Posts in Category: flowers
5/26/2009
Mayflower against the Log
It is the season for these close up views, low to the ground where suddenly everything is in flower. Canada May Flower. It was all over, but it is small and tends be hard to photograph because it is hard to make it pop out from the confused background of the forest floor. Here the log made a nice backdrop.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F4.0 @ 1/60th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto. -.7 EV exposure compensation to preserve detail in the white blooms.
In Lightroom, some Recovery for the blooms, added Clarity and Vibrance, sharpen.
5/20/2009
Strawberry at the Path Edge
Strawberry likes waste ground…poor soil…gravel…the edges of paths and roads, sand. And, of course, sun and heat, which is often associated with such spots. Not surprising then to find it along the edge of the trail at Rachel Carson NWR. Brave and fresh, these blossoms are in their prime. The articulated LCD on the H50 gets me right down to eye level with the blooms, the macro setting gets me in to 1/2 inch, and the image stabalization saves the exposure at 1/40th of a second.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F6.3 @ 1/40th @ ISO 100. Programed auto, -.7 EV exposure compensation.
Cropped from the top in Lightroom. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Sharpened.
5/19/2009
Blue-bead Lily, from above
An alternative view of what I now know to be Blue-bead Lily (Clintonia borealis) at Rachel Carson NWR. I like the way the flower floats above the smooth curves of the leaves.
On the last two shots, I have gotten some advice over at one of the digital photography listserves I frequent. Some feel that the backgrounds are still too much in focus and detract from the flowers. Part of it is, they assert, the limitations of my equipment. The Sony DSC H50 is an advanced Point and Shoot and the assumption is that the small (tiny) sensor in these cameras makes for smaller lenses and smaller physical apertures which makes it difficult to produce a shallow enough depth of field.
Undoubtedly they will say the same of this. Of course, I am not trying for the traditional flower shot, with the flower isolated against a dark or completely blurry background. These are more enviornmental shots, intended to capture some of the context of the flower, with the background making a real contribution to the overall image. Not portrait of a flower, but flower in forest or flower in meadow, or flower in the world.
Whether or not they work for you that way, or meet your expectations of flower photography, is, of course, another question…and one I can not answer.
Sony DSC H50 at about 465mm equivalent. Macro. F6.3 @ 1/40th @ ISO 100. (The H50s image stabalization makes this kind of shot possible without a tripod.) Programed auto. -.7EV exposure compensation.
Cropped slightly for effect. Added Vibrance (very little, since it would have over amped the yellow), Clarity, and sharpen in Lightroom.
5/18/2009
Trout Lily (at least what they call Trout Lily in Maine)
This may, or may not, be Trout Lily. That is what I have always called it, but google turns up several different plants by that common name, and none of them are this one?? [ed. note: it is more commonly Blue-bead Lily (Clintonia borealis)] Anyway, it always blooms between the Trillium and Lady Slipper here in southern Maine, overlapping both. Because of the unique greenish yellow color, it is a difficult flower to photograph. The sensor wants to render it either too green or too yellow, and the subdued light of the overcast morning did not help. It took more than usual color adjustment in Lightroom to bring it back to reality.
Because of the down drooping flowers, it is an ideal candidate for the flip out LCD on the H50. You have to get really low to see it to full advantage. That low, care must be taken with the background, so that it does not overpower or overwhelm the flower itself.
I used Program Shift to select a smaller aperture for depth of field on the flower itself.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro (taken from about 1/4 inch). F8.0 @ 1/40th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto. -.7 EV Exposure Compensation.
Besides the color adjustment (both temperature and tint), I added Clarity and Vibrance (very little vibrance to avoid bringing out the yellow too much), and sharpened in Lightroom. I used a graduated filter effect from the top to darken the background, and cropped a bit for composition.
From Rachel Carson NWR Seasons.
Trout Lily and Trillium
5/17/2009
Trillium (Bloodroot)
I atempted to get into the woods to look for Trillium on Friday morning in the sunshine, but the blackflies (state bird of Maine in May) drove me out. On Saturday morning, despite the general overcast, I armored myself in DEET and penetrated deep into Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge’s headquarters trails in search of early spring wildflowers. (May is early spring in Maine, as far as wildflowers go. And deep is a relative term…the whole trail system is just over a mile long, but it is a very good trail, from a photographic standpoint. I have a whole gallery of images taken there at various times of the year.)
