Project 52 - Botanical Photos by Geoff F - 4th Quarter

[Geoff F]

Decided to try to improve my botanical photography with this challenge. I have regularly shot flowers etc but too often I'm thinking 'I could have done better'. So this is a chance for me to experiment and learn a bit more. Most of the photos come from a wildlife reserve where I regularly record insectlife etc.

The previous third quarter is here:-

Project 52 - Botanical Subjects by Geoff F - 3rd Quarter

Week 41 - Dandelion Seedhead

With the season getting shorter now, I have had a last chance attempt at a couple of subjects where I have previously been unhappy with my results. So this is probably as good as I am going to get.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/30 F11 Iso 400

Meadow Buttercup - Ranunculus acris



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/100 F14 Iso 400

I had to resort to a little bit of 'jiggery pokery' with these subjects/edits.

[IzzieK]

Both nicely exposed...now I know what that little yellow flower is called...you left that little brown twig sticking at the left side...and that green stem of something distracts at the top left side. Even though it is blur, I wonder why...

[Wavelength]

Lovely shots

[bnnrcn]

Both nice images Geoff

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

It is a bad background to start with Izzie. Ideally I would have used a different lens and created more blur at the time of shooting; but I mistakenly shot for a wider scene then when it didn't work I had a go at something else. Hence a bit of necessary 'jiggery pokery' to create what I have here. I did quite a bit of messing around cleaning up the background then decided I had gone far enough and called it a day, but I had intended to clone over the cut end of that twig on the right.

One thing which I did deliberately leave is the spider.

[IzzieK]

Thanks for the comments.

It is a bad background to start with Izzie. Ideally I would have used a different lens and created more blur at the time of shooting; but I mistakenly shot for a wider scene then when it didn't work I had a go at something else. Hence a bit of necessary 'jiggery pokery' to create what I have here. I did quite a bit of messing around cleaning up the background then decided I had gone far enough and called it a day, but I had intended to clone over the cut end of that twig on the right.

One thing which I did deliberately leave is the spider.

I forgot to mention that one...I like it when we ended up with extras...

[deetheturk]

Very nice Geoff, love the Dandelion!

[Geoff F]

Week 42 - Some Fungi Panaeolus acuminatus I think.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens 1/40 F14 Iso 400

Mycena inclinata



1/13 F11 Iso 400. A merge of 3 focus points.

Panaeolus semiovatus



1/160 F11 Iso 400. Considering what this pair are growing in, I was very careful where I knelt down!

[Geoff F]

Week 43 - Autumn Textures.

Getting a bit behind with this project due to all the wet weather so I had a quick look at the site today; but everything totally saturated and even the few fungi which were present were in poor condition.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/15 F11 Iso 400. A merge of 3 focus points.

Blushing Bracket Fungus



1/5 F11 Iso 400. Merge of 2 shots.

Trametes versicolor



1/6 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two Raw conversions.

[Shadowman]

Week 43 - Autumn Textures.

Getting a bit behind with this project due to all the wet weather so I had a quick look at the site today; but everything totally saturated and even the few fungi which were present were in poor condition.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/15 F11 Iso 400. A merge of 3 focus points.

Blushing Bracket Fungus



1/5 F11 Iso 400. Merge of 2 shots.

Trametes versicolor



1/6 F11 Iso 400. Merge of two Raw conversions.

Nice captures.

[Sam W]

Nice images, I like the blushing bracket fungus the best although the dandelion seedhead is really sharp.

[IzzieK]

Good shots of the fungus...I like them very much. On top of cow poops -- that is where they grow so healthy at...I forgot to ask about that dandelion -- was that a two focus shot?

[Geoff F]

Thanks.

Yes the dandelion was a two shot merge; but a bit more 'skulduggery' was also involved. Where it was growing there was too much wind movement for a successful two shot attempt, so I picked the stem and moved it to a sheltered shady spot where I could stick it into a bit of mud and take my time over the focus.

Incidentally, with the first of my textures images I now see a rather odd looking ivy leaf at the bottom.

