Cardoon
I took these images last August because of the vibrant colour and textures of the flower heads of the cardoon plant in my neighbour’s yard. It is a pretty outrageous purple, and very large.
These are also some of the first images I took with my then new to me macro lens, tests really, taken a week or two after this colourful series from my first outing with the lens. I had not figured out how to present them here, so they just sat on my hard drive. Today I realised that the problem was the colour, and have removed it. I am much more satisfied with these photographs like this.
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Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, ISO100, 1/400th to 1/640th
burnt embers 
Absolutely terrific shallow depth of focus here, Ehpem! Love these, my friend!
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Hi Toad – glad you like this one!
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These are very nice, and it is sort of sneaky how you let us just imagine the “outrageous purple” of the flower!
I think we have the same plant in Texas, only we call it a thistle. And it’s a weed. Here’s a shot of one from our place in the country: http://melindagreenharvey.com/2012/06/27/june-27/ (Careful: it’s in color.)
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Melinda – that looks like the same plant. I thought the one I was photographing was an artichoke, but the neighbour called it cardoon. On looking it up I see that it is also called the artichoke thistle, and variations on cardoon as well. Apparently it is the species variety of the globe artichoke. Its from the Mediterranean so indeed would be a weed in Texas.
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This is weird. I just photographed grass we grow for Emo on the kitchen table and was thinking about posting. But now I have the idea of converting to B&W because these photos look very nice to me. Thanks for the idea.
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You’re welcome Ken. I am glad you arrived at the idea so much faster than I did! I did not know people grew grass for their cats, but it makes sense in colder areas. I hope Emo appreciates it.
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unusual and beautiful – the macro lens makes it otherwordly.
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Thank you Lisa – it is an otherworldly plant to begin with.
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I know it is, that’s why seeing your photos made me happy – you did such a lovely job with showing the cardoon’s mystical side : ).
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Thank you Lisa!
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