Bottle Brush Grass inflorescence
The slender bottle brush grass, looks like a brush with long bristles, is not very conspicuous. They grow along the edges of a prairie. They are about 4-5 feet tall and the head (inflorescence) is about 4-6 inches long. This one is past prime, so there are no anthers. Each flowering unit is called a spikelet that consists of the glumes at the base (long leafy structure) and the central floret that has the flower.
Canon 7D + 180/3.5 + Tripod
f/16, 1/80, ISO 640
Canon DPP4 for RAW, PSCC, dark background further darkened. I left alone the spider webs
Thank you Naofumi for bringing up the concept of wabi-sabi. That was the exact idea in my mind when I started this series. For people who are not familiar with this concept, wabi-sabi means accepting the imperfect, the impermanent and the incomplete and appreciate the beauty of them. Often employed by Japanese, especially in zen art forms, where the artist intentionally leaves a small imperfection such as a small crack in a pottery work to emphasize this concept. The concept came from zen practice, and I came across wab-sabi concept in a Kado (Zen flower arrangement) workshop over a decade ago as part of my meditation practice. Since then, I have tried to use this concept in some of my images, especially flowers.
For people who are familiar with the singer Leonard Cohen, he expresses this concept in his song Anthem. The lines go “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how light gets in.” Thanks Naofumi again.
Ravi, a beautiful, elegant image. Your remarks on wabi-sabi bring to mind the way the designers of Persian carpets used to leave a deliberate mistake, so as not to offend Allah by trying to rival his perfection.
