Green Field (2)

I took some more photos with the green field filter. This time I had the aperture wider and I like the dreamy look.

Providence Canyon

On Friday after work I made a spontaneous trip down to Providence Canyon, which is an hour southeast in rural Georgia (we didn't see people for miles). The sunset was gorgeous but unfortunately we didn't have time to hike down to the bottom of the canyon. We'll have to go back.

Macon County in Green Field

I took some photos of landscapes around my office with a Hoya Green Field filter. Most lens filters like these are not necessary anymore because of photo editing software, but I always like to try things the old analog way. For film cameras, the Green Field filter is designed to enhance green colors without affecting other colors. The filter itself is a piece of pale green glass that screws on the end of the lens, in this case a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.

One of my uncle's barns

The big creek

The back side of the big pond. It was about to rain here.

Fork in the road. The left road leads to the little creek and the right road leads to the big creek.

Overall, I found that using the filter made it harder to get a correct exposure. Perhaps the camera was confused by the color ratios, or perhaps it was user error/inexperience (more likely). Most of the photos I took had highlights that were blown out and shadows that were too dark.

Cahaba River

On Saturday I went to the Cahaba River to see the Cahaba lilies. The Cahaba lily, Hymenocallis coronaria, (known as shoal lily outside Alabama) is a rare native in the Amaryllis family that grows in the crevices of rocks under shallow running water (shoals). The largest population in the world is at the site I visited on Saturday in Bibb County. There are other small populations in Georgia and South Carolina. Dam construction has led to its decline. Fortunately, the Cahaba River has no dams, and is the only river in Alabama navigable on its entire length. This region is a hotspot of biodiversity. In fact, Alabama is one of the most bio-diverse states in the nation.

I also spotted royal catchfly (Silene regia) on the banks of the river.

There were a lot of people swimming and kayaking. I'd like to go back and float down the river.

Buchanan's Sage

Though it blooms year round for me, recently Buchanan's sage (Salvia buchananii) has looked even nicer than usual. I have it in a 3 gallon Smart Pot (a type of fabric pot) where it has grown for nearly three years now and keeps looking better. Before it was in the pot I had it growing in the ground, where it didn't compete well with other plants and looked ragged, but soon after transplanting to the pot it perked up and took off.

From what I've read it was introduced to horticulture via England via Mexico City but was only recently found in the wild in a small location in central Mexico. It's a tender, evergreen perennial with thick dark green, shiny leaves, purplish stems, and large fuzzy fuchsia-colored flowers. I move it into my greenhouse whenever it dips below freezing.

The plant is about three feet wide now. It's actually growing in a fabric pot which is nested inside this terracotta pot.

Backlit at sunset, the flowers appear more rosy. In mid-day, they appear more fuchsia.

Each flower lasts only a day or so, but the plant continually sends up more spikes. I keep it deadheaded and prune out older stems.