A Shot in the Dark

I captured a cactus flower blooming in the dark! Believe me, it wasn’t easy, using only my kit lens.  Matter of fact it is one of the hardest things I have attempted since I got my Nikon. Ranks right up there with silky misty water and spider webs.

I love how the petals look like feathers.

Cactus bloom

My friend has had this six-foot cactus for 25 years or more and it has bloomed maybe the last 12 of those years. Not in the Southwest, but right here in the Midwest!

This year it had about eight buds, each one only blooming once, at night. Come dawn, they close up, wither and die.

My first attempt I arrived at her house too late – at dawn – and the flower had started to close. Aug. 28 was my second chance to capture the bloom in the dark. So this time I went to her house at night and only this bud was in full bloom by 11 p.m. No tripod; I had to stand on a chair to get level with this bloom while she held a flashlight for me to adjust settings on my camera.

So this is as good as it gets. Read more …

Cactus blooming in the dark.

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40/52 Surprise ending

After the drought, late summer rains turned the grass green again and coaxed this wildflower to bloom one last time.

A harbinger of spring in my mother’s flowerbed also bloomed again in mid-September! If you look close, you will see three teeny, tiny ants. Not as detailed as I had hoped because I didn’t use a tripod and I am still shooting only with my kit lens. 😦

Photo of the Week series: Every Sunday in 2012 I will either share a photo from my archives or something new I just can’t wait to get feedback on for future art shows/exhibits.

Blogger participation: My hope is to receive enough input on each week’s photo to later post a Bloggers’ Choice of the Month and wrap up 2012 with a Bloggers’ Choice of the Year.