Light blue seems to be the hardest color to capture under any conditions.

Kyla. There's more color in the shaded shot, Sheila, but the sunny one has more blue.

Hard to say which is 'better' but you be the judge, as you can see what the colors really are.

Here's something y'all might like. I was taking pictures for the Semp forum of some of mine after the soaking rain and then freeze we just had, and this picture is of some bits that actually sort of planted themselves when I was planting larger chunks from an overgrown container. These teeny ones did very well in the harsh weather and I love it that even with my very rudimentary camera and skills, I captured some ice crystals on the ground next to them. Took a lot of pictures of semp rosettes this morning but I think this is my favorite of the group:

When it comes to cold weather, I am a complete wuss... anything much below 40F and I think about going REALLY south for the winter. But, you folks have posted some interesting pictures.

solidago


chives

The fluffiness of the goldenrod makes it look dressed for the cold (if you let your imagination loose).

All of these pictures remind me that the circle of life in the plant kingdome does begin again. We just have to wait for it.

Love those ice crystals on that semp, Kyla!

my imagination is almost completely free range....

kinda what I thought when I saw them this morning....They actually looked warmer than I felt. and the wind was blowing

Hi Vickie. I like the second shot better too. The color in the shaded one is dull and lifeless and not true to the color. While the second lacks some clarity, it's still warmer and true to life. Also, the red in the background comes out in the second one making it warmer and a bit more interesting.

I'm considering getting Elements 13--or 12 myself. Are you able to cut and paste your subject onto different backgrounds with it? And can you manipulate the subject and do shadows of it? Those are the things I'd like to do, but, if Elements is just a souped up editing program I don't really need it. I'm viewing Youtube videos of it's functions but, haven't gotten very far yet...

Thanks for your input!


Elaine, I agree. And while the first one shows a bit more intricacy in the lichen it's just too dull overall. Thanks!


Jean, I really like the shot of the Chives. You have one in the foreground and the background that are out of focus so the eye moves to the middle one which is has the only part in focus. If you had stepped back just a bit, I think more of it in focus would have been even better. I'm afraid the first shot of the Salidago had no point of focus. Are you shooting on Auto all the time? Do you need to depress your shutter half-way to allow it to focus first? Most Point and Shoot (probably all) have that feature with the exception of shooting on a high shutter speed, which is the icon of the man running...where it will fire multiple shots, one after another in a split second. Curious what setting you're shooting on?

Thanks!

I'll post some more shots of a very cloudy, dreary day we experienced lately. I think the whole country was under cloud cover for days on end! I'm going to demonstrate how you can use your editing program to enhance a photo that would normally be unusable without it. Then I'll post the same subject shot on a sunny day. Big difference!

Give me just a minute!

Here's the seed heads of some Sea Oats....("down by the sea shore...can you say that real fast...?") Actually they're in my back yard---and getting ready to be moved into the grassy area of the woods as they're very invasive!! Pitty.

The first shot is a very cloudy day with a lot of cloud cover. It's one thing to shade your subject such as we do with database photos of blooms to keep them from being washed out, but, here there's no rays anywhere and there's no dominant color to pick up, just a dull lighting situation. Then I'll post the one in the sunlight when the clouds parted for a few minutes and I ran outside like a maniac!! And lastly the first dull one after editing it with Windows L P Gallery. I'll tell you what I did to "simulate" sunlight and bring it to life. That way the photo that would have been rejected out of hand, has been redeemed.







Now the first photo again after editing. I pushed the simulation of sunlight even further than necessary so you can see the effect of it. It actually looks brighter than the one shot in real sunlight! Wonder of wonders! Then I'll tell you what else I did.

Sheila, you can get the EXIF data from most pictures to see what the photographer was doing (copy the picture onto your desktop and look at its properties - either directly in windows or in any photo program). Here's what went on with the chives, for example:

Filename - a90324.jpg
Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D3000
Orientation - Top left
YResolution - 300
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Ver.1.00
DateTime - 2014:11:19 09:54:17
YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited
ExifOffset - 216
ExposureTime - 1/125 seconds
FNumber - 8.00
ExposureProgram - Not defined
ISOSpeedRatings - 125
ExifVersion - 0221
DateTimeOriginal - 2014:11:19 09:54:17
DateTimeDigitized - 2014:11:19 09:54:17
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel - 1 (bits/pixel)
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 5.66
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Flash not fired, auto mode
FocalLength - 200.00 mm
UserComment -
SubsecTime - 00
SubsecTimeOriginal - 00
SubsecTimeDigitized - 00
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 3872
ExifImageHeight - 2592
InteroperabilityOffset - 31724
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 300 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Data version - 0210 (808595760)
ISO Setting - 125
Image Quality - BASIC
White Balance - AUTO
Focus Mode - AF-A
Flash Setting - NORMAL
Flash Mode -
White Balance Adjustment - 0
White Balance RB - 706
Exposure Adjustment - 0.0
Thumbnail IFD offset - 3758
Flash Compensation - 67072
ISO 2 - 125
Serial number - 3313219
Colorspace - sRGB
ISO 3 - 125
ISO Expansion - Off
Lens type - AF-D G
Lens - 950
Flash Used - 8
Bracketing - 0
Noise Reduction - OFF
Total pictures - 14242

Thumbnail: -
Compression - 6 (JPG)
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
ResolutionUnit - Inch
JpegIFOffset - 31864
JpegIFByteCount - 9642
YCbCrPositioning - Co-Sited

The only info it didn't add was the photographer was freezing (30F) the wind was at 9mph, and my glasses were fogging....usually it is my brain that is frozen and or fogged....

Moonhowl said:The only info it didn't add was the photographer was freezing (30F) the wind was at 9mph, and my glasses were fogging....usually it is my brain that is frozen and or fogged....

That would be downright creepy if the EXIF data included that...tho with some of the "wearables" and the GPS/WiFi/Bluetooth-enabled cameras...

Nothing surprises me anymore apart from how much data people gladly toss out there.

I could not agree more... and not only how much, but what and where.

Jean, that would be scary if it did that!

Sheila, I absolutely love the second photo of the sea oats. Such a warm color

I am most excited as in 2004 and announced in 2006 Mr S.W. Leonard found a woody shrub in America that is new to science. it is a witch hazel and only grows in rare places between south Mississippi and Alabama, and only there, It is a north American native and an endangered species.
I managed to get permission from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Hoot Owl Hollow Nursery to use their pictures of this rare and most beautiful plant called Hamamelis ovalis or the Leonard's witch hazel, it is also called the Big leaf witch hazel. Of course it is very rare and knowledge of it is limited. I have found out what I could and it is on the plant database.
It is unique as the hazel like leaves are twice to three times the size of other Hamamelis leaves and the flowers are either red, orange, wine red, or bicolour yellow.
A stunning plant.
ATP say it is the first time a picture of this plant has been put on the Database.
Getting permission was not easy, but for you a look at Hamamelis ovalis.
Regards and much love.
Neil.

Photo courtesy Alan Cressler and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Photo courtesy Alan Cressler and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Photo courtesy Jane Unger, Hoot Owl Hollow Nursery, New Marshfield, Ohio.
A lot of work to get permission for these.

Oh too cool. Wouldn't you just know it would be found just a few miles east of here.

Well done, Neil. It's beautiful.

Plumeria on sleep mode:

Neat stuff, Neil! So glad you posted those.