Calochortus is my favorite genus of native wildflowers. See “Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and Their Relatives” by Gerritsen & Parsons for the definite photographic collection of that genus.
This was photographed near Cape Blanco, OR
I have replaced the background with black. I have found that not everyone likes it. What do you think?
Canon R5, 100 macro, F/29, 1/250 sec, ring flash
Don, you are killing it!! Personally I like the black. It’s a more ‘studio’ approach for a flower in situ, but if the background was already shaded and/or busy, this is a good way to get attention back where it belongs.
And oh does it belong. While there is some fall off that could benefit from stacking, you have enough DOF here to fill in the much-needed detail. A ring flash doesn’t produce much in the way of contour or depth, but there is such good texture here that I think it works. Super job.
It seems a small flower IRL, can you tell us how big it actually is?
Hi Kristen,
It is about an inch across. As western wildflowers go, it is in the “medium” range for size. This morning I just processed my photo of Tonella tenalla, which is about 3/16" across.
A great capture Don. The details are amazing. The black BG works very well in my opinion.
How wonderful. Great job on capturing that beauty. It would be interesting to see the original, but my guess is the black is much better. I don’t think I’ve seen this flower in the wild. What time of year was this taken?
Thank you for your comments. This is the original as I used a black cloth and a ring flash to make the background black. I photographed it May 26th. More info: https://www.pnwflowers.com/flower/calochortus-tolmiei.
The Cascade Mariposa Lily (Calochortus subalpinus) should be in bloom now at the higher elevations around Mt. Hood. I hope to get up to see them this week.
Thank you for the information! I don’t think I’ve seen that flower before, so I’ll be paying more attention.
