Passion flowers have very complex structures and color combinations. I’ve wanted to capture their beauty since I grew them prior to retirement. When I was living in Rosamond, CA, we bought a mail order seedling. Ten years later it covered 30 feet of the backyard wall of our house. I didn’t start doing focus stacking until I retired and moved away from that vine. I was thus very excited when my friend Barbara grew these. This is by far the most pictures I’ve produced for a single flower.

• Carousel (1 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/1-carousel-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-20X.jpg

  The visual motion in this picture provides the name. This captures the inner base of the flower. The inner, upward pointing filaments are the operculum, the row of small filaments is the nectary, and the white outward pointing filaments form the corona. The breadth is about 1 inch. 220 stacked photos.

  

• Inner Pentagon (0.9 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2-inner-pentagon-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-22X.jpg

  This shot emphasizes the pentagonal nature of the nectary (the row of tiny filaments). It is amazing to me how the whole flower, when it is fully open, is almost perfectly circular at the tips of the petals and sepals yet the flower is fundamentally 5-sided. The height is about 0.9 inches. 123 stacked photos.

  

• Three on Five (0.4 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/3-three-on-five-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-50X.jpg

  This is the very center of the flower focusing on the middle of the stigmata and the top of the ovary. The name is from the 3 stigmata and the 5 anthers. It just doesn’t seem right that the same flower should have a prominent 3 and a prominent 5. More often, flowers have multiples of the base number of things. The breadth is about 0.4 inches. 450 stacked photos.

  

• Dancing on Blue Flames (0.9 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/4-dancing-on-blue-flames-passion-flower-17x22-FINAL-24X.jpg

  After they open, the flowers close at night into a pod with the petals and sepals as the wall of the pod. Inside the pod, the corona filaments and the stigma point upwards. I cut off the petals and sepals to get this shot. The height is about 0.9 inches. 84 stacked photos.

  

• Into the Abyss (1/2 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/5-into-the-abyss-passion-flower-20x16-FINAL-35X.jpg

  The title is from the spider’s point of view (although it’s actually a spider skin.) From the top right are portions of the corona filaments, the nectary, the operculum, and the yellow anther. The height of the subject is a little more than 1/2 inch. 565 stacked photos.

  

• Maroon Rising (1/4 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/6-maroon-rising-16x20-FINAL-50X.jpg

  I really like the visual flow of color from the bottom to the top. The bottom elements are part of the nectary. The middle strands are part of the operculum. The height of the subject is a little more than ¼ inch. 565 stacked photos.

  

• Yellow Tutu (2.5 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/7-yellow-tutu-passion-flower-17x22-FINAL-8X.jpg

  The flowers progress with the stamens and pistils moving up and down through the process. The first shot I took of this wasn’t as good as I wanted but a loved the composition and colors. It took several more flowers and watching their progress to get this position again. The height is about 2.5 inches. 52 stacked photos.

  

• Passion Flower Full Monty (2.3 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/8-full-monty-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-9X.jpg

  This is looking straight into the center of the flower and captures the full complexity and depth of the flower. From the center (and top): stigmata, ovary, anthers, (base of) operculum, nectary, corona filaments. (Not shown: petals and sepals.) It is visually fascinating to see the increase in the number of elements at each step down: from the 3 stigmata to a hundred or so corona filaments. The breadth is about 2.3 inches. 16 stacked photos.

  

• After the Dance I (0.86 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/9-after-the-dance-I-dried-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-25X-0p86-inch.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out – thus the name. It gives the feeling of being exhausted after so much dancing. This is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. That the flower parts maintained their color is quite interesting and the change in texture as it dried is really nice. The breadth is about 0.86 inches. 73 stacked photos.

  

• After the Dance II (.54 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/10-after-the-dance-II-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-40X-0p54-inch-.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out and after After the Dance I – thus the name. It gives the feeling of being exhausted after so much dancing. This is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. That the flower parts maintained their color is quite interesting and the change in texture as it dried is really nice. The breadth is about 0.54 inches. 234 stacked photos.

  

• Hooded Snake (0.3 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/11-hooded-snake-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-v8-70X.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out. The snake is a dried stamen. So, this is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. I was tempted to call this “one- eyed monster” but opted not to. In addition to the snake, the textures of the ovum and coronal rays are very interesting. It took me several attempts to get the right angle. The breadth is about 0.3 inches (so the snake head itself is about 0.1 inches). 83 stacked photos.

  

• Hooded Snake Head (0.17 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/12-hooded-snake-head-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-v9-130X.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out. The snake head is a dried anther. So, this is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. It is also a close crop of Hooded Snake. I was tempted to call this “one- eyed monster” but opted not to. The breadth is about 0.17 inches (so the snake head itself is about 0.1 inches). 83 stacked photos.

  

• Coronal Filament (0.17 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/13-coronal-filament-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out. So, this is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. The color, shape, and texture of this isolated filament against the yellow pollen really caught my eye. I originally tried this picture with the background in focus, but it was way to busy and distracted from the filament. The breadth is about 0.17 inches. 43 stacked photos.

  

• Squiggle

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/14-squiggle-passion-flower-22x17-FINAL-85X-0p26-inch.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out. It is looking straight down from the top focusing on one dried stamen. This is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. That the flower parts maintained their color is quite interesting and the change in texture as it dried is really nice. The breadth is about 0.26 inches. 390 stacked photos.

  

• Ram's Head (0.24 in.)

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/15-rams-head-22x17-FINAL-90X-0p24-inch.jpg

  This is Dancing on Blue Flames after it dried out. This is the passion flower after it closed up and I cut the sepals and petals away to see the interior. This is looking straight down at the top where the dried stamens come out of the ovary. The breadth is about 0.24 inches. 87 stacked photos.

  

• Passion Flower Life Cycle Collage

  http://photo.chjonesconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/16-aa-passion-flower-collage-v2.jpg

  Although I hadn’t started focus stacking when I lived in Rosamond, I started taking pictures of them on the vine in my back yard. There was never a profusion of flowers at any one time, but they bloomed from spring to early fall. I thus was able to capture the different live cycle stages. I particularly like the picture in the lower left corner where the sepals have opened but two of the petals have not.