Flower power

[bluemax]

These flowers are very ephemeral and in the time it took me to change to the ringflash the flower closed some. Say about 5-6 minutes. Managed to catch it wide open for once

That's quite an amazing score! How did you manage to catch it at the right time?

 

[Not a Number]

Mostly it is a matter of dumb luck and stumbling across the flowers when they are opening or wide open. I usually keep my camera handy when watering my plants. If the flower is opening I'll move the pot so it is in front me where I am working during the day so I can monitor its progress.

D. callistos

D. helodes

D. pygmaea - started from seed, I've been waiting for flowers to confirm that this is not D. "Lake Badgerup" which is often mislabeled as D. pygmaea. Appears to be D. pygmaea but perhaps I can catch one of the flowers wide open for a better view of the naughty bits.

 

[Not a Number]

D. pulchella Salmon colored flowers

 

[Not a Number]

D. cistiflora

 

[Not a Number]

Drosera capensis Red

Drosera admirabilis holotype small form

D. echinoblastus

 

[bluemax]

'Gotta ask, Not a Number. What do you use for illumination and background on your photos? Nice shots.

 

[Sashoke]

Isnt as interesting as your pictures, but It is the one Sundew thats ever flowered for me so I figured I post the pictures here ;P D. dichrosepala

 

[Not a Number]

I use various methods of flash or plain sunlight. The South African sundews usually have such long flower stalks that the background is out of focus. For flash I use an external manual flash on an articulating arm with a diffusion hood, a DIY extension snoot made from a Pringles can over the on-board flash or a macro ring flash.

With flash if the background is outside the range (distance) of the flash it will underexpose (depending on lighting). If the underexposure is enough it will appear black. If I turned on the lights or used a second flash on the background you would see the kitchen sink and cabinets in the D. capensis photo. If the background is too busy and I can get away with it I'll use a black cloth as the backdrop. The D. echinoblastus was shot (almost straight down) on the sick gold-green carpet in front of the glass door so I laid some black cloth down.

Shooting outdoors in sunlight is always a challenge here as there is usually an ocean breeze in the afternoon. You just have to wait for the momentary lull in the wind and "spray and pray" (take lots of shots) and hope a few will have the flower framed nicely, in focus and not blurred from subject or camera movement.

 

[charlie]

Not a Number, my callistos just flowered and you stole my show!

 

[Not a Number]

Post it anyway

 

[Not a Number]

D. pygmaea

Just to give you an idea of the size of these flowers, here is an uncropped shot with scale

 

[bluemax]

Yes, they certainly named this species right. Nice shot.

 

[corky]

I think this pygmy is dorks pink, this is rare for me to get a flower to fully open, or rare for me to see it, only a phone pic

 

[Not a Number]

Nicely done. No D. hamiltonii flowers this year. They are usually done flowering by now. However half of my Sarracenia are very late in starting pitcher growth so I'm hoping the flowers will just be late this year.

 

[corky]

Thanks NAN, I still haven't managed to flower d. hamiltonii and from what you have just said I will have to wait another year. I may of messed up by repotting my hamiltonii at just the wrong time as all my dews got repotted into square pots a few months ago as a space saving mission

 

[KATastrophe]

I love pygmys so do the others i kno..
They are very cute but for some reason they don't like our temps they always dry out no matter how damp the soil then die off maybe its to hot for them..hmm

 

[Not a Number]

Thanks NAN, I still haven't managed to flower d. hamiltonii and from what you have just said I will have to wait another year.

That's ok, I haven't been able to get D. slackii or D. regia to flower for me either.

 

[Not a Number]

I love pygmys so do the others i kno..
They are very cute but for some reason they don't like our temps they always dry out no matter how damp the soil then die off maybe its to hot for them..hmm

If the temps stay high enough and long enough they will start to go dormant. They'll form a white stipule bud around the growth point to protect it. You should be able to see a touch of green in the center if the plant is still alive. Cut way back on the watering when they are dormant. Most people find large, deep pots help.

 

[corky]

A few flowers, d.regia first pic the stigma don't look receptive stigma seem receptive now d. Slackii and dorks pink putting on a great show

 

[bluemax]

Just plain dazzling, corky!