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Epilobium.


Epilobium.
Photo Information
Copyright: Peter Stoeckl (peter_stoeckl) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1738 W: 291 N: 4005] (11530)
Genre: Plants
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-07-13
Categories: Mountain
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-H5
Exposure: f/4, 1/500 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Alpine flowers, Naturpark Oetztal, Animals feeding, part one, High Altitude [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-08-09 15:16
Viewed: 5040
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 38
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Epilobium.

Epilobium angustifolium (Linnaeus, 1753)

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Epilobium
Species: E. angustifolium

Rosebay Willowherb, Fireweed,
Schmalblättriges Weidenröschen,
Geissuleiter (danke, Anne) -

... a perennial herbaceous plant, growing 0.5-2.5 m (1½-8 feet) high, distributed throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere.

"This herb is often abundant in wet calcareous to slightly acidic soils in open fields, pastures, and particularly burned-over lands; the name Fireweed derives from the species' abundance as a coloniser on burnt sites after forest fires. Its tendency to quickly colonize open areas with little competition, such as sites of forest fires and forest clearings, makes it a clear example of a pioneer species." - wikipedia

"The young shoots were often collected in the spring by Native American people and their elderly folk and mixed with other greens. They are best when young and tender. (...) In Alaska, candies, syrups, jellies, and even ice cream are made from fireweed. Monofloral honey made primarily from fireweed nectar is distinctive with a spiced flavor." - wikipedia

Here, we are in the Tyrol, and no one knows this plant is edible when young. In fact, no one really pays much attention to that beautiful plant that is growing in abundance along the glacier rivers coming down in torrential vigour in summer.

The valley shown is the Sulztal valley, a remote side valley of the Oetztal valley, stretching from 1200m to more than 3000m above sea level. There is plenty of unspoilt nature up here, and many of the plants and butterflies I have shown here last year - and will show this year - were found and pictured there.

A few years ago, local power plant authorities planned to drown the upper part of the valley in a giant reservoir. After heavy protests, these plans were given up, in the end. But now there are plans to take away most of the water, direct it into tunnels in order to feed distant reservoirs, turning the valley of cold waters into a dry canyon.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilobium_angustifolium

The camera:
SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, 6mm wideangle zoom (equivalent 35mm at full size SLR), F/4, 1/500 sec., ISO-125, hand held, no flash. 13.07.2006, 11:46.

Postwork:
Photoshop Elements, cropped on top, resized to web, resharpened, levels slighty adjusted.

For an overview of the location, please look into

>>> Sulztal Valley.


Thank you for looking.
Have a very good day.
Silke, lawhill, Ken52, anel, Juyona, marhowie, jmp, valy67, Alex99, phlr, Heaven, nirmalroberts, magiqa has marked this note useful
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ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Ingrid1: ... the Oetz Talpeter_stoeckl 2 07-13 12:13
To jmp: ... natural environmentpeter_stoeckl 1 08-11 05:11
To anel: Geissuleiterpeter_stoeckl 1 08-10 02:13
To Silke: Thank you, Silke!peter_stoeckl 1 08-09 16:31
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • Silke Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 729 W: 98 N: 1707] (5458)
  • [2007-08-09 15:21]
  • [+]

Congratulations on your 7000 points, Peter!
We are next door neighbours in the gallery today (although I have resorted to ancient archives for a change).
superb PoV, fabulous colours and I love the hoverfly/wasp/bee frozen just as it approaches the delicious nectar dinner here.
TFS
silke

very nice composition, TFS Ori

Hi Peter,
Great lanscape great composition with bee
in fly beautiful colors well done TFS. Best regards/Lawhill

  • Great 
  • Ken52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 636 W: 93 N: 1243] (4195)
  • [2007-08-09 20:57]

Peter,
The colors of the plant were so stunning, that I did not see the bee the first time. Outstanding light and great texture on the leaves.
Now, the real star of this post is the workshop photo. That view is breathtaking. I like that we can see the entire plant and the view beyond it is outstanding. That is a great composition.
Regards,
Ken

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-08-09 20:57]

Hello Peter

A beautiful image with striking colours.The composition is wonderful.The POV is excellent.The bee and flower are terrific but the BG makes this shot spectacular.Very impressive.Excellent focus and sharpness.Great job.TFS

Rob

  • Great 
  • anel Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 3053 W: 3 N: 8715] (40574)
  • [2007-08-10 1:29]
  • [+]

Guten Morgen Peter,
Eine mir sehr bekannte Blume zeigst du hier. Bei uns im Dialekt heisst sie "Geissuleiter" (Ziegenleiter). In meinem Steingarten ist sie so invasiv, dass ich sie leider auch ausreissen muss.
Zu Deinen Bildern. Beide sind so interessant. Das erste ist so voller Leben mit der surrenden kleinen Schwebfliege und dem rauschenden Bach im Hintergrund.Auch ist Dein ungewöhnliche Standpunkt interessant. Und das zweite, eine eher klassische Aufnahme, erfreuet jedes Naturliebhaber Herzen.
So hab hetrzlichen Dank. Wünsche noch ein schönes Wochenende
Anne

