Posts in Category: flowers
Fritillary. An alternate view.
As I said a few days ago, there were Fritillaries every where in Coastal Alabama last week, and I brought back, as you might expect, a lit of different views. As the day progressed the wind came up and the Fritillaries had some difficulty hanging on the the waving plants to feed. They achieved some interesting poses, some of which I caught.
I like this unconventional under-wing view. It has a sense of arrested motion that appeals. And i lime the way the bright contrasty light picks out the details on the colorful bug. Or that is the way I see it.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F. Program and macro. 200mm equivalent field of view. f4.8 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Fritillary!
I like Fritiallaries. Big and showy, and with their metallic silver patterns on the under hind-wing, they are a treat to see anytime. In Coastal Alabama yesterday, where I am working a birding festival, they were everywhere we went. They are migrating right now and were apparently bunched up along the coast. Okay by me.
I had several good photo ops. I especially like this shot with the contrast of the pink flower and the lovely green bokeh.
Canon SX50HS. Program with iContrast and -1/3EV exposure compensation. 1200mm equivalent field of view. f6.5 @ 1/1000th @ISO 500. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Blazing Star, Autumn Version
Blazing Star is a rare, fire-dependent, and spectacular plant of forest openings in New England, with a remnant population on the Kennebunk Plains. This was a particularly good year for them, especially in areas of the Plains that were part of the controlled burns of the year before. Come fall and all that is left is the seed heads, which are themselves somewhat spectacular.
Samsung Smart Camera WB800F. Macro. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Cabbage White on Aster
They have really huge Asters in Ohio! Especially compared to our New England asters. And I managed to catch a well worn Cabbage White in a rare moment of rest.
This is at the Midwest Birding Symposium near Lakeside OH. Samsung Smart Camera WB800F in macro mode. Processed in Snapseed on the Nexus 7.
Bumble Bee in the Goldenrod
This is a busy time of year for the busy Bumble Bees. They are harvesting the pollen of the fall blooming flowers as fast as they can. They go deep onto the large blossom of a Turtlehead and come out laden. It has to take a lot of Goldenrod to even begin to equal such a haul, and yet you see them all over the Goldenrod where ever it is in bloom.
And the Goldenrod itself, now that I know it is not the source of my watering fall eyes, is a beautiful flower. In mass they make a brave show of bright yellow in a green world, and if you look closely each tiny aster-like flower is thing of beauty.
Samsung Smart Camera WB250F in macro mode. Processed in Snapseed on the new Nexus 7.
Orchid: quietly blooming. Happy Sunday!
This is an orchid that my daughter bought for my wife on her birthday the beginning of August. It has been quietly blooming on the entertainment center by our front windows ever since. Occasionally I look at it and think I should photograph it. It is a thing of beauty and I should celebrate it! Yesterday I took it out to the back deck and actually did it 🙂
I could not find and did not take the time to improvise a completely dark background, and I don’t have the sophisticated lighting required for a studio style shot anyway, so I made do with the shadowed trees around the deck and my Samsung Smart Camera in Macro mode. I did do some extra processing to isolate the flower in Snapseed. Besides my usual Ambiance and Structure adjustments, I used the Center Focus filters to blur and darken the background, then finished off with a dark frame just highlighted with a thin white edge.
All in all I think it works. It is certainly a beautiful flower. Nothing I could do could obscure that, and I am hoping my efforts do help to capture and share that beauty.
And for the Sunday Thought. I am reminded by this birthday flower that my wife too is a thing of beauty, quietly blooming, and that I do not take time often enough to celebrate her. Her beauty is more a matter of character and harder to capture and to share, but that does not mean I should not make the effort. So, Carol, this orchid and my efforts are for you this morning. An orchid quietly blooming. 🙂
Another England
I have been playing with Snapseed on Nexus 7 v2 these past few days, and seeing the potential with some recent Smart Camera HDRs, I had to go back and reprocess a few of my pics from England. This one is from the grounds of the Gretham Valley Golf Club and Conference Center where we stay while working the British Bird Fair. Who could resist the purple weed in front of the pond under that English sky? I could not 🙂
Rich Tone mode on the Samsung WB250F. Processed with Ambiance, a touch of Saturation, Sharpness and Structure in Snapseed. Snapseed really does an excellent job of picking up an HDR without producing halo at the light/dark boundaries.
Last Rose of Summer
I went down to the beach yesterday to see if there were any birds around to digiscope, and got honestly and seriously distracted by the amazing sky 🙂 And it was cold at the beach! Not jacket cold, but chill enough in the wind so that I was not truly comfortable in my shirt, birding vest, and shorts. Fall is coming on way too fast.
As I say, I could not resist the sky, and there were just a few Beach Roses blooming very late right in front of one of my favorite views. Okay! Pic-op.
I used the Samsung Smart Camera’s in-camera HDR mode (Rich Tone), and then processed the image for maximum impact in Snapseed on the Nexus 7 v.2. Snapseed has matured since I last tried it. It now works with full resolution files. I like several of the editing features: Ambience and Structure in particular, and I like the slide to adjust metaphor. It is as close to Lightroom as Android is likely to get 🙂
And for this image I got the effect I was after. The last rose of summer, with fall coming on too fast!
Flower and Moth from a German Forest
I don’t know the name of this wildflower from the German Forest at the edge of Bavaria, or of the tiny moth. I will research them more when I get home to a stable internet connection. Both are attractive and the combination is even more so. Or that is what I think 🙂
Samsung Smart Camera WB250F in macro mode. Processed in PicSay Pro on the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Weekly Blazing Star Report
Before I head off for Europe this morning, I really should update you all on the Blazing Star bloom. I expect the season will be about over when I return. On the south side of the highway, where they did the latest controlled burn, the Blazing Star are as lush and full as I have ever seen them on the Kennebunk Plains. It is really a sight to see. 🙂
In an attempt to capture the effect, I used a moderate telephoto to compress the distance and fill the frame with flowers where they covered a small rise. Samsung Smart Camera WB250F in Rich Tone (HDR) mode. Processed in PicSay Pro on the 2013 Nexus 7.