Cattleya Orchids

In the past year, I’ve had the chance to photograph some spectacular cattleya orchids. I was looking back through some of my unedited photos and found several photos of various cattleya orchids that I hadn’t shared yet. Since the Longwood Gardens 2010 orchid show started this week, and the 2010 orchid show at the U.S. Botanical Gardens starts early next month, I figured I’d better get some of the current cattleya orchid photos posted.

Cattleya orchids are native to Central and South America. The genus of 42 species is known for it’s large showy flowers. The flowers usually have 3 narrow sepals and 3 broader petals. Frequently one of the three petals is larger than the others with various markings and patterns.

Cattelya orchid – Mem. Jack Kuser Jr

Two of the orchids I photographed are Laeliocattleya orchids. These orchids originally were descended from cattelya and laelio orchids. In recent years, many of the the laeliocattleya orchids have been reclassified as cattleya orchids.

Laeliocattelya orchid – Gold Digger

Laeliocattelya orchid – Thaddeus Napp

One of the orchids is a Sophrolaeliocattelya orchid. The sophrolaeliocattelyas are a hybrid of sophronitis, lealia and cattelya orchids. The flowers of the sophrolaeliocattelya orchids tend to be in the yellow-orange range.

Sophrolaeliocattelya orchid – Rosemary Clooney ‘Nanae’

And finally one Cattleytonia orchid. Cattleytonia orchids are a hybrid of cattleya and broughtonia orchids.

Cattleytonia orchid – Capria – a cross between Ctna. Jamaica Red and C. Intermedia var aquinii

Morning at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Bill and I had the opportunity to photograph a wonderful sunrise at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge yesterday morning. Bombay Hook NWR is located in Smyrna, Delaware – just outside of Dover. It’s about 100 miles from Washington, DC – a nice easy drive. We’ve been to Bombay Hook a couple of times, and we will definitely head back there again.

We photographed sunrise from at Shearness Pool. We parked at stop #4 on the Auto Tour. From this spot, you can photograph out across the marshes to where the sun is rising, and catch the light the early morning light on the pond. It’s a wonderful place.

I started out photographing some of the trees in the distance – near where the sun was going to rise. The sky was filled with wonderful soft colors.

Each year thousands of Snow Geese spend the winter at Bombay Hook NWR. In the morning, you can see them take off from the water in large groups and they seem to fill the sky. Here is one of the groups taking flight in the early morning light.

As the sun rose above the horizon, I started looking in the direction of where the early morning light would be hitting Shearness Pool. I spotted a group of marsh grasses and thought they might offer some neat photographic opportunities. It was pretty windy yesterday morning – so the grasses were continually moving. As the golden light lit them up, they looked to be dancing the early morning light and wind.

As I photographed the marsh grasses, I heard a red winged black bird nearby. In the morning at Bombay Hook there is a wonderful peaceful silence – broken only by the sound of the birds as the new day in the marsh begins -  geese taking flight in large numbers, ducks and swans on the pond, songbirds starting their sounds.

After sunrise, Bill and I headed back into town for breakfast and then returned to Bombay Hook to do some exploring. We saw lots of birds as we drove around the refuge, including some spectacular bald eagles soaring through the trees. At the pond just before the Allee House I photographed a few additional marsh grasses. By then, the sun was much higher in the sky so the grasses appeared to be light tan and white. What I loved was the contrast of the light colors of the marsh grasses against the deep blues and blacks of the water in the pond.

Bombay Hook NWR is a wonderful place to photograph. I’m looking forward to visiting it in the spring when the marsh and woodland wildflowers will be in bloom. My guess is that it will be spectacular.

Links – January 22, 2010

Bird’s Foot Trefoil (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

I found lots of interesting links this week – hope you enjoy them

Photography Links

Luminous Landscape has Flying with Camera Gear Post 25 December 2009

Peter Cox has an essay at the Luminous Landscape on The Photographer Excludes

Virtual Photography Studio has Get Clients: How Photographers are Using Facebook and Twitter

MTPT has Flickr the Front Page or An Independent Breach of Copyright

Photography is Not a Crime has Chicago Transit Authority Urges Commuters to Report Photographers

PhotoAttorney has When Does the Time Start for your Copyright Infringement Claim

Photo Business News has SpiderPic – How Stupid Can Photographers Be

Photofocus has Are You in Stealth Mode

Bryan Cave has Copyright: A Primer

Guy Tal has What Have We Learned in 130 Years

BBC has Historic Bentley Snowflake Photos for sale

Gardening Links

The Christians Science Monitor has Annuals and Perennials that Attract Birds to your Yard and

Gardening Made Easy is one of my favorite gardening blogs – lots of great info for new and not-so-new gardeners

Home and Gardening has the Top 5 Most Beautiful Gardens in Europe

Adams Gardens has a blog about native plants that I’ve been enjoying reading.

