On Memorial Day I had taken this picture at Preservation Park in Oakland. I’m not sure what type of flower it is, but it definitely attracted me. They were quite tall at about 5′ or so. I’ve been kind of enjoying taken some flowers again. As you know, I love color so these seemed to fit right into my regular motif!
Laura Macky Photography 
June 1, 2014 at 6:57 am
Beautiful!
June 1, 2014 at 6:59 am
Thank you 🌸
June 1, 2014 at 6:57 am
This should be matted and framed and hanging at my cottage!
June 1, 2014 at 6:59 am
What a compliment! Thank you!
June 1, 2014 at 7:01 am
Happy Sunday Laura. Colors enhanced by the OOF background.
June 1, 2014 at 7:27 am
Happy Sunday to you too! Thank you 🙂 I’m sure you are in my stream very soon….
June 1, 2014 at 7:01 am
staring relaxingly
hoping for reading her lips
listening for her true name 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 7:28 am
laura Macky lol
June 1, 2014 at 7:50 am
i’m honored
knowing someone
with a flower
named after them!
yes, you are a flower, laura 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 7:52 am
lol thank you 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 7:46 am
We used to get these flowers popping up in our garden at Fremantle, Western Australia. Lovely flowers and yes, very tall.
June 1, 2014 at 7:52 am
Thank you! I’m wondering what they are called.
June 1, 2014 at 8:10 am
What an unusual flower 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 8:16 am
I thought so too. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 8:27 am
Wonderful photo of a beautiful flower. We have this in our garden, too. It’s called in Latin “accantus”.
June 1, 2014 at 8:28 am
Ahhh, thank you!!! Accantus. I appreciate it!
June 1, 2014 at 8:53 am
Reblogged this on Click And Color.
June 1, 2014 at 9:03 am
It’s lovely, what ever it is.
June 1, 2014 at 9:33 am
lol it’s an Accanthus from what I’ve been told. And funny, someone told me that once. 😛
June 1, 2014 at 9:04 am
I was going to offer to look when I was next at Wisley as they’re in bloom there at the moment too 🙂 The bees love them! Glad someone knew the name.
June 1, 2014 at 9:33 am
yes me too!
June 1, 2014 at 2:00 pm
🙂
June 1, 2014 at 9:10 am
o this is beautiful 🙂 I love your photography Laura!
June 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that you enjoy it. I love your poetry. 😀
June 1, 2014 at 9:14 am
A Birthday flower for me with 53 blossoms on it ! Thanks Laura!
June 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
Aww Happy Birthday!!!! 🎈
June 1, 2014 at 9:18 am
That is a spike of an Acanthus plant. The beautiful leaves were much liked by William Morris in his decorative designs. In my California garden they grew enormous and put up many spikes.
They are difficult to handle because of very sharp curved spines hiding unseen in the flowers. I love this plant. That is a super neat photo of the flowering spike !
June 1, 2014 at 9:31 am
Thank you so much for the answer to this question. I hadn’t touched it, so I was unaware of its sharpness! Beckoning beauty with a twist!
June 1, 2014 at 9:19 am
Amazing beautiful flower, great shot Laura
June 1, 2014 at 9:30 am
Thank you Irene! Hmm…I haven’t seen you in my stream lately…going to your blog now.
June 1, 2014 at 9:32 am
I have had visit by my daughter the last week Laura and spent my time with her 😀
June 1, 2014 at 9:36 am
ahhh good for you!
June 1, 2014 at 11:04 am
Yes wonderful thanks 😀
June 1, 2014 at 9:31 am
Even more strange, i can’t find your blog!
June 1, 2014 at 9:34 am
WordPress has problems, they gave me problems yesterday too and I wrote to them
June 1, 2014 at 9:36 am
oh good because I’ve seen a few like this lately. Also sometimes when I like something, it doesn’t show up. 😦
June 1, 2014 at 11:03 am
I tried this with likes yesterday and needed to visit all the blogs to like and comment. It was not possible inthe Reader 😦
June 1, 2014 at 11:05 am
I hope you found it now, otherwise you can use this link http://www.irenedesign2011.com
June 1, 2014 at 12:04 pm
How do I comment on this link though? I’m a bit myopic in regard to wordpress, lol. Obviously!
June 1, 2014 at 2:02 pm
I had the same yesterday. It was only possible to comment directly at peoples blog and not in the reader. At least we can still answer here in our own comments
June 1, 2014 at 2:20 pm
true! WP has been glitchy lately. 😦
June 1, 2014 at 9:50 am
Fabulous! It reminds me of a Redwood tree too .:)
June 1, 2014 at 9:58 am
lol! A towering plant!
June 1, 2014 at 10:12 am
Love the colors. I wonder wil they grow in the Florida climate. I’d like one in my yard.
June 1, 2014 at 12:06 pm
I hear they are very hearty!
June 1, 2014 at 10:17 pm
I bet they do grow in Florida. California is semi-tropical, not as humid as FL. though, but these plants seem to be pretty tough. If you get one or two make sure that they have at least 2 or more feet all around. The leaves are quite large too and beautiful too. They look good even without the flower spikes. Here in Idaho I have commiserated with other people coming from California about not being able to grow acanthus and callas due to the long and very cold winters of the high desert. If you google it you’ll find out more than you ever wanted to know about acanthus and where it grows best!
June 2, 2014 at 7:13 am
Thank you so much for all the info on the flower! I really appreciate everyone giving me a story on what I was seeing. 😀
June 1, 2014 at 10:38 am
Reblogged this on rebloggobbler.
June 1, 2014 at 10:44 am
Yes, I can see how this caught your eye – no idea either of what it is, but that’s SOP for me…I like the way you captured a section as well as having another in the BG out of focus.
June 1, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Thank you Robert. I found out it’s an Accanthus. I think that’s how it’s spelled. I appreciate your thoughtful comment. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 10:55 am
Pretty and unusual. vw
June 1, 2014 at 12:05 pm
Thank you 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 11:51 am
I inherited one of these with the house and never knew what it was. It’s gorgeous when it blooms! (and seems to be doing nicely on benign neglect!) Very lovely shot of this delightfully different sort of flower.
June 1, 2014 at 12:04 pm
Benign neglect is perfect for me as I have a brown thumb, lol. Thank you Gunta. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Ooh, nice, great use of depth of field….
June 1, 2014 at 2:19 pm
Thank you 😀
June 1, 2014 at 2:27 pm
Very beautiful!
June 1, 2014 at 2:29 pm
Thank you! 😀
June 1, 2014 at 2:59 pm
That’s so pretty. I do like the colours in this one Laura. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Thank you so much Sue. I did too and it’s what attracted me besides the striking shape. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 3:02 pm
I can see why. The colours work so beautifully together. Mother Nature gets it right again!!
June 1, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Sure does! 100% of the time!
June 1, 2014 at 3:48 pm
beautiful
June 1, 2014 at 3:49 pm
Thank you 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 6:18 pm
Stunning pic Laura!
June 1, 2014 at 6:21 pm
Thank you, Julie! I loved those flowers.
June 1, 2014 at 10:02 pm
I had a fantastic Acanthus growing next to my front porch back in Tacoma, and loved both the magnificent flower spikes (though, yes, there are spiny things elsewhere on the plant) and the gorgeous, architectural leaves. So architectural, in fact, that these are not only the Wm. Morris favored design elements but the inspiration for the Corinthian column capital and many, many other applied designs. Also, I’ve heard these given the common name of Bears’ Breeches, which I think is a little too silly sounding for such a powerful plant.
Regardless of all of this, beautiful shot!!!
xo
K
June 2, 2014 at 7:05 am
lol! Thank you kathryn! I appreciate it. 🙂
June 1, 2014 at 11:00 pm
We have this growing in our gardens here… I know you have been told already that it is the Acanthus or one of the Acanthaceae family, we call it the “wild rhubarb” (acanthus mollis) makes a great show…
June 2, 2014 at 7:15 am
I have been but I need to hear it a few times and then I’ll never forget! Thank you so much. 🙂 🙂
June 2, 2014 at 3:01 am
Lovely shot, but I can’t help but wonder if the plant is upside down. The pink umbrella would seem to block the sun. 🙂
June 2, 2014 at 7:18 am
lol cute!
June 2, 2014 at 4:19 am
Nice shot. I thought about shooting some flowers this last weekend but never got around to it. Was going to use the tripod and macro lens. Perhaps next weekend may work out for me.
June 2, 2014 at 7:19 am
I’ve gotta get a macro lens…I’m drooling! Looking forward to more of your pics.
June 2, 2014 at 7:34 am
Have you ever taken a look at wide angle macro? It’s really interesting. Ultra wide angle lenses have a natural ability to get close focusing distances like macro lenses. The difference though is that you have a greater DOF and get more into your frame. It gives a completely different perspective that allows the viewer to see the world in which the subject is sitting in. Examples of when you might want to take this approach is if you have an interesting subject that is small but want to capture the scenery around it. Lenses that are 10-14mm on crop sensors or 14-18mm on full frame work very well for this. I use my 16-35mm for this approach. A good example is this image (http://jtaveryphotography.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/hiding/) I had taken with this lens. For this particular image it allows the blades of grass (normally very small in comparison to the rest of the scene) to look much larger and gives a completely different perspective. I tend to like these photos more than just macro shots, but when the right scenery isn’t around, then I just shoot strictly macro as it then puts the full focus on the subject without the distracting backgrounds.
June 2, 2014 at 7:41 am
Oh, that’s interesting! I have the 10-24mm lens on a crop sensor. Kneeling down right now is an issue for me. I’m in dire need of another knee replacement, but I should try to see what i can get. I love this look though….it’s different! I have used my wide angle to enhance the foreground subjects, but not quite like you have done. like this: http://lauramacky.smugmug.com/Galleries/This-and-That-1/i-MDsQJqh
I do have my eye on the 105 I think? It seems to be a good macro. Thank you for the heads up on a lens I already have though! Much appreciated!