Last year I missed the Trilliums altogether as the season was about 2 weeks advanced. This year I hit it just right, with the Trilliums newly bloomed and fresh, and the Trout Lily just coming on.
The light was still pretty dim in the forest, even at 9am, and the damp of the night’s rain had still not gone off, so the images are atmospheric and appropriate to the day.
For the trillium I used some exposure compensation on the H50 to keep the pure white of the petals from burning out against the dark leaves.
Once more, I am reminded how much I like the flip out LCD of the H50 for wildflower (and general macro) work. I am also reminded how much I have come to rely on the image stabalization. I simply don’t worry about show shutter speeds in situations like this where the subject is still. Without stabilization shots like this would require a tripod.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro (taken at about 1/2 inch). F4.0 @1/80th @ ISO 100.
Just the basic added Vibrance and Clarity in Presence panel, and sharpen, in Lightroom. I moved the backpoint to the right to increase the intensity. Cropped slightly at the left to improve composition.
From Rachel Carson NWR Seasons.
Bonas shot: Pulled back to get the context and shot at the tel end of the zoom (about 300mm equivalent).
Trilliums
5/16/2009
Hard Flowers and Deep Bokeh
The husks of last year’s milkweed (I think) make a flower like presentation all through the marshy areas of Cape May. This cluster, isolated with the long end of the zoom, floating against the variegated green bokeh backdrop, makes for an interesting image.
Sony DSC H50 at 465mm equivalent. F4.5 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, a bit of recovery for the highlights, added Clarity and Vibrance, and the Sharpen landscapes preset. Bumped up the contrast slightly as well.
From Cape May 2009.
5/8/2009
Bench with Petals
Yes, I missed yesterday due to travel (really quite as bad as it sounds). But I am back.
Yesterday started with a rainy cab ride across Manhattan to the Central Park Boathouse where I was involved in an event for work. The rain persisted as a general gray dampness, dreary morning kind of thing, but during the event I was able to slip away for a few moments to explore the area around the lakes and the Ramble. And wouldn’t you know, Central Park has its charms, even on a rainy morning.
I am thinking these are flowering plum petals, which had fallen in drifts in the rain. These few had found a resting spot on a well tended park bench for a pleasing composition. The light was pretty dim and the H50 was pushed to ISO 400…but the amount of detain in the image does a good job of masking high ISO noise.
Sony DSC H50 at about 325mm equivalent (for framing). F4.0 @ 1/100th @ ISO 400. Programed Auto, -1.3 EV exposure compensation to hold detail in the petals against the dark wood.
In Lightroom, I applied just a little Recovery for highlights in the petals and raindrops. Clarity and Vibrance in the Presence panel. Landscape sharpen preset. I cropped down from the top of the image slightly to improve composition.
From Central Park.
5/6/2009
The Other Prickly Pear
Prickly Pear comes in at least 2 colors in Texas, yesterday’s yellow and today’s red. The exposure problem is the same: keeping the predominant color from burning out. Same solution. -1.3 EV exposure compensation, and restore exposure in Lightroom to desired effect.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F4.5 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto with -1.3 EV.
Cropped from the right. Added Clarity and Vibrance in Lightroom. Landscape sharpen preset.
From Corpus Christi ABA.
5/5/2009
Prickly Pear
Prickly Pear cactus in bloom, near Kingsville TX. The challenge with PPC is always keeping the yellow from over saturating the sensor and clipping, so that you lose all detail in the highlights. For this quick shot while birding, I used -1.3 EV exposure compensation and then pulled exposure back up in Lr to get the effect I wanted, and maintain the full rich detail in the flower petals.
Also in Lr I cropped in from the left to improve comp0sition.
Sony DSC H50 full wide and macro. F5.6 @ 1/1000 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto with -1.3 EV compensation.
Added Exposure in Lightroom, Vibrance and Clarity. Landscape sharpen preset.
From Corpus Christi ABA.
4/23/2009
Hibiscus (backlight)
I looked at this huge Hibiscus bush by my hotel in St. Augustine FL yesterday at least 25 times. This shot is late in the day, with the low sun backlighting the blooms. Taken in telephoto macro mode from about 12 feet away.
Sony DSC H50 at just over 400mm equivalent. F4.5 @ 1/400 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Minimal processing in Lr. Just my usual Clarity and Vibrance, with Landscape sharpen preset. I moved the black point to the right a few degrees.
From St. Augustine FL.