Category: Flowers

P52 36/52 Cannonball Flower

Posted in Flowers, Honduras, Lonely Trees, Photography, Plants, Project 52, Roatan, TravelTagged , , , , , , 11 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’m back from a great vacation. He-Man and I went on a Western Caribbean Cruise for his 60th Birthday.

One of the Ports of Call was Roatan, Honduras. We visited Gimbalimba Park while there and that’s where I was introduced to this amazing flower and tree.

P52 36 of 52: Canonball Tree FlowerThe tree grows to be 50-70ft tall, and produces fruit that are about the size and shape of cannonballs-hence it’s common name. Its proper name is Couroupita guianensis. 

The fruit is edible but, is smelly which puts people off of eating it, and after the fruit comes the flower.  The fruit grows directly from the trunk which is unusual. Unlike the fruit, the flowers smell wonderful, and are used to make perfume, and cosmetics. The Hard shell of the fruit is sometimes used for containers.

Canonball Tree -Couroupita guianensis

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 28-105mm micro lens| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…

Impatiens – watercolor

Posted in Art, Flowers, Painting, WatercolorTagged , , , , 6 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Inspired by a watercolor by Jodi Jensen that I own, and fellow blogger   http://createarteveryday.com/  I pulled out my Watercolor paints yesterday evening to paint some Impatiens.

Here’s V1

Impatiens I Watercolor

Not happy with the top of the pots, and the floor, anchoring ground I flipped the card over and began anew-

V2

Impatiens II Watercolor

I am happy that I was able to get the tile floor to look like a floor, and the pots came out better, but one pot is still a bit wonky. Perspective in drawing and painting isn’t coming easily to me.

I didn’t like the big green bush on the right so, I wet my wash brush and went over the entire painting muting the flowers, bush, and pots, and after it dried I started again.

V3

Impatiens III Watercolor

The pot on the right is still wonky in shape, but I like the softer, more muted edges, and the greenery in the background I find more pleasing.  There will be a V4 on another day.

I found the an image online (Yahoo Images) of the Watercolor by Jodi Jensen that I own and have hanging in my family room which was my image source of inspiration.  My watercolor is quite different.  🙂 I hope to be this good one day!

Jodi Jensen Watercolor ImpatiensThank you Laura for putting your art out in the world for me and others to be inspired by your challenges, successes, and words of encouragement!

iPhone 5| CS6| Winsor & Newton Watercolor Paints| Strathmore Watercolor Cards|Colors I used: Cadmium Red, Alizarin Red, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Sap Green Burnt Sienna, and Burnt Umber| Brushes-Simply Simmons 1″ Flat, Artist Loft Vienna #10, American Painters Round #8, and Robert Simmons fine line 10/0-

More to come…

P52 26/52: Honey Bee

Posted in Flowers, Honey Bees, Macro Photography, Non-Native Plants, Plants, Project 52, Santa Cruz ArboretumTagged , , , , , 24 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I’ve reached the half-way point of my Project 52. YEAH!!!

“Grevillea Superb” Non-Native

I have been wanting to get a Macro Rail for quite sometime so, I bought one. It wasn’t very expensive at all…(read dirt cheap),but it has good reviews so I thought I’d try it.
I bought the NeewerPro 4-Way Marco Rail. I was so excited to try out the Macro Rail I contacted a friend I hadn’t shot with in about a year to tell him I finally got a Focusing Rail. On our last outing we were shooting Macro Flowers, and he had a Focusing Rail; I watched him set up his shots, and I asked him a zillion questions.

He suggested we get together to shoot macro images and try out my new macro rail. We met this morning at Santa Cruz University’s Arboretum, and photographed flowers for over 3 hours. The morning flew by!

Using the Macro Rail I found it was much easier to get, and keep my subject in focus. The rig is pretty big, and heavier than I thought it would be, and I made it heavier by attaching a Universal Quick Release Plate to the bottom of the Rail for easy attaching, and removing from my ball-head. I couldn’t find my Quick Release Clamp to attach to the top base for easy camera mounting and dismounting so, this morning I had to screw the camera right into the base. It’s a pain in the #$! tricky! The screw is under the tension screw of the top rail.

When I got home this evening I looked more thoroughly for my gorilla pod which is where I have been using the clamp, et Voila! I found it. Now it’s going to be a piece of cake mounting my camera to the Macro Rail base.

It’s early days…I’ve only had the Rail a few days, and have only used it for 3+ hours, but so far I’m happy.

I’ve added the links below for the Macro Rail, Quick Release Plate, and Quick Release Clamp in case you’re wondering what it all looks like. I am not an affiliate with any of these vendors, and I don’t get any money if you click the links. I’ve only provided them so you can see what I’m using and to share the information.

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm @ f8|1/500s| ISO 250| Tripod| Manual Priority

http://www.amazon.com/Neewer%C2%AE-Focusing-Close-up-Shooting-Standard/dp/B009SJ7UWU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435450065&sr=8-1&keywords=neewer+macro+rail&pebp=1435450069580&perid=0WRW1VYZVMJCYRRZYT4A

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/329092-REG/Acratech_2128_Universal_Quick_Release_Plate.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/611828-REG/Jobu_Design_QRR_138_QRR_138_Quick_Release_Clamp.htmlQuick Release Clamp

More to come…

Monochrome Madness2 15/52: On the Verge of Blooming.

Posted in Agapanthus, Black and White Photography, Flowers, Flowers of Summer, LensBaby Composer Pro, Macro Photography, Monochrome Madness2Tagged , , , , , , 4 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Agapatha’s are blooming in my yard, and as you can imagine I’ve been out imaging them with my LensBaby Composer Pro and my Macro lens while the blooms last.

For this week’s Monochrome Madness 2 I present a single blossom on the flower on the verge of blooming. It reminds me of praying hands.

Monochrome Madness 2 15 of 52 On the Verge of Blossoming

If you have a moment please click here to go to Leanne Cole’s Blog to see all the other wonderful entries to this week’s MM2 Challenge

Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer Pro w/ Soft Focus Optic and 16mm Macro attachment| f4| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…