June 2, 2014 at 7:55 am
If you have a tripod that you can put the camera upside down with that really helps. That’s what I did in that photo. When I take photos like this I only kneel to compose the shot and set the focus. Then I use a remote for the shutter. I also have the 10-24mm nikon lens and it is a great lens. Don’t really use it anymore since I upgraded to the D610. I had to get the 16-35mm as it is equivalent minus 1mm on each side. I wanted the 14-24mm but it has a fixed hood on the lens and a filter setup is a bit too much.
June 2, 2014 at 7:58 am
Trust me, I can’t even knee for one second right now unfortunately. It’s THAT bad. I started this blog as a knee replacement blog believe it or not. It had zero to do with photography. Now I will have the second knee done and then perhaps a year from now I’ll be able to kneel…although I hear once you have a knee replacement, you can never kneel again which proves to be the case for my replaced knee. Can’t kneel on that. It’s why I was attracted to that tall flower I recently posted lol. But I REALLY appreciate all your helpful suggestions because I really enjoy learning more about photography and all hte possibilities it offers!
June 2, 2014 at 9:15 am
I hope that the surgery goes good for you. I’m really starting to learn how the tripod helps with getting better shots as it forces you to think more about your composition and then helps with the sharpness, especially when taking more shallow DOF photos. I think the 2 best accessories I have for my camera and lenses are my tripod and ND filter. The shutter remote is truly only useful for when the shutter speed needs to be longer than 30 seconds.
June 2, 2014 at 9:41 am
I agree about the tripod. I only use it when I have to and honestly, most professional landscape photographers ALWAYS use a tripod.
June 2, 2014 at 9:53 am
I actually started my blog as a test to kind of see if it would work to drive more traffic to my Fine Art America site to possibly make sales. Well, it worked very well with driving more traffic there, but didn’t help with sales at all. It ended up being too much work keeping up with everything and not rewarding so then I just let it take on it’s own purpose and have since given up on trying to sell any of my work as I don’t need the money, but thought it would be nice to get something out of my hobby. Now I just focus on Flickr and my blog. I may invest more time in my blog though to try different things as I have the time such as a little more info on the images I post.
June 2, 2014 at 9:59 am
Yeah selling online is a toughy.
June 2, 2014 at 7:00 am
Love that you captured just a section of this very tall plant. Provides beautiful details!
June 2, 2014 at 7:25 am
Thank you so much! It was quite imposing and it insisted on being taken up close. 😉
June 2, 2014 at 7:18 am
love this one Laura!! The other name for Acanthus is “Bear’s breeches”- go figure!! It is beautiful with the light shining on it!!
June 2, 2014 at 7:29 am
Thank you! I now have Acanthus emblazed on my brain! LOL!!!!
June 2, 2014 at 7:59 am
Beautiful flower and beautiful composition, Laura!!! I wowed out loud! I need a thesaursas for you too! Honest! I just plain run out of words! Ah! Someone gave you the name of the flower. Cool. Now for me to remember IF I see this flower. That is debateable! LOL (not sure on my spelling this morning either … oh well! *grin*) Love, Amy
June 2, 2014 at 8:02 am
Thank you Amy! I loved the flower. I didn’t even need to try to knee down which is always a challenge for me.
June 2, 2014 at 8:07 am
Oh yes, those knees. I was kneeling on shale last evening and inside I was groaning. And being eaten by skeeters, all for the sake of a photo. [GRIN] Hubs saw me this weekend and now he realizes I will do just about anything to get a photo. He is now coming with me on photo shoots to make sure I don’t do anything really nuts.. Hehehehehehe I have a funny story coming up later this week about husbands. *nose snort!* xx Amy
June 2, 2014 at 8:08 am
yeah one of my knees is replaced so it’s a “no kneel” knee and the other is heading for replacement in a few months. gtgg!
June 3, 2014 at 12:05 am
what a beauty 🙂
June 3, 2014 at 5:57 am
Thank you! Oh, you mean the flower. (That joke cracks me up everytime, lol.)
June 4, 2014 at 4:29 am
Lovely flower, colors and shot!
Regards
June 4, 2014 at 6:30 am
Thank you so much!
June 6, 2014 at 11:25 am
The softness in the colors is so nice. Terrific photograph.
June 6, 2014 at 11:30 am
Thank you so much! BTW…I’ve been meaning to tell you that your gravatar photo is too funny!
June 10, 2014 at 11:26 am
I saw a plant like this yesterday and thought it looked so cool. Because it was on private property, I wasn’t able to take a pic of it. How nice to see a pic on your blog and yours looks even more lovely than the flower I had seen.
June 10, 2014 at 11:57 am
Thank you so much sf 🙂