P32_749A

Little fairy Encyclia fragrans
The inevitable question always comes to my mind: who designed you? so perfect! so harmoniously proportioned! Appreciating such projects from nature, I always imagine a highly evolved being, a creator of life working on his drawing board, manipulating laser beam brushes, drawing on a hologram of pure light, awakening an irresistible desire to imitate. After all, photography also draws with light.
Dancing in the lightness of the photographic effect, the little fairy appears in her luminosity from other dimensions. The idea is simple and tested several times: the pure essence of the protagonist of the photo without interference.
Already abundantly graced by admiration, I launched myself into the adventure of painting with light a glimpse of such perfection. To enhance the beauty of the little fairy even more, I acted like a painter and highlighted her on a black background, where the pixels were muted to focus the light on the essentials. Despite the lightening of the day, the actress gained full attention on the forest stage.
How does the photograph have such a dark background if it was photographed during the day? Could this be a manipulation of reality? I do not think so. The reality of the eye and the reality of photography have very little in common, despite simplistic comparisons. A photographic camera may even gain artificial intelligence, but it will never be able to reach the refined complexity of the eye, which by its nature manages to focus on the essential and completely blur the rest, eliminating all distractions from its details. Imitating the eye, beautiful photographs are obtained with a long focal length lens and the maximum aperture of the diaphragm, making the main subject stand out against a heavily blurred background. Bokeh! This is what photographers call this effect. Black background with flash is another imitation of the eye, a technique that serves the same purpose. When framing, a distant and dark background is chosen, such as dense and shaded vegetation. Then the aperture of the diaphragm is closed to the maximum and the foreground is brightly illuminated with a flash. Of course, there is a huge difference in lighting between the foreground and the background, as the flash illuminates the orchid well, but almost none of this light reaches the background, which remains heavily underexposed… and even black.

P32_749A – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Micro Nikkor lens 60mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film – Holding a camera connected flash, framing on dark background
Original file size: 5293px x 3553px
Location Taken: Reserva CampinaCampinas is an ecosystem with sandy soils and low vegetation, well differentiated from the thriving Amazonian normality. Geologically, the meadows are associated with the old beds and beaches of large rivers. (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Orchids – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Encyclia fragrans, orquídeas, orchids, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, epífitas, epiphyte, Reserva Campina, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN1 Little fairy P32_749A
PT1 Pequena fada P32_749A
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

P32_748

Three-dimensionality
A more open view of the frame shows more details of a cluster of small fairies (Encyclia fragrans). Connected with a cable to the camera, in the left hand, fleeing uniformity, the flash illuminates the protagonist and keeps the background neutral. The 60mm Micro-Nikkor lens with an aperture of f32 offered a great depth of field, keeping the entire foreground in focus and contributing to the overall darkening of the background. Photography, like painting, is a two-dimensional art, but there are several techniques that help overcome this limit: in our case, side-lit flash adds a three-dimensional effect.

P32_748 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Micro Nikkor lens 60mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film –
Original file size: 5293px x 3553px
Location Taken: Reserva Campina (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Orchids – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Encyclia fragrans, orquídeas, orchids, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, epífitas, epiphyte, Reserva Campina, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN2 Three-dimensionality P32_748
PT2 Tridimensionalidade P32_748
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

P32_749

Sacred Botany
How many human beings live sickened by urban life forced to produce wealth for an insatiable elite, keep only the crumbs and put aside their pleasurable activities. If doctors weren’t just mere employees of the pharmaceutical industry, if they were really healers, they would have a recipe book without hermetic names. “Sir, the reading of your energy matrix revealed misaligned vibrational patterns. I suggest you to reduce your productive tasks, before this can generate a physical imbalance. I see from your history that the ideal remedy is the perfume of Encyclia fragrans grown by your own hands, a very fragrant and long-lasting flower. But it’s not just the scent of the flower that will heal you. Growing orchids can return the pleasure of the little things. Contact with these highly evolved beings will take you on a deep journey within yourself, developing a positive symbiosis capable of creating happy communication with your surroundings.
Communicating with the orchid people is one of the most desirable experiences to raise the energy level and facilitate telepathy».
«Very grateful, doctor, I was already intuiting something like that».
«Good, here is the recipe that sent you to the Department of Sacred Botany. Have an happy day!»

P32_749 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Micro Nikkor lens 60mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film –
Original file size: 3553px x 5293px
Location Taken: Reserva Campina (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Orchids – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Encyclia fragrans, orquídeas, orchids, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, epífitas, epiphyte, Reserva Campina, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN3 Sacred Botany P32_749
PT3 Botânica Sagrada P32_749
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

P31_726

Return to paradise
On a luminous morning, so luminous that even memories remain marked by a dazzling light. That morning I was inebriated by the perfumes that invaded every part of the Campina. The little fairy, Encyclya fragrans, was the main responsible for all that uproar, not just for me, but for the other residents who flew among the flowers. Each macucu (Aldina heterophylla) hosted hundreds of them on its branches and all flowered. In these happy moments there is no way to hold back the seriousness of everyday life. It seems to have a self-punishment in that seriousness, but maybe it’s just a learning to return to paradise.

P31_726 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Micro Nikkor lens 60mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Digitised from a positive on film –
Original file size: 3520px x 5351px
Location Taken: Reserva Campina (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Orchids – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
Encyclia fragrans, orquídeas, orchids, flores, bloom, blooming, blossom, flowers, FLORA, plantas, plants, epífitas, epiphyte, Reserva Campina, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America, macucu, Aldina heterophylla, árvores, trees
EN4 Return to paradise P31_726
PT4 Retorno ao paraíso P31_726
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos