The Yellow Waterlily (Nymphaea mexicana) flower is an amazing flower. I’ve always wanted to photograph a mature Yellow Waterlily as they are beautiful. I found this Yellow Waterlily bud while photographing Texas Wildflowers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center earlier this month. I found this specimen in the same small pond as the Seashore Mallows that I posted last week. I thought about using a polarizer to reduce the reflection in the water but decided not to in order to show the reflection of the surrounding plants.
This aquatic plant grows in shallow water and wetlands, with its roots in the sediment and its leaves floating on the water surface. It can grow in water up to 15 feet deep and it will typically flower from June to September. Pollination is done mostly by flies as they are attracted to the alcoholic scent emitted by the flower.
Yellow Waterlily
This image was taken with my Sony A7R II Digital Camera using my Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/8, shutter speed at 1/30th of a second and the ISO set at 400. I used only natural light to light the subject. This was a single image processed in Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik Color Efex Pro.
You can access the profile for this plant by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography
I see what you mean about the polarizer. Tough call. If you haven’t already, you could try luminosity masks to knock those highlights down a bit more.
Good idea. I will give it a try.
With the reflection and the pop of it I find myself wondering about BW on this one.
Slider! :)
I like the reflection of the lily. The sky does pop a little more than you would hope.
Good idea. I may just process it that way. Either way, a polarizer would have helped a lot.