I have some more today. First a true "beard" shot of Frosted Velvet:


While you call it beard shots, I always thought of mine as mouth shots as so many seem to be singing "Llllaaaa"
Like Tanzanian Tangerine (Tangerine Mouth)

Monet's Blue mouth

Silverado - which is aglow while singing

And Jamaican Dream mouth is also aglow

Omigosh -- I never thought of it that way -- of COURSE they're singing Lllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! I love it!

A few from today......
Octopi Pi


Cotillion Gown


Ink Patterns


Captain Thunderbolt...the color is a little off on this one.

Yowsa Captain!! And I can't get over the name Octopi Pi. Pretty, but.....

Great close ups! Some of those beards look like an alien dropped them there, I have never seen such large beards.

I know LA iris don't have beards, but this NOID sure is trying:

Quite a few very nice pictures. Part of the iris blossom that has had little written about it in the "encyclopedias."

Here are a few more:
Florentina



Spartan


Immortality

Dave! Nice pics!

I have one to add today - Slew O' Gold

I think I have found my home...at least some fun people who are as crazy as I am about irises!
I'll see if I can post a few of my favorite irises...

Unfortunately my bloom season here in California is almost over... so I will have to make do with the pictures all of you post!

Strawberry Frosting


Arthouse


Ozone Alert


Crooked Little Smile


Fancy A Flutter


Birthday Girl


Revision


Bamboo Shadows


Social Graces
(Note the lovely fly!!)


Royal Sterling


Earth Song


Attractive Lady


Impeccable Taste


Crazy For You


Fine Wine


Confusione


Camera Ready


Chestnuts Roasting


Yeah I did it!!!

to the "nut house" Marilyn! We do get a bit crazy once in a while, well, I should speak for myself!

Some nice close ups.

Tom meant to say 'we get a bit sane once in a while'. Lol Welcome Marilyn to a great group of iris lovers. I loved you photos.

Really nice close ups! This group is certainly a bunch of enablers so if you aren't iris obsessed already - you will be.

Marilyn - how does Ozone Alert do for you? Is it a good grower? I have it on order this year so I am curious.

Glad to meet you, Marilyn! Nice pics!...Arlyn

Hi Marilyn -- welcome to our little corner of insanity!!

I haven't yet figured out how to get my camera to do these macro shots. While I'm working on it, it was fun to see yours!!

Mary Ann, since my blooms are all finished (except 2 or 3) I had to take the photos I had and crop them using iPhoto on my computer. They don't have the crisp detail of a picture taken with a macro lens. They are actually just snapshots taken with my cell phone (which is rather old and not the highest resolution).

Leslie, last year I got bitten by the iris bug and went out and bought over 300 iris varieties. Unfortunately in my enthusiasm I underestimated how much work it is to get bermuda grass out of the area I planned to plant them...so 2/3 of them are still living in pots and I'm desperately trying to get them in the ground. Ozone Alert seems to be doing well, but I have not had it long enough to really know.

And for those of you who measure iris craziness by how many you buy, well I'm sitting with another 32 on order...so far!

to everyone for the welcoming comments!

Marilyn

Dave, I love how you took the pictures of the side view of the beards. These would be a great addition to the database for help in identifying those noids we all end up with!

Marilyn

OK -- I messed around with the Super-Macro setting on my camera this morning, and tried to take beard-shots -- with mixed results.

This is Alien Mist (who has the most phenomenal beards):


And this is Copatonic:


As you can see -- very mixed results. I don't know if I'm using the macro setting incorrectly, or if my hands aren't steady enough for this mode (don't have a tripod), or if the camera has limited abilities in this arena. I'm going to play around with it some more -- and try it with my Panasonic camera as well. But I think, for the most part, I'll stick with my regular Iris shots!!

Mary Ann, when you use a macro setting it amplifies even the slightest movement. You almost always need a tripod, a unipod, or some other way to hold the camera very still.
I used to do a lot of photography...alas my camera is the old fashioned kind that uses film! I guess I'm going to have to invest in a new camera if I want to capture the details of these beauties! Only problem is...I keep spending all my money on new iris varieties!

Marilyn

Marilyn - I see lots of raised iris beds in your future. It does deal with the grass issue quicker. This coming from the girl who needs to rent a tiller to get a bed ready for the Japanese iris I will be planting this year. Maybe that tiller will be used for a couple of other bearded beds as well since I keep finding iris I want!
Hats off to you for jumping in with 300!

Mary Ann - a lot of my beard shots are cropped from full shots. I also take close ups and crop them so they are even closer. My neighbors already think I am crazy taking all these photos so I don't pull out my tripod too often. They will already have enough to discuss when those extra beds get put in.