macro

A macro lens is a wonderful thing to have. I'm loving mine. There's a lot for me to learn in order to get the photos better, but it's all in fun. I need to get a better background, I think, and I'd love to have a flash set-up. Maybe do some portraits - of people, rather than the kids. Here are some photos of the kids.

This is Phalaenopsis equestris 'Rebecca' who was given to me by another blogger. It is a particularly nice form, in that the flowers are richly colored, are flatter than the typical species, and it is more floriferous and vigorous than the typical species. It's been one of the most successful phals in my collection. Phals tend to fade out after a few years for me, mostly because of the dryness and temperature extremes of my climate. The dryness makes the orchids irresistible to spider mites which decimate phals in a couple of weeks if not caught soon enough. The name equestris refers to the species habit of forming new plantlets on the tips of the flower spikes, which form roots that straddle a nearby host branch. It looks like a rider on a horse. Very cute, and easier to propagate than other phals for this reason. P. equestris flowers open sequentially, the spikes getting longer and longer as the older ones drop off. Although the plant can have 5-10 flowers open at a time ('Rebecca' tends to have more open at a time - mine have had up to 20), the blooming lasts months or even years before it ends in a plantlet. Flowers have a natural spread of 1-1/4".


Phalaenopsis Minimark 'Mendendall' is a cross between P. micro nova and P. philippinensis. P. micro nova is a cross between species P. maculata and P. parishii. Obviously, the cross kept the small flower size (natural spread of 1-1/4"), of maculata and parishii rather than that of philippinensis, and kept many of the spots of maculata. Of course that is relative, since P. parishii has flowers about 3/8" in diameter. Unfortunately, it didn't keep parishii's hinged jaw, which makes the lip wiggle in any breeze. It also didn't inherit P. parishii's grape-sweet fragrance.


This noid (unnamed and unknown parentage) Phalaenopsis is from Whole Foods, but is a nice compact plant. There are so many mini-phals out there, that I'm not even going to guess as to the parentage. Natural spread 2"


I've had an on-going struggle to photograph yellow flowers. The edges of the blooms always seem blurry, the contrast poor. I've been trying to capture this Laeliocattleya Love Fresh for a long time. Slc. Love Fresh is a trigeneric hybrid. Parents are Sophrocattleya Beaufort and Laelia briegeri. Sophrocattleya Beaufort is Sophronitis coccinea and Cattleya luteola. This is a complicated relationship, with the rupicolous (growing on rocks) yellow-flowered Brazilian L. briegeri, epiphytic (tree growing) greenish to yellowish flowers, Amazonian Cattleya luteola, and the Brazilian Sophronitis coccinea, known for it's exacting demands for anyone who tries to grow it outside of its native habitat. At least all the parents are from the same continent (or thereabouts). This is actually a very simple hybrid compared to some of the larger cattleya types. Nevertheless, it's also a cutie (natural spread 2-1/4") that is more challenging to photograph than grow. Alas, the flower stems are weak, and the flowers frequently droop.