Southeast Washington - Lupine

This was the day I almost stepped on a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Of course, since the lupine was all a-bloom, the husband and I just took to calling it Washington Bluebonnets since they look so similar. And yes, saying "Washington Bluebonnets" is obviously easier than just saying "lupine"

Garden 2011: 5/15/11

SVB

Not again! Or rather, Not already!



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 1/80
Aperture Value: 5.31 EV (f/6.3)
ISO Speed: 400
Flash: No
Metering Mode: Pattern
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 300.00 mm
Post Processing: Levels (manual), brightness (+5), Unsharp Mask

potatoes

The Red LaSoda haul this season (started with 5 potatoes of the size in the center)- better than last season, so at least I'm improving. But it still ain't the 50lbs of potatoes the article promised.

Rock Rose

I had fun playing with GIMP today. Here is the base image::

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 1/200
Aperture: 6.64 EV (f/10)
ISO: 400
Flash: No
Metering: Pattern
Exposure Program: Normal (green square I think)
Focal Length: 70.0mm
Post Processing: Levels (manual), Brightness (-5), Contrast (+10), Unsharp Mask.

And here is after cropping (with saturation turned down some):


And here's where it got out of control and I started using some auto option filters in GIMP. I call this one "Cat" since it's similar to one of the filters that Cat at the Whimsical Gardener uses. Of course, hers turn out much better, and have more noise in them (thus making them look even cooler, naturally).



And here's a Mandelbrot filter (named after Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry). I call this one "Philip" since it looks like something that Philip at East Side Patch would play with (but of course, again, he would do a much better job than I would).

Leaf Footed Nymph

Camera: Canon XTi
Exposure Time: 1/80
Aperture: 4.97 EV (f/5.6)
ISO: 400
Flash: No
Metering: Pattern
Exposure Program: Normal (green square)
Focal Length: 300 mm
Post Processing: Levels (manual), Unsharp mask, Brightness (-10), Contrast (+10)

Garden 2011: 5/9/11

light

So last month, the Gardening Gone Wild photo contest was about light and I had submitted one of Lily P. Utian's photos because it didn't feel right linking to a post from last summer and using that as my entry. I figure "i've got a camera, and I always need the practice, so I should use one of my newer photos if I'm not going to actually go out and take photos specifically for the contest."

As I was backpacking yesterday, I remembered that I had plenty of photos, that while taken months ago, at least had never made it to my blog. Photos taken in Big Bend, like the white fuzzy fungus (pictured), the green moss, and the prairie grass were all better "light" photos than the photo I entered for the contest.

Besides, I realized that when I'm taking photos for this blog, I tend to just use my camera in "P" or "Green Square" setting (essentially "point and shoot" modes) whereas when I go camping I'll play around with the different settings (usually opting for Aperture (Av) or Shutter Speed (Tv) priority). And that's assuming that I've even bothered to get out the SLR (half of the time, especially for those 'update' style postings, it's just easier to use the actual point and shoot).

Purple flower taken at Pedernales State Park 4/30/11 (non-processed)

So, resolution time!
in order to take better photos I will:
1) Read the user's manual
2) Take more photos where I'm trying to get a 'good' photo (this is because a 'good' photo is subjective)
3) Post-process the photos
4) Post them on my blog. Now then, I'll likely take a bunch of flower/plant/landscape photos because it's what I'm comfortable with. But I also need to take more animal/people photos...which I'll likely post on my other blog. OR! maybe I just need to start a new blog where I post a photo every day.
5) Provide photo metadata (it only counts if it can be re-created, right?)

Same purple flower as above (duh). Post processed with GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).

Camera: Canon Rebel XTi
Exposure: 1/250
Aperture: 4.97 EV (f/5.6)
ISO: 200
Flash: No
Metering Mode: Patern
Exposure Program: Aperture priority
Focal Length: 70 mm
Post Processing: Brightness +5, Contrast +5, Levels (manual), add border