I was afraid that the zinnia seeds I planted weren’t going to bloom before we have our first frost – they had a slow start. Probably because I was slow in getting them into the ground because of a very cold month and then a very hot month in the spring. Or was it the other way around? Not to worry – they are now blooming just when needed most for late summer color.

I love close-up photography so my zinnias and Cee’s Close-up or Macro call to photographers were perfectly timed for each other. Zinnias are a lot of fun to photograph because of their symmetrical petals that seem, at the same time, to be asymmetrical. And look at how a really up close photograph shows how the petals form. What a beautiful wonder right under our noses, especially if there is a camera between our nose and the flower!

A while back I was doing some research before deciding on a new lens and read an article about whether it was better to use a telephoto lens or to use a 50 mm dedicated lens and crop. This second photo was taken with my new Nikon Z fc and a 16-50 mm lens, taken at 50 mm. I have really been pleased with this camera. It is light enough so I can take hand-held photos and have them be acceptably sharp. If I ever wanted to enlarge them a lot, I would have to use a tripod. This serves as a really nice walk around, grab quickly camera – similar to how others use their smart phones.

I was surprised to see the little flowers within the unfurling petals when I processed this last photo. This one was taken with the 50 mm setting and I only cropped a little of the edges off for aesthetics. I have found I can get really close to my subject with this lens but can also get good shots to crop when I need to stand back so I don’t frighten butterflies away.