Project 52 - Kristianna-Marie (Kris V)

[rtbaum]

Although Cutworm is active throughout the growing season, they are most problematic for young plants (think tender steak vs. tough steak). One option would be application of granular Talstar to the soil, which is watered in or otherwise incorporated into the soil. Avian and mammalian toxicity is very low at the labelled rate. Second option, and I suspect the option most attractive for you, would be the replacement of affected plants. Sedum is relatively inexpensive, several plants can be purchased for the price of any control product that you are likely to try. Bt is a biorational control effective against many insect pests, but may be a little difficult to find the correct variety for any given insect pest. If Texas is anything at all like Minnesota, you are seeing helicopters flying over small bodies of water, treating for mosquitoes. They are actually applying Bt to control mosquito larva.

[Kris V]

Now that I have more time to spend in the country, walking around in the neighbourhood, I'm finding all sorts of strange things.
Whatever this thing is - it looks like a concrete ball of yarn, I found it somewhere on a dirt road a few months ago,

[Kris V]

Blooming Camelia - still trying to get the hang of shooting hand held with a Tamron 75-300mm

[Kris V]

Something I never tried before - HDR edit:
I didn't like the resulting HDR file, but blended with the OOC layer, using luminosity mode at 85%, I liked the look of it.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Kris,

Sorry, we seem to have missed some of your last few weeks postings

This looks like it would have benefitted from more DoF, you shot it at f/4 and 70mm - also there's nothing in the picture to give me a sense of scale which makes it an enigma, although it does look interesting - what size is it?

The blooming Camelia looks a little soft, I'm not sure if that's caused by a slight over exposure, which has literally caused some 'blooming', or possibly camera shake, due to the 1/250s shutterspeed at 300mm on crop body camera?

Unfortunately for you, I'm not a fan of HDR, nor funny blendy images like today's
(call me old fashioned ), so I do hope someone comes along that likes this.

It is a nice composition, I just would have preferred it 'organically' processed, not 'genetically modified'

[Kris V]

Hi Kris,

Sorry, we seem to have missed some of your last few weeks postings

No Problem - this P52 is getting awfully long, easy to overlook something!

This looks like it would have benefitted from more DoF, you shot it at f/4 and 70mm - also there's nothing in the picture to give me a sense of scale which makes it an enigma, although it does look interesting - what size is it?

It's about 40-50 cm - When I'm in the country next weekend, I'll take a full size shot. It's just the weirdest thing

The blooming Camelia looks a little soft, I'm not sure if that's caused by a slight over exposure, which has literally caused some 'blooming', or possibly camera shake, due to the 1/250s shutterspeed at 300mm on crop body camera?

Probably Camera shake - I usually don't carry a tripod while walking through the woods!

Unfortunately for you, I'm not a fan of HDR, nor funny blendy images like today's
(call me old fashioned ), so I do hope someone comes along that likes this.

Hey, if everybody would like the same things, the world would be a VERY boring place.
Point is: it's My picture and I'm (almost) happy with it. My husband wants an 8x10 print for his office!

It is a nice composition, I just would have preferred it 'organically' processed, not 'genetically modified'

Here is a more 'organic' version processed only in ACR.

[FrankMi]

Hi Kris! I don't think it's the HDR or not, though I agree that you usually need to blend back in some of the SOOC to get tonemapped images to render more realistically. Images in the woods are just plain difficult to get really well owing to the high contrast, very busy background, and difficulty in getting a clearly defined subject.

This one has an almost Thomas Kinkade-ish path beckoning you to explore deeper into the woods so I can understand why your husband would want it in his office! Your second version has less contrast than the first, but my feeling is that the contrast is neither right nor wrong but rather a personal preference.

What do you feel would make you completely happy with the image?

[Kris V]

Hi Kris! I don't think it's the HDR or not, though I agree that you usually need to blend back in some of the SOOC to get tonemapped images to render more realistically. Images in the woods are just plain difficult to get really well owing to the high contrast, very busy background, and difficulty in getting a clearly defined subject.

Don't I know it! The reality always looks better than what I get on camera!

What do you feel would make you completely happy with the image?

It only I knew! But something is still missing.
Maybe an armadillo or raccoon crossing the path!

[FrankMi]

But something is still missing. Maybe an armadillo or raccoon crossing the path!

I think you have the right idea. We need to have a way to get the path to really stand out if that is to be the primary subject - or, as you suggest, put a primary subject on the path.

Given the scope of the composition, my guess is that you would need something with more presence than a raccoon - perhaps a horse and rider?

Or maybe young couple strolling down the path holding hands and very much in love?

