I’d never heard of these flowers until I married my wife and she brought some bulbs with her when she moved into our house. What amazes me about the flowers is their longevity. They are bulbs are perennials and mostly planted in shallow soil in a pot, in my world, and they are stored in a dark corner of the garage from post bloom until the following spring, at which time, she brings them back out and positions them on the back deck where they begin to grow again. Some of these bulbs are around 15 years old, which I find to be astounding, especially given the sparse environment in which they exist. What’s even more astounding is the beauty, quality, and size of the flowers. They are incredible. I’ve tried to capture their beauty over the years with my camera, but, honestly, I don’t think you can really appreciate their magnificence until you are in their presence. I hope you like the photos.

Having photographed this flower over the last twenty years, I have found it to be one that causes me to have to revisit from time to time, not because I love it, which I do, but because I am dissatisfied with the output from my photography process or my post processing abilities. I guess I’m looking for more artistic renderings than just good photos. I think one of the issues is the size of the flower for one thing. I can fill a frame with the whole flower or zoom into the heart of things. Both are great image configurations, but I still find myself wanting in the final output.