Not sure what happened to it but the lower lobes are missing.

I did take a bit of care over the background and removed a few odd bits but I never noticed that at the time. I did see the leaf there and thought it would be ideally placed but never actually noticed the oddity. However, I was kneeling in saturated mud so perhaps I was rushing things a little.

[Wavelength]

Excellent images .....

[Cantab]

Thanks.

Yes the dandelion was a two shot merge; but a bit more 'skulduggery' was also involved. Where it was growing there was too much wind movement for a successful two shot attempt, so I picked the stem and moved it to a sheltered shady spot where I could stick it into a bit of mud and take my time over the focus.

Incidentally, with the first of my textures images I now see a rather odd looking ivy leaf at the bottom.

Not sure what happened to it but the lower lobes are missing.

I did take a bit of care over the background and removed a few odd bits but I never noticed that at the time. I did see the leaf there and thought it would be ideally placed but never actually noticed the oddity. However, I was kneeling in saturated mud so perhaps I was rushing things a little.

Geoff, I've been intrigued by the dandelion discussion. I can't see the dandelion in any of the three photos. It would seem I need new eyeglasses.

[Geoff F]

That is because it is still at the seed stage now, Bruce; after spreading from the first image in this thread.

[Geoff F]

Week 44. Still attempting to catch up but the weather is severely limiting what I can achieve. So I did what I could between showers on a rather bleak overcast day.

Holly Berries. Not shop bought Christmas Holly but a real woodland tree. There is a lot of it in that wood but very few are berry producing female plants.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/30 F8 Iso 400. A merge of three shots. Tricky to photograph because even in dull light those shiny leaves were tending to over expose compared with other parts of the plant; and also tricky to find a good camera angle without too much background problems. This was the only keeper from several attempts.

Candle Snuff Fungus - Xylaria hypoxylon



7D with Sigma 180 macro lens. 1/60 F11 Iso 800. A merge of three shots. I could have got away with a lower Iso but I failed to change after some other subjects and although I did notice the setting and altered it for other shots I preferred this angle.

Sulphur Tuft - Hypholoma fasciculare



Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/3 F11 Iso 400. A merge of two shots. A rather messy looking scene so I struggled to find a suitable angle even after removing some foliage.

Stereum hirsutum. As the name implies, the surface is covered in fine greyish hairs.



Sigma 180 macro lens. A three shot merge. 1/30 F11 Iso 400.

On second thoughts; maybe I should flip the holly 180 degrees?

[Cantab]

Geoff, the photo of the holly really grapped me. I turned my iPad upside down to see what a 180 degree flip looked like. I much prefer the original as posted. Is holly invasive in your part of the world. At least some types of holly are somewhat invasive here? We have a volunteer growing in a rock wall in our garden.
I noted you used a comparatively slow shutter speed but all appears to be sharp in your merged image.

[IzzieK]

Merry Christmas, Geoff! That is the first thing I thought of when I saw that first shot. Thanks for reminding me that I need to bring out my Christmas list database. Darn!

But I like the mushroom shots too. The Sulphur one is very beautifully done. In this cold rainy day here I think I will make mushroom soup out of the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving...LOL ... I like the colouring too and smoothness without any glare from the sun.

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments.

Some subjects, like shiny leaves and glossy fungi work best in shade, or on dull days but even then if you can detect the light angle you may still get bright areas relative to the rest of the subject. So sometimes I still have to use a Lastolite Difflector even in cloudy weather.

A long shutter speed is unavoidable in these light conditions and that often causes problems with subject movement so calm winds are another requirement.

This is particularly important when shooting with multiple focus points for stacking. A relatively open aperture is often necessary to help with blur on the background in the most distant shot. So two shots at F8 can produce better results than one at F16.

There is a lot of self sown holly in that wood, and it does also seed itself all round this area; including my garden!

Although the decorative holly species always seem virtually impossible to propagate. I particularly looked for some nicely spiny leaves. The upper leaves are often fairly smooth edged.