Nature’s Beauty – Up Close and Personal
74Photography is a wonderful avocation. There’s never a lack of things to fill the camera’s frame of view with, in many interesting ways. Nature’s beauty is a constant inspiration for many photographers. The pictures almost take themselves.
The resolution of the latest crop of digital cameras is now approaching the level of the finest film cameras. The macro settings on these cameras also allow you to get up close and personal with the intricate details of nature’s beauty. Much of it hitherto scarcely imagined from a normal viewing distance.
In this photo gallery, I’m presenting some of my best pictures of nature’s beauty in all its splendor. Many spectacular flowers and many insects are on display. I hope you’re just as amazed at the wonderful symbiotic, but fragile relationship between these flowers and insects.
Ok, it’s time to get up close and personal with nature’s beauty..at its best.
Bee on Red Clover
^Bee on Red Clover – In late summer, many a green space is covered with wild flowers of all kinds. The red clover (also white) seems to be a favourite of bees and other insects, so it wasn’t hard to find one, and get very close without interrupting its pollen gathering.
Black-eyed Susan
^ Black-eyed Susan – Black-eyed Susan (a biennial), seems to self-seed so much it appears to come up every year, just not in the same place. What’s interesting here is the tiny loops visible in the stamen. I’ve never noticed this before, but now that I’ve taken many close up and personal photos of nature’s beauty, I’m seeing it more and more. Sunflowers also have similar tiny loops on their face.
Coleus
^ Coleus – Coleus is an unusual annual. Although it doesn’t sport any flowers as such, it makes up for it with many variegated patterns of colour on its leaves.
Common Yarrow
^ Common Yarrow – You can hardly go anywhere in a meadow without coming across the common Yarrow, pictured here. Actually, this is very close up and personal, since the ants you see are no more than 6mm long (1/4”). These are indeed very tiny flowers.
Pink Flowers (ballerina roses?)
^ Pink flowers (ballerina roses?) –Thanks to Green Lotus for suggesting that they are Ballerina roses. I'm cross-checking many sources to be sure. I spotted them in a local park. In this shot, they appear to glow, with the afternoon sun behind them.
Deep red Peonies
^ Deep red Peonies – It was hard to capture the truly gorgeous, velvety texture and colour which nature’s beauty has bestowed on these deep red peonies. I’ve given it my best shot though.
Fly on a Potentilla
^ Fly on a Potentilla – A Potentilla (or Cinqfoil), is a perennial shrub, which is covered with dozens of these beautiful yellow flowers, throughout the summer months. I captured this fly getting a tasty treat from one of the flowers.
Burgundy creme Bearded Iris
^ Burgundy creme Bearded Iris – I’m sure it has a proper name, though I’m not sure, but I couldn’t resist getting up close and personal with this stunning example of nature’s beauty. Note the intricate yellow anthers, and the interesting streaks on the lower petals. Wonderful.
Pink Peony
^ Pink Peony – Another springtime flower is the popular Peony, a perennial shrub which sports these large (4”) multi-petalled flowers. The darker red accents in the middle really make this pink peony a showpiece. They smell great too.
Grasshopper
^ Grasshopper – While taking some pictures of nearby flowers, I caught this grasshopper out of the corner of my eye, so I just had to get up close and personal with him. I managed to catch him upright, so unfortunately you can’t see its wings in this picture.
Yellow Dahlia
^ Yellow Dahlia – Nothing can match the variety of nature’s beauty, in a single species as can be found in dahlias. The colours, shapes and sizes of these flowers is simply amazing. The red streaks on this luscious yellow dahlia provide an interesting accent.
Orange Begonia
^ Orange Begonia – This orange tuberous begonia is a real stunner, especially on slightly overcast days, when the daylight seems to make many flowers glow in a way that you just don’t see on sunny days. This picture is of course taken on a sunny day, but in the shade.
2 Insects on a Purple Thistle
^ 2 Insects on a Purple Thistle – This was a lucky find. The thistle is a common, but beautiful weed, especially up close, where I found some kind of bee, plus a very strange insect on the top of the purple flower. You may not be able to see it on this scale, but when zoomed in on the full resolution picture on my computer, it sure is a strange creature. One of my favourite pictures.
Deep red Dianthus
^ Deep red Dianthus – I saw this beautiful red dianthus flower at the local nursery. Luckily I had my camera with me. I was intrigued by the white markings and very fine hair-like scillia, which you may not be able to see at this scale. Very interesting.
Wasp on a leaf
^ Wasp on a leaf – I captured this close up and personal shot of a wasp, quietly resting on a leaf, on a lazy, late summer afternoon.
