As I left the gym this morning, a huge seed pod covered with water drops and that looked like a dandelion on steroids caught my eye. There is nothing in the photo to show the size of this giant seed pod. It was about 4 inches in diameter. Turns out it is the seed pod of the Salsify plant also known as goatsbeard that seems to have invaded the not-so-carefully manicured garden beds that rim the parking lot. I missed the flowering phase somehow (I caught it last year- Day 105 2011 Goatsbeard) but this pod, glistening with tiny water drops was beautiful in the morning sun. I photographed it using Aperture Priority with the sun behind it. What amazed me was that with the aperture wide open, the shutter speed my D800 delivered was 1/8000. The focus is pretty amazing. I think I’d have to be pretty shaky to get this one out of focus. Of course the depth of field with my 50mm lens is so shallow when it’s at maximum aperture that most of the seed pod is out of focus anyway.
Focal Length 50mm
Aperture Priority
ISO 100
f/1.4
1/8000
SOOC