Himalayan Balsam, a photo from Cheshire, England

Photographer's Note

I took a trip down to a local village yesterday, a picture postcard one with an extremely ancient and famous church, I'll be doing a travelogue of the visit as there was so much to photograph, but until I get a structure for the travelogue done, here's a picture I took as I was walking along the canal.

Considering the flower was not more than an inch high I was very pleased with the way the shot turned out!

Thanks to Adrian for identification!

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Critiques | Translate

Edwin (188) 2003-07-17 3:47

A crisp shot, I especially like the angle of incoming sunlight. It emphasizes the texture of the orchid.
Regarding the name of the orchid, I'd like to advise you to see the film Adaptation ;-)

Aegean (2571) 2003-07-17 3:47

Nice macro shot Mike...The soft colors and texture details are very pleasant!

Lizard-lady (235) 2003-07-17 10:11

Great macro shot Mike, I am seriously struggling with the macro settings myself, so know how difficult it is to get such a clear picture.

thien (2112) 2003-07-17 11:00

Goot shot, Mike. You got the position and angle right. The light disturbs me because it cast the shadow on the right petal. For macro shot, it is preferable that the light is diffused. If you are into macro, you might want to buy one of those foldable translucent diffuser. You will need a tripod too :).

AdrianW (2274) 2003-07-17 15:01

It's not actually an orchid at all, this is a shot of a plant called Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), and it's actually part of the same family as the "Busy Lizzy" - those pods in the background explode when you touch them don't they?

You've done very well with the photography side though, I like the fact that I can see the cell structure reflecting in the petals. My only slight niggle is that the edges of the petals aren't quite sharp, and that chromatic aberration on the top petals...

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eduaraujo (185) 2004-07-16 20:46

Hi Mike ... Your photo is very beautiful ... i like to take photos of flower too because they hide many beautiful 'revelations' ... congrats .. .eduardo