Fun with f-stops and flowers

An f-stop, I learned last night, is the same thing as aperture but not the same thing as a full stop. Having those two confusions cleared up was probably worth the price of the class! With a wide aperture (think eyes wide open), I get lots of light and a narrow depth of field, meaning that flowers will be in focus with a soft and fuzzy background. That's pretty much perfect for taking pictures of flowers inside greenhouses at the Missouri Botanical Garden on a cloudy winter day.

Here is one of the camellias that are blooming now in the Linnean House. It's probably sacrilege, but I like the camellias better than the orchids -- the Orchid Show is the current special exhibit at the Garden. Many more pictures on my Flickr page.