The first Fawn Lily of spring!

The first Fawn Lily of spring!
Originally uploaded by Mary Sanseverino

My first native wildflower of 2009 -- the Fawn Lily Erythronium oregonum . So named because the leaves are mottled like the back of a new-born fawn. I caught this image up at the Lieutenant Governor's gardens on Rockland Ave. in Victoria, BC. The gardens are very extensive, especially now that the southern exposure is open to the public. I'm sure it won't be long until all of my old favourites are popping out of the ground!

For this shot I used my 100 mm macro lens. I had the flash on the camera, but had it dialed down two stops. I also underexposed this shot by 1 stop. I wanted to bring out some of the texture in the leaves and a bit of detail on the petals themselves.

With flowers any puff of wind is enough to make the shot blurry -- especially when working with small apertures (F13 here) and correspondingly low shutter speeds (1/10 second). You have to be patient and wait for the wind to stop or die down. Also, for best results I think you should shoot with the mirror up and use a remote control to trigger the shutter.

With macro shooting I almost always use manual focus. I usually shoot on aperture priority. I don't use the flash too often, but I want to start using it more for flower shots. I have to get it off the camera though -- my next purchase will be some Pocket Wizards (remote controls) for the flash.

I'm looking forward to spring FINALLY breaking through and hopefully this year will bring an abundance of wildflowers for me to photograph.