White Waterlily

 

Waterlily

Nymphaea cv.

(NIM-fee-uh)

Considering I shot this waterlily picture indoors with Karen’s 35-70, 2.8 Nikon lens it came out pretty good. I could have probably used a little more exposure.

This flower kind of represents a growing trend of indoor water features that seem to keep popping up. Previously confined to greenhouses or conservatories they are now merging into people’s houses. We were taking care of two of them last year and had a bit of a learning curve on them. When this flower bloomed it was a small personal victory and despite the environmental conditions it was growing in.

Hawaiian Mini Impatiens

Hawaiian Mini Impatiens
Impatiens walleriana
Synonym: Busy Lizzy
(im-PAY-shuns) (wall-er-ee-AH-nuh)


This Mini Impatiens was growing inside a greenhouse and they looked great. I had never heard of them before but would like to try them in the garden. They probably won’t be available at my local garden centers and I don’t have the capacity to grow them from seed but I will be watching for them.

Impatiens are a godsend for the shade garden only requiring moisture to grow and flower all season. We have been taking some inside the last couple of years and they do okay inside the greenhouse. If they start to look a little ratty cutting them back and fertilizing seems to help out. The tops can also be rooted for new plants.

This photo was shot with Karen’s new 35-70mm/2.8 lens. It was bought used (not in production any more) in mint condition.

Heliconia and 35-70 2.8 Nikon lens

Heliconia
Heliconia stricta 'Dwarf Jamaican'
(hel-ih-KOH-nee-uh) (STRIK-tuh)

Yesterday I went and tried the lens Karen is getting for Christmas. It is a Nikon AF 35-70mm f/2.8D Zoom-Nikkor. She is a very good photographer and needed a boost up from the Nikkor AF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens that came with her camera. The new lens is sharp and fast.

Since I was already down in Westchester Wave Hill seemed to be good place to check out some flowers and the lens. The push-pull zoom set up is a little interesting as is the macro function but easy to figure out. I didn’t do a lot of heavy testing more like trying to shoot what I would on a normal excursion.


This little Heliconia was blooming inside the conservatory and it is quite cute. The smaller size is perfect for cultivation in a container and it retains the nice ‘lobster claw’ type of flowers. Always a treat to see the brilliant red that this plant produced.

Shooting Star
Clerodendron quadriloculare
(kler-oh-DEN-drum) (kwah-drih-lok-yoo-LAIR-ee)


This photo was also shot with the 35-70mm lens. One of the prime things about a lens, to me anyways, is the bokeh it produces. On a simple level that is how the lens reproduces the out of focus elements in the background of the photo. This lens did nicely and with some more experimenting would do even better.