red dogwood twig and bud iced

Iced Dogwood

Winter is lingering, as this iced dogwood bud attests. At least we have a little color to work with. The buds are swollen. They’ll be ready to pop as soon as the sun returns from its Australian heat wave. I believe this may be Kousa dogwoodCornus kousa. This asian species is resistant to dogwood anthracnose disease, unlike the native flowering dogwood Cornus floridia. In reading up on the Kousa dogwood, I learned the fruits are edible and sweet. I shall have to investigate this in the coming months.

The camera was a Nikon D90. The lens was the Micro-Nikkor 60mm AF f/2.8. It was lit with a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight, diffused with a rubbing alcohol bottle. On this gray day a boost from the strobe was essential. ISO 400, f/22 to increase the odds most of the twig would be in focus; the slender twigs move out of the field of focus in the slightest breeze; 1/60 sec. The original shot came in underexposed. The Exposure tool in Aperture is very effective in adjusting exposure with washing out the image in general, unlike the “brightness” and “tone” tools I’ve used in lesser software.

 

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