Attended a photography workshop the other day with the objective of making myself use the manual setting on my camera instead of my old reliable landscape setting. The landscape setting has been my go-to setting and has served me well and while I will still use it sometimes, I really need to get out of my comfort zone and do a better job capturing those shots that landscape doesn’t always produce the best image.

After the workshop I trotted out to the greenhouse and found plenty of subjects to practice on, and since winter refuses to go away completely, I figured we all needed some nice color and beauty in our lives, and this is what I have to offer-

This lobivia bloomed for me last year. Small plant; large flowers.

No ID on this little mammillaria, but isn’t it pretty? I  have shared it with you before, but this is a clearer picture. It’s also the second round of blooms. 

This little phalaenopsis orchid I rescued last year as a forgotten leftover at a big box store rewarded me last year with blooms, and this year four bloom stems have produced all kinds of flowers. Right now it has 16 flowers with too many buds to count just waiting to open.

This mammillaria elegans has not made the typical halo of blooms yet, although it is working on it. The striped flowers are nice.

I have also shared this little mammillaria bocasana roseiflora with you before, but it just keeps on blooming and the color is spectacular.

This bloom is from a gasteria glomerata, a nice little succulent.

I bought this little cactus, no ID but I think it is a rebutia, full of buds. It bloomed beautifully and then promptly died! I have no idea what I did wrong, overwatered too soon after transplanting, I’m afraid. I will miss it.

I have no ID for this mammillaria, either, but it is doing fine.

I don’t know if you can see a difference in images using manual setting, but I can. And while I will still fall back on landscape and even auto in some cases, especially when I might have time to play with the setting, but I hope to see an improvement in photos from now on.

Time will tell.