Mulleins (Verbascum Species And Cultivars)

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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Harold Gough
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Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Mulleins (Verbascum Species And Cultivars)

Post by Harold Gough »

I find Mulleins interesting plants for ytheir growth forms and the structure and colour of their flower.

I found some in habitat in Northern Greece:

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 790#130790

And I have a similar species (V. phlomoides?) or cultivar in my garden:

Image

This, and the close-ups were shot with my Kiron 105mm macro, mostly at f11, ISO 400, typically 1/800 sec (very gusty, strong wind).

Here you can see the flower and the wooly clothing of the plant:

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A close look at the flower:

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A diiferent angle:

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And front two angles at the same time aka stereo (crosseye):

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This is best viewed from a moderate distance. Not the stereo with the most imapact of my collection but of some interest.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

During the above session, the sky was dotted with small clouds, moving rapidy, such that the lighting would change between full sun and blue sky with the sun blocked by a cloud and back, often very quickly.

These two shots were subject to such a sudden change. They give the opportunity to illustrate why bright, direct sunlight is anathema to specialist flower photographers. I have brightened up the image shot when the sun was blocked to give an approximate match to the brightness of the one shot in fiull sun. Otherwise they were processed identically.

Image Image

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

baro-nite
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Location: North Carolina, USA

Post by baro-nite »

Nice to see that mullein has an interesting flower -- this is a reliable wildflower in summer where I am (when wildflowers tend to be in short supply). Not native here (USA) but well established.
--
Jeff S

Harold Gough
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

Thanks, Jeff.

More to come, pink and blue. These cultivars have taken me several attempts to get to the flower stage.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

As promised, here are some more images, this time of one of the small cultivars, this one is Blue Lagoon. The plant is currently reaching just above knee height. The flowers average around 30mm diameter.

I had a lot of difficulty getting this one to flowering stage, having had several replacement plants over two years. When I photographed it it had only these two flowers but now has several.

Hardware and settings as before:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Harold Gough
Posts: 5786
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

Here is the final cultivar, Pink Pixie. The plant and flowers are of a similar size to Blue Lagoon.

Lens as previously:

Image

Image

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[Edit] I thought I had shot a stereo pair but had not. I did so this morning. The lighting was poor but the result is acceptable.

Cross-eye:

f16 1/25 ISO 800, hand-held.

Image

[Edit ends]

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

brian1208
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Post by brian1208 »

that's a nice set Harold, its a fascinating species.

We recently came across some being munched by the Mullein Moth Caterpillar. Seeing how tough looking the leaves appear I was surprised at the mess they were making of them

Harold Gough
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

Thanks, Brian.

These images show how our appreciation of detailed flower structure can be increased by macro photos.

The caterpillar is of rather striking appearance.. I have shots on film.

harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

brian1208
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Post by brian1208 »

they are that Harold, I got some decent images with the EM-5 and the kit lens in semi-macro mode (left the proper macro at home - of course :wink: )

Got the important bit though, those munching jaws

Harold Gough
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Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
Location: Reading, Berkshire, England

Post by Harold Gough »

brian1208 wrote:Got the important bit though, those munching jaws
Don't let them loose here!

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

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