Brain Celosia – celosia cristata

I recently had the chance to photograph some Brain Celosia (celosia cristata). Also known as cockscomb, these striking plants thrive both indoors and outdoors. These hardy members of the Amaranthaceae family are annuals, and grow relatively easily from seeds.

I photographed the Brain Celosia in early morning light after a night of intermittent rain shows. The remaining water droplets on the plants really brought out the textures in the celosia. And the color was amazing – ever changing from reds to almost pink-purples as the light changed.

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Early One Morning in Phoenix

In August I spent a week at a conference in Phoenix, Arizona. I didn’t get much photography time while I was there – conference ran all day into the evening most days – and it was ridiculously hot. 

But I did head out early one morning to see what I  could find  - and I found some wonderful desert plants to photography.

First was a night blooming cereus cactus – cereus peruvianus. Native to South America, these cactuses can grow to 10 feet tall. The flowers bloom only for one night.

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I also photographed some Red Bird of Paradise – caesalpinia pulcherrima – flowers. A member of the pea family, these beautiful red, yellow and orange flowering plants can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the western hemisphere. 

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I’ve always loved the patterns created by the needles of the barrel cactus. I had fun photographing this one from above.

© 2012 Patty Hankins

And finally – the fruit of a prickly pear cactus. 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I think it was definitely worth getting up and heading out to photograph that morning! What do you think?

 

Links – September 28, 2012

Painted Lady Hibiscus (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some posts and articles that I enjoyed this week; I hope you enjoy them as well

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has Does Shenandoah Celebration Signal End Of CCC’s “Greatest Generation?” and 15 Ways To Enjoy The National Park System This Fall

National Parks Conservation Association has Make Plans for Public Lands This Saturday–and Enjoy a Fee-Free Park Day

Wildlife Links

The Telegraph has Scientists solve the mystery behind the flight of the bumblebee

The New York Times has  Cat’s Stripes and Spots Are Tracked to a Gene 

Scientific American has Japanese River Otter Declared Extinct

Kitchen Daily  has 19 Crops That Would Disappear Without Bees

Mother Jones has Night of the Living Honeybees?

Environmental Issues Links

The New York Times has How ‘Silent Spring’ Ignited the Environmental Movement

Mother Jones has Crossing the Melting Arctic in a Sailboat

Yahoo! News has What Will Ice-Free Arctic Summers Bring?

Photography and Art Links

Visual Science Lab has One of those weekly phone calls that makes you question your career choice…

NBC News has Gay couple sues after photo used in anti-gay flier

Jim M. Goldstein has Digital Is Not Forever

The Trichordist has Is The New Internet Association Really Just A Pro-Corporate Version Of The Pirate Party? No It’s a Transparent Ploy by Google To Curry Favor With Congressional Republicans.

DC Area Flower Safari

If you are in the DC area, I hope you will join me and other flower lovers at our DC Flower Safari Meetups. The next Meetup is scheduled for Saturday, September 29 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. We will meet at 6:30 AM at the Grosvenor Metro Station. Then we can carpool to Longwood. I hope to see you there!

Dazzling Dahlias

I recently had the opportunity to photograph some dazzling dahlias at a local garden. The colors were amazing – very intense in the mid-morning light. Some of my favorites to see and photograph were backlit dahlias with the sunlight streaming through the petals

A La Mode Dahlia – a striking orange, red, yellow and white flower

© 2012 Patty Hankins

It’s A Girl Dahlia – a beautiful pink and yellow dahlia

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

A backlit yellow and peach dahlia

© 2012 Patty Hankins

A lovely soft pink dahlia

© 2012 Patty Hankins

An orange dahlia – when the sun hit the petals at just the right angle – the effect was incredible

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

© 2012 Patty Hankins

And finally a bright red dahlia

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I love photographing dahlias. Does anyone know of any public gardens in the DC area that has any currently in bloom? I’d love to photograph them

Links – September 21, 2012

Panama Pacific Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some posts and articles that I enjoyed this week; I hope you enjoy them as well

Flower and Plant Links

The Garden Plot has Pantone’s Spring 2013 Color Report and How it Affects Garden Trends

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has State Of Utah Hoping 10th Circuit Judges Agree A Creek In Canyonlands National Park Is Also A Road and Solar Power Is Valuable, But NPCA Report Says It Needs To Be Generated Away From National Parks
Refuge Wach has USFWS to Remove Wild Burros and Horses from Sheldon NWR in 5 Years , California Wildlife Refuge Gets Ax and Salazar Establishes 558th NWR Unit in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains
National Parks Conservation Association has Victory! Plans for Coal Plant Near National Parks in Virginia Suspended

Wildlife Links

The Washington Post has Resurgent wolves again are fair game
Mother Jones has To the Bat Cave! Scientists Hope Bunker Can Halt Deadly Fungus

Environmental Issues Links

Mother Jones has Hottest Ever Water Temperatures Off East Coast All the Way Down to the Bottom of the Ocean
The Christian Science Monitor has Appearance of explosive WWI relics underscores Alps glaciers’ retreat

Photography and Art Links

The Copyright Zone has Maybe We Are Just Skeptical, But…
Virtual Photography Studios has You Mean I Can’t Use An Image From Google Images?
Maria Brophy has How to File Your Copyrights and Keep Track of Them

DC Area Flower Safari

If you are in the DC area, I hope you will join me and other flower lovers at our DC Flower Safari Meetups. The next Meetup is scheduled for Saturday, September 29 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. We will meet at 6:30 AM at the Grosvenor Metro Station. Then we can carpool to Longwood. I hope to see you there!

Photos from the Road: Yellowstone National Park

Continuing the series of posts with photos that were posted to Facebook while I was on the road this summer . . .

