On my Prairie river bushwhack I found a lot of jack-in-the-pulpit blooming, but these two were the prize. It’s hard to show this flower on the side and from the front in the same shot, but these two happily obliged.
Unhappily it was in dense undergrowth and it was very difficult to separate the plants from the background. So I did a quick session of focus bracketing with the lens nearly wide open. Luckily the wind cooperated.
Specific Feedback Requested
Not sure it’s separated enough. Maybe I should have gotten further back, zoomed further and cropped more in post. That probably would have done it, but I didn’t so…any other ideas now it’s in the can?
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Lumix G Vario 35-100 f/2.8 @ 72mm (142mm equiv.)
f/3.2 | 1/160 sec | ISO 200
Polarizer
Tripod
Lr processed to manage tonal range - used adjustment brush on bg to reduce clarity & saturation. Brush used on some leaves to reduce glare that got through the polarizer. 12 shots used in Zerene, DMap w/ extensive retouching to smooth that background more. Ps to mess with Smart Sharpen and burn in some bright background foliage.
Kris, this is a good look at this pair of Jack-in-the-Pulpit. The wet leaves is a nice plus. Yes, getting better separation from the background would be nice, but that would mean finding a different pair. You could burn down the highlights in the background for somewhat better separation. A longer zoom setting would also work, but it would require more shots in your stack, which is risky if there’s much wind.
Kris: I’ve never encountered these in the wild so I envy your experience. Can’t add to Mark’s comments regarding the capture but I did crop this a bit tighter and added a pretty strong vignette. Not sure it’s a big improvement but back to you for your consideration. >=))>
Thanks guys. I’m open to any and all suggestions. I like the crop, Bill. There’s one in the yard growing on a rock that might provide another view, but it’s not ready for prime time yet. At least not the last time I checked.
I was with a couple of botanists doing a field trip in one of our many State Natural Areas and one of them said that the Jack-in-the-pulpit is male for several years while it grows, matures and stores enough energy to become female and produce flowers. It’s nearly impossible to tell from the ‘flower’ structure above, which is just a glorified leaf, really, which are which until in the fall you see red berries left behind by the real flowers which are inside the pulpit. After that, the plant often returns to male status in order to store energy for another cycle as a female. What nature won’t do to survive. The tactics are unreal.
Arisaema triphyllum is a sequential hermaphrodite. At the front bottom of the spathe on male plants, there is a small opening. This allows fungus gnats to escape the tubular structure. That’s essential since they carry pollen and visit female flowers. The opening is not present on female flowers and the gnats are trapped and die. They have done their job and are expendable. Female plants are usually larger.
About the photograph; I agree with Bill Fach that cropping the upper edge helps to isolate the plants.
The focal point for me is the flower on the right - with a big smile on its face.
Kristen, It is a lucky find where you have the front and side views. I have looked at hundreds of them this year, and it is hard to find one that is isolated from the background. They seem to like to grow in a cluster and around other plants. It is also difficult to get an uninterrupted view of these as the flowers are wedged between two leaves with long stems. Just a few days ago, I found one that was isolated enough, so I will be posting it in a few days. The story behind and Paul’s comment are fascinating.
Excellent work on getting both in sharp focus. I like Bill’s crop that closes in on both flowers.