Burgundy Daylily
^ Burgundy Daylily – Nature’s beauty doesn’t get any better than the impressive shade of burgundy and yellow throat of this daylily. The relatively small scale and resolution of the web page doesn’t do this flower justice, believe me.
About the equipment
Five of these pictures were taken with a Fuji Zoom 2600 2-megapixel point-and-shoot camera, which I had for 10 years, and it served me very well. It finally broke earlier this year (2011). I then purchased a Canon Powershot A1200, a very good, but inexpensive 12-megapixel point-and-shoot camera. The remaining 11 shots are from this camera.
Although I do have a tripod, all of these pictures are hand-held macro shots.
The photos were fixed up, resized and colour-adjusted using Corel Photo-Paint. I’ve attempted to retain the true-to-life colour of the flowers as much as possible. Still, everyone’s computer monitor is a bit different, but not enough to keep Nature’s Beauty from putting its best face forward.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these pictures as much as I enjoyed capturing them.
Note: If you click on the photos you can see a higher resolution image than is displayed on the web page.
As always, these pictures are copyright (2011) by +timorous and may not be copied or used without my consent. Please respect my wishes. Thank you.
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You are a photographic artiste, timorous. Thank you for these stunning photos to start my day. Beautiful!
The hub is nice. I liked the way it is presented and beautiful pics.
Thanks brandsaur. Peonies are indeed a treat for at least 2 of the senses.
drbj; Great to see you again. Oh..but I blush. Thanks so much. I'm glad I managed to make your day.
vasantha Tk; Thanks for coming by to view a small sampling of nature's beauty.
Beautiful pictures, nicely done! Voted Up!
Wonderful photos! It's amazing how much beauty there is in nature, and you have captured that beauty perfectly!
Tina
Thank you for the lovely flowers!
Beautiful photography...these wonderful views of nature are rich with the life we often miss each day as we walk by, lost in our own. Up and beautiful
carcro, thanks for having a look at these wonderful examples of nature's handiwork.
Tina, so good to see you again. You're absolutely right..the variety of shapes and colours is amazing. Thanks.
Paradise7, You're most welcome, but we should really thank mother nature for providing these lovely flowers.
Genna, thanks for your lovely comments. You're so right, nature's beauty is always there if we'd only stop and look.
What an exquisite gallery. I think my favorite photo is the coleus. I've seen this variety many times but I love the way you captured the kaleidoscope of colors. It looks like a proud shield.
BTW, The unidentified flower is a Ballerina Rose. Cheers!
Hi Green Lotus. Great to see you here, and enjoying some of my best nature photos. I love the coleus too, and they're so easy to grow.
Really..a ballerina rose? This grows like a perennial shrub, about 3 feet tall, and very profuse flowering. Thanks, G.L. I'll edit the text soon.
What a wonderfully curated and presented gallery!! Even though it is raining and cold outside, I feel as though I have just strolled through a warm, beautiful garden on a lazy Saturday. Thanks for the mini-break!
Thank you Simone. The wonderful thing about pictures is, you can revisit the scenes and get the same feelings all over again.
Congrats on your Hub of the Day award for a beautiful hub! Lovely photos--even the grasshopper. :)
really nice work...
Beautiful pics! My favorite is the grasshopper. Useful information about the equipment as well.
Congrats Tim, on your hub being chosen as the hub of the day. This deserves to be! Have a wonderful day. God Bless!
Congratulations on hub of the day. Lovely photos, and I like the way you caught the insects on camera too.
My teenage daughter loves to take photos of flowers too, and she also has a Canon Powershot, though not the same one as you. I’m sure she will enjoy seeing the hub too when she gets home from school!
Stunning photos! Thanks for sharing. Congratulation on the hub of the day.
Beautiful pictures... Ain't nature something?
The grasshopper picture is my favorite.
Great photo gallery. My favorite is the pink flowers.
I like the way you shared your camera equipment information.
Congratulations on the Hub of the Day Accolade.
Voted up, useful, beautiful and interesting.
Nice Photos!
Great picture gallery and a reminder of the spring to come. Awesome grasshopper picture - he looks like a happy fellow.
Nice
Congratulations, timorous, on your hub of the day. What a gorgeous picture that met my eye this morning when I opened the site. :)
I hit up and all across the board, including funny, because I just loved that little grasshopper guy! hee hee
Well done, as always. I would agree with drbj's comment that you are indeed an extraordinary artist. I've always loved your work and I'm waiting for you to put them into a book-seriously.
I'm so glad you included the info on the equipment. That was one of the questions that popped into my head. It's amazing how close up you have gotten with the shots...the black ants on the tiny, white petals, for example.
