Giant Waterlily

Posted by AG (London, United Kingdom) on 8 September 2006 in Plant & Nature.

When I photographed the waterlily leaves a while back, I did promise to show the blooms when they arrived.

The flowers are large – this one is over 12 inches / 300mm across – and they go through a strange cycle of white-pink-purple over a two day period before collapsing under their own weight and falling back below the water. This one is at the early pink stage with the outer petals still white but already nodding to rest on the surface.

The mirror reflections are because the water is treated with an organic black dye which discourages the growth of algae in the hot conditions by blocking sunlight.

- AG

photo data : RAW, 3-shot bracketed at +/- 2.0 ev for HDR, Nikkor 55-200mm at 185 (277mm eqiv.), handheld, ISO 400., PS CS2

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This site stands in the long shadow of American Grey | frames, my (closed) original photoblog 2005-2009.
Many of my earlier postings are reproduced here together with image summaries of Comments made at the time.

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Comments (1)

AG from London, United Kingdom

* These are fascinating plants, for sure. I knew very little about them before your excellent 'documentary' of their flowering cycle. Beautiful shot.[reply]Heath @ 2006-09-08 08:13:56

* Cool reflections in the water, nice shot.[reply]Craig Wilson @ 2006-09-08 12:14:07

* Just beautiful!
The colours and the reflection. And your signature in pink. :) Great![reply]Erik - HedinMedia.com @ 2006-09-08 13:51:13

* Absolute perfection.[reply]Sherri @ 2006-09-08 15:04:42

* What a beautiful angle and lovely light here... [reply]SSH @ 2006-09-08 19:39:24

* i'm very fascinating on this one. Very very beautiful. I love also the reflection..[reply]75iso @ 2006-09-08 22:09:08

* Such a nice reflection. Colors, composition and details are great.[reply]Uwe @ 2006-09-09 04:08:36

* This makes me happy (the excellent photos, such beauty, the lily, the giant leaves,that this exists, that I can see it here)[reply]Hildegarde @ 2006-09-09 13:01:26

* makes me a little sad..... :-([reply]javga @ 2006-09-11 08:42:05

* Thank you to Everyone for making Comments on this one.
Technically, I was well-pleased with the outcome and HDR was the only way to catch the light falling on those delicate petals. Interesting that you see both happiness and sadness in this same shot : I suppose it is sad to see this beautiful flower bowed down to the water . . . [reply]AG @ 2006-09-12 10:30:48

* Such a beautiful image. It's difficult not to be generic when photographing flowers. I love the softeness of the petals and the sharp reflection in the water. Nice capture.[reply]Jonathan Greenwald @ 2006-09-12 16:01:09

* Thanks, Jonathan.[reply]AG @ 2006-09-12 19:45:59

* the petals look so fragile! the reflection is nice, also. I haven't seen a waterlily like that before. very lovely.[reply]christine @ 2006-09-14 18:44:30

* Thanks, Christine. This strain of lily is very difficult to grow and so rare. This example is in Kew Botanic Gardens, London.[reply]AG @ 2006-09-14 19:17:59

* Never saw such a big waterlily.
Simply gorgeous! [reply]Sidney @ 2006-09-17 09:40:17

* This is a lovely image - both the flower and the reflection. Great detail here. A fitting end to your earlier series on water lilies. Well done.[reply]Jeff @ 2006-09-18 11:02:16

* Thanks Sidney, Jeff. Technically, one of my better images, I think.[reply]AG @ 2006-09-18 11:52:59

6 Sep 2009 12:52pm

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