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 2232 W: 10 N: 2971] (16891)
  • [2007-08-10 3:38]

Hola Peter,
original captura, buen pov y dof...
realmente espectacular.
saludos

Hi Peter..Cool :)
You have three photos in one here actually..The beauty of the flower closeup and a clear/sharp insect inflight, all backed up by the grand scale of this wonderful landscape..Who could ask for a more interesting creation..Only God himself ;)
Very well done.
Howard

  • Great 
  • jmp Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1659 W: 95 N: 2273] (8415)
  • [2007-08-10 4:09]
  • [+]

Hi Peter,
Really complete document!
The photo is taken from a wonderful pov to see the happy colours of the flower. Flying insect, flowing water, visible landscape create a wonderful atmosphere.
On the other hand, plans to take water from the valey to be used in another places give us another proof of how human development goes in the wrong way, altering natural environment.
TFS and best regards,
José M.

Schönes Porträt dieser Blume. Der Hintergrund gefällt mir sehr gut.
Viele Grüße
Achim

Hello Peter,
Like I have said before regarding your pictures, they always look like landscapes even if they are butterflies, flowers or insects and this one is no exception. I like this composition and POV a lot with those four beautiful elements: flower, insect, water and mountain. The picture in WS is wonderful too and your notes are very interesting. This is another little work of art :) You live in a very inspiring country :) Thanks,
Claudine

Hello Peter !
Once again you show us an amazing picture ! So beautiful ! The flower in the FG is wonderful, with great details, and the little Hoverfly is perfectly 'frozen', just before it lans on the flower. The landscape in the BG is splendid. I have always wished to visit Tyrol some day, and when I see your pictures I want to go there even more ! :-) Very well done !
valerie.

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2007-08-17 3:00]

Hi, dear Peter.
You have spoilt me. As soon as you appear in gallery I see your responses on my pictures and I know, that you are here with new pictures. Now. when I am in town day or two only I have missed your amazing shots. Forgive me, dear friend.

Once more terrific by subject, POV and DOF picture. I am impressed to depth of soul (Russian saying). I love wonderfully reproduced plant and flowers (and even charming hoverfly) on BG of so beautiful mountains and sky. Sometimes I try to apply this technique and see through the lens as a BG steppe and again steppe. Bravo, my talented friend. My heart congratulations.
Alexei.

Wonderful, and edible also! Your note is very informative, though we have these flowers here also, I didn't know about them being edible! Colors and details are just out of this world!
Cheers
Otto

  • Great 
  • Heaven Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 996 W: 123 N: 2341] (7912)
  • [2007-10-21 12:14]

Hi Peter!

Das "Schmalblàttrige Weidenréschen", one of the most common flowers also in my region. I even have some in my garden. But this doesn't mean that this flower isn't of any interest. I like it very much and never get enough looking at it. Sometimes there are dense surfaces and you can see the color from far. I like the composition of your picture that shows us tthe details of this flower in front of an interesting mountain scenery.

Kind regards

Markus

  • Great 
  • mrcrow Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 422 W: 98 N: 194] (3008)
  • [2007-10-21 12:58]

well the plant wins..and its the subject so why not
using f4 you have blasted out the background yet left enough to relate to environs of the plant
this of course left you a speed of 1/500 to freeze the movement of the plant i guess..
vivid tonality and the frozen insect makes this slightly surreal yet convincing because that is what happens
this is the best flower shot i have seen for a long time..notwithstanding the butterfly ones which i cant comment on too well
cheers
geof

Hi Peter,
Very interesting POV. Thanks a lot for sharing this beautiful picture.
Epilobium is indeed a very beautiful flower. I have also posted a shot of this flower at,
http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Asia/India/photo132066.htm
Regards,
- Nirmal

Hi Peter, this flower (or a close relative) grows everywhere in Sweden, too, but I did not know its name. Thanks for your useful notice. Of course it is Linné, our Swedish "King of Flowers" who named it.
A beautiful photo of this plant, so often neglected, because it is so common.

Dear Peter,
you really want it all in one coup: your beloved mountains, green icy water, juicy green leaves, an interesting , alpine flower with one stemen just at the bottom edge. ( The Weiden Roeschen's colour is glorious!) and as an afterthought thrown in a bee arriving for breakfast...

How long did you have to wait for a bee to be in the right position? While the ants were biting your thighs as you were flat on your stomach waiting?

Thanks so much for sharing this multicolored kaleidoscope. I add your work to my theme "high altitude" as well as "animals feeding" the latter in honor of the bee. It is an absolute pleasure to view your work and I choose it as a favorite, because not one image in my book about the Oetz Tal comes near your work in quality and beauty.

Warm greetings from the Tzaneen Dam in Limpopo, South Africa
Ingrid

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