Luxury Housing Trends has Greener Garden Tips  Part 1 and Part 2

Environmental Issues Links

The Christian Science Monitor has Water Conservation – The Why and How for Homeowners and

Penn State Live has Bee Research Shows Benefits of Native Plants, Wild Bees

Greenhouse Neutral Foundation has Sea Level Rising Along US Atlantic Coast

Huffington Post has US Mexican Border Wall Destroying Habitats for Endangered Animals

Science Daily has Mountain Plants Unable to Withstand Onslaught from Invasive Species

National Parks Links

Parks Traveler has 21 National Park System Units Nominated for “Marine Protected” Status, NC Wildlife Officials Considering Reclassifying Status of GSMNP Elk, and By the Numbers, Affiliated Areas

Miltonia Orchids

Some of my favorite orchids to photograph are the Miltonia Orchids. Also known as pansy orchids, these natives of Brazil can be easily identified by their pansy shaped petals. Since the Miltonia orchids originated in the moist conditions of the rainforests, you need to keep them moist but not soggy.

Miltonia orchids were first classified as a separate genus of orchid in 1837 by John Lindley. They are named in honor of English orchid enthusiast Lord Fitzwilliam Milton.

Here are some of my favorite photographs of Miltonia orchids.

Alger Flamingo Queen Miltonia Orchid

Pluto cv. Katie Miltonia Orchid

Beethoven Miltonia Orchid

Sao Paulo Miltonia Orchid

Lycaena Stamperland Miltonia Orchid

Miltonia Orchids – unknown variety

Pluto cv Katie Miltonia Orchid

Spring 2010 Show Schedule for Beautiful Flower Pictures

I’m really looking forward to my spring show this year. I will be displaying several new photographs this spring, in addition to having old favorites still available. My schedule will take me to  both Flower and Garden shows and Art & Craft shows in four states and the District of Columbia. Here’s what I have confirmed so far for my 2010 show schedule.

February 13-14                 Garden Show Wilmington, North Carolina

February 19-21               Springtime Made in the South Savannah, Georgia

March 12-14                     Craftsmen’s Classic Richmond, Virginia

March 26-28                    Craftsmen’s Classic Chantilly, Virginia

April 9-11                           Craftsmen’s Classic Greensboro, North Carolina

April 21-25                      Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage Gatlinburg, Tennessee

May 7-8                            Flower Mart Washington, DC

I will post additional details about each show a few days before the show. As I confirm more shows, I will add them to my show schedule on my website.

I hope to see you at one of my shows this spring.

New Photo – Grape Adventure Iris

Grape Adventure Iris (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Grape Adventure Iris – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.  Grape Adventure Irises are a bearded iris introduced in 1985. They are known for their deep purple colors and because they really do smell like grapes! This wonderful iris grows to about 30″ tall. I photographed this Grape Adventure Iris at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland.

This photograph is available as a 10X10″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Grape Adventure Iris from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Another Wonderful Morning at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Bill and I headed over to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland to photograph sunrise the other day. Blackwater is one of our favorite wildlife refuges to visit. We always see a variety of wildlife and for some reason – always manage to photograph a wonderful sunrise. This trip was no exception.

Our current favorite spot for sunrise is actually just outside the refuge boundries. We usually head to the bridge just past the intersection of Wildlife Drive and Golden Hill Road (Rt 335). From here, you get a wonderful view of the west end of the refuge. There’s a small parking lot at the boat ramp where you can safely park your car. And since we’re outside the refuge boundries, we don’t have to wait for the gate to open to get to where we want to set up our tripods.

