Oooooooh... Purdy lighting!

[Robin Usagani]

So doest the plant die without eating insects? Does it get extra nutrients from the root too?

 

[Snakeguy101]

actually the plant dies if it does eat insects. or at least when they eat too many of them. each shoot rots when it gets a bug that is big.

 

[Trever1t]

But you can see the sad face and hear the sound of the fly...

"help me" lol, excerpt from the original movie.

 

[Natalie]

So doest the plant die without eating insects? Does it get extra nutrients from the root too?

Venus Flytraps raised in controlled laboratory conditions that were prevented from catching insects lasted a few years... They don't grow much and get progressively weaker every year and eventually die. This is because most carnivorous plants are native to boggy areas that have very few nutrients in the soil (which is why they resort to carnivory), so over millions of years their roots have evolved to become rather undeveloped, good only for anchoring the plant in the mud. Insects only provide the plants with nutrients, not energy (like most plants, they get their energy only from the sun), so depriving a carnivorous plant of insects has the equivalent effect of growing a standard garden plant in nutrient-free soil with no fertilizer.

Also, as mentioned above by Snakeguy101, too many insects can be detrimental as well. Typically overfeeding won't kill the whole plant, but it will cause the individual leaf (trap) to turn brown and die. A carnivorous plant catching too many insects would be like a garden plant getting too much fertilizer applied. You can see in this article about a Nepenthes which caught a bird, the individual pitcher is turning brown and dying because the prey was too large. Sort of like "plant indigestion", if you will.

 

[Joel_W]

Don't which impressed me more, your new light source which produced some of the best light I've ever seen for a portable unit, or your knowledge of Venus Flytraps. The video was amazing, and yes, you do actually feel sorry for the insect caught in the ending.

 

[Natalie]

Thanks, Joel!

 

[Natalie]

A few more shots from playing around with the flash today. This lack of rain we've been having this winter is terrible, I can't find any animals to practice on.


1/200 sec, f/29.0, ISO 200


1/125 sec, f/14.0, ISO 400


1/200 sec, f/14.0, ISO 100

 

[Snakeguy101]

beautiful! I love these shots!

 

[Frequency]

These are all amazing shots..... yes, difficult to choose one as the best

Please keep posting

Regards

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I just had my Traveller 8 delivered today because I want to CopyCat shots like these!:thumbup:

 

[Natalie]

Awesome! Be sure to post some sample shots when you try it out!

 

[Joel_W]

Picture 1 is just outstanding. I really like the use of the rock as a base for the plant. I'm assuming that the black background was due to the twin flash. Being a purist, and somewhat old fashioned (by age and nature), in picture #2 I wouldn't have cropped it so closely, keeping the top pedal of the furthest flower just in the frame. Also would have included the pedals of the middle flower fully in the frame. But that's just me.

 

[Natalie]

Thanks for the feedback, Joel! I agree about the compositional issues. Had I been thinking more at the time I would have composed the shot better, but I was mainly just trying to get the lighting to look acceptable. I found out that Mimulus aurantiacus are difficult to shoot even with the softbox, because their leaves are so waxy and shiny and want to create lots of harsh shadows deep in the plant.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

But you can see the sad face and hear the sound of the fly...

"help me" lol, excerpt from the original movie.

great movie indeed