Lilac-time
14th April 2024
It is a special time of the year when highly scented lilac flowers first appear. So it was little surprise to find me in the garden this morning, camera in hand, trying to capture this gorgeous event. I like to time my portrayal of lilac before its florets start to fade. The perfect time is when buds and blooms are in their prime. This year I was just in time. If you miss it by even a day or two, trusses of flowers start to bear faded blooms which spoils the perfection of later buds. However, nature is deceptive. From afar the illusion is of a floriferous tree.
Lilac is a large family of flowering trees, with many different cultivars and shades. Colours range from white to pink and red; but most are lilac or mauve/pink. Lilac belongs, surprisingly, to the olive family (Oleaceae)and comes from the Balkan peninsula.
I have several in my garden ranging from a compact shrubby bush to several small trees. Most of mine match the colours of their genus, lilac. Savour the fragrance at eventide.
As a subject for my camera, I find a zoom lens indispensable. While any camera is suitable for whole trees, a zoom allows you to be more precisely specific in choice of a suitable cluster of florets. I also choose a time of day when side-lighting magnifies their beauty. I mostly work in manual mode. For my picture I used my V-Lux typ, 114 with -0.7 EV in an attempt to preserve colour in the paler flowers.
Lilac is a large family of flowering trees, with many different cultivars and shades. Colours range from white to pink and red; but most are lilac or mauve/pink. Lilac belongs, surprisingly, to the olive family (Oleaceae)and comes from the Balkan peninsula.
I have several in my garden ranging from a compact shrubby bush to several small trees. Most of mine match the colours of their genus, lilac. Savour the fragrance at eventide.
As a subject for my camera, I find a zoom lens indispensable. While any camera is suitable for whole trees, a zoom allows you to be more precisely specific in choice of a suitable cluster of florets. I also choose a time of day when side-lighting magnifies their beauty. I mostly work in manual mode. For my picture I used my V-Lux typ, 114 with -0.7 EV in an attempt to preserve colour in the paler flowers.