Beavertail Cactus

[Urbanflyer]

beavertail cactus (1 of 1) by urbanflyer, on Flickr

Anza Borrego State Park

[Manfred M]

Almost an abstract image here, Judith. The colour surprises me a bit as all of the examples of that particular species of cactus I have seen had a definite green colour, rather than the blue-gray seen here.

[xpatUSA]

The colour surprises me a bit as all of the examples of that particular species of cactus I have seen had a definite green colour, rather than the blue-gray seen here.

Assuming correct WB etc., might it be to do with the angle of the light on the surface causing that cyan hue?

With this similar genus, the sunlit part is tending toward blue whereas the shadowed part is definitely a bit more green in appearance:



[edit] just found:

"O. basilaris is a clumping, blue-gray cactus that develops fleshy, ovate pads resembling a beaver’s tail."

https://apps.cals.arizona.edu/arbore...on.aspx?id=932

So, Judith's could be that variety after all ...

[Urbanflyer]

was early morning and the color is pretty true. perhaps the cool morning light lent more of a blue tone?

[xpatUSA]

was early morning and the color is pretty true. perhaps the cool morning light lent more of a blue tone?

It might, especially in a Northern sky. Can't say more without knowing the spectral reflectance of that particular plant.

Here's a graph for a maple leaf:



Anything above about 0.78 microns is infra-red so in this graph we would see that leaf as green (0.55 microns) mixed with a bit of red at 0.7 microns upward ... although the red reflectance looks huge compared to the green, our eyes are quite insensitive to reds above 0.7 microns.

[DanK]

This is a case where taking a WB reading from a neutral source, like a whiBal, would provide a helpful starting point. However, it may also be a case where the color you want is not the color you saw.

I generally try to be realistic, or close to it, but I've recently been doing a type of photography (old windows and doors with reflections) where a realistic rendition is simply dull. I end up doing a lot to bring out textures, colors, and contrast. I figure that it's no different from painting: a painter would usually feel free to modify these attributes. Here's a recent example--not the most extreme by any measure, but one that I have at my fingertips:

Original capture, read into Lightroom:




Edited image: