click photo to enlarge
Last year I noticed some Gaillardia flowers growing in my neighbour's garden. It was a type of flower that had never caught my eye before, but I was impressed by the multiple heads of well-figured, strongly coloured blooms. The plant is a perennial and so when, a while later, my neighbour decided to re-configure her border she asked us if we wanted the plants. Naturally we said "Yes, please!", dug them up and put them in the vegetable garden to over-winter. We hadn't reckoned, of course, on last winter being one of the coldest in recent years. It "did for" quite a few of our more tender garden plants, and it also saw off the Gaillardias, all that is except for one solitary, hardy specimen.When spring arrived we moved the survivor into a border and bought some Gaillardia seeds to grow our own plants. These proved very successful and now, in July 2010 they are in bloom at various locations around the garden. And a fine sight they are too. The other day I was prompted by the colors and patterns of the flower heads to try a photograph of one placed on a mirror. I've done photographs of this sort before, and quite like the way it produces an image that reveals the underside and the top of the bloom in the same shot. The yellow and red/orange of the petals called for a black background so I stood a piece of black vinyl in a suitable position and took my photograph in natural light near a window.
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
