New England Aster
I was fortunate to get soft late afternoon light on this New England Aster:
The light made the anthers glow like candles. I look forward to seeing the purple of these asters each fall.
Nature Diary
Notes from the field, essays, and observations.
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Anthers as candles: a good metaphor. The purple and yellow certainly make a pleasing combination.
Thanks, Steve! Selective focus emphasizes the anthers and yellows…
I do too, and it seemed pretty brief this year. Luckily you captured it! I like the balance of yellow to purple here~very nice. And the curve vs. the straight rays.
Yes, these asters were around for too brief a time. I loved the swirl if the petals in this flower. Thanks!
There are many lovely combinations of purple and gold here in autumn, but to have both colors in such a singularly pretty flower is especially nice. I like the candle metaphor, although the selective focus led me to expand it a bit, to “candles in the wind” — perhaps because there’s been so much publicity about the Elton John tour.
As it happens, the candle metaphor isn’t mine, it came up when I showed this image to some other photographers in an open discussion. I like the metaphor, it suits the bright points and shape of the anthers. And the out-of-focus petals seem in motion, even though the air was still. Thanks!
We have aster wildflowers, white and purple. When they bloom in early summer, they hang around for about 2-3 weeks, sometimes longer with the right amount of rain or lawn watering.