Inspired by the macro photo contest. Here are 5 pix of mine

I raise carnivorous plants and enjoy taking photos of them. I would be very interested in hearing what people think of these. I am a total amateur in terms of photography.

The pix:

Yuca Do 1717 - A mexican butter-wort


Sarracenia purpurea - American Pitcher Plant


Pygmy Sundews


Sundews


Bog Garden

Maybe I should get some of these to take care of the mosquitoes in the summer. :) Great job.

You'd have to have a LOT of carnivorous plants to make a dent in the mosquito population. :D

Seriously, this is a great hobby you have. What inspired you?

I have a roof garden that I've been trying to get plants to grow in for a while now. Conditions can be a bit harsh for some plants here sometimes. We get a lot of cold foggy days in the summer and then other times we have blazing sun. The plant that can make it through the fog, often don't survive the harsh sun and vice versa. In looking for plants that thrive in these conditions I started running across CPs (carnivorous plants). The more I looked into them the more fascinated I became.

BTW, there are several types of CPs that might look very nice in hanging baskets. I'm thinking specifically of d. binata var. "mutifida extrema". This is a bushy red sundew with leaves that branch and branch. As they get older, the branches hang down and can be quite impressive, especially in full sun.

I love the pigmy sundews.

Weren't you afraid to get so close? :)

Do they eat cats?

If you remember a few things, many CP's are fairly easy to grow. The main thing is water. It has to be very low in disolved minerals. For most people in the US this means they have to use reverse osmosis. Second, never fertilize unless you just like dead plants. Third, don't use planting soil. The vast majority of CP's grow in sandy peat (most will do well in a 50/50 sand/peat mix). Finally, give them as much light as possible.

I'm on a well. Lots of minerals, especially sillica. Lots of clay, no sand. Lots of light, no sun (north side of a house/apartment situation where the original owner put the second story on the south side of the house. i grow mold really well, though.

With two or three 6 inch pots, you might use a gallon or so of distilled or RO water a week depending on how dry or humid your environment is. I could give you a list of easy to grow cp's that would be ok in bright indirect light. If you only have access to well water, you're probably better off skipping cp's though. :)

I think I will leave the CPs to you. My approach to gardening is somewhat casual. Just be sure and post a lot of photos.

If you have a macro lens, try getting *really* close to them, as close as you can. They seem to have lots of tiny detail that may looking interesting in a really close macro shot.

NOT!

Actually, the plants suck... the life out of creepy, flying things. :P But the photos are gorgeous and you are proficient enough to make these vicious plants seems cuddly and cute. I tell you, that's talent! And you are certainly proficient enough to hang out with us here.

For the record, I like Yuca Do 1717 and Sundews best. Really, I like Sundews best because of texture and the curly pink strand, but there's just something about the color and innocent shape of the Yuca Do that draws me in. If I was a fly I could resist all the others, but that Yuca Do would seduce me into my demise. (I wonder if it's related to me ex? LOL!)

:)

I think I'm able to take 'cute cuddly' pictures of these plants because I really love them and am passionate about them. When I take pictures of them, I am looking to capture those aspects or show them so they are most prominent or at their best. What I have a hard time doing is capturing multiple aspects well. For instance, I never quite captured the pygmy's in bloom the way I wanted to. Because the detail was so fine with both the flowers and the tiny leaves, I never was able to show them off together at their 'best'. I could get the flowers in focus, but not the leaves, or vice versa. :shrug:

Yuca Do 1717 is one of the plants I'm most proud of. As far as I know, at this point the plant has not been named. It's thought that it might be a variation on Pinguicula esseriana, it's highly probable that it is at least a relative. One cool thing about it, given enough light it turns a wonderful grapefruit color (see picture below - not my pic):



I haven't had my 1717's for an entire year yet. They've done really well since I got them. They started out about the size of my pinky nail and now the biggest is about the size of a half-dollar. I'm really hoping that it blooms this year. The flowers of most CP's are very lovely, but I've never seen a picture of this plant in bloom.

Would have been a huge vote magnet in the macro/close up/bug ass/fish butt contest. The color, focus point. Very very nice.

I know NOTHING about plants or flowers, especially those that "eat things", but I have an appeciation for them. Just love what nature can come up with visually. All these are great.
:thumbsup:

You certainly have an interesting hobby. Can honestly say I don't know anyone else that does this.

How often does the photo group have a macro contest? I'll put the next one on my calendar. :hi:

Unless a designated host/ess decides to make it the theme again. However, you might want to poke your head in from time to time in april/may.... I'm sure, at the very least, there will be quite a few flower pixie threads going on... and maybe even a challenge on flowers. I know I'd like to see one.

The first plant is very good looking, but I was thinking it might make a good black and white shot? The 3rd shot is excellent for everything that is going on... very well balanced. But the 4th shot is my fav! Incredible!

I'll try that on it next time I open up iPhoto. I'm a bit surprised that #4 seems to be the hands-down favorite. That picture is one of a series of shots I took. Do you think people would be interested enough in them to post them as a separate thread? I don't want to spam the group with them or anything.

spam away :D ....If everyone else is at all like me, we just enjoy looking at good photos, learning some techniques, getting some photo ideas! Not to mention that this group could always use more traffic!

:hi;