[Edit, 14th August 2015: in order to keep this blog going and to keep showing you my photos, I’ve had to make room otherwise I’ll be all full up and writing you essays every time! Thanks for your understanding, as I delete all of these flower photos!]
Okay so you know how I’m just like a teensy tiny eeny weeny little bit obsessed with birds? With hearing them, finding them, seeing them, photographing etc?
Well nothing about that has changed but I’m adding a bit of variety into the mix.
For nearly four years, since hubby and I took a trip to Perth and southern Western Australia over the New Year break in 2010/1, I have wanted to go back there during the wild flower season which is famous world wide. I even booked it into my hard copy calendar on the wall for the following year, but before the dates came around we moved house and the calendar was abandoned to a box in the shed and the idea was forgotten.
Until this year. We received a Save The Date card in August for a family wedding just outside of Perth in Swan Valley for the end of October! Eeek! Right at the tail end of the wildflower season!! YAY!!!
So I jumped right into research mode: what species of flowers would be flowering, in what areas, at what time in the season, where would be best to see them, who operated tours in the right areas. Typical over-organisation, but it’s fun so where’s the harm, right?
As well as my own research, I took the topic to my last photography class and quizzed my teacher (Wendy Clark – Empathy Photographics, Master Your Camera) on photographing miniature flowers, seeing as she is an expert in photographing wild native orchids: lighting, sun and shade, getting up close, use of zoom, getting the colour right, time of day etc.
So excitingly, the right place for sighting and photographing wildflowers at the end of October is right in Perth and southern Western Australia, exactly where we’ll be! As well as hanging out with my husband’s family in Perth I have a lot of family to visit down south as far as Bunbury so I feel like the stars have aligned for wildflower hunting and photography! Awesome!
I’ve looked up all the tours, but Kings Park in the centre of Perth has an amazing display of wildflowers apparently, and some of my family have paddocks of wildflowers next to their properties so I’m going to get my fill there and if I still need some more flowers then I’ll book once I’m there.
So why am I writing all this blah blah? Because I’m about to throw a bazillion practice photos at you *evil smile* I’ve been practicing in the gardens of my neighbours, in the park, at the awesome holiday house my mum and dad (and me and hubby some of the time) just stayed in for a week courtesy of the Otis Foundation at Wattle Point, on Raymond Island, in the Blond Bay game reserve, on the silt jetties outside of Paynesville, Bluff lookout…essentially anytime I find a flower that might be native, or any flower really, and have my camera nearby.
I’m trying to focus on native flowers, but as it happens, I don’t really know which flowers are native and which have been imported. I mean some are obvious, like I know gum flowers and heath and wild orchids are Australian, and willow trees and camelias and holly are from England, but that’s about the whole of my knowledge! So I’m in the market for a field guide, some more experience and maybe a tiny version of a tripod for getting those awkward shots.
In the meantime, here are the flowers from my holiday out East to tantalise us for the West!

Apparently this beautiful flower is called “Pig Face”! It’s also pink not magenta, but I couldn’t make my camera agree!

We all fell in LOVE with these gorgeous blue flowers that creep as a vine into other bushes and trees

If you look closely you see that there is a long thin red and yellow stem coming out of the centre of this tiny star flower