dutch cactus

[Wim van Egmond]

a cactus picture! My first ever!

I am sure some of you cacti specialists will know this one!

Wim

[MacroLuv]

A cactus picture! My first ever!

And you are going very well with it!
A very lovely sort of Echinocereus I would say, but I'm not a specialist. Could be even some kind of unusual hybrid?

[beetleman]

What a beautiful color on that flower Wim and what an amazing stigma

[Ken Ramos]

This is a nice image. Quite sharp but maybe a little too sharp in places, such as the flowers anthers but still a matter of taste I suppose. The flower petals on the leftside seem to be lost or maybe loose themselves in the backgroud but still the flower presents itself nicely and shooting in the wild we have to take what we can get oftentimes though one could if time and subject permits, try and test another shooting angle. I am assuming this was done at home though, so never mind the wild thing, maybe a diffuser or stopping down the flash, if possible, or a "bounced flash" could do something for the background, flower petals or both, if a flash was used. I don't know , just guessing and rattling around out c'here.

[DaveW]

At the moment I am "treading water" Wim! Obviously an Echinocereus but the body and flower colour combination are throwing me. The ones I know with a similar body have the usual reddish-purple flowers and the yellow flowered forms not that type of body, I am not an Echinocereus specialist however.

I will guess and say it is an Echinocereus dasyacanthus form as this species is very variable?

It seems to be a habitat shot, where was it taken?

All the best,

DaveW

[Wim van Egmond]

You are right Ken, it was probably sharpened a bit too much. I have to change that, although I can't do that anymore now because if I would change it people would think your comment is a bit strange!

It was shot in the wild, no flash. Your comments are realy appreciated, feel free to comment and have critique and suggestions. I like to write a bit about my thoughts about the image! I agree it would be more obvious to let the flower stand out but in my opinion the image can than become a bit one-dimensional. Since these flowers are so eye catching (that is what they are designed for!) they become so prominent in the image that they blast away everything else. So I actually like this somewhat concealed flower!

What I like about this is that all the other elements become as important as the flower. Also non-subjects like shriveled strands of grass, out of focus dots in the background. It is also a bit messy image which I prefer to a more glossy one because it is different from what you would expect. But feel free to disagree. It is just my humble, somewhat weird taste, and I am also just thinking aloud here. My aim is never to make as beautiful pictures as possible but to surprise myself with a 'different' image, something that I have never seen before. Something like that, does that make sense?

Dave, you are right, it is Echinocereus dasyacanthus, the Texas Rainbow Hedgehog, Yellow pitaya. Not a real coincidence because I was in Texas a couple of weeks ago. First time there and it was great, in the Big Bends area. I was just at the beginning of the flowering season so most cacti were not blooming yet or just beginning.

Wim

[DaveW]

That was what was throwing me Wim, scarcely "rainbow" with all those dead white spines. My own has some coloured spines mixed in. These plants are very variable throughout their range and there are even red/purple flowered forms as well as some far yellower than yours.

You can see from the tips of the outer petals that the chemicals that can produce red coloured flowers are present.

See:-

http://www.echinocereus.de/habitat/36.htm

http://www.echinocereus.de/habitat/06.htm

All the Best,

DaveW

[Wim van Egmond]

So it was a real challenge to find the right name, congratulations, Dave, you are a true cactus specialist.

Well, it was the desert and most cacti look a bit worn down there, making the contrast with the over the top flowers even bigger. I have made more images but most are stitches. I was working on an art project there. But I'll see if I have some more postable pictures.

Wim