
Rare Beauty

by Jeanette French
Title
Rare Beauty
Artist
Jeanette French
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Rare Beauty exemplifies the nature of orchids with her extraordinary, exotic, elegant and rare beauty. Her lovely perfumed fragrance radiates her queenly, transcendent vibrations. Rare Beauty’s scientific name is Dendrobium nobile and she is one of the Asiatic orchids that are native to India, Thailand, Burma and Indochina.
The lovely orchid can be found in almost every part of the world, with the exception of glacier habitats. Although the orchids tend to concentrate mostly in the tropical areas of Asia and South and Central America, they have been located as far north as Patagonia and even above the Arctic Circle. The orchid name is derived from an ancient Greek word meaning “testicle”, which describes the bulb-like root.
Orchids are actually perennial herbs that do not have any woody structure. They grow in two types of pattern, monopodial and sympodial. Monopodial orchids grow from a single stem, with leaves added at the apex each subsequent year. Sympodial orchids produce a series of shoots which develop, bloom and then are replaced. The growth of symbodial orchids is lateral in nature, versus vertical, like the monopodial variety.
Orchids, Orchidaceae, have many flower structural variations. Some orchids have single flowers, although most produce many beautiful blossoms. Orchids may prove to be very ancient plant forms. Fossil evidence was found in the pollen carried by a bee that was trapped in Miocene amber some 15-20 million years ago. Scientists postulate that orchids may have co-existed with the dinosaurs some 76-84 million years ago! Vanilla of the orchid family is estimated to go back 60-70 million years.
Many orchids grow attached to trees and small shrubs. Being quite adaptable, others grow on rocks or in rock soil, as well as in both grasslands and forest habitats. A small number of orchid species do not have chlorophyll and therefore cannot generate photosynthesis. These orchids can, however, parasite off of soil fungi to obtain the needed energy and nutrients for growth.
The Rare Beauty image was photographed with a macro lens. Macrophotography is an extreme close-up photo in which the subject size in the image is life size or greater than life size. The ratio of the subject on the plane of the sensor plate is known as the reproduction ratio. A macro lens is usually capable of producing images greater than 1:1. Reproductions of greater that 1:1 are also known as photomicrography. In this digital age, a macro photograph is practically defined as a photograph with its vertical subject matter at a height of 24mm or less.
Jeanette French, paintings, photographs, canvas prints framed prints, metallic prints, acrylic prints, greeting cards, gift cards, fine art.
Creating portals of light, love, joy, beauty, compassion, hope and gratitude is my lifelong passion and gift for the earth, hence the name of my art business, For the Earth. My mother painted in oils when I was young and encouraged my own drawing, painting and handcrafting in all forms. My father, the photographer, gave me my first camera at age 8. As a result of these loving influences, I am a lifelong student of both mediums. I am grateful to my wonderful Pacific NW painter teachers, Stan Capon and Edi Olson, for training my eye and technique. I hope you will enjoy this image as much as I enjoyed its creation. More gifts for the earth can be found at these websites: jeanette-french.artistwebsites.com and jeanette-french.pixels.com.
Uploaded
February 23rd, 2014
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