Sun King

[Detail Man]

They say, "never shoot into the sun" - but they don't say, "never shoot into a back-lit Sunflower" ...

The "white sky" and the (essentially uncorrectable, though I've tried) chromatic aberrations in the distant background aside, this giant Sunflower captivated my mind on a warm Summer afternoon, and my humble little 6 Mpixel DMC-LZ5 did a rather nice job of auto-focusing and resolving the inner "mandala" of this magnificent flower. The absence of detail-smearing NR in the DMC-LZ5 is a nostalgic pleasure, and the single-area normal-speed auto-focusing on the Panasonic Venus Plus and Venus II Engines does an equal (if not better) job than the Venus III and Venus IV Engines do in many situations.

I hope (despite the limitations of being able to "post-process-away" the blazing exposure levels) that you might enjoy it, too.

 

[rui fernandes]

Looking at the detail, "taking the petals out", it seems like a Sun with all the solar activity! Great!

That natural geometry is fabulous, always surprising how nature "draws" so well ;-)

Rui

 

[Wiener]

That is a real beauty!

 

[33dollars]

mandala

Thats natures way of saying. This is how the bees like it at home, I'll make like home for them when thay are here.

Great photograph D M. Its draws your eye into it. Just like a bee.

 

[Muddy]

Your color spacial is alway beyond my expectation. Great shot.

 

[lensman]

DM,

Great detail & colour depth, I can't help but think of summer sunshine.

David

 

[JBuch]

Good picture that shows how the arrangement of seeds seem to form spirals...? Check this interesting link that explains how a lot things in nature are governed by Fibonacci numbers and the 'Golden Section'.

http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-si ... bnat2.html

Jasper

 

[Detail Man]

"If there are Phi (1·618...) leaves per turn (or, equivalently, phi=0·618... turns per leaf ), then we have the best packing so that each leaf gets the maximum exposure to light, casting the least shadow on the others. This also gives the best possible area exposed to falling rain so the rain is directed back along the leaf and down the stem to the roots. For flowers or petals, it gives the best possible exposure to insects to attract them for pollination."

There is a humble beauty in these floral creature who have (for some 100 Billion sunrises) persevered through the aeons
in the dance of rebirth to once again enchant the fauna (whether the lowly bee, or creatures as self-impressed as oft are we).

1, 2, 3, 5, 8 ... building upon each that came before, adding each time a little more, beautiful in it's simplicity,
approaching the irrational (yet not transcendental) phi - arising out of the Earth (yet not the infinite skies).

After the Thunderbirds fly (churning the Earth back to humility), and the ice ages return to dominate inevitably;
when we are long gone, having stood boldly (but transiently), for but a blink of the eye in the continuum of Time,

these ancient creatures will again arise out of the Earth with intention embodied within matter re-arranged
to resume their ancient dance of harnessing photons from the fire of our Sun through aqueous alignments
in heretofore unknown (gel) states of water that are only now beginning to come within the light of our eyes:
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/WaterElectric.php