Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON
I'd be delighted if some expert could tell me what these flowers are called. The first two images was shot in Singapore in December 2007, as I walked around the island city-nation. A tropical thunderstorm had just passed through the area and I was making sure that I was never too far from an arcade or some form of shelter.
There was sound logic behind this. Just in case the heavens opened again, I would be able to do a quick sprint to the nearest point of shelter to protect my precious camera.
The flowers were simply growing by the side of the footpath, in that wonderfully landscaped environment that has been a part of my earliest Singapore memories, ever since my first visit there as an eleven-year-old.
It was not just the formation of the plant that attracted my attention, but the way the vivid orange stood out against the green foliage in the background. So too the graceful manner in which the leaves seemed to echo the intricate grace of a Thai or an Indian classical dancer.
This shot (above) was actually taken in Langkawi, Malaysia, last year. We were walking around the vast hotel property when I noticed this, but couldn't find anyone to tell me what it was called.
This frame (above) was shot in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. We'd been sitting by the pool at our hotel for a few minutes when of course I had to do my customary "what's-in-the-vicinity-for-me-to-photograph" survey and lo and behold, I saw the same plant a few metres away.
After I'd shot a couple of frames of the blooms themselves, I also noticed that the long, narrow stems made an interesting sight with their contrasting colours and gentle angular orientation. So, quite naturally, I had to shoot a frame of that unusual view as well.
Obviously it was the same species of plant, but I couldn't find an amateur horticulturalist to tell me what it was called. I guess I'll just have to go back there to find out .....
(Extra, extra, read all about it: I've been interviewed here. Thank you to all those who have followed this link and checked out the interview. There have been so many wonderful comments that I've tried to reply to each one personally - but you're setting a cracking pace. My humble and heartfelt thanks to all of you for the wonderful tributes and thoughts you have shared on the interview.)
Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.
