The claret cup (Echinocereus triglochindiatus) is a small member of the hedge hog cactus family native to a wide area of the Southwest. The Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, a wonderful piece of nature just north of the town of Escalante, is a perfect habitat for these beautiful creatures, and May is the perfect time to find them blooming there.
Since I was hiking in the park without my macro lens, a focal length of 420mm (Nikkor DX 18-300mm f3.5-5.6@280mm) allowed me to magnify and compress a small area of blooming cacti with an appealing result. An aperture of f/20 provided depth-of-field and a shutter speed of 0.4 second at ISO 100 gave me an overall medium exposure. A small (12″) gold reflector allowed me to throw some additional light onto the blossoms for added impact.
My purpose here is not to get into Utah-bashing. Most of the Mormon folks I know are wonderfully thoughtful and concerned with preserving the natural world. If the Utah politicians would support federal public lands with the same energy that goes into the preservation of their state public lands, the Beehive State would be the most amazing repository of nature in our country.
Bee Utah ful!
Hey Mark, thanks for joining this conversation. It’s always good to hear from you. What an intriguing thought; but somewhere from deep in memory I recall that hedge hog cacti are pollinated by hummingbirds. But there are many bees in Utah, i.e. it’s full of them; they just don’t do hedge hogs. Seriously, I appreciate your kind comment. Be well and Walk in Beauty.
These beauties have the look of early spring crocuses…….minus the flaming color! Welcome sites any time or place!
Hi Robin. Thanks for joining us and for your thoughtful comments. The thing about the desert is that all species must be very hearty, or they do not survive; and competition for pollinators is fairly fierce. Thus, standing out at the right moment is an important survival mechanism. Cacti flowers tend toward the warm tones – reds and yellows. The cool-toned flowers’ strategy is to carpet the environment and to procreate with sheer numbers. All must figure out what works best and how to accomplish the desired result, and what an amazing diversity we are given in consequence.
Who would have thought that cactus could give us such beauty. And you captured it with beautiful light and angle of view. The only thing I could think of was you have shown that light is to photography what sound is to music. Thank you for starting my week off with beauty.
Hey Chuck. It’s always good to have you join us, and the more you do, the more I become convinced that there is a poet’s soul living within you. In all of our shared adventures, we have had so many occasions to confirm the truth of your proposition – light to photography: sound to music. And sometimes it’s beneficial to assist nature’s light in some small way. Reflectors sometimes perform that task quite well. There were so many parts of the creation of this image that were interesting: it was a cloudless day, so the contrast was considerable and the reflector in conjunction with a small diffuser allowed for evening the contrast and adding light. Without them, the image was a difficult operation. Not having my macro lens posed another challenge for angle-of-view and depth-of-field; but the old Nikkor DX 18-300 worked well in relief. Hope you and Lois are safe and well. Walk in Beauty.
Don, this is a fun an satisfying image. I read something of a zig-zag pattern as my eye moves from one blossom to another. I’m glad you mentioned the gold reflector; that’s a technique I’ve not used, but will look into. And, even though the near ground and back ground are fairly busy, the blooms still just pop off the screen. Have a good week.
Hi Ray. You must have been using Diana’s computer when you commented; but that is certainly immaterial. It’s always good to have you with us and to delve into your thoughtful observations. There is a bit of zig-zag as the eye advances up the image, but the more salient feature is the “Y” formed by the blossoms which invites another kind of eye movement. For me, the very noticeable aspect of the image is something that my first mentor, John Shaw, taught me a quarter century ago that is as absolute now as it was then: warn colors advance; cool colors recede. The warm tones (reds, yellows) seem to jump forward just as the cool tones (green) seem to disappear into the background. This truism is what accounts for the popping of the blossoms, made even more so by the reflector’s golden light bounce.
Interestingly, I did not experience the foreground as busy. The background was a bit so and the only remedy was to soften it as much as possible with aperture/depth-of-field; but the lens limitation dictated my angle of approach: somewhat down and across the blossoms, rather than straight on form above. That angle meant I would inevitably see some background that would have to be accounted for somehow. Even with a macro lens I would lose some of the relationship between/among the blossoms. The beauty of composition is the choices/compromises that must usually be effected. I appreciate your thoughts on this. Have an excellent week and Walk in Beauty.
Thanks, Everyone for joining me and for your thoughtful comments and observations. So much Beauty to be found in our world! We are blessed to have the opportunity to have so much loveliness at our fingertips. Our willingness to preserve this beauty should go without saying.
Don, oops, not sure how I showed up as my wife last week. Great point about warm vs cool colors. While I probably have ‘felt’ it for a long time, I am happy now to be more actively conscious of it, and I am filing that one away for future application. Thanks for the email info about Acadia. I’ll stay in touch on whether it looks feasible. Ray
Hi Ray,
I was also curious about the identity swap, but I know who you are/were and all is well. Indeed, you have likely “felt” the implicit motion of tonalities without the words to describe them. And because of that knowledge, your images have reflected that understanding. I’ll keep you up on whatever new information there is regarding Acadia Will hope that it works out. Walk in Beauty.