Peonies are rather ephemeral flowers, and so one has to enjoy them during their relatively short span—3 to 5 days, perhaps, depending on weather. These images were taken 19–24May22, inclusive.
I more or less drop everything else during the brief period my own bloom to photograph and paint them, knowing their gracious presence will be short.
shimi nishiki tree peony blossom opening; sony A7c w 90mm sony macro: f/3.2, ev +0.3, 1/100s, ISO 160, 19may22, approx 07:40 am; cropping, minor color correction, scaling to 4000 pixels
I thought I had lots of images of shimi-nishiki, my tree peony—well, I do, but not posted on the site. I decided to rectify that...
shimi nishiki tree peony blossom peak; sony A7c w 90mm sony macro: f/2.8, ev -0.3, 1/250s, ISO 100, WB: daylight 20may22, approx 10:40am; ; minor color correction, scaling to 4000 pixels
It turns out that I had a nearly complete series of a particular blossom, easily identified by its plentiful all-red petals.
shimi nishiki tree peony blossom drooping; sony A7c w 90mm sony macro: f/2.8, ev 0, 1/320s, ISO 100, WB: cloudy, 20may22, approx 13:00; minor color correction, scaling to 4000 pixels
To some extent after opening and drooping, peonies do close back up at night, for a bit of recovery, as you can see in a morning shot from two days later.
shima nishiki tree peony, sony A7c w 90mm sony macro: f/4.0 ev 0, 1/100s, ISO 125, WB: cloudy, 22may22, approx 9:45 am; cropping, scaling.
By the day after that, however, this bloom is nearly done:
shima nishiki tree peony blossom, 23may22, approx 09:00, sony A7c, sony 90mm macro lens, f/2.8, ev -0.3, 1/200s, ISO 100, WB daylight; slightly cropped, scaled to 4000 pixels.
I used to feel there was little point in photographing these (or any flowers, really) past their prime; one the gifts I received from the f2tE was an appreciation for that latter bit of the cycle.
shima nishiki tree peony, 24may22, approx 17:00; sony A7c, tamron 70–180mm lens, 180mm focal length, f/2.8, 1/640s ev -0.3, ISO 100, WB daylight, slightly cropped, scaled to 4000 pixels.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