As the sky began to lighten, about 30 minutes before sunrise, we were treated to a magnificent display of pink, orange and blue. The best way to describe the sunrise was peaceful.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

The contrast of the soft colors and the silhouette of the trees on the island was wonderful. As we photographed the sunrise, we could hear the snow geese taking off from the ponds in the middle of the refuge. Every now and then, we’d see them circling in the distance.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

We were a little surprised at how low the water levels were in the marsh. When the area lightened up enough to see just how low the water levels were, I started to see some wonderful patterns in the wet sand and water. They reminded me of some of the patterns I had photographed in Death Valley on the Playa.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

As the sun rose above the horizon, I realized that these patterns in the sand might be incredible if I could capture them in the golden light just after sunrise. So we waited. In a little while the magic happened and some of the patterns in the sand were bathed in some incredible light. It was one of those mornings when the amazing light happens shortly after sunrise.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Once we finished photographing outside the refuge, we headed in for a quick trip around the wildlife drive. We saw all sorts of birds – snow geese, ducks, canada geese, some song birds and several bald eagles. Most of them were far enough away that even with my  long lens the birds would have been mere dots in the photos. I did spot one red-winged blackbird in the marsh grass near the side of the road, so I stopped and took a few photos of him.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is a wonderful place to visit. It’s located in Cambridge, Maryland, less than 100 miles from Washington, DC. So it’s an easy overnight trip for us. It’s also a great place to stop if we’re heading to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge or the Assateague Island National Seashore. I’m sure we’ll be visiting there again in the near future and I can only hope that our string of fantastic sunrises at Blackwater continues.

Links – January 15, 2010

Black Eyed Susans II (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some sites I found this week – hope you find them interesting

Photography Links

DPS has Metering Modes Explained

The Copyright Zone has posts on the New York Daily News and Mr President, Call Me I’m in the Book

TipSquirel has Part 2 of Blend Mode Basics

Virtual Photography Studio has How to Photograph Pets

Plagiarism Today has How to Correctly Use Creative Commons Works and When Not to File A DMCA Notice

PhotoAttorney has Win Photo Contests and Lose Copyright (and More Rights Grabs)

Gardening Links

Virginia DEQ has a list of Eastern Shore Native Plants

USFWS has a list of Native Plant Nurseries in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Kris Light has a great site for identifying East Tennessee Wildflowers

The Huffington Post has an article on the White House Garden

National Park Links

Parks Traveler has What Ken Burns Left Out

Environmental Issues Links

Daily Kos has It’s Only Appalachia

National Invasive Species Awarenes Week has a white paper on Invasive Species and Climate Change

BBC has World’s Biodiversity Crisis Needs Action says UN

USFWS has Conservation in the Changing Climate

New Photo – Southern Blue Flag Iris

Southern Blue Flag Iris (c) 2010 Patty Hankins

I’ve just added a new photo – Southern Blue Flag Iris – to my Beautifulflowerpictures.com website.  The Southern Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica) is a wildflower native to much of the eastern United States. These wonderful flowers grow as large as 3″ across on stalks up to 3′ tall. I photographed this wonderful iris at Greenspring Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia last year.

This photograph is available as a 10X10″ gallery-wrapped canvas.  You can order Southern Blue Flag Iris from my website and I will have it available at shows this year.

Some Fantastic Ferns

On a recent trip to Longwood Gardens, I noticed some wonderful intricate shapes in some of the ferns. I’m not sure what it was about that visit that made them catch my eye – but I actually spent most of my time that day photographing ferns and some of the patterened leaves on the various plants. I found myself fascinated by the shapes, textures and shades of green in the ferns.

The Asparagus Fern (Asparagus densiflorus) was the first one to catch my eye. Native to South Africa, these dectorative plants are not true members of the fern, it’s just what they’ve come to be called over the years. The Asparagus Ferns are easy to grow – and unfortunately are spreading in places where they are not native including in Florida and Hawaii. Be careful if you grow asparagus ferns in your home if you have cats or dogs, it is toxic to both.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Another fern I really enjoyed photographing was a Brazilian Blenchnum (blenchnum brasiliense) fern. Native to South America, on some varieties new fronds grow in shades of pink or red before turning green as they mature.What I found so interesting about this fern was the way it was uncurling – both the main part of the frond – and the leaves.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

The third fern that I was fascinated by was a pair of Venus’s-Hair (Adiantum capillus-veneris) ferns. Native to Europe, Africa, North and Central America, this fern is hardy to Zone 7 and is fairly easy to grow as a houseplant. It is also know as a Southern Maidenhair fern. The latin name for the fern – capillus-veneris – refers to the black delicate hairs on the roots and  literally means the hair of the Venus – goddess of beauty and love.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins