2015 Project 52 by Geoff F - 2nd Quarter

[Geoff F]

Week 24. Inkcap fungi and more tiny flowers.

A mostly dull day, like most of them here so far this summer.

These fungi were still covered in tiny dew droplets.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/40 F11 Iso 400 on a tripod at an awkward angle!

Some Forget-me-not flowers were looking much paler in colour so I remembered to photograph the stems as well. Looks like the Creeping Forget-me-not form going by the hairy lower stem. Myosotis secunda.



1/160 F11 Iso 400 with the Sigma 180 macro lens.

And a closer shot of the flowers.



Another tricky little flower to photograph is Yellow Pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum



1/20 F14 Iso 400 which is getting a bit slow but there wasn't any wind movement.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[IzzieK]

You did very well in all of them, even the last one...I can see all the yellows in the yellow and the greens makes a good backdrop...

[Kaye Leggett]

Good captures but (maybe only on my screen) the blue flowers seem a bit washed out and the yellow flowers a tad too bright ?

[Geoff F]

Thanks.

Yes the blue of the Forget-me-not looks 'washed out' and it is that pale pastel blue colour which gives the first clue that it isn't the bright blue Field Forget-me-not species.

I did struggle a bit with that yellow colour. It is actually a very vivid yellow flower which was tending to over expose even under overcast skies.

[Geoff F]

Week 25 - More Yellow

Every year I try these Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacoris) growing in a pond but I usually end up disappointed. Tried all sorts of options this time and this is the only keeper. Part of the reject problems was poor petal quality and old petals still hanging on where they looked untidy; and I couldn't get into a close position to remove them.



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens 1/1000 F5 Iso 100. I had to open up the aperture to blur out background issues. Waited for a bit of light cloud and slightly under exposed.

And continuing with the yellow theme. Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)



1/250 F14 Iso 200 plus flash

A close up shot

[Kaye Leggett]

I think you have succeeded with the Iris - and I like the slight unexposure. With the yellow rattle the close up works but the whole flower image seems to busy - I can't rest my eye to one part of the frame

[IzzieK]

I like #1 and #3 too, Geoff...can you please make it a big brighter just for presentation even if this is the real colour. It looks bland. Are you going to remove that offending leaf on the right side? Just curious. I find the yellow rattle interesting...but I like the last shot of it best.

[Geoff F]

With the iris, I'm on the point of clipping the red channel and had to dial it back a little on the yellows to preserve what I could of the texture; hence the pastel shade approach.

If I push things a little too far into the clipping area I get this.



The fine petal detail is just beginning to disappear.

ps. This week, I've been experimenting with foxgloves and tall thistles to see if I can get tall whole plants to look acceptable; but there have been a lot, an excessive lot, of rejects and I'm still not there yet.

[IzzieK]

I see what you mean here...I can see the difference...Rejects are common when you are shooting a whole field of them I suppose...

With the iris, I'm on the point of clipping the red channel and had to dial it back a little on the yellows to preserve what I could of the texture; hence the pastel shade approach.

If I push things a little too far into the clipping area I get this.



The fine petal detail is just beginning to disappear.

ps. This week, I've been experimenting with foxgloves and tall thistles to see if I can get tall whole plants to look acceptable; but there have been a lot, an excessive lot, of rejects and I'm still not there yet.

[Geoff F]

Week 26 - Foxgloves and Marsh Thistles

OK here we go, starting with the Foxgloves after over 90% rejection rate plus quite a bit of editing on what remained.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/400 F6.3 Iso 200. Had to allow for a bit of subject movement and get a compromise on the aperture to keep the main subject in focus but totally blur the background. Single plants looked somewhat lost while I struggled to find groups where there was a suitable camera angle which also gave a fairly clean background.

And a close up image, from a merge of two shots with different focus points.



Sigma 180 macro lens 1/250 F14 Iso 200 flash used.

Marsh Thistles can grow over 5 ft tall but this one was about 4 ft. I wanted to show it towering over the surrounding grass but I struggled to find any angles which gave an acceptable background. Tried several plants either singly or in groups but this was the only keeper. The groups tended to look over complicated.



The macro lens again, which needed some odd settings to get any results. 1/1000 F3.2 Iso 100. I had to move back until I got a composition which fitted. It looks a little bit clearer at full screen size.

With these thistle shots I tried for a somewhat harsh and prickly effect.

A closer view of the flowers from a merge of two focus points.



Tamron 24-70 lens 1/500 F6.3 Iso 100

And a pink form, also a merge of focus points.



1/125 F6.3 Iso 100.

When I started on these subjects I thought they might be a bit tricky but I never realised how much time it was going to take or how many rejects I would have, plus all the editing to achieve something which still didn't work out quite as planned. Maybe try again sometime if I can find some subjects with cleaner backgrounds.

[IzzieK]

Wonderful images, Geoff -- I like the close-up of #2, not that the others are not good. The first one is and I love the colour as it goes down to bottom of the frame. I can just imagine how tight your shooting placement would have been...

[Cantab]

Geoff, I think the last two thistle portraits work particularly well. Unfortunately it's probably a rare thistle that grows with a background ideal for photographic purposes! The background in these two shots works well since they're sufficiently out of focus or otherwise blurred and there are no foreground distractions.

[Geoff F]

Thanks. One more post then it will be time to start the third quarter in a new thread.

Week 27 - Royal Fern A rather uncommon plant and I can't find much information about them. About 5 ft tall.

I really struggled to get an overall view. Sunlight just produced over exposure together will impossibly dark shadows; so waited for the sun to go behind some clouds then metered for the brightest area and added some flash for the shadows. This is the best of several variations.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/400 F8 Iso 400. High speed flash

A closer shot



1/500 F8 Iso 200

Monkeyflowers - Mimulus guttatus growing in a muddy pond.



Sigma 180 macro lens. 1/200 F14 Iso 200 flash.

It may be just the way I look at things, but does anybody else think these flowers are holding hands.

[IzzieK]

Very nice, Geoff...I particularly like the baby ferns and of course these monkey flowers. Beautiful shots, no overexposure at all...either these were in the shade or good pp. And your imagination was running away with you on the last shot. I thought I was the only one with the license to think that way... anyway, I see what you mean about holding hands...

[Geoff F]

Over exposure in bright sunshine is always a risk with these bright coloured flowers, Izzie, and if you expose for the over bright areas you get excessively dark shadows. So in each case I waited for the sun to move behind clouds then added a little fill flash.

[IzzieK]

Over exposure in bright sunshine is always a risk with these bright coloured flowers, Izzie, and if you expose for the over bright areas you get excessively dark shadows. So in each case I waited for the sun to move behind clouds then added a little fill flash.

OK...that is logical especially at the time of the year when we will have sunlight and clouds all week this week. I will try to do that...Thank you.