Wonderful way to start this Tuesday morning here. Thank you for sharing your talent and I'm thankful that this hub was selected for hotd.
Beautiful pictures! Spring is here now, my flowers are beginning to bloom after a very mild winter. Spring is my favorite time of the year and flowers are one of my favorite subjects to photograph. You have done a very good job here. Voted up and beautiful! :)
Excellent work. A garden is always your best friend.
What a magnificent insight into beauty of our nature. Choices are endless. Beauty is everywhere around us. Amazing photos, well done. :-)
Great photo's.
This was a m a z i n g!!!You showed photos of manhy of my most favorite flowers...and you are so correct...photography is a wonderful avocation. I am just learning about using a camera...
Your pictures made me feel as if I could reach into the screen in smell them, and, soak in their wonder.voted up and beautiful...
This hub really caught my eye because my profile 'picture' is a flower that is the very first image in this hub...or at least its 'kissing cousin.
Congratulations on hub of the day...well deserved....
Gorgeous photos and great information! Congrats on getting Hub of the Day.
Thanks so much, buddy. You've always been one of my biggest supporters. God Bless you too.
Thanks so much Melovy. I find if you move in very slowly, the insects will be to ensconced to notice your invasion. Usually there's plenty of light for a sharp macro shot..as long as you've got a steady hand.
Aww..thank you Denise. Lovely to see you back here. I hope you've been well. Well, hey...you never know, I might find enough pictures to fill a book one of these days... but then I'd have to take this hub down. Cheers.
Thanks so much sgbrown. Unfortunately, as I write this, it's still cold and snowing a bit. It's bound to warm up soon, so I can resume my gathering of nature's beauty. Cheers.
Katrine, thanks ever so much. You're absolutely right about the beauty of nature. In some ways, it's hard to take a bad picture, as long as you've got a steady hand. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.
Well thank you, pstraubie48. I'm so glad you were inspired to smell the flowers. If you know what each one smells like, the memory of that smell is almost real.
Thanks to all of you on wishing me well on the Hub of the Day. It's almost overwhelming in a way. Thanks for enjoying the beauty of nature that I've managed to capture here, and for the many votes. Cheers everyone.
So beautiful...I'm impressed.)))
Congrats on Hub of the Day. You did a beautiful job here. I love flowers. Living in S. Fl. we can't grow some of these, but some we do. I have Coleus in my yard and I really love their colors. Your photos are wonderful. I voted this UP, etc.
Oh my god........ u just made my day
Congratulations on your Hub of the Day!!! Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! You are teasing me with spring!! :D
The pink flowers, the ballerina roses, remind me of the wild roses in Alberta. They are almost identical! The pink thistle resembles our clover out here. It's funny how flowers can resemble each other, yet can be totally different species and genus.
Beautiful photos! I've enjoyed the taste of spring and summer that you have offered here. :) xo
Congrats for hub of the day! Well deserved!
Love your pictures. I take lots of flower pictures also with my Sony digital. Maybe I will do a HUB with some of my pictures. They won't be as good as yours however.
I actually have a picture that's similar to the 'Bee on a Pink Thistle' photo as my desktop picture on my computer! (but my bee is perched on a lavender) Great photos timorous and congratulations on being Hub of the Day :D
Well done you thoroughly deserve the hub of the day, truly beautiful photographs, thank you for sharing these with all of us.
Beautiful flowers. I'm lousy at taking pictures, it's just not my thing but I admire people who can take great photos. It is a real talent and I just don't have it.
Thank you for the lovely nature photos. I love nature photos and always enjoy seeing them. Keep it up. Lenzy
@seo4site - Thanks. I'm glad I left a good impression.
@mary615 - Thank you very much.
@vidya mallar - So happy to have made your day. Cheers.
@BayAreaLawyer - Thanks.
@joaniebaby - Don't sell yourself short, joanie. We'd love to see your pictures. Thanks for viewing my pictures.
@StellaSee - Yes, I love getting these closeups of insects at work. Thanks.
@Pannonica - Thank you too. Come back any time.
@Pamela N Red - You should stop telling yourself you can't do something. Perhaps your interest in the mechanics of taking a photo isn't sufficient. I think you may surprise yourself with a positive attitude. Go for it. Thanks for having a look at nature's beauty.
@Lenzy - Thank you so much.
Hello Beth! Wonderful to see you back here. I hope you've been well. Actually, I'm teasing myself with spring, since it's still kind of cold here. It's just around the corner though.
Yep..I wouldn't be surprised if those pink flowers are some type of wild rose, although the stems are thin, and not woody at all. I just don't know.