After several days in Glacier National Park, Bill and I headed to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. I had visited Yellowstone last summer – and saw lots of snow. Like Glacier – Yellowstone is a completely different place when it isn’t covered with snow!

At Yellowstone – I finally found the western wildflowers I’d heard so much about. In some parts of the park – there were hillsides covered with flowers – in others – there were just a few flowers – but they were also quite beautiful.

Rosy Paintbrush (castilleja rhexifolia) and Silvery Lupine (lupinus argenteus) – and yes I did get asked where was the grizzly bear as I was photographing this set of flowers

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Rosy Paintbrush – Castilleja rhexifolia

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Showy Daisy – Erigeron Speciousus

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Narrowleaf Fireweed – chamerion angustifolium

 

 

 

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Lewis’ Monkeyflower – mimulus lewisii

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I’ll post a few more photos from Yellowstone National Park next week.

Links – September 14, 2012

Virginialis Water Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some posts and articles that I enjoyed this week; I hope you enjoy them as well

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has Mr. Hornaday’s War: How A Peculiar Zookeeper Waged A Lonely Crusade For Wildlife That Changed The World and How Have National Parks And Public Lands Fared Under The Obama Administration?

Wildlife Links

The Huffington Post has Sea Otters May Be Fighting Climate Change By Keeping Sea Urchins In Check
National Parks Traveler has Groups Seek To Overturn Decision To Delist Wolves In Wyoming
National Parks Conservation Association has Blitzed with Butterflies: Citizen Scientists Document Species at Rocky Mountain National Park
MSNBC has New, colorful monkey species discovered in Africa rain forest

Environmental Issues Links

Mother Jones has Why Doesn’t Your City Have Curbside Composting?
NBC News has Warming sign in the Arctic: Starving female polar bear challenges male for food

Photography and Art Links

BBC News has Obama ‘Hope’ poster artist Shepard Fairey fined, World’s first colour moving pictures discovered and Scottish wildcat extinct within months, association says
The Copyright Zone has No Release = No Glory & No Money
Chaos To Clarity has Social Media Image Size Guide [Infographic]

DC Area Flower Safari

If you are in the DC area, I hope you will join me and other flower lovers at our DC Flower Safari Meetups. The next Meetup is scheduled for Saturday, September 29 at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. We will meet at 6:30 AM at the Grosvenor Metro Station. Then we can carpool to Longwood. I hope to see you there!

Photos from the Road – Glacier National Park

Continuing the series of posts with photos that were posted to Facebook while I was on the road this summer . . .

After a few wonderful days in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I head to Glacier National Park in Montana. When I visited the park in late June last year – it was still covered with snow. Going to the Sun Road was closed – and I couldn’t get anywhere near Logan Pass.

What a difference 13 months makes . . . I arrived at Glacier National Park after the historic lastest date for Going to the Sun Road to open. I wanted to do everything I could to increase the chances that I’d actually be able to see the whole park this year. This year – the road through Logan Pass opened sometime in June. By the time I arrived – summer was in full bloom in the park. Without a doubt – Glacier is one of the most beautiful national parks I”ve ever visited.

The combination of lakes and mountains at Glacier are wonderful to photograph.

St. Mary Lake

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Lake McDonald

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

And the only thing more beautiful than the lakes and mountains were the wildflowers!

Yellow Columbine – aquilegia flavescens

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Cow Parsnip – heracleum maximum

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

White bog orchid – platanthere dilatata

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Sticky Geranium – geranium viscosissimum

© 2012 Patty Hankins

 

Orange Hawkweed

© 2012 Patty Hankins

It’s probably not a surprise to anyone – I’m already dreaming of when I can next visit Glacier National Park!

Links- August 31, 2012

Renoir Lily (c) 2009 Patty Hankins

Here are some posts and articles that I enjoyed this week; I hope you enjoy them as well

Flower and Plant Links

The Desert Edge has Garden Designers Roundtable: Designing With Native Plants

National Park and National Wildlife Refuge Links

National Parks Traveler has NPCA Issues New Graphic Depicting Hardships Budget Cuts Would Impose On National Park System and Scientific Panel Calls On NPS To Recommit To, And Reemphasize, Science In The Parks

Wildlife Links

BBC Nature has Wildlife watchers: beauty and brutality

Environmental Issues Links

The New York Times has Intriguing Habitats, and Careful Discussions of Climate Change
The Christian Science Monitor has Parts of Arctic now ‘like a giant slushie’ (+video)
National Parks Traveler has Report Warns Of Climate Change Impacts To National Seashores Along Eastern Seaboard

Photography and Art Links

BBC News has Kodak set to quit camera film and photo paper business
Photo Attorney has Copyright Office Requests Additional Comments and Announces Public Meetings on Remedies for Small Copyright Claims
Dan Bailey has Behavior and Migration Habits of the Wildlife Photographer

DC Area FLower Safari

If you are in the DC area, I hope you will join me and other flower lovers at our DC Flower Safari Meetups. The next Meetup is scheduled for Saturday, September 29. The location will be announced by mid September as we are not sure what will be blooming at that time. I hope to see you there!

Beautiful Lilies Video

I love lilies! They are some of my favorite flowers to photograph. Originally, various lilies were native to much of Europe and Asia, the United States and Canada. Today, they are grown worldwide – with thousands of varieties.

I’ve created a new video with some of my favorite lily photographs. As you’ll see in the video, they come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and textures.

The photographs in my video are accompanied by the wonderful harp music of Pamela Bruner. The sound track is Mozart’s Sonata, K. 545 from Pamela’s Classical Reverie CD, available at PamelaBrunerMusic.com

I do have several lily photographs available on my website including my newest lily photograph – Chili Lily – a beautiful lily in shades of pink and red.

Enjoy my lily photos and have a wonderful summer.