These are taken with available light and hand held - no tripod. There were at least 20 or more of each subject to get exactly the 'right' shot.

This Iris is a Bamboo Iris, also called Iris Confusa


Seed pod of Arisema Taiwanese


Flower of Arisema Taiwanese


One of my favorite hydrangeas, Fuji Falls


Tulip Field, Mt. Vernon, Washington

@outreach9
I could not pull up Arisaema Taiwanese in the database, but I can see why some of them are referred to as the Cobra Lily.

Oops! Looks like I misspelled it. Here it is on line. 'Arisaema taiwanense J. Murata. Christened the 'Queen of Arisaemas' by Dan Hinkley of Heronswood Nursery in Washington, this is indeed an exceptional plant ...'
The original plant was a hitchhiker on a plant that I bought about 20 years ago at a plant sale at UC Sacramento. For years I cursed the nasty week that kept popping up in my garden. When I moved to Seattle, I was at a lecture and it was presented as a rare variety of Arisaema! lol I immediately went home, found some babies still trying to survive and they have been cherished ever since. Ever had this happen to anyone else?

Enjoyed the pics, outreach9, and the tale!

outreach9 mentioned that there were at least 20 of each image taken. Sometimes that is acceptable an/or a good idea. If I am not 100% sure what is right, I will take more than one shot. I mix it up and am changing composition, my position, zooming between shots. Can make a big difference. I might not tell anyone I did this though. Nice thing about digital is that you can take as many shots as you like. Given you carry enough batteries and memory - which you should be doing. Reminds me of one student I had. We were on a field trip, workshop taking pictures. I noticed him doing something odd so I asked him about it during a break. Answer was that he took 13 shots of every image. I asked not 5 or ? No, I count them. 13 different shots? No, 13 exactly alike. 13 identical shots of everything? Yes.

Thank you dellac for the comment and for all the thumbs up.

Gassrock
I do not take the same shot 20 times, I change each one to correct or try another angle, change in light or wind, lens or focus. The seed pod was taken for an article for another site and the final shot was on a table top to go on the wall in my kitchen. The colors were carefully chosen to work with the colors in the kitchen and it is a stunner on the wall!

The iris was to accompany several plants that I was giving to friends to show what they should look for as their bamboo iris budded, bloomed and faded. I am not sure of the comment about the lens choice - but the pic illustrated the cycles of the blossoms. This plant is easy to grow but quite rare in the home garden and no one had seen it before. Few nurseries carry the plant because it looks pretty ratty most of the time, and then throws many of these stunning flowers for almost two months. They can get really large and take up a lot of real estate the rest of the time. If anyone would like to see what they look like I would be happy to post some.
The tulip field was edited to give it a painterly look. My background is in fine art - painting, drawing and sculpture and I create many images that are not intended to look 'real'. My graduate degree in photography taught me to use many different techniques creatively.

A photograph can be an image that is so lifelike that you feel that you can touch the bird or smell the flower or it can be the start of a canvas for a unique thought provoking image. Photography is open ended enough to support many interpretations and all are valid.