Anyway, thanks for the congrats, and I'm glad you enjoyed my photos of nature's beauty. I expect there'll be more photos, once they start coming up again. Cheers. :) xo
Enjoyed your Hub, I just did one of the wildflowers in Burnley where I live. I'm looking forward to taking more photos of flowers this spring and summer too. Over autumn busy myself with fungi instead.
Lovely pictures. The pink ballerinas are stunning. Enjoyed the collection and rated up.
Beautiful hub, and so deserving of a place of honor today, as HOTD! Thanks for sharing your wonderful photography skills!
You certainly have an eye for photography. Absolutely stunning pictures of nature in all it's beauty.
These are beautiful shots. The coleus or something very much like it, grows in hedges on many streets in Hawaii. I'm so glad you told us the type of camera you use. I want to get a good camera soon. I've missed so many good shots of wild life and birds. Voting up and awesome.
Awesome photos. Great photography. Congratulations on getting Hub of the day award.
Wonder if the insects appreciate the wonder of it all - it can't be just for us otherwise it would be such a waste.
Beautiful pictures! I love nature. The grasshopper was cool, great shot on it. The flowers are just lovely too :)
@Nettlemere - Thanks. I have a couple of nice fungi pictures as well, though not published.
@anglnwu - So glad you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for the votes as well.
@Marcy Goodfleisch - Thank you Marcy, I am honored.
@cyoung35 - Thanks very much. Yes, there's a bit more to it than 'point and shoot'.
@Pamela Kinnaird W - Thanks for the awesome vote. Coleus seems pretty common everywhere, though quite beautiful. My camera is pretty good, but not expensive by any means.
@urmilashukla23 - Nice to see you, and thanks for feasting your eyes on nature's finest creations. See you in the Sandpit sometime. :)
@hypnosis4u2 - Insects perform a vital function, for without them we would have but a small fraction of the flowers that we do. Let us be grateful.
@Dawn Conklin - Thank you. I'm sure it's quite obvious..I love nature as well. The grasshopper shot is one of those chance moments that just worked out right.
Hello, congratulations for the Hub of the Day-- well deserved, and a lovely little gift from summer to our bleak just-about-Spring chilly North Vancouver Island day! Needed that! I just want to make a couple of corrections that I hope you will take in the spirit with which they are offered: the first picture is a bee on red clover. You can google images 'red clover' and see that. The other correction is that the "fly" on the potentilla is most likely a "native bee" pollinator (not a bee that makes honey). Unfortunately they are seen as flies and treated with the contempt that flies are treated with in our society, so rare... possibly of the augachlora species of metallic green native bees (Texas)... you can see one here: http://scientopia.org/blogs/thisscientificlife/200 or it might just be a fly lol... in any case, lovely pictures! I'm voting you up and tweeting this!
These are just gorgeous photos and from a point and shoot camera! Amazing! This really made my day since my landlord just came and cut ALL of our flowering trees down to nubs. This really lifted my spirits. Thank you!
Voted up and of course SHARED.
Congratulations on hub of the day, what a treat this is - fabulous photos. I'm sure that grasshopper is smiling!
Voting up/awesome, thank you.
Thank you so much techygran. Ahh..red clover. I wasn't sure about that one, all these wildflowers and weeds are intermingled, so it's hard to tell sometimes. Thanks. I'll check into the fly species as well, although I still think it's a fly. In any case I shall make any and all corrections. Thanks for the vote and the tweet as well.
Oh dear...I'm sorry to hear about your flowering trees, Daughter Of Maat. Looking on the bright side, perhaps they were overgrown and not producing as many flowers. As long as they're left with some kind of intact stump, there'll be new shoots coming up soon. If it's a fast growing tree or shrub, you may see some flowers sooner than you might expect. Think positively.
Thanks for the vote and for sharing it.
Hello Movie Master. Thanks for the congrats. The views on this hub have far exceeded the one-day visits on any of my hubs. Thanks to the staff for their fine choice.
LOL..I'm sure the grasshopper has few concerns, apart from its nearest predator. I was happy to see it as well. Insects and wildlife are hard to capture up close, unless they're totally immersed in feeding on something. I really need a much better camera with a telephoto lens. Ahhh...one of these days...
Take care my dear.
Thank-you for sharing these very gorgeous pics. Though it's hard to choose a favorite, I think my favorite of the above is the Coleus. Those colors are just amazing!
So glad you enjoyed the photos, Moon Willow Lake. Yes, the nice thing about coleus is the color patterns are different on each plant. Cool.
brandasaur Level 4 Commenter 6 months ago
I love these flowers especially the Pink Peony because it's color is so friendly with our eyes as for nature. :)