Gloria Grandolini
July 2025 - BOTANICAL ART
About the Image(s)
This is a Siberian iris I photographed at the Inverewe Gardens in Loch Ewe, Scotland. I visited this garden on a stop in the Hebrides islands while in a small ship cruise.
These are stunning botanical gardens. Thanks to the mild climate from the Gulf Stream it hosts a variety of rare and exotic plants. I did not have the Macro lens, so I shot flower images at close distance with the 200 mm zoom lens.
I loved the colors and the intrinsic art design of this iris.
While reading about it, I discovered that in Slavic folklore it is considered a charm against evil spirits.
Shot with CANON R5
1/60 sec at f/8.0 ISO 800 handheld
200 m with Zoom Lens Rf 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM
0.3 sec at f/8.0 ISO 100 with tripod
In Lightroom I cropped and adjusted exposure a bit .
14 comments posted
I've been to Inverewe gardens too, but it's a shorter journey for me! I'm always surprised when I see a globe, we are much further north than New York, say, but have a much milder climate. The Gulf Stream is great for us.
Anyway, I think you've done well to get a lovely picture with a non-macro lens. I guess you were watching weight. I'd suggest that an extension tube on a shorter focal length lens, that you probably had with you anyway, makes a very lightweight alternative in such a situation. The surface of that petal screams out for a macro lens! Posted: 07/06/2025 20:33:48
Anyway, I think you've done well to get a lovely picture with a non-macro lens. I guess you were watching weight. I'd suggest that an extension tube on a shorter focal length lens, that you probably had with you anyway, makes a very lightweight alternative in such a situation. The surface of that petal screams out for a macro lens! Posted: 07/06/2025 20:33:48
Thank you Stuart! Will buy one Posted: 07/06/2025 21:44:29
Stuart,
What is the trick with using extension tubes? Do you have to physically move closer or further away from the subject to get a good focus? I recently bought a couple of them, but have yet to have good results. It seems like it should be a no brainer. What could I be missing? Posted: 07/06/2025 22:53:43
What is the trick with using extension tubes? Do you have to physically move closer or further away from the subject to get a good focus? I recently bought a couple of them, but have yet to have good results. It seems like it should be a no brainer. What could I be missing? Posted: 07/06/2025 22:53:43
Thank you Stuart! Will buy one Posted: 07/06/2025 23:16:30
Gloria,
In all honesty, when I first saw your image in small form with all the other images on the Group 95 board, I thought, Oh Lord, not another Iris. Then I clicked on it to see the larger view and said, "Wow! That's not just another Iris!" What beautiful detail and color. Posted: 07/06/2025 22:51:30
In all honesty, when I first saw your image in small form with all the other images on the Group 95 board, I thought, Oh Lord, not another Iris. Then I clicked on it to see the larger view and said, "Wow! That's not just another Iris!" What beautiful detail and color. Posted: 07/06/2025 22:51:30
Thank you Cheryl Posted: 07/08/2025 22:07:22
Margaret West
Very beautiful and great DOF on this. I do carry a close-up lens designed for the 70-200 as a macro when I am traveling. You might try that. Posted: 07/07/2025 06:04:45
Hi, thanks can you give me details of the close up lens? Thanks! Posted: 07/07/2025 12:01:43
Margaret West
Very beautiful and great DOF on this. I do carry a close-up lens designed for the 70-200 as a macro when I am traveling. You might try that. Posted: 07/07/2025 06:05:06
Thanks Margaret Posted: 07/20/2025 14:52:05
You've really done a great job with this Siberian Iris, with color balance perfect, great sharpness, it stands out well from the background. I think the only suggestion I would make is to work on the lower right side on the background. There's a big, distracting spot of white, and then a big, high-contrast spot of dark. The rest of your background is so blurred and pretty--can you patch or clone from the other three background areas? I would also like to know, like Cheryl, about the extension tubes. I have always found the DOF to be so, so narrow! The use of the 70-200 was a great choice--not sure about using an extension tube. Posted: 07/10/2025 17:51:55
Thank you Carol, great suggestion! Posted: 07/20/2025 14:51:43
it is very pretty. front has great focus and fades off into the back. lines in the petals are very crisp. the 3 outward leaves give a nice depth. background is perfect - got the green plants behind which is perfect background. Posted: 07/13/2025 00:12:09
Thank you Pat Posted: 07/20/2025 14:52:35