floral landscapes

View of Castelluccio across the Piano Grande

fields left fallow, Umbria

Meadows with cornflowers on the Piano Grande

great yellow gentian on Mt Terminillo, Lazio (Gentiana lutea)

hairy rock jasmine, Simbruini (Androsace villosa)

spring crocus on Terminillo (Crocus vernus)

spring crocus Mte Sibillini (Crocus vernus)

Gentiana dinarica (Trumpet Gentian)

snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)

spring flowers on Piano Grande

peonies in the Sibillini, Umbria (Paeonia officinalis)

yellow tulips above Piano Grande, Umbria (Tulipa australis)

sea daffodil, Lazio (Pancratium maritimum)

fields of red clover as a crop, Umbria

naked man orchids, Mt Argentario

sunflowers, Umbria

poppies in Umbria

Podere Montecucco garden, Umbria

Floral Landscapes

I came to know Italy at first through searches for plant-filled vistas. I began this search in Crete and the Greek-speaking world in 1974 and lived in Cyprus from 1978-81. Journeys throughout Europe from the Mediterranean to the high alps followed...

Italy has never failed to delight me when it comes to floral vistas and now many of these displays are not far from home.

Techniques and Equipment

In each case, the close-focusing capability of a wide-angle zoom or fixed-focus lens is used to set plants in the context of their background. This conveys as much information as possible about the plant form and function.

As a film user I experimented with 'wide-angle macro' from 1976 using a 28mm lens and the (4mm) extension tube. With an Olympus OM system I moved to 21mm and later used corresponding wideangles with medium format.

Currently, I use Nikon and Sigma and many of the shots in this gallery are taken using the amazing close-focus capability and high definition of a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle zoom as well as Sigma rectilinear fisheyes of 10mm and 15mm focal length

HIDDEN WORLDS