Epitome of red

Opening bud of turk's cap, Malvaviscus arboreus.

On June 23 I stopped by to take a first look at the prairie restoration I’d read was under way on the grounds of the Elisabet Ney Museum. I ended up leaning over a low stone wall to photograph some turk’s cap plants, Malvaviscus arboreus, growing in a partly shaded area, as is their wont. It’s not my wont to open up my 100 mm macro lens all the way to f/2.8, but that’s what I did here, to grab as much light as I could. The result was selective focus in this picture of an opening bud, with parts of the front-most red petals sharp, and what appears to be a very tiny whitish spider on the tip of the front-most green bract also sharp. As for the rest of the image, beaucoup bokeh, if you forgive that bouquet of French and Japanese.

(Visit the USDA website for more information about Malvaviscus arboreus, including a clickable map showing where the species grows.)

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman