C B Images

Photography by Chris Bates

Poppy

Close up Poppy
Iceland Poppy Close up: ISO 400, 190mm, f/4.0, 1/1250

We planted an Iceland Poppy in our backyard garden this spring. We had them in our garden in Red Deer and missed their colour and constant blooms.

The flowers on this new plant are much larger than we experienced in Red Deer. This bloom is about the size of a palm of a hand. I believe that is some sort of tiny bug on underneath the right side filaments.

Poppy, yellow, backyard
Morning Poppies: ISO 100, 6.1mm, f/4, 1/40

Our poppies are starting to bloom.

As you can see by this image there are plenty of "heads" that will flower on this plant. The last couple of years the house sparrows have been eating them so there hasn't been as many flowers. This year should be different.

Poppies Remembrance Day Veterans Day
Poppies: ISO 400, 250mm, f/4.5, 1/250

Remembrance Day is coming up. I have a few images I want to share this week in honour of this very important day.

Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote a poem called "In Flanders Fields." From this poem poppies have become a symbol of the sacrifices men and women have made during times of conflict.

The colour of the Remembrance Day poppy is significant as well. Red is a symbol of the bloodshed of trench warfare during World War I. In Canada, we wear the poppy close to our heart.

We grow poppies in our backyard garden and they alllow me to remember sacrifices whenever they bloom. These two images I am sharing today are identical. Top image is in colour and the bottom is in black and white.

It was interesting when I did some post processing work on the original image and discovered that the red colour turned to white, which is a symbol of peace, when converted to black and white.


Poppies Remembrance Day Veterans Day

California Poppy, flower, nature, backyard, Chris Bates, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Photography
California Poppy: ISO 80, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/125

This summer I planted some California Poppy seeds in some of our beds. One patch managed to survive without being mistaken for weeds. I am posting this shot now as they have shown to be pretty resilient to the cold fall temperatures. They flowered up until a week ago when Angela finally trimmed them back for fall hibernation.

This was taken with a point and shoot camera. I set the camera to Macro Mode and it took care of the rest.

Poppy, Macro, Chris Bates Photography, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Solar Seekers: ISO 80, 6.2mm, f/2.8, 1/500

Just like my previous post this was taken with a point and shoot compact camera set in Macro Mode. The camera did provide quite a nice bokeh effect in the distant tree.

I did some post processing work using Tiffen Dfx Software. Used a Warm Polarizer setting to deepen the blue sky.

Chris Bates Photography, Poppy, Seed, Nature, Macro, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Poppies and Seed Head: ISO 200, 90mm, f/4, 1/90

Summer is coming to an end. Poppies are getting ready to spread their colour next year!

Our Huge Poppies


Ornamental Poppies: ISO 400, 250mm, f/4.5, 1/250

Our gardens have exploded with colour. These are our large poppies. The flower is about the size of my hand.

Messed Up


Poppy in Snow: ISO 200, 90mm, f/5, 1/250

I have been going through my photo library the last few days and have noticed some photos I have not shared. Well, okay there are a few thousand but only a few I deem worthy enough to share with you.

The weather here has been normal spring weather for Alberta, Canada. Warm weather one day and sub zero temperatures the next. However, we are currently experiencing a very dry spring. The local governments have declared drought in some regions.

The "Poppy in Snow" image was taken last May and cleary shows the spring weather we experience where I live.

Lest We Forget...


I took this picture of poppies in the Red Deer City Hall Gardens this summer knowing I would be using this image on Remembrance Day.

We do have poppies in our backyard but not this many red ones.