Hawaiian Visions Flowers

[Bromeliad Center 9817] Bromeliads are a family of monocot flowering plants of more than 3,170 species, native mainly to the tropical Americas. The family includes epiphytes such as Spanish moss and terrestrials like the Pineapple, once widely grown in the islands. I find this plant to be visually exciting because they vary so widely in color, size (some grow to heights of 15 feet), patterns and flower forms. The International Bromeliad Society held their yearly conference in Honolulu in September 2015 and we exhibited and sold many prints and notecards.

[Torch Song 9781] Torch ginger is an exotic appearing plant that thrives in subtropical Hawai'i. The flower portion tops a red stalk that grows 5 to 7 feet high. The torch version of this ginger plant is always a brilliant waxy red. It grows in tight clusters of stalks, making it difficult to get into position to shoot pictures at just the right angle. Torch ginger are in bloom during the late spring and through the summer. In Hawai'i the flowers are available year-round. Botanically known as Etingeria Elator, the plants originated in Malaysia and the Philippines.

[Protea Pattern 5432] Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes called Sugarbushes. The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will. The flowers, grown specifically on Maui for the florist trade, have a multitude of forms and colors that are used in floral arrangements all over the world.

[Ohia Lehua Blue 2484] The Ohia is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the Myrtle family. Myrtaceae are endemic to the six largest islands in the state of Hawai'i. It is a highly variable tree that grows up to 60 to 80 feet tall in favorable conditions and a smaller shrub on basalt lava. The plant is sacred to Pele (the volcano goddess) and is the first plant to grow on new lava flows (often within a year).

[Moon Shadow 2620] This photo was taken with the same Sony camera as the Lily Pond shot. This Night Blooming Cereus flower is about the same size as a human head and blooms only once a year (at about 3am) and dies the next morning when the sun comes up. The largest private school in the United States has a Hawai'ian style rock wall on two sides of the 80 acre campus (kindergarten to 12th grade) in Honolulu. This cactus plant is a 3 to 4 foot hedge on the top of the wall and extends for a quarter mile on the makai (seaward) side as well as up to the Punahou street hill. The plant is a staggering visual feast in full bloom with thousands of blossoms during July and August. This photo was taken using three inexpensive Vivitar flashes on stands with Wein remote wireless syncs triggered by the flash on my camera.

[Lily Pond Bloom 4110] This is one of my favorite photographs, taken in June 2008 with a now discontinued camera made by the always innovative Sony company. The camera had a tiny pivoting body connected to a fantastic Zeiss ultra high quality 18 to 250mm zoom lens. What I like about the photo is the incredible color variations on the lily pads; from bright green to brown, to gray, to tan. The underwater roots are also visually fascinating and form a center of interest. The pond is located in a center atrium of the Honolulu Academy of Art.

[Huapala Mountains_9623-B] On our street in Manoa Valley we are very fortunate to have a beautiful flowering vine known in Hawai'i as Huapala (Pryostegia Venusta). This lovely vine plant grows on a chain link fence for about 30 yards and blooms once a year in January and February. The Huapala flower is popular with humming birds, although I have never seen one during the 41 years we have lived in the valley.

[Heliconia Garden 3008] Heliconia are widely distributed in Hawai'i and found on all the islands in homes and botanical gardens. Native to the tropical south Americas, found typically in the rainforests of these regions. The flowers grow on 5 to 15 foot stalks and hang down with alternating left and right nectar cups of brilliant red, orange or yellow. There are 194 species of Heliconia worldwide. A problem when photographing is ants; but they can be cloned out with software when they swarm over the plant while seeking the nectar in the cups.