Pretty Fairy Wings (Epimedium) Spring Flower Photo Notebook

Epimedium, the formal name for Fairy Wings and Horny Goat Weed, is a flowering plant whose blooms hang downward. For this vibrant color macro photograph, I put my camera beneath the blooms and shot upward. Numerous blue buds hang within the frame. Several buds just starting to open appear larger and lighter colored, purple and magenta. Near the upper center of the photo are two fully open blossoms: four dark pink petals each lined with white petals that swoop up to surround the green pistils and yellow stamens at their centers. The shallow depth of field puts the topmost flower in sharpest focus with most of the remaining buds, blooms, and green grasses in the background softly blurred. Digital, color photograph. Copyright © 2010 Claire E. Skinner. All rights reserved.