Jenny's 52 for 2010 - Flora & Fauna in an English Country Garden - Week 26 - HALFWAY!

jeangenie said:
I very nearly did a Horse Chestnut bud for one of my projects this week, but I'm so glad I didn't! This is very good indeed. If I was being really picky, I'd ask for a little more stem to show off the fabulous detail in the leave scars.
Jean
Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments, Jean. As usual, very detailed. I will bear in mind your suggestions about the bugs.

I agree about the horse chestnut bud showing a bit more stem. I had experimented a couple of days previously and took this one. Do you think it is better? I really like the stem on this one, but it does detract from the main bud.

Img_5086b.jpg


Jenny
 
Hi Jenny,

Week 13: The Moss shot is the best for me. I think it's amazing stuff when you get up close to it, and you wouldn't believe this was moss from the photo. Amazing stuff.

Week 14: Fungs!! Finally. We've been hunting around the woods here for a while and seen nothing of interest. They look like lovely specimens! I do go on fungus walks, but I am by no means an expert. I know what a Cep looks like (and tastes like... yum yum) but apart from that, it's my wife that's the expert. I'll ask her and see what she says. Jolly good find considering how well camouflaged that must have been.

I need to confess now though that I cannot critique these photos because I just find them so interesting to look at. I'm not an objective viewer.

Ian.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Hi Jenny,
I need to confess now though that I cannot critique these photos because I just find them so interesting to look at. I'm not an objective viewer.

Ian.
Click to expand...

Ian, many thanks for your comments. I have to admit that I am really pleased you are finding these photos interesting. Nature photos are not everyone's cup of tea. It is nice to know that other people share my interests.

Jenny
 
Aaagh!!! Too many things to photograph and too little time :eek:

Everything is springing to life. The weather has been mild and the wildflowers are popping up everywhere - including the bluebells :D:D:D I should warn anyone now that if you are not interested in bluebells, then don't bother visiting my thread over the next few weeks. My avatar says it all.

So, I'm afraid I have too many photos to post this week. Maybe this will make up for any sparse weeks in the winter.

I started the week trying to get some good flower shots. However, any wind at all makes it difficult. I did manage a few that I am happy with.

There are thousands of these wood anemones this year. I have never seen so many in one year but they are not easy to photograph.

Img_5836b.jpg


One of my biggest problems is trying to take photos of groups of flowers. They never come out right. Either the DOF is wrong or the group just does not look right. I was fairly happy with this one.

Img_5791b.jpg


The next is a really weird one. It is tiny and about 5mm across. It has several faces just like a townhall clock - hence the name. I am posting this for interest value only. I don't think many people will ever have noticed them.

Img_5887b.jpg


I love these. We used to call them milkmaids when I was a kid. They are called cuckoo flower because they come out at the same time as the first cuckoos in spring (have not heard one yet this year).

Img_5760b.jpg


Next is a violet. There are hundreds of them popping up all over the place. I am very happy with this one.

Img_5919b.jpg


I was not sure whether to post the next one. It is by no means a great photo but I think these little creatures of the night deserve a better press. I always used to think of them as rather creepy, dark little creatures that flutter on the windows at night, but looking closely they are real little characters and rather pretty, too. I think this is a male Early Thorn moth but if anyone knows better, I am happy to be corrected.

Cimg9973b.jpg


I just tried to submit this post and found out that I have too many images.

To be continued...

Jenny
 
Last edited:
This morning, the three muskadeers were on the front lawn again. I could not resist taking this shot out of my bedroom window which I think summarises roe deer in spring - still in his winter coat with his velvet antlers but starting to moult and a little bit scruffy.

Img_5995b.jpg


Finally, the bluebell season has started :D The lighting is not the best, but here is the first of many.

Img_6130b.jpg


Sorry there have been so many this week. I did prune out quite a few, but I think this gives an impression of how busy springtime really is - everything springing to life at the same time. I even saw 3 swallows today, so winter is definitely over :):):)

Thanks to anyone who bothers to read to the end of this.

Jenny
 
Another lovely set of shots, especially the moth and the deer. The wood anemone & the primoses are good too, but the white balance looks a fraction off.

Phil
 
I love the Primroses I know what you mean about groups of flowers but you have got them lovely. I call the Cuckoo flower Ladies Smock, the Orange Tip butterflies love them, sometimes you can see them on the verges. The deer photo is beautiful and the lovley blue of the Bluebells.
 
philthejuggler said:
Another lovely set of shots, especially the moth and the deer. The wood anemone & the primoses are good too, but the white balance looks a fraction off.

Phil
Click to expand...

Thanks to all of you, Nattelie, Shirley and Phil, for your comments.

