Ray's ramblings

Tag: Photography

  • Royal Botanical Gardens of Madrid

    Royal Botanical Gardens of Madrid

    I went to Madrid this year, partly to visit these gardens which I had read about but never visited on previous trips to Madrid. The gardens were founded in 1755, by King Ferdinand VI, and moved to their current location in the centre of Madrid in 1781 by King Charles III of Spain.

    The Royal Botanical Gardens of Madrid (Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid) is an 8 hectares (20 acres) botanical garden sited next to the Prado Museum.

    There are said to be more than 5,000 species and cultivars of plants from different continents in the gardens, many collected on scientific expeditions carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries.

    It only costs one euro to visit the gardens and I went three times on successive days. Temperatures were high (c. 32-33 deg C), even though it was only May,

    The plants are arranged in a grid (see below) .

    Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. 
    Xauxa Håkan Svensson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
    1. Statue of José Quer 2. Statue of Simón de Rojas Clemente 3. Statue of Mariano Lagasca 4. Statue of Antonio José Cavanilles 5. Monument to Blas de Lázaro 7. Collection of succulent plants 8. Waterwheel Pavilion 9. Pond 10. Statue of Carl Linnaeus 11. Small Garden 12. Wrought iron trellis from 1786 13. Statue of Charles III

    I wandered around taking pictures of flowers and insects that caught my attention. One particularly beautiful flower, Romneya coulteri, the Coulter’s Matilija poppy or California tree poppy (below), is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is native to southern California, USA, and Baja California, Mexico, where it grows in dry canyons in chaparral and coastal sage plant communities.

    Romneya coulteri the California tree poppy by Paul de Longpré (1855-1911), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
    Lilies, Rhododendrons, Bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis), Rose-of-Sharon (Hypericum calycinum), Sea Mallow (Lavatera maritima) and Tickseed (Coreopsis sp). Photographs by Raymond J C Cannon

    There were many clumps of Bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis) which were being visited and pollinated by large Violet Carpenter bees (see separate blog: https://rcannon992.com/2026/05/31/carpenter-bees-big-enough-to-get-into-bears-breeches/).

    Bear’s breeches (Acanthus mollis). Photographs by Raymond J C Cannon

    There is a pond containing aquatic plants, including Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus) and many frogs!

    There is a bonsai terrace which was first opened in 2005 and contains some very fine specimens. I recognised some of the tree species, but it was very hot and I did not record the names of each bonsai!

    Specimens on the bonsai terrace. Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid

    Given the age of the garden, its not surprising that there are some very old ‘monumental’ trees.

    Some of the insects I managed to photograph are shown below.

    Southern scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthamelii), Wool carder bee, Polistes gallicus wasp, Painted lady butterfly, Violet carpenter bee.
    Photos by Raymond JC Cannon

    Large infestations of daffodil leaf beetles (Exosoma lusitanicum) were feeding and mating on the Iris flowers and seemed to have mostly destroyed them!

    Daffodil leaf beetles (Exosoma lusitanicum).
    Photographs by Raymond JC Cannon

    However, some irises had – for the time being at least! – escaped the ravages of the leaf beetles!

    Blue and white iris. Photographs by Raymond JC Cannon
    A statue of Charles III of Spain ‘Creator of the garden’

    There are also three green houses with cacti and tropical plants.

    All in all, thoroughly recommended!

  • Simply red in photos!

    Simply red in photos!

    Boy in red jacket at the window, River Arno, Florence
    Boy in red jacket at the window, River Arno, Florence

    Including a small area of red can sometimes do wonders for a photograph! With this in the back of my mind, I am always alert to something red appearing in my image finder!

    Piazza Santa Croce
    Piazza Santa Croce

    Whether it works or not, probably depends on a lot of other factors, like what else  is in the photograph! But there is no doubt, that if you get it right, a small focal point of red can catch the eye and improve a photograph. I will leave readers to decide whether this works or not, in any these photos which I took recently in Florence, Italy.

    Dogs in red and pink outfits
    Dogs in red and pink outfits

    Red is a warm colour and in general, warm colors will appear to advance, i.e. to stand out in a picture or photograph. But the effect also depends on the surrounding colours and – I think – on how much space (area) they take up in a photo. The relative brightness of different colours – whether they are in light or shade – will also affect the result. If red takes up the majority of the photograph, like this tiny red car (below), then the effect gets a bit lost although I still like the result!

    Tiny red car, Florence.
    Tiny red car, Florence.

    At the other end of the scale, if the red areas are too small, like these red jackets in this river shot (below), then the effect is also diluted.

    River Arno at sunset
    River Arno at sunset

    The effect is also a bit muted if there are multiple red areas in a photo, as in this street market scene below.

    Street market, Florence
    Street market, Florence

    In conclusion, I think it works best to highlight an otherwise fairly ordinary photo, like the first one (above).