California loosestrife
You probably don’t remember seeing some California loosestrife, Lythrum californicum, that was in a wildflower meadow on the Blackland Prairie on May 28th. Here, finally, is a closer look at some of those flowers from a part of the Blackland Prairie a few miles further south on July 29th. As a bonus you get the color of a bluebell, Eustoma exaltatum, that was beyond the loosestrife.
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Wieder mal eine ganz wundervolle Blüte 🙂
einfachtilda
October 9, 2014 at 6:12 AM
Mathilda says that this is yet again quite a wonderful flower, and I say that it is indeed.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 7:55 AM
Perfect backdrop for a beautiful flower.
Gallivanta
October 9, 2014 at 7:06 AM
I pay attention to backgrounds and often look for an angle that will line my subject up with something contrasting or harmonious (and preferably out of focus) behind it. Of course that’s not always possible, but when it is I usually find it adds to the portrait’s appeal.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 8:00 AM
Beauty!
photoleaper
October 9, 2014 at 11:22 AM
It is.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 2:23 PM
Beautiful
norasphotos4u
October 9, 2014 at 7:45 PM
If only this flower really let us lose the strife in our life.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 7:48 PM
The combination of blur and lighting team up nicely to help the loosestrife bloom stand forward of the similar hued bluebell.
I am a little tardy with my comments. The switch over from computer the old to computer the new is more time consuming than I expected.
Steve Gingold
October 9, 2014 at 7:55 PM
I knew I could count on my fellow nature photographer to appreciate the contrast between the sharp focus on the loosestrife and the softness of the out-of-focus bluebell behind it.
I think we all sympathize with you about switching computers, which is always a nuisance and seems inevitably to take longer than expected and create unforeseen problems.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 8:03 PM
The funny part is that the things I expected to give the most trouble have gone the smoothest and the ones that should be easy…..
I should be mostly up and running tomorrow. But foliage beckons so I am torn between two lovers. 🙂
Steve Gingold
October 9, 2014 at 8:19 PM
The computer will keep but the foliage and light may not, so I’d head for the outdoors.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 9:58 PM
I love that a bluebell gave you the perfect lavender background for the loosestrife. The “blue” in the bluebell is there, of course, but it’s subtle. The buds reminded me so much of a petunia or morning glory that I went looking to see if they might be distantly related to the loosestrife. I decided they aren’t. But the similarity is striking.
Here’s something else I like: that I’ve added “depth of field” to my working vocabulary, and better understand how you created this beautiful photo. I’ve got a better camera now than the WalMart cheapo I picked up on my trip last fall, and I’ve taken it out for a couple of jaunts. It’s fun to try something, and discover that it sort of works, as with this morning glory.
shoreacres
October 9, 2014 at 8:38 PM
There’s a phenomenon called convergent evolution, in which unrelated (except insofar as everything is ultimately related) types of organisms develop a similar feature. At
http://forageporage.wordpress.com/2011/10/02/our-sunday-guest-steven-schwartzman-shares-his-thoughts-and-photos-on-convergent-evolution/
you can see a guest post I wrote on that topic three years ago.
Yes, depth of field is an important photographic concept. I remember sitting on my bed in Tegucigalpa in 1969 and reading about it in the manual for my new Pentax Spotmatic, the first “real” (i.e. fully adjustable) camera I ever had. It’s good to hear that you’ve got a better camera now too, and to see that you’re experimenting with depth of field. Many point-and-shoot cameras and virtually all cell phone cameras make it hard to create shallow depth of field.
Steve Schwartzman
October 9, 2014 at 10:20 PM
Ah, the essence of purple.
composerinthegarden
October 11, 2014 at 4:33 PM
That’s a good way to put it, with two shades of the color.
Steve Schwartzman
October 11, 2014 at 4:41 PM