Phil, I really appreciate your feedback about the white balance. Can you give me more details about how you think it is wrong? They look okay to me, but maybe its my monitor.

I shoot in raw and then choose the white balance in DPP, so I can easily change it. I checked these shots and I set the WB to Shade. (They were in shade when I took them). I am not an expert on PP - I do very little of it. There is another setting in DPP "Picture Style". This also makes a huge difference to an image. Can you explain to me what is it/does?

I regularly have problems when printing my images. Some of them come out very disappointing. Maybe its the WB and Picture Style settings that I am using?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Jenny
 
As always, your 52 is a delight, Jenny.

Starting from the Shoot shot: (Post # 161) Yes, yes, yes, this bud does it for me! The detail in the stem showing the leaf scars is part of what makes Horse Chestnut buds so attractive. :thumbs:

Week 15: The veining in the petals ofthe wood anenome make it look so delicate. Lovely. :)

Primroses are one of my favourite spring flowers, and I agree groups of flowers are difficult! This works well, although as Phil commented they look a little warm. I'm not technically competent to explain but shooting in RAW leaves all your options open. I often find the presets like 'cloud', shade', etc don't work very well, and end up setting the colour temperature manually - expressed as a number (units of Kelvins?). I'll have a closer look later - we're just off for a day out. Sorry, that's not much help, but there are lots of people around TP who can advise you if you post a link in the Post Processing forum.

The Town Hall clock - what an unusual flower, The shape reminds me of aubergine flowers, for some reason. Very unusual and interesting - all that detail in such a tiny plant. :)

Cuckoo flower - we called these Laydsmock, too. This is my favourite, along with the viola. It really stands out from the background, pin sharp, beautiful range of colours. :thumbs:

The detail in the viola is quite stunning. Perfection, imo. :)

The moth is very beautful - lovely colours, and you've captured excellent detail, in what I presume was low light. Hope to see more of these exotic creatures.


'Muskadeer' shot: It's nice to see their progress from the depths of winter to spring. A lovely capture, as always with your deer.


You can't have too many bluebells, Jenny! These set the bar very high - and I look forward to loads more over the bluebell season. :D

Jean
 
jeangenie said:
As always, your 52 is a delight, Jenny.

The moth is very beautful - lovely colours, and you've captured excellent detail, in what I presume was low light. Hope to see more of these exotic creatures.

Jean
Click to expand...

Jean, I really appreciate your very detailed responses. Many thanks for taking the time.

About the moth - a confession. It was taken with my little P & S. There is no way I could get my DSLR set up and in a suitable position to take a photo of a moth on the kitchen window, out in the garden in the pitch black. These little P & S cameras are really good for taking photos in awkward places. The quality is not bad, either.

Jenny
 
Nick T said:
You really do keep on knocking out some high quality images Jenny :thumbs:

Standout one for me recently is your ladybird, but all of them really are high calibre :clap:
Click to expand...

Many thanks, Nick. I really value your opinion.

Jenny
 
jennyb said:
Thanks to all of you, Nattelie, Shirley and Phil, for your comments.

Phil, I really appreciate your feedback about the white balance. Can you give me more details about how you think it is wrong? They look okay to me, but maybe its my monitor.

I shoot in raw and then choose the white balance in DPP, so I can easily change it. I checked these shots and I set the WB to Shade. (They were in shade when I took them). I am not an expert on PP - I do very little of it. There is another setting in DPP "Picture Style". This also makes a huge difference to an image. Can you explain to me what is it/does?

I regularly have problems when printing my images. Some of them come out very disappointing. Maybe its the WB and Picture Style settings that I am using?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Jenny
Click to expand...


Hi Jenny - getting the WB off can certainly influence print quality, although if you send your photos off for printing they sometimes automatically adjust for colour casts.

My monitors are calibrated so should in theory be about right. I've looked again at the shots I mentioned and feel that the wood anemone might have a slight overly yellow cast to it, but the primose shot definitely looks too yellow on my monitor.

Trouble is I can't say for sure, because I haven't seen how they looked in real life! What I normally do if I'm struggling with the WB is find an area of the shot that should be black or white and then use the dropper tool in DPP to adjust the WB. If there is no such area in the photo I then play with different WB presets and see which I prefer.

If they look ok on your monitor (and the majority of your shots appear perfectly colour balanced on mine) then it is perhaps my expectations that are amiss rather than any colour balancing on your part!

Phil
 
jennyb said:
Ian, many thanks for your comments. I have to admit that I am really pleased you are finding these photos interesting. Nature photos are not everyone's cup of tea. It is nice to know that other people share my interests.

Jenny
Click to expand...

I just think it's fascinating walking around and seeing all these different plants and flowers that can be so close to home sometimes. It's mainly the wife's fault, as she's very knowledgable about plants, birds and flowers and it's always a pleasure to learn a bit more about our natural world.

That dog violet is lovely. Great composition and lighting. Do you use natural light or a ring-flash for your work?

The Primroses look a bit off to me... Is there an overall yellow hue? or is it my laptop? Aside from that, it's a great illustration of a group of flowers. Works really well.

I too love bluebells so will be watching for a nice swathe of them with hope. Not seen any so far this year.

Ian.

Edit: Just read Phil's reply (I tend not to read comments until I've posted mine so I'm not swayed) and I tend to agree with him. Happy to have a look at the RAW file if you want to mail it over and see what the problem is. Will PM you my mail address.
 
Last edited:
Harlequin565 said:
That dog violet is lovely. Great composition and lighting. Do you use natural light or a ring-flash for your work?
Ian.
Click to expand...

LOL, Ian. I am a complete amateur. I did not even know what a ring flash is :D I have just looked it up and think I need one. I'll have to put it on my Christmas list, I'm afraid.

The reason I started this 52 was to learn and improve, and that is certainly what I am doing.

I try to use natural light if I can and try to bounce sunlight onto the subject using a reflector. If there is not enough light, I use bounced flash.

I did not use flash for any of the photos posted last week, except for the moth.

Many thanks for the offer of looking at the RAW file. It is on its way to you.

Jenny
 
Last edited:
Raw received!

The problem is I don't have DPP so I don't know how that works. I'd need to find my original CDs I think.

Does DPP allow you to enter manual values for WB and Tone? I only know my way around the Adobe Camera Raw interface or Lightroom - both of which allow you to enter a custom White Balance & tone value. None of the preset WBs make the image any better, however a custom change fixes it relatively easily.

If DPP does allow manual values - whilst I look for my disk, try this:

Your Original Settings:
WB: 4750k
Tint: +15
Exposure: 0

My Custom Settings:
WB: around 4200k
Tint +48
Exposure: +1 stop

What I did was blow the exposure by about +4 stops to really (over) brighten the picture. Then I dropped the WB (more blue, less yellow) and increased the tone (less green, more red) to get the whites nice and white. Then I reigned the exposure back in so that nothing was blown.

There's still a yellow caste to the centre of each flower but I think that's more pollen than anything else. Phil's "dropper" method might work better but without DPP I have no idea how that works.

I'll mail you back what I've done so far and continue to try and find my disks. If this all makes sense in the mean time, great!

Ian.
 
So Jenny, when are you writing your book??? I really think you should, just so that you can use some of these wonderful images!!! Impossible to choose from them but I absolutely LOVE the Townhall Clock :) Thank you for sharing!
 
Now I'm littering your thread with garbage...

Anyway, I've downloaded DPP (found my disk & updated) and I have to say I don't know how you manage with such awful software. No File>Open!!!

Anyway, I can't find a way to adjust both tone and colour temperature in a controlled way (and no way to increase Exposure), but I did use the eyedropper.

Click on the pippette under where it says "White Balance Adjustment" then click on something in the photo that should be white and it auto adjusts. It's pretty reliable and a lot quicker than my Photoshop method.

It still look a bit under exposed though. I'll send you an edited copy back to see what you think. And now I'll shut up and get off your thread!

Ian.
 
More beautiful close-ups! :clap::clap: You are right about the P&S - they can produce excellent results if the conditions are right.
 
Harlequin565 said:
Now I'm littering your thread with garbage...

Anyway, I've downloaded DPP (found my disk & updated) and I have to say I don't know how you manage with such awful software. No File>Open!!!

Anyway, I can't find a way to adjust both tone and colour temperature in a controlled way (and no way to increase Exposure), but I did use the eyedropper.

Click on the pippette under where it says "White Balance Adjustment" then click on something in the photo that should be white and it auto adjusts. It's pretty reliable and a lot quicker than my Photoshop method.

It still look a bit under exposed though. I'll send you an edited copy back to see what you think. And now I'll shut up and get off your thread!

Ian.
Click to expand...

Ian,

I only use DPP to set the WB and convert from raw. I do all the rest in PaintshopPro, which I find more than adequate for my needs. I absolutely hate Photoshop (and all Adobe software).

I really appreciate your help on this and will email you about your test pic.

Jenny
 
Just had a look through your thread. You have some stunningly good images in there.
I had to linger a bit on the shot of the Roe Buck though.:thumbs:
 
sawman said:
Just had a look through your thread. You have some stunningly good images in there.
I had to linger a bit on the shot of the Roe Buck though.:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Charlie. I guess you mean the really close up shots. One of the benefits (maybe the only benefit?) of a hard winter, is that they were desperate and were happy to come right up to the house in broad daylight in search of food :) Great news for me with my camera, although I had to take those shots through the window.

