3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Gardening

Making Tulips “Pop” With Photoshop

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Photoshop is a powerful photography tool when used properly. My goal for most photo editing is to create an image that doesn’t look like it’s been edited. So let’s render an image of a tulip into something that pops just a little, but doesn’t take it over the edge.

See how subtle editing can improve a photograph without going over the top, as I have a tendency to do sometimes, according to my daughter.

Tulip SOOC (straight out of the camera)
Tulip SOOC (straight out of the camera)

This edit first involved adding a levels adjustment layer and darkening the whole image.  I selected the pink color in Image/Adjustment/Selective Color and added more magenta, which brightened the color in the petals.

The white portion of the petals seemed washed out so I then used the Burn tool and stroked over the creases in the bottom of the petal, which brought out the fine streaks.  I then used the sponge tool and desaturated the background.

I tried some special effects with this image, but I was never quite happy with them, so I settled on realism.

Learn How to Edit in Photoshop

120 Easy Tips And Tricks For Photoshop: LearningAdobe Photoshop CS6 Revealed (Adobe CS6)Adobe Photoshop CS6 Classroom in a BookAdobe Photoshop Elements 13Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan (Photoshop CC +

#12/52: Flower Porn and More

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Oops, did I really say that? Flower porn? Oh, I said it again. I’m really into Flower porn (not human kind so stop there if you are and just leave), which is very close up shots of naked reproductive parts of flowers, the stamen and pistils or macro photography. I just can’t help it, I have to not only look but point my camera at those intimate detailed parts.

Tulip flower porn
Week 12: Tulip flower porn

Some of my favorite flowers to expose are Irises, check out my shots from last year.

Summer Day Lily

The secret to good macro photography is plenty of light and a fast shutter speed. With flower photography wind is your enemy and some days you may just need to bring the blooms inside. Expose for the petals to get the texture and details. Try different angles, different lighting, back-lit sun streaming through the petals. Get on the ground and shoot up against the sky. Break out of the boring and stereotypical flower photos.

Iris Garden in Nebraska
Iris’s Galore

Use an open aperture under 5.0 and focus on the itty bitty flower sexual parts, you know the ones, deep inside the flower that few people look dare peek when no one is looking.

Macro Peony
Macro Peony

Macro Photography Tools

Macro Extension Tube Ring for Canon EOS DSLR / SLR4-In-1 Lens Attachment – For iPhone 6, Telephoto/Macro/Fish Eye +CowboyStudio One Way Macro Focusing Rail Slider Macro Bellows forNeewer FC100 32 Super Bright LED Macro Ring Flash For77mm Macro Reverse Ring Adapter for Nikon AI MountUnderstanding Close-Up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with Or Without aClose-Up and Macro Photography: Art and TechniquesCloseup Shooting: A Guide to Closeup, Tabletop and Macro Photography

Flower Photography Tips

How to master the art of flower photography

Spring has finally arrived, and with it some of nature’s most stunning artistry: flowers. A favorite of nature photographers around the world, flowers can be a surprisingly finicky photo subject. Simply snapping a photo in passing doesn’t quite do the …

How does your garden grow? – OCL series offers something for all garderners

“The basics of flower photography will teach how simple changes can make a big difference in personal photographs. Equipment needs from the very basic to more sophisticated camera equipment, including lenses, props, etc., will be covered.” Participants …

Put a spin on flower photography

Spring is only a couple weeks away and that means flowers will be springing up all over the place. For the camera buff the splashes of colors break the monotony of gray days and generates an eagerness to venture out and capture their long-awaited blooms.

25 flower photography tips for beginners | Digital Camera …

Improve your spring photography with these 25 flower photography tips that show you everything from how to compose to how to set your camera.

Spring is Here: Beautiful Flower Photography – PictureCorrect

Just step out of your door and turn around. Someone has planted flowers in front of the building? That could be the perfect place to trigger a few photos! For some unusual and interesting flower photography, take a trip to nature, maybe to park …

31 Incredibly Captivating Flower Photos by Wei-San Ooi

Here are 31 of my absolute favorites from her expansive collection — photographs of flowers that somehow kick the crap out of (a scientific term) 90% of the flower photography we’ve seen — broken down by type of flower for …

 

 

19 Facts About Daffodils

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19 Facts About Daffodils

19 Facts About Daffodils

Here are some facts you may not know about these cheerful blooms of spring.

