Below are all our finalists in the "Vegetable" section of our Photo Contest. Please look through them one last time before voting for your favorite. We know it is possible to game these polls. Please act like adults and don't vote more than once. If we believe that the results are invalid, the contest will be canceled. The photos and poll are below the fold.
Passiflora coccinea by Daniel Sprockett — Red Passion Flower, Red Grandilla, being visited by an unidentified flying invertebrate. Campanario Biological Station on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Drosera cuneifolia by Matthew Opel — a South African carnivorous plant, in cultivation.
Controlled burn by Gregory Zolnerowich — The effects of fire as an ecological driver are a historical theme of the biological station. Konza Prairie Biological Station near Manhattan, Kansas, one of the original NSF Long-Term Ecological Research sites.
Calochilus robertsonii by James Wood — peloric mutant of purple beard orchid flowering in the Peter Murrell Reserve, Tasmania. This species is apparently prone to developmental errors so that the labellum can be petaloid or (as in this case) all the petals develop the labellum (lip) characteristics.
Halobacterium salinarum by Matt W. Ford — species NRC-1 growing around/on salt crystals on a dried-out plate.
Nymphaea caerulea by David Collins — Egyptian blue lily, Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin, Texas, 2007.
9 Comments
Terrence · 24 August 2009
Best Artistic beauty is in my opinion the Passiflora Sprockett, but the best scientific beauty is the Calochillus by Wood.
hmm though choice. I will go with the Calochillus.
George · 24 August 2009
Best scientific beauty is the controlled burn, by far and away.
However, I voted for the pretty water lilly.
BobbyEarle · 27 August 2009
I voted for Nymphaea; nice photo and a very nice lily.
chgo_liz · 27 August 2009
I've taken better floral photos than the lily, myself. Pretty doesn't "count" when it comes to scientific beauty. I agree with Terrence and George that there are better scientific beauties in this small sampling than the (albeit) lovely lily.
Tomas E Rivas · 27 August 2009
Dan! · 27 August 2009
For the sake of full disclosure, my photograph is Passiflora coccinea, so I know this is just going to sound like a frustrated rant about my photo not winning, but I do feel like the Drosera cuneifolia, Halobacterium salinarum, and Nymphaea caerulea don't really hold up in a competition for "scientific beauty." There is nothing really "scientific" going on in the photographs beside normal homeostatic processes.
From a photographic stance, I feel like its not very difficult to take beautiful pictures of pristine exotic plants in cultivation or at a botanical garden. These photos feel "staged" in some sense.
Personally, even though its probably ascetically inferior, I feel like it took more patience and technique to capture my photograph, and this isn't a personal attack on any of the other entrants. What do you all think?
Wheels · 27 August 2009
I had to choose between your coccinea and "Controlled Burn." The inclusion of the little stingless bee tipped the scales for me. It conspired with the depth of field to give the impression of two bodies floating in space.
Cheryl Shepherd-Adams · 27 August 2009
"Controlled Burn" has a special meaning for this Kansas-born-and-bred
girlwoman. Helping burn off the pasture was a rite of passage and that special smell still signals the onset of spring. Great pic!chris · 28 August 2009
Looks to me like the water lily pic is the only one with post-processing