Jenny
 
Okay, thanks to Phil and Ian for suggestions/help, I have re-tweaked a couple of the images. My monitor is not calibrated, so I am not completely sure whether or not I have got them right.

I went out and picked one of the primroses and held it to my monitor. The colour of the tweaked versions is as close to reality as I can get.

Original:

Img_5791b.jpg


Tweaked:

Img_5791e.jpg


Original:

Img_5836b.jpg


Tweaked:

Img_5836e.jpg


Are the tweaked versions better?

Jenny
 
Jenny - they are both waaaay better - lovely job!

Phil
 
Yep. Have to agree with Phil.

So difficult to know what to say when you haven't got the actual flower in front of you.

Big improvement! And well done for persevering!

Ian.
 
Jenny, some lovely shots through here... sorry I've not been keeping up to date... Gotta say, the edited versions are much better :thumbs:
 
I have to admit that I have some marmite shots this week. I was trying to achieve something a bit different with some of them. Don't know whether I have succeeded or not.

Firstly, happy St George's Day for tomorrow to all the English TP members. That leads me into my first photo this week - the St George's mushroom, which you can no doubt guess appears around 23rd April. So bang on time...

Img_6846b.jpg


Apparently edible, but again, don't take my word for it. These mushrooms often appear in fairy rings and those in the photograph appear each year in my garden in a HUGE fairy ring about 10 feet across. The grass is all overgrown so quite difficult to photograph the fairy ring itself.

The forget-me-not, an unassuming little flower that is quite interesting close up.

Img_7105b.jpg


Next, an experiment. I quite like it but guess some people will not. These are the sepals (not sure if that is the correct word?) of a Magnolia. As the magnolia was opening I stuck the camera inside and since it was sunny outside, everything seemed to light up with a pink hue. This is virtually how it came out of the camera. Very little PP.

Img_6412b.jpg


Another experiment - I have tried all sorts of techniques to try to get a good photo of celandine. But, they are very shiny and nothing I tried worked. So, with a very shallow DOF, I got this marmite shot. Again virtually no PP except removing blemishes and sharpening.

Img_6361d.jpg


I rather like the next one. It really jumps out at you. Again virtually no PP.

Img_6713b.jpg


Finally, I did not know whether or not to post this, but thought it was appropriate for the week. I know it is not the best photo, but the best one I managed.

This week has been eerily quiet. As the crow (or aeroplane) flies, we are not far from Heathrow and although we are not bothered by noise, planes (hundreds of them) are a feature of everyday life. As you can imagine, this week has been weird.

I opened the curtains yesterday morning to this scene and realised that, finally, things were returning to some kind of normality.

Cimg0031c.jpg


C&C very much appreciated.

Jenny
 
Another amazing set Jenny . . . this thread is just beautiful.

The Japanese Quince is the standout shot for me.
Absolutely gorgeous. The colour is spectacular and the whole thing has an almost 3D quality to it.

The Forget-me-not comes a close second. That's my absolute favourite shade of blue and there's lovely detail in the petals.
The centre of the flowers seems to have come out a little bit "odd" though - I'm not sure if it's the DoF or what :thinking:

Finally, I really like your magnolia experiment.
A very different take on a gorgeous flower, but there's something special about it. Goes to show that you don't need fancy PP to get an unusual effect.
 
More great shots, Jenny. My favourite is the forget-me-not. I love the colour, the detail and the viewpoint makes me feel part of the subject.

Phil
 
SarahLee said:
The Japanese Quince is the standout shot for me.
Absolutely gorgeous. The colour is spectacular and the whole thing has an almost 3D quality to it.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Sarah. The quince is my favourite, too. The colours really jump out.

philthejuggler said:
My favourite is the forget-me-not. I love the colour, the detail and the viewpoint makes me feel part of the subject.

Phil
Click to expand...

Thanks, Phil. I was rather pleased with the lighting on this shot.

Jenny
 
More wonderful pictures to cheer me on a rainy day! I particularly like the mushroom and the quince - and the magnolia too, even though it looks as if it coming to get me :).

:clap:
 
Hi Jenny, for some reason i have overlooked your thread, i'm glad that i have now looked in as you have some stunning images displayed. They all have their merits but im particularly impressed with your flora shots, i think ill have to have another good look to take it all in. keep it up as this thread is a breath of fresh air!!!

oh by the way, when i came across rain stopped play i had to have a good laugh.
 
That Magnolia is amazing.

And the forget-me-not

And the Celandine... That could almost be a watercolour.

Very jealous that you open your curtains to that every morning. It is a nice serene image

Lovely images Jenny and perfectly colour balanced :)

Ian.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top