Fascinating flowers

For a very long time, I have not come across a flower that I have not seen before. Today I saw not one but two types of flowers that fascinated me no end. Here they are:

Argyreia nervosa

Elephant Creeper

Family:Convolvulaceae

Calotropis gigantea

Crown Flower, Giant Milkweed, Ivory Plant

Origin: India, Indonesia

Crinum Lily

This is the Crinum Lily that is commonly seen in our landscaped gardens.

One day as I was walking past a row of shophouses, I was captivated by this unusual bloom that at first glance had the appearance of a wilting crinum lily flower. On closer look, everything about the flower was fresh with no signs of decay. Crinum lilies are white and the purplish colour of the petals of this particular flower could mean that it is another crinum specie. This flower reminds me very much of the Bat Lily because it does not conform to the normal expectation of what a flower should look like. Because of this quality, it exudes a kind of mystery that has the power to stop people like me giving me an opportunity to admire nature amidst civilised surroundings. A few days later, I saw another plant that could be the same specie as the one I was not able to identify.

Sanchezia speciosa

These flowers originate in Central and South America and are common in our parks and nature reserves. I have never photographed them till now because those that I had come across were on the downside of the flowering stage. So it was a treat to see these flowers looking their best for me here.

The colours of yellow and red against the strong sunlight provided me with so many possibilities in capturing the beauty of these flowers at their best.
So much that the eye misses, the camera freezes for enjoyment at leisure.

Singapore Rhododendron - Melastoma malabathricum

Though named the Singapore Rhododendron, this flower also thrives in Madagascar and is present all the way to India and Australia. It is a flower that we see very often in our parks and nature reserves always with flowers, buds, fruits and insects buzzing round it or birds feeding on the fruit. When you see so much of the same thing you tend not to give it much attention but when you see it while walking around in the city, the appearance of these flowers became a wonderfully refreshing sight. It would be like seeing them for the first time in a long, long while.

Lagerstroemia speciosa - Rose of India

The colour purple is magical for it is a blend of red and blue, neither warm nor cold. The best time to enjoy these flowers are in the morning when they are still fresh after a light shower. In the soft sunlight, you will be able to appreciate better the forms and texture of the buds and petals. Flowers are not just flowers. They are also works of art. See the lines, the curves and the design details that are unique in each flower and bud.

Family: Lythraceae

Origin: Indo-China, Indonesia, Indonesia, Philippines

Hymenocallis speciosa - Spider Lily

It is not a perfect bunch of flowers. In fact, it is not pretty by normal standards of assessement of beauty. If it were to enter a Miss Singapore contest, it would be disqualified plainly because it will be seen as a freak. But I was attracted to these dishevelled looking flowers that once-upon-a-time must have commanded the attention of some passer-by.I was drawn to the melancholic droop of the petals because at the point when I happened to glance in their direction, the sun rays caught the tiny droplets of rain against the white of the petals and lighted up my day.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. I forgot who said that. However, whoever said it must have experienced moments like these when beauty shows up unexpectedly and grows as you begin to spend some time getting to know it better.

To some people, these spider lilies are not worth photographing. I like to think that even those who are lesser endowed and disadvantaged are worth our time as much as those who are qualified to take part in beauty contests.
I want to show these flowers as having beauty and dignity even though they have passed the prime of their lives. That's what these photos are about.

Bird's Nest Fern

The Bird's Nest fern is most commonly seen on rain trees along most of our roads. This particular fern was growing at the side of some parking lots.

Given the chance to examine this fern at such close range, I took several photos from various angles paying close attention to the shape of individual leaves. In particular I wanted to capture the lines and curves of each leaf treating the photographic experience as an artistic endeavour. At home, the rest of the work was done with Microsoft Picture manager. I took each photo and played around with the colour settings, darkening, lightening, increasing contrasts and finally putting most of the photos manipulated into a collage.

Morning flower - Canna （美人蕉 - mei3 ren2 jiao1)

A single Canna flower lighted by the strong rays of the morning sun appeared to be electrically charged. If we can feel half the energy of this flower, we could be propelled to the moon.

Flowers in my back garden

When the sunshine was brilliant, I took this shot using my Canon IXUS 800 IS. Fully auto settings with macro feature turned on produced this highly satisfying shot.

I thought I needed more contrast in colours to add vibrancy to the picture, so I shot from a low angle looking for spots of sunlight on the leaves.
Spurred on my the sharpness of the image of the flower, I tried a different angle to get the side view of the flower. The camera did the best job it could and I was happy with this.
Then I got attracted to this weed growing next to the hibiscus. I just love the shades of new leaves.It was in the later part of the afternoon when the sunlight was muted with threats of rain that I took this picture of the same hibiscus using the Canon IXUS. Rather dull looking if not for the texture of the petals.

Then I used the Olympus SP 500UZ and the effect is about the same as the Canon.
Since the lighting was not going to improve, I turned my attention to this tiny 'shue mei' flower. The ants came by to pose for the picture but only for less than a second.

Strophanthus preussii - Spider tresses

From a distance I spied these flowers that seemed to be sporting beards. I thought they were some kind of aerial roots. I took the first shot to show how the plant looks like and also to capture the first moment when I set eyes on it. I include leaves to help me identify plant more accurately. The flowers were in the middle of their life span with some already wilting. It was a challenge to find a cluster that would look good for the camera. I moved in closer to get rid of distracting details in the surroundings so that it is clear that the 'beard' is made up of thin extensions of each petal and are not roots as I had thought they were at first. I start to think of Chinese opera actors with their flowing sleeves. I can almost imagine these flowers suddenly doing operatic moves and waving their 'water sleeves' gracefully.

My best shot in the whole series.

Family: Apocynaceae

Origin: Tropical Africa