The Saussurea obvallata or the Brahma Kamal Through Different Lenses

    

Famous in the myths as the flower of the Gods this stunning night bloomer is a perfect subject for night time photography. If you are into time lapse photography, this could be just the ideal subject you have been on the look out for. Not only does it bloom and close within a few hours, it has a stunning blossom, large enough to capture any frame in turn. The fragrance is another bonus. Only be careful of snakes, as it is said that it lures the night crawlers to it by its enchanting fragrance. 

King of the Himalayan flowers this exotic species is found only in the Himalayan ranges of India, China, and Burma. If you catch it on the one night it blooms between late July and early September, you can safely call yourself the luckiest one on the planet that night.

In my last post I have shown the entire series of photographs I took during its bloom last night.  Below I have included some variants, as seen with different effects.

Photographing The King of Himalayan Flowers

The Saussurea obvallata , popularly called the Brahma Kamal is an exotic plant endemic to the Himalayas in India, China and Burma. It is goes by the name Nishagandhi (meaning Fragrant one of the night) in the south. This plant blooms just once a year and has large white showy flowers that reach full bloom between 9 pm and 12 am. If you missed it then, you missed it altogether! Luckily, we had placed one in our garden a few years back and it bloomed last night! More luckily, we got to see it, and I got to capture it in action.  They have large fiery tentacle-like bracts that just clash with the radiant white, perfect for luring night foragers. Enchanted by the crazy fragrance, I took over a hundred pictures in one wild spree!
Some of them were taken under candle light, while others were taken under white light of other cell phones. In my other posts I have shared some of the pics under different effects or shown you how they appear under candle light. The latter didn't turn out well, as they candle light fails to bring out that radium- like glow of this night blooming beauty.
Here, I have shared some of the better ones, not just for the love of photography but for the sake of the lovely experience as well. As you can see, I love trying out angles and frames!
Hope you will like them. Do send me suggestions (in the comment box below) on how I can refine my technique!

       

                                

This one even looks like a face!

                          

Experimenting in low light Photography

This is the Nishagandhi, a night blooming flower. The photographs were taken under candle light as part of an experiment. The flower is a rare sight, blooming just once a year and restricted to certain regions in India, China and Burma. The flowers are radiant white, huge and have large red bracts that can attract night crawlers and nectar feeders.The flowers  last for a very short time, between nine in the night to wee hours of the morning. As you can see, the radiant glow is poorly captured under low/yellow light.

In another post photographing the King of Himalayan flowers, I have shared pictures of the Saussurea obvallata, as it is scientifically called, under better lighting. Once you see them, the stark difference will be clearly visible.