Murraya Paniculata

Is there a 'B' in Murraya Paniculata?    Actually....... there are quite a few!

We had some recent rain and the Murraya Paniculata (also known as Orange Jessamine) in our backyard has flowered profusely!   The shrubs are heavy with rain soaked flowers and the branches are hanging low.  

The flowers give out a beautifully fragrant aroma - heavy & sweet with hints of citrus.  The smell floats through our house (especially at dusk when it is thick in the air!)   Of course, the Bees love it as well!

I decided to get out and test my skills trying to catch the Bees as they flitted from flower to flower.  Once they land on the flower well, that's easy BUT, it's trying to catch them mid flight that is the most difficult; they are such fast fliers!

I couldn't get too close; I have an allergy to Bee Stings and, although I have not been bitten since I was a child, I am not risking an anaphylactic attack to find out if that allergy is still active!  So, I got out my trusty Canon EFS 55-250mm zoom and set it at f5.6 to allow for a shallow DOF and lovely Bokeh that comes with it.  I also shot in AV mode so that I didn't have to be constantly adjusting for exposure on each shot.  I also upped the ISO to 400 to get faster shots because there was a breeze blowing which meant for quite a bit of movement in the shrubs.

When I went out, it had not rained for a couple of hours.  It was an odd light. There was still cloud cover which filtered the sunlight down off the flowers but in the distance were heavy dark clouds; a portent of more rain coming our way!

These are just a few of the photos I took.  Some have been cropped for better presentation but are still sharp.  Hope you enjoy them.

Stay well my friends!

Jordy

These photos are for sale, contact me if you are interested.

All photos on this blog are © Life with Jordy Photography and may not be used without permission.

The filtered light through the cloud cover and the ominous storm clouds in the distance!