On a recent visit to the nearby natural prairie, I captured some macro images of one of my favorite prairie wildflowers, the Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya), also know as Gayfeather or Button snakeroot:
Standing at 5-feet tall, and a vivid blue-purple color, a landscape of Blazing Stars is always a treat. They are one of my favorite prairie wildflowers, one reason being that they are wonderful butterfly and insect magnets. In fact, I love them so much that I recently planted 3 dozen corms (root starts) of the Blazing Star, in a new butterfly garden I’m developing. Will be very convenient to walk out my front door and photograph butterflies and wildflowers!
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF180mm, f/3.5 macro lens
- Bogen 3221 tripod with Graff Studioball SB-QR ballhead
- ISO 2000 (a bit windy on the prairie, so increased ISO to obtain a faster shutter speed)
- Aperture f/3.5
- Shutter 1/320 sec. to 1/3200 sec.