Ginkgo branches

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

My Garden Photography Workshop at River Farm

Yours truly is leading a garden photography workshop on Saturday, October 17, at River Farm, home to the American Horticulture Society!

What I’ll be teaching can apply to everything from a DSLR to a point-n-shoot to your smartphone.

The workshop is 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., with a lecture and hands-on guidance photographing in the gardens at River Farm. (I just attended a botanical illustration workshop a few weeks ago, so I know the social distancing/mask wearing is in effect there.) The event will be held exclusively outdoors under their big event tent. Their address is 7931 E Boulevard Dr, Alexandria, VA 22308.

If you’re local and want to attend, learn more in the link below!

https://connect.ahsgardening.org/river-farm-events/2020/garden-photography-workshop—non-members

Sprouts

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

As soon as I saw this jumble of sprouted bulbs (still in the bag on the potting bench), I immediately thought of these lyrics by my beloved John Denver:

I want to live I want to grow
I want to see I want to know
I want to share what I can give
I want to be I want to live

I *think* these are iris bulbs. Or very tiny gladiola bulbs. The label was now rendered illegible due to the rain. I ordered them online, and while I planted everything else, I left these on the bench, intending to find a place for them later. Then the rains came. And came. And came. When there wasn’t rain, I watered the garden daily, never seeing these still on the bench. Just now, I glanced over and saw some tall green stalks on the bench. Whaaaaaa? The little bulbs had sprouted; every single one of them! They were poking through the holes in the bag, roots entangling. The roots even went through the bag and had attached themselves to my gardening gloves.

I sat at the patio table and cut them free from the bag and found a home for them in the garden.

Hibiscus

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. iPhone 8plus, Camera+2 app in macro mode

Orange Jessamine (Orange Jasmine)

Orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.  iPhone 8Plus, Camera+2 app in macro mode

Morning glory blooms

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Daylily

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

 

Rudbeckia

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

 

Tiny Daylily

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

 

Crocosmia

Crocosmias are part of the Iris family. Originally from South Africa, the name comes from the Greek words for “saffron” and “smell.”

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

Bumblebee on Coneflower

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. (Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro)

Daylilies

For this shot, I diffused the light shining directly on the daylilies, but allowed the bright dappled sunlight to filter through in the background.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Daylilies

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved. Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

Hydrangea blues

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.  (iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

 

Stargazer lilies

My huge cluster of stargazer lilies put on quite a show a few weeks ago! 18 blooms across four plants, and so fragrant that I could smell them from the front porch! 

Shot with my iPhone 8Plus

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Indian corn closeup

iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode, Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

Mums

iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode, Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

 

Indian corn

iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode, Snapseed app border

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Vinca

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Skipper butterfly on Aster bloom

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Alstroemeria (Peruvian lilies)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Thunbergia (Black-eyed Susan vine)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Eastern tiger swallowtail on Vervain

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, 1/250 sec, f/13, ISO 400

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Stack ‘o butterflies

I think the top and bottom ones might be Clouded Sulphurs, middle one is a Variegated Fritillary; feasting on Purple coneflowers (with purple Lantana in the background)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, 1/250 sec, f/14, ISO 400

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

It’s the bee’s knees!

Bumblebee on Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria) iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Tryst on Celosia

I believe this is a pair of Margined Leatherwings (a type of soldier beetle) engaged in a tryst on a spire type Celosia. (iPhone 8Plus, Camera+ 2 app in macro mode)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Bumblebees on Mexican sunflower

Table for two! Tiny bumblebees feasting on a Blanket flower (Gaillardia)

Nikon D850, Nikkor 105mm micro lens, 1/250 sec, ISO 400, f/14

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

 

Featured in Shutterbug online!

Last summer I was contacted by an editor I work with through Nikon and also Shutterbug magazine. He wanted to run a photo and behind-the-shot story of one of my images in the July 2018 issue of the magazine. Then one month before its debut, the print version of the magazine folded (in other words, Shutterbug was shuttered!). This would have been the second time my work would have appeared in the print publication (the first time was when my fern stamps were featured). Last week I got an email asking if they could run it online and I said of course! So here’s the image and the behind-the-shot story. Special thanks to my friend Sherry Goldstein (the woman who pointed this beautiful critter out to me). Click on the link below to go to the post!

https://www.shutterbug.com/content/always-carry-your-camera-how-botanical-photographer-captured-beautiful-butterfly-image?fbclid=IwAR2JI7E7VTu3Ml9d3-QkTFQIHAUEGKwjWKdvMxJiwiCZcvrYjsLzaQMVJ9U

Balloon flower

Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), Nikon D850 / Nikkor 105mm micro

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.