Macros: Up Close and Personal

When I take pictures of flowers or trees or insects (or just about anything), I always want to see  whatever it is "up close and personal."  I'm still struggling with the macro setting on my Canon EOS 5D camera, so the following pictures are not perfect, but I'd like to share them anyway.  Hopefully, they will inspire me to keep practicing until I can make perfect ones.  And that reminds me of this quote I came across a while ago which was made by Ansel Adams (and he should know) ...

That is so true ... and I absolutely love everything that goes into the making of a photograph.  I had fun making the following pictures and hope you enjoy seeing them "up close and personal." 

Little green bug happily munching on my Snapdragon

  

Impatiens

Clover Blossom

 Red Verbena

Petunia

(Notice the stamens in the center)

Aren't they amazing!

I think they look like little jewels.

 I don't remember what kind of flower this is ...

maybe a Periwinkle?

Leatherleaf Mahonia

Lantana Blossom

Lantana Bud

Bay Magnolia Seed Pod

 

Japanese Yew Berries

As I said, I need to practice making macro pictures ... but that's going to be a FUN thing, kinda' like when you go on a trip, getting there is sometimes half the fun.

The Rose and the Morning Glories

I keep thinking, with each new rosebud that opens on the climbing rose vine growing on our arbor, that it will be the last rose of the summer. I captured this pretty little rosebud last week and included it in a post called, Summer's End. Over the weekend, I noticed that it had opened, and I snapped these close ups of it. Isn't it exquisite! I also captured some pictures of our granddaughter Avery Grace's Morning Glories, that she and I planted back in the Spring. They are beginning to fade now, but still have some glorious blossoms left on the vines. Here are some close ups of Morning Glory buds I captured in August ... What an amazing and sweet little flower, and so deserving of their name. I'm so glad I captured the pictures of the Morning Glories for Avery Grace. She was so excited a couple of weekends ago when she was visiting, and took everyone to the back yard to show us her Morning Glories. There's nothing like sharing God's glory with a child — and seeing the joy in their eyes as they discover it for themselves.

Lantana

I braved afternoon temperatures hovering in the mid-90s and a 107-degree heat index yesterday to capture some pictures of my Lantana plants which are in full bloom. I was hoping there would be some butterflies fluttering about, too, but I guess they were smarter than I was and were in a nice shady place trying to stay cool.

I did manage to get a few close up pictures of the Lantana blooms and made an amazing discovery in the process. Have you ever noticed how similar Lantana and Hydrangea plants are?

The blossoms of both plants grow in clusters, although the Lantana flowers are much smaller, of course ...

Their leaves are quite similar, too ...

[Lantana Leaves]

[Hydrangea Leaves]

As I looked at the different flowers through my macro lens, I was amazed by how many different stages the blossoms go through before being in full bloom.

I think this one looks like one of those rides at a fair with the little bucket seats that twirl round and round ...

And some of the buds reminded me of miniature bridal nosegays.

Can't you just imagine a sweet little fairy bride carrying one of those tied with tiny pink ribbons! Well, perhaps not ... but I can! (And while we are imagining, I can even picture tiny fairies riding in the little buckets of the "merry-go-round" flower shown above).

One of the things I like about Lantana is that it blooms here in Mississippi in late spring, summer, fall, and into winter. This last picture obviously wasn't taken yesterday. It was taken on December 5th last year when we received an unseasonably early snowfall.

That makes me wish for some of that snow and December temperatures, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. Unfortunately, we still have a long, hot summer ahead of us.

The Soul of a Flower

I received the inspiration for this post from a comment one of my favorite blogging ladies -- Tonja at Tonja's Gatherings -- recently made about some of my photos of spring flowers and trees. If you have not had the pleasure of visiting Tonja, I hope you will stop by Gatherings and treat yourself to her delightful sense of humor, ever-inspiring faith, and beautiful, sweet spirit.

Here is the gracious note she wrote about my flower photos:

How you manage to find just that exact spot on the flower that holds it very essence! It's as if you can pick out the soul of the flower! I guess it's not 'soul' in a flower, but I think you get my drift! It was wonderful.

I appreciated Tonja's kind words and they got me to thinking about the fascinating concept of flowers having a "soul." I looked up the definition of soul, and found that it has several meanings that could apply to flowers:

Spirit, life, vitality;

The quality or qualities that
make a thing what it is;

An active or essential part;

And my favorite:
The quality that arouses emotion and sentiment.

Since I've been photographing flowers, I have discovered some of those qualities hidden deep within their petals and centers, which can't be seen by the naked eye. Only through the magic of my camera lens have I been blessed with seeing the actual heart of a flower -- it's pistils and stamen and carpel and all its other parts that "make it what it is." It is always a breathtakingly beautiful sight when my camera focuses on a flower's deepest core, and it never fails to evoke an emotional and/or sentimental response from me.

It may sound strange, or even weird, but I can recall several occasions when I have been overcome by emotion while capturing pictures of flowers. The most notable occasion was during a photo shoot in March of this year at the Old Court House Museum here in Vicksburg. As I walked around the grounds, I spotted this beautiful purple Iris in the distance.

It looked so regal, standing there proud and tall, and I decided to get some close up shots. Boy, was I in for a surprise! You can click on the images, if you'd like to get a closer look inside these flowers.

As I zoomed in with my lens, I noticed that it looked like a little light was shining from deep within the depths of the petals.

And the closer I zoomed, the brighter the light became ...

Until it looked as if there was a candle burning brightly within the center of the Iris -- like a heartbeat.

I'll never forget seeing that image through the lens, and the chill bumps accompanying it.

Another memorable occasion was when I was taking some macro shots of the center of a magnolia blossom. As I clicked away, I watched transfixed as some of the stamen fell away from the carpel, and I was overwhelmed by the sheer delight of being able to capture it as it was happening.

There have been countless other times when God's glory has been revealed to me from the depths of flower petals. While all flowers are beautiful on the outside, I believe that, just as with human beings, it is the "inner glory" found deep within the heart of a flower that makes up its "soul," whether it's a tiny wildflower, or a magnificent magnolia blossom.

I would like to share a few more pictures I've captured of flowers that gave me just a small glimpse into their "hearts and souls."

Like the "purple heart" of this Queen Anne's Lace blossom.

Or the centers of this glorious Hibiscus and the Lotus Blossom below, which aren't hidden from sight ...

The very essence of a Bradford Pear Tree Blossom

The heart of a Morning Glory

And the breathtakingly beautiful
center of a Snapdragon ...

And, last, but not least, one of my favorite most recent magnolias, with its very heart on display for all the world to see ...

I would like to thank Tonja again for giving me the inspiration for this thought-provoking post ... and I would like to thank God for the blessing of His glory that surrounds us ... even in the "souls" of His flowers.