A fluffy little devil
Click for greater sharpness.
And while we’re doing clarifications and follow-ups, let me add that Mexican devilweed, Chloracantha spinosa, is one of the many members of the sunflower family whose flower heads turn into puffballs when they go to seed.
This photograph, like the previous one, comes from a session at Meadow Lake Park in Round Rock, a northern suburb of Austin; the date was September 23, 2011, when the drought was raging and we hadn’t had any significant rain for a long time.
For those of you interested in the craft of photography, points 1, 2, 5, and 16 in About My Techniques are relevant to this image.
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
Amazing photo. You bring out the extraordinary, always, in little beauties that might otherwise pass many of us by.
Susan Scheid
January 15, 2012 at 9:25 AM
Thanks, Susan. That’s one of the things I do try to do.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Lovely little ball of fluff, Steve. Not very “devilish” at all.
Steve Gingold
January 15, 2012 at 9:59 AM
But you can see lots of details in this photograph, and you know what they say: the devil is in the details.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Fantastic detail in this shot!
Steve
January 15, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Thanks to you, Steve, and to my Canon 100mm macro lens.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Wow I love the background…it really makes the flower pop!
dhphotosite
January 15, 2012 at 2:33 PM
It does, and I’ve been trying to remember—so far in vain—what plants those were in the background.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 5:55 PM
This is by far my favorite of yours 🙂 The colors are wonderful and so demanding!!
JuanitasPhotoBox
January 15, 2012 at 2:51 PM
I’m glad you have a new favorite. Now what can I do to top it?
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 6:04 PM
I’m not sure that’s possible…. I’ll have to let you know if it happens 🙂
JuanitasPhotoBox
January 16, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Fireworks ready to explode.
Dawn
January 15, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Good imagination, Dawn. I hadn’t seen that.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 7:55 PM
Like the finest silky embroidery floss!
kathryningrid
January 15, 2012 at 5:14 PM
Nor had I imagined that, Kathryn.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 7:56 PM
Beautiful background again. Love the flowing together of the yellow and green. Really sets the mainly white flower off.
Eeyore
January 15, 2012 at 6:52 PM
You’re the first to point out the flowing together of the yellow and the green. Thanks for the observation.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 7:59 PM
Lovely bokeh! The lively colors are warming to view in such cold weather. Thanks, I needed this! 🙂
~ Lynda
pixilated2
January 15, 2012 at 7:30 PM
I do my best in many pictures to make the background at free from detail as possible. As for warmth, the temperature was at least in the 90s when I took this picture back in September.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2012 at 8:01 PM
[…] the heels (bracts? roots? stems?) of the last post I’ll add that along with Mexican devilweed and many another member of the sunflower family, as well as cattails and sycamores, our native […]
Bushy bluestem « Portraits of Wildflowers
January 16, 2012 at 5:24 AM
Truly, a captivating image, and I always enjoy your commentary, Sally
Sally W. Donatello
January 16, 2012 at 7:54 AM
I’m following in your tradition of lens and pen.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2012 at 8:06 AM
Whoa! Excellent capture. 🙂
Nandini
January 23, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Thanks. I was happy with it too.
Steve Schwartzman
January 23, 2012 at 10:06 AM
I love the closeness you really got with the subject against a yellowing and greening background : )
firasz
January 23, 2012 at 2:40 PM
The background made the picture what it is.
Steve Schwartzman
January 23, 2012 at 5:19 PM
[…] a member of the same botanical family as sunflowers, asters, thistles, tatalencho, mistflowers, and Mexican devilweed. Many of the insect-pollinated plants in this huge group share a trait: after their flower heads go […]
A trace of red « Portraits of Wildflowers
February 17, 2012 at 1:23 PM