A bright red flower of Ranunculus asiaticus

Simple but Colourful

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Often it’s the form of a flower, especially the details of the structure within it, that attracts me to it. Usually it’s a combination of shape and colour that makes for an interesting photograph, and some of my subjects (e.g. passionflowers ) can be quite complex in their appearance.

But some flowers are delightful in their simplicity, like these ranunculus, aka ‘Persian buttercups’. Their vibrant colours were enough to make me buy the plants to photograph them. (The red flower makes me think of the red crepe paper we used for making Christmas decorations as kids at primary school.)

These images are from last spring. Several others were posted on the blog at the time, but these have lurked on my PC as unprocessed RAW files since then. Wintertime is a good time to catch up with processing photographs that have been taken a while ago. It has given me something to keep me busy while it’s too cold to work in the garden.

Whenever there are flowers around, I take photographs of as many as I can. That means I have something to show on this blog every week. But during the warmer times of year, when I’m kept busy in the garden, time can be short. And then the photos mount up, waiting for me to get them ready to post here. It’s like having a little stash of colourful memories from sunnier days to keep me occupied while the garden has its winter break.

Soon I’ll be too busy outside to be able to spend a lot of time at the PC. Already the sunshine has come back and the temperatures are just a bit warmer. Everything in the garden is beginning to grow again and the crocuses are welcoming the first of the bees. No doubt, I’ll also be taking lots more photographs, so there will be plenty to process during next winter too.

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

24 thoughts on “Simple but Colourful”

    1. Thank you Liz! I love looking back over the photos from spring and summer – they’re my favourite times of year. They’re the times when I feel most happy and relaxed and the world feels full of promise… (And flowers!!) 🙂

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    1. Thank you Indira – they were a great subject to photograph. Having a few plants in pots makes it much easier to have something to photograph in the studio. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Ranunculus are gorgeous. I must buy some corms for next year! And I am very impressed with your photos, red is such a difficult colour to reproduce, obviously taking in RAW helps. And I think the flowers look like silk or satin. Although I can see the crepe paper in the first and tissue paper in the last.

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    1. Thanks Jude! I used to find red dreadful to photograph in the days when I used film. I’m using a Canon and it does seem to produce nice reds. Makes life much easier!

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  5. Love the flower images Ann! I am glad your weather is improving. It is much better here too – rather early though. Glad you have a bit of time to post process these beauties!

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    1. It’s very variable here but getting much more springlike. And we’ve had the good news that we’ll get our Covid jabs next Saturday, so we should soon be able to get out and about to enjoy it… 🙂

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      1. We get our second shot in a week. This process seems to be taking forever! Luckily I live in a state that gives you quite a bit of freedom which is great. The kids are in school, and the stores and restaurants are open. Still have to wear masks and be careful though.

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      2. We’re starting to make plans for after we’ve had our shots – just things we used to be able to take for granted! It will be a while before we get out second shots though.

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      3. Over here we have to wait a month for our second shot and then they say 12 days for it to take full effect. (I think a new one came out where you only need one shot.) At least a bit of light at the end of the tunnel! Hope I remember how to use my camera!

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      4. I’ve been lucky that I have so much to photograph at home – but I think there will be other things I’ve forgotten about in the ‘outside world’. It will probably feel strange to get back out there!

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  6. Wow, the colors are just amazing! And the textures makes me think about flamenco dresses, music is in my ears, thank you Ann , it brightens my days…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Josy! I’m delighted to hear that these colourful little flowers have brightened your days – they made mine brighter too! I love the idea of them as flamenco dresses and can just imagine them swirling around to music! I’m so happy to see you commenting here, my dear friend. And I wish for all you days to be bright! 🙂

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