An old man with his soft grey sweater, weather-beaten hat, cane, and his faithful dog?

A little boy on the side of the path taking a leak in the bushes with his puppy beside him, head cocked to one side?

There's got to be something that will make you happy!

[Kris V]

I think you have the right idea. We need to have a way to get the path to really stand out if that is to be the primary subject - or, as you suggest, put a primary subject on the path.

Given the scope of the composition, my guess is that you would need something with more presence than a raccoon - perhaps a horse and rider?

Or maybe young couple strolling down the path holding hands and very much in love?

An old man with his soft grey sweater, weather-beaten hat, cane, and his faithful dog?

A little boy on the side of the path taking a leak in the bushes with his puppy beside him, head cocked to one side?

There's got to be something that will make you happy!

All of the above????

[johnbharle]

Here is a more 'organic' version processed only in ACR.

I love the more "organic" shot. Looks like one of my mother's paintings. You must not be very far from me. This looks like the woods around my house.

[Kris V]

I love the more "organic" shot. Looks like one of my mother's paintings. You must not be very far from me. This looks like the woods around my house.

This was taken in the Big Thicket National Preserve in Warren-Texas.

[Kris V]

Gladiolus: They're all bloomed out now.....
Tried some close-ups while they were in their prime. My impression is that the focus is too soft - but it was a little windy.
These are (for me) the best of the +/- 40 shots I took.

[Kris V]

One more: I messed with the WB on this one

[Kris V]

This tree caught my attention over the weekend. It's kinda on the edge where our property ends and the woods begin.
I have no idea what it is, but it looked unusual.
OOC with adjustments in LR4



I tried for more of a "nighttime look"

[Kris V]

Are my photos really that bad?
I haven't gotten any reactions on my last submissions, so I took a sabbatical for a few weeks.
I'm giving it one more shot before I give up (and just enjoy everyone else's submissions):

MLK Bridge in Ft. Wayne IN:

[FrankMi]

Are my photos really that bad?
I haven't gotten any reactions on my last submissions, so I took a sabbatical for a few weeks.
I'm giving it one more shot before I give up (and just enjoy everyone else's submissions):

Oh Kris! I look forward to seeing your photos and this one is no exception so PLEASE don't be discouraged if you don't get comments or replies for every post, it happens to me (and others) all the time. I try to respond to image postings mostly when I feel that there is something positive that I can add that will be of help. In a lot of cases I don't feel that I am as qualified as others to effectively respond and some posts I completely miss!

I don't know if I could improve this image but I do have a tendency to ask myself 'what if' a lot and try a number of different treatments before I find one that I prefer. For example, I might see if I could make a copy of this image and over-expose it a stop or two, then softly blend back in some of the detail from the dark areas under the bridge to see if I can recover some of the shadow detail. It doesn't mean that I would like or keep the results but just that if I explore the possibilities it will often open additional options to choose from.

A side benefit is that by spending time exploring an image carefully, I often find things that I would choose to do differently next time I shoot so it can help me to get better images in-camera as well!

Please, please, please keep shooting and posting!

[FrankMi]

Gladiolus: They're all bloomed out now.....
Tried some close-ups while they were in their prime. My impression is that the focus is too soft - but it was a little windy.
These are (for me) the best of the +/- 40 shots I took.

Hi Kris, I have problems with wind as well! The shutter speed at 1/350 sec should be fast enough but the F/5 aperture may limit your DoF a little too much. In the first image I see that the water drops on the back pedals are in sharp focus but the stamens are out of focus, likely because the wind moved the flower out of focus while you were shooting. Do you recall what focus settings you were using at the time?

One thing I try to avoid in most images is having things (like the close pedals) in the foreground out of focus but I think your biggest improvement will be to get the stamens in sharp focus and stop down the aperture size to get a larger DoF. Hope this helps!

[Geoff F]

Sometimes, when the site is busy, posts do quickly slip 'over the page' and get passed by. And when I have quite a lot of other things to do, including processing my own photos and attempting to identify my insect images, etc, I often have a quick look and think 'I will have another look tomorrow' but of course - tomorrow never comes!

I expect other people are often in a similar position.

The bridge looks fine to me.

With the previous photo of the leaves and flowers, I wonder if you have included a little too much in the shot. Would just one set of leaves/flowers have been a more powerful image?

[Kris V]

Thanks for all your feedback.
I was getting a little discouraged, but then again, I'm retired, with a lot of time on my hands.

I do realize that a lot of you are still working for a living (to pay for all your equipment??).
And there is currently a lot of movement in the Nature and architecture section....so I maybe jumped the gun a little.
I also do my fair share of looking and not commenting.