I have at home. All the varieties are in full bloom with gorgeous white clusters of flowers, but the shape of the flowers on this one were new to me. Amateur Botanists, do you know what this is called?

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Hydrangea Season

My hydrangea bushes in Pennsylvania are ready to bloom again this week. I’m reminded of my daughter’s wedding on June 30, 2012 when my hydrangeas were in full bloom by my back door.

It’s fun to see different colors on the same bush! The blossoms are so delicate.

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Hydrangeas  also remind me of Cape Cod, because they thrive there and look so pretty against the weathered shingled houses. How do hydrangeas make you feel?