amaryllis, fading

Unlike the poinsettia and the pelargonium, the amaryllis flowers don't last for weeks and weeks.

I'm trying to capture everything interesting about them while I have them.

I wanted to catch the flower from behind, back-lit with daylight. Here's the set-up. Outside my office window is a messy bunch of trees, houses, etc. I taped a piece of typing, er, *printer* paper to the window, hoping it would allow enough light through, while blocking the view.

























From a slightly different angle, cropped. Oooooooh.

One of the doctors at the University of Michigan hospitals takes a lot of x-ray pics of flowers. This image makes me think of some of his work. You can get a sense of the number of overlapping petals by the amount of light that gets through.....

























Ok, now let's 'shop it a bit. What happens when we raise the brightness?

Hmmm. Like this one, too. Not as moody and atmospheric, but it still has a certain something.

Love that curly pistil. I've been avoiding showing the stamens, because they are so totally opaque, and part of what has been catching my eye is the translucence. This little bit of pistil, though, works along with the theme.