  • The daffodil is also known as Jonquil, Narcissus, Paperwhite, and the ‘Poet’s Hower’.
  • Narcissus is a classical Greek name in honor of a beautiful youth who became so entranced with his own reflection that he pined away and the gods turned him into this flower.  (Daff Seek, official photo database of the American Daffodil Society)
  • Squirrels will not eat daffodil bulbs, the bulbs and leaves contain poisonous crystals that only certain insects can eat with impunity, so don’t plant where dogs like to dig. (American Daffodil Society)
  • Poultry keepers thought the flower to be unlucky and disallowed it in their homes, as they believed it would stop their hens from laying eggs. (Funflowerfacts.com)
  • Scientists have discovered narciclasine, a natural compound found in daffodil bulbs, may be therapeutic in treating brain cancer.
  • Daffodils contain a toxic sap which is harmful to other flowers. When arranging in a vase don’t mix with other flowers unless the daffodils have been soaking in water for 24 hours. Do not recut the stems as it will re-release the toxin. (Funflowerfacts.com)
  • The ancient Romans cultivated them extensively, though daffodils became a forgotten flower till 1600. Sometime around 1629, a few Englishmen took the daffodil out of the weeds and gave it a place in the garden. (Onlinegardeningtips.com)
  • The daffodil is the flower for March.  (Gonetopot.com #7-12)
  • The Romans believed the sap from these flowers had special healing powers.
  • The Daffodil Data Bank accounts for over 13,000 hybrids, and apart from the regular yellow kind, there are others which come in a range of color combinations, like yellow and orange, yellow and white, orange and white, lime-green and pink colors.
  • In the Victorian days, Daffodils represented chivalry. Today it represents hope.)
  • In Wales, it is traditional to wear a daffodil on Saint David’s Day (March 1).
  • The daffodil is the national flower of Wales.
  • Their botanic name is narcissus, daffodils are sometimes called jonquils, and in England, because of their long association with Lent, they’re known as the “Lent Lily.”( Teleflora #14-18)
  • In Wales, it’s said if you spot the first daffodil of the season, your next 12 months will be filled with wealth.
  • Chinese legend has it that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.
  • The Daffodil is the 10th wedding anniversary flower
  • A gift of daffodils is said to ensure happiness.
  • Always remember to present daffodils in a bunch – the same legends that associate this cheerful flower with good fortune warn us that when given as a single bloom, a daffodil can foretell misfortune.

Daffodil Gifts for the Garden Fan

Learn facts about daffodils and find fun fun gardening gifts with yellow spring flowers. Perfect for the person who loves flower gardens and wants to decorate their home with bright spring flowers.

More Facts About Daffodils


Day 199/365:Weeding the Vegetable Garden

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One of the things I really dislike about gardening is weeding. Seriously, I’ve tried weeding to music, weeding when I’m mad, you know the whole therapeutic vision of yanking someone out of the ground by their head, doesn’t matter, I don’t like the task and I never will.

Weeding the Vegetable Garden

In order to raise a bumper crop of vegetables, weeding must be done. My favorite method of weed prevention is smothering them with grass clippings. I bag up my lawn grass (I don’t spray with chemicals) from the lawnmower and it not only helps to prevent weeds but the are rows nice and soft to sit while harvesting. It decomposes and adds organic material to the soil for the next year.

Weeding the Vegetable Garden

My friend Beth (pictured above) raises a large variety of vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, beans, spinach, chard, kale, romaine lettuce, spring greens. broccoli, watermelon, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, and a few others I know I forgot.

Tools To Make Weeding Easier

I have the diamond headed hoe and love how it easily pushes and pulls through the soil, even the hard concrete-like soil during the heat of summer. It actually makes weeding the vegetable garden fun, ok, maybe not fun, but less of a chore. I also really like the claw gardening gloves.

Flexrake 500W Hula-Ho Mini Flexrake Hula-Ho with 14-Inch Wood HandleAsano Japanese Ninja Claw Rake and CultivatorGarden Weasel Long Handled Garden ClawBadger Garden Digging Gloves, Durable Gray Claws on Both Hands – No More Worn Out Fingertips or Broken Fingernails!Nejiri Gama HoeCorona Clipper SH61000 Diamond Hoe

When I was younger I NEVER wore gardening gloves, I was tough, didn’t need any stinking gloves, just wash my hands afterward.

With age comes wisdom and it’s so much easier to just pull them off and not have mud and dirt under your nails. Plus with gardening gloves, you don’t get poked with sticker weeds.

My small handled tools stay in my rolling garden seat, yes, another concession to age, I can’t believe I said that.

Taking Extra Produce to Farmers Market

If you have extra produce, as I do, you can take it to your local farmer’s market. In Elmwood Nebraska, we have a small group of small but mighty vendors. It’s a great way to earn some extra money from your labors and socialize with other gardening friends.