My photo taking skills, you could write on a piece of confetti, with a 4 inch brush....Sometimes I pull in a good picture/sometimes I dont...Try taking a pic of Concolor-[very waxy]...These lilies are sort of 'holographic'-hard to explain-..Yes Della, they are Neils.. Ive got the 'Full Blown' twin towers of 'Luina', in a pot on top of my garbage bin[A dozen heads on each stem]-amazing sight,,, a lady purchased an incredible pot of 'pink/peach , tonight from the same group and was absolutely bemused in the colour changes....Im crossing some of Neils, with the Hudsons seedlings-looking at creating, 'The Crazy Azi Mix'-...

My friend who takes pics for my website gave me a clue. Take 5 pics of each flower I want to take a picture of, starting where I think it would be too close, then back up a couple of inches, take another, back up a couple of inches, keep going. Not much fun with downfacing lilies, LOL.

hehehe....true.
And the thing is, sometimes the pic looks just perfect on the little screen digital cameras have, but once it gets transferred to the computer and opened to full size imperfections become clear.

Ok Anthony, looking forward to your new blooms... you've got a heavy duty of supplying pictures for at least 3 more months!

Anthony, what is the make and model of the camera you use? I could look it up and maybe give a few more pointers, if you don't mind. Sometimes I do something similar to what Polly describes, and for more reasons than the kind of focusing I want. And as Calin says, sometimes you can take the same photo again and the camera will do something different without you even knowing.

Kodak C743-I take all my pics on 'plant' setting

For me, one of the wierdest things that I experience has to do with taking pictures in dappled shade where once the little green box (auto focus and speed) is set--and simaultanoiusly there is a breeze movement at the tree tops--the leaf shadows dance accross the flower throwing everything off, resulting in a darker or blurry picture. I got a good deal on a cannon with a swivel screen about 4 or 5 years ago so I can take pictures from any angle as long as I can reach it. But that doesn't mean I can take nicer, higher quality pictures--just pictures for records. Even with image stabilizers there's enough shake at arms length for a close up to be somewhat blurry. And many times my ugly unshaven mug shows up in the background spoiling a good picture. But swivel displays are nice with this hobby.

This evening, I succumbed, to the first scent of ,lilium'Regale'....It definately is Christmas now!!!

Unless you actually want the effect, avoid dappled shade for photographing at all costs. Even in full direct sun, shadows can become problematic. I usually have a light colored umbrella at the ready for plant pics, especially ones closer up, to eliminate shadows.

Regarding the camera shaking and depth of field, digital cameras are like cheating compared to old film cameras that I have used for more than 3/4 of my life. Still, Dcameras are not perfect. For close ups, I still use some kind of stabilizing board, rock, my knee, etc. to rest the camera on.

gwhizz said:This evening, I succumbed, to the first scent of ,lilium'Regale'....It definately is Christmas now!!!

Now THAT is just a weird statement
(meaning it's the first time for me to "hear" something like... i just smelled a bloom and it sure is Xmas")

Neil Jordans 'Red Pendant'- unreal

orange pendant

plain butterscotch

Really nice lily.

Love Luina! Neil's lilies, unamed seedlings included, have a charming presence in person. Started a thread to share my summer of lilies, and I'll also share some of my experience making crosses with Neil's.

Love the butterscotch....

gwhizz said:Kodak C743-I take all my pics on 'plant' setting

Anthony, I looked at the specs for your camera. There is no "plant" setting. Do you mean the close up mode with the flower that looks like a tulip icon?


Your camera also has 3x optical zoom (telephoto). but in the close up mode, that doesn't mean you can get a closer up detail with the zoom. In close up mode, without zooming, your camera should focus down to 12.1cm. With the telephoto, your minimum distance will be incrementally larger to still be in focus.

At any mode other than close up, you must be at least 60cm from your subject. Make sure that what you want in focus in the photo is within the green brackets with all the pictures you take.

It's pretty clear in most of your fuzzy photos that camera shaking is not the problem. Usually the background is in focus. This would suggest that you are actually not in close up mode.

Hope this helps

Yeah, thanks, I couldnt get a pic of 'Lankongense' today, for the life of me..It angers me sometimes, as I dont have a lot of time to waste

I'm almost scared to enlarge the pics... they make my eye water.
Kidding.
Well, I got a rather cheap camera, some Canon "one touch easy" and it's got a feature for close-ups, with I think a flower or even two flowers coming up on the screen... what I do (and I am not sure it's a rule), I always push the button just a little bit until I can hear something is going on, and it zooms on the flower, sometimes it missed and the frame in the middle of the screen blinks in red (trying to tell me "try again, Calin!") and then I move the camera away and try again. As suggested :)
When the zooming works and the frame turns green i slowly push the button all the way.
When it's red, it usually focuses on the surroundings, like in your pics.
If I keep the camera in the same position but just release the button and press it again, usually no better result can be expected.
I have to take the camera away, and try again.
I think there is a limit...meaning, if it's too close to the flower, it will never get a clear pic.

By the way, the yellow one sure is a beauty with all the red stuff hovering around.

The 1st of Oysteins Tangos-Yahoo

WOW. It's pretty.
And the pic is decent!
Great job!

I feel we are in the same time zone