Beginnings and Endings

[Wicked Dark]

I found some chicory down the road from my house the other day. I had no idea it grew wild around here and so took some home with me for a bouquet. I learned each blossom only lasts a day and they get more insubstantial and pale as the blossom heads towards its demise. This is a fresh one that I shot this morning before my run -

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1044/4733325744_7e313e0780_z.jpg

I really like how the petals are stuck together and the stamens are still in their wrappers.

It's amazing how much color bleeds from them in the sun. At the end of the day, they start to wither. The stamens are released and they're all curly. After this stage the petals fall and dry and the next day another one blooms and it starts all over again.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1096/4733325740_34a8e88981_z.jpg

Not the best photos ever, but I like the plant itself and am tempted to go dig it up (it's just on the side of the road) and put it in my yard. :evil2:

[Mad Aussie]

Wow such a short life of colour. Interesting to learn. That 1st shot is a great colour palette.

[Wicked Dark]

It's the pebbled glass table top on the deck. I could take a couple shots of them all withered, dry and wrinkled, but I don't think it's terribly photogenic. Tomorrow I'll have a couple new blooms though.

Chicory is also a cheap and nasty coffee substitute.

[Marko]

Both nice captures! I favor shot 1 though!

[Rinkdaddy]

I never knew this about chicory. I will keep my eyes open for fresh flowers when I go for my walks.

[Matt K.]

Fantastic captures, all around excellent photography. Well done WD ... oh ohhh ... does WD always stand for : Well Done??:evil2:

[Hillbillygirl]

Lovely pictures WD, especially #1 with the perfect DOF and creamy bokeh. Very nicely done.
I also really enjoy seeing the colour of these along the gravel roads around here. As you said, too bad they are so short lived, such as the Day-Lilies. (last a day)

[Wicked Dark]

thanks all. I hope you can find some, RinkD, the one plant I saw is the only one I've ever seen and I go by it often. It's in a patch of daisies and clover if that helps.

[MoinMoin]

Great DOF and fine colours - I love these flowers too!

[Wicked Dark]

hey thanks.

Here's a new blossom from this morning - an up from under view this time.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4735471353_90decc7efc_b.jpg

[Matt K.]

Pulling "Casils" now, are ya WD? Nice poit of view, quite differnt ... exposing the "dark" side ... :D

[Wicked Dark]

Ya lost me on that one, Matt. These flowers are just captivating, but I promise to stop.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4735579425_f6eed43170_b.jpg


Eventually. ; )

[Iguanasan]

I was gonna say the first was my favourite but I'm leaning a little to the last one. Very cool. I find myself wishing the entire flower was in focus though. It's way too interesting to have any of it blurry :) Nice set. :clap:

[Wicked Dark]

thanks Iguanasan. I could try for all of it in focus but I'd probably have to use the flash to do it. Without it, those kinds of stopped down exposures would require winds like those found on the surface of the moon.

[QuietOne]

This stuff grows all over the place next to the river. I didn't know that was what chicory looked like. And your pictures showed me something I haven't seen before - what it looks like when it first opens up. The colors are beautiful.

[Matt K.]

Ya lost me on that one, Matt. These flowers are just captivating, but I promise to stop.

Casil contorts herself in the most inconceivable ways to get her shots. So I imagine you had to do some of the same in order to get a shot from below. That's what I menat with "pulling a Casil" .. :laughing:

[Wicked Dark]

oh I gotcha now. Actually very little contortionist behavoir was seen during the taking of these photos. They're in a vase on the table on my deck. :)