Sunday, September 27, 2009

2009 National Dahlia Show

2009 National Dahlia Show
Planting Fields Arboretum
Oyster Bay, Long Island

Both the Dahlia Show and Dahlia Garden at Planting Fields were stunning. The show is a national one that is hosted by the Mid-Island Dahlia Society . The flowers were of every conceivable shape and color and the arrangements and bouquets really caught my eye. The garden at the arboretum was in good form with no signs of the disease that wiped out my Dahlias late in the season.

The first Dahlia is ‘Sunshine Paul’ and the second is ‘Harvest Moonlight’.


On a whim before leaving I decided to throw the 24mm lens in my camera bag. Officially it is a Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro lens. All of these pictures were shot with it. It is a great lens and I had forgotten what fun it can be to have something that wide. One thing about this lens is it can focus very closely to the subject (7.1 inches) and that can give some funky results. The price must have gone up, as my copy was about $400 US new, which in terms of lenses is kind of a bargain.



The Lantana flower shows how close you can focus with the 24mm. It was nice to use on the Dahlias since they are so big it really fills the frame of the picture.



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13 comments:

Randi said...

Those are fabulous photos of lovely flowers.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Really like the first one--Sunshine Paul--a hint of purple on the tips.

DeniseinVA said...

A wonderful series of flowers. All your photos are great. Thank you for sharing them with Today's Flowers. Thank you also for stopping by and identifying all of mine. One of the many reasons I love being with TF is that I benefit greatly from a great generosity of spirit from other bloggers who share their knowledge with me. I am very grateful to you for sharing yours.

SquirrelQueen said...

Beautiful photos, the first one with the touches of lavender is especially pretty. It must have been so much fun to attend this show with so many flowers.

SQ
Through Squirrel Eyes

Sara Chapman in Seattle, USA said...

Hi Chris,

Great dahlia shots (and the sweet lantana), and I enjoy the wide shot of the dahlia display. I have some nice rose shots recently you might like.

Sandy Kessler said...

wow I would love to have been at that show!!sandy

Maia said...

Beautiful flowers and amazing macro photos.Your Dahlias are gorgeous.

Nance said...

Wow! I've seen a Dahlia show once before and they were absolutely amazing! ... all shades and forms!
I have a few dahlias myself and i don't mind lifting them up in the fall and plant again in the spring...they are worth it!

Carletta said...

Love the Sunshine Paul - gorgeous with beautiful tips!
The lantana is also very vivid!
Thanks for you info on the lens. I don't have just a macro lens as such so this was quite helpful.

Carletta’s Captures.

Annie said...

What wonderful flowers...and photos! Thank you! I thought the lantana was great, also the daylily and and water lily below.

Thanks also for your visit to my down under tropical flowers this week.

Laerte Pupo said...

I like Dalias.

Good equipment give us very good photos.

Thank you for sharing.

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Good that you have that kind of society.
Lovely flowers photo, esp the 1st pix.

Judy said...

I am really impressed with that first dahlia! The purple tinge on the tightly packed petals at the centre!!! Gorgeous!