3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

Photography

Day 148/365: Red Tulips Look Like a Monet Painting

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Ok, maybe not the famous Monet red poppies, but it’s what I thought of as I crouched down in a neighbors yard to take these red tulips in a neighbors yard. I learned he planted this tulip bed over forty years ago. Daffodils are the first flowers of spring to bloom in my yard, now it’s time for the tulips to shine.In my small town in rural Nebraska people are used to seeing me crouched on the ground with my camera.

This photograph was taken with my old Olympus E-10 camera. It’s only a 4.4 megapixel, but the sensor is better than my Canon Rebel camera and the quality is so much better. I just have to be happy with smaller images.

Red tulips in the garden
These red tulips remind me of Monets Red Poppies (Olympus E-10)

I do love tulips, they are one of my favorite flowers and they are such a welcome sight in the spring after a long winter. Red tulips should be the tradition on Valentines Day instead of roses. I don’t like red roses, so over done. Do a search at the top of the page for more tulip photography. There will be more to come in all colors from red tulips to pink, yellow and the rare variegated tulip hybrids.

Photography Notes: Again, image was originally overexposed, so I played around a bit with the curves layer, added a threshold layer with a low opacity and fill for some dimension to the petals.

More Fun with Tulips

Express your love with red tulips

Hopefully, you followed this ageless custom and expressed your love by giving flowers. This year, rather than giving Rita a bouquet of red roses as I’ve done in the past, on November 3, 2013, I began Plan A — preparing a gift of red tulips. Perhaps …
5000 tulips main attraction at Mughal Gardens this year

President Pranab Mukherjee will declare open the annual ‘Udyanotsav’ at the world-famous Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 15. The Mughal Gardens will remain open to the public from February 16 to March 16. However, it will be closed …
Tiptoe Through the Tulips in Ottawa

Feedback. <. > Bright red tulips in bloom. (Don MacKinnon/Getty Images). As a token of appreciation for the protection of Queen Juliana and her young family, as well as the liberation of Holland, the Dutch sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada.
 

Day 147/365: Dogwood Trees

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Dogwood Blossoms (Olympus E-10)

Once again my Olympus E-10 comes out with me as I searched for more spring blossoms. I believe this is a dogwood tree, but I could be wrong, I’m not very good with flowering trees, so correct me if  I’m wrong.

What I like about my Fuji S1500 is I can carry it in my purse. Although I like the weight and feel of the Olympus, heavy, like a “real” camera.

Photography notes: This image was severely over exposed, something I can’t see in the view finder as I’m adjusting the settings (or maybe I’m doing something wrong) maybe I should look up an owners manual.  I have started to use the curves layer in Photoshop and bumped up the histogram to darken the image and I spot sharpened the foreground slightly.

Day 145/365: Peep Photoshoot

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Here is my yearly Peep Show Photoshoot, every year around Easter I play with these marshmallow confections designed to rot your teeth, spoil supