Blue Sky Vine
Thunbergia grandiflora
(thun-BER-jee-uh)
(gran-dih-FLOR-uh)
Synonyms: Bengal Clock Vine
This beauty was waiting for
me in the petting zoo at Gatorland. We usually see this vine blooming when we
get to Florida and this year was no different. Gatorland has really upgraded
since I was last there 15 years ago. It truly is one of the few old roadside
tourist attractions in Florida. It was the only place I saw live gators during
the whole trip. Another interesting about these photo is it was shot using the
18-70mm zoom lens. Technically it's called the Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IFAF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens.
On the D700 camera (full
frame) this lens auto crops down to 5 megapixels (instead of 12) since it is
built for the smaller sensor cameras. In the view finder you can see where the
edges of the photo will be but it still is a little tricky to remember to use
those lines instead of the whole viewfinder. The lens came as a kit lens with
my first DSLR a Nikon D70s. I almost didn’t buy it to save the $99 but said
what the heck. Since getting that camera I have switched over to using fixed or
prime lenses almost exclusively. It was fun to have some zoom and you can see
that the lens is sharp with good color rendition and you can’t ask for anymore
than that.
Karen put a big scratch in
this lens by accident. It didn’t show up when taking most pictures but I didn’t
like it being there. After using the lens as a paperweight for a time I took it
down to the repair shop and asked if they could fix it. They had the part in
stock and did the job for $58, which I happily paid. They also check the lens
for specifications and adjust as needed. It is a very nice lens that I am happy
to see it in my bag.
I am always a little irresolute
in recommending vines in tropical climates. This one was beautiful and
seemingly under control and gets good reviews from people growing it. Of course
I am a sucker for any blue flower.
1 comment:
Beautiful flowers and good job on getting the lens fixed. Cheers!
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