Yellow bitterweed
At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on September 26th I photographed this flower head of a wildflower called yellow sneezeweed and yellow bitterweed, Helenium amarum var. amarum. (If that wasn’t enough amarums for you, I’ll add that amarum is the Latin word for ‘bitter.’) Because I was there early in the morning and the light was low, I went for a soft portrait in which relatively little would be in focus.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Very nice. Beautiful image.
Pairodox Farm
October 11, 2018 at 6:07 PM
Simplicity can win the day.
Steve Schwartzman
October 11, 2018 at 7:21 PM
beautiful even though its name is bitterweed
sedge808
October 11, 2018 at 6:09 PM
You’re welcome to change the vowel and call it betterweed.
Steve Schwartzman
October 11, 2018 at 7:19 PM
☺☺☺
sedge808
October 11, 2018 at 8:58 PM
!!!
Steve Schwartzman
October 11, 2018 at 10:52 PM
The somewhat unusual background color complements it so well. I don’t know if it’s an optical illusion or my tired eyes, but there seems to be a faint glow around the flower, as though it’s casting a bit of yellow light on its surroundings. It may just be the soft focus, but it’s very attractive.
shoreacres
October 11, 2018 at 10:01 PM
I suspect artifacts of optics and digital processing account for the faint glow you sense around the flower. Of course tired eyes may add a bit of their own to the interplay between seer and seen. Some say that everything is illusions.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 6:14 AM
tee hee, sneezeweed
tonytomeo
October 11, 2018 at 11:57 PM
I’m used to the name, so I don’t find it strange, but I can see how others might.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 6:15 AM
You gave me my day’s first snicker, Tony. 🙂
melissabluefineart
October 12, 2018 at 8:06 AM
Moi, as a kid I preferred Snickers to Almond Joy.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 8:48 AM
Moi aussi.
melissabluefineart
October 12, 2018 at 10:01 AM
But at that age I didn’t yet speak French.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 11:48 AM
great treatment, love the color
MichaelStephenWills
October 12, 2018 at 5:37 AM
Now that you mention it, I don’t recall any other photo with background colors quite like these.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 6:16 AM
And an exquisite soft focus portrait it is. I have Helenium autumnale here. I love everything about it, including its name.
melissabluefineart
October 12, 2018 at 7:55 AM
Then that’s another wildflower in common: we have Helenium autumnale here, too, though it’s not as common as the species in today’s picture. Glad you like its soft portrait.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 8:01 AM
For me it’s really shallow DOF (depth of field) rather than soft. I like it and I’m glad to see it. I know I got into the habit of not wanting to post my shallow DOF images because I insisted in getting the whole object in focus simply to convey more information. When I see yours I feel like posting some in the future.
When you say amarum is the Latin word for ‘bitter’, I remembered ‘amargo’ in Spanish. ‘A veces, la vida puede ser ‘amarga’.
Maria
October 12, 2018 at 9:18 PM
You’re correct that the shallow depth of field that accompanied the f/5 aperture in this picture caused most of the disk and ray flowers to go out of focus. I often try for greater sharpness but in this case, short of using flash, that wasn’t possible, so I played up the shallow depth of field. That’s what I meant by “soft.”
Like you, I thought of amargo in Spanish and amer in French as two descendants of Latin amarum. From Italian there’s also the almond-flavored liqueur called amaretto.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 9:28 PM
Here’s la ‘Vida Amarga’ (https://youtu.be/uceR_jRHqJI) performed by Carlos Gardel, French Argentine singer, songwriter, composer and actor, and the most prominent figure in the history of tango.
Maria
October 12, 2018 at 9:31 PM
I first encountered the music of Carlos Gardel in New York City in 1967. I’ve still got the album of his greatest hits that I bought way back then.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 9:37 PM
So nostalgic for me, but your flower is soothing. Thanks for the post!
Maria
October 12, 2018 at 9:39 PM
Sure thing. I can feel that nostalgia for the tiempos que fueron.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 9:49 PM
He goes even further back to my father’s time. He died on 24 June 1935 in an airplane crash in Medellín, Colombia.
Maria
October 12, 2018 at 9:59 PM
Yes, I was aware of his death in that airplane crash, which of course took place in my father’s time, too, though I don’t think he knew about Carlos Gardel.
Steve Schwartzman
October 12, 2018 at 10:02 PM
[…] blooming clump in Bull Creek on September 7th. You may recognize the species as a genus-mate of the yellow bitterweed you saw here last […]
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