Jude is calling for flower portraiture this month – capturing the beauty of a single bloom and she kicks off the challenge with the stunningly beautiful Turquoise Ixia (Ixia viridiflora).

It’s worth taking a peek at her blog post as it is quite the most gorgeous colours.  She describes the bloom as having  “one of the rarest and most beautiful colours in the plant world. The satiny purple centres and yellow anthers contrast beautifully with the turquoise petals. This one is flowering in the garden at St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. It took my breath away when I first saw it.”

I’ve chosen to showcase the strelizia, or as it is commonly known, the Bird of Paradise plant.  They do well in our garden holding up in galeforce wind and they’re popular too in the nectar stakes.  I’ve gone for a different approach dissecting a flower to abstract it’s hidden beauty.   I hope to show up it’s striking form and various colours.  I enjoyed experimenting with different camera techniques – double exposure in camera and ICM; then did a bit of editing using filters.  I look forward to reading comments on the overall effect and hope it’s not all a bit OTT.

Visit Jude’s Garden photography page here  to see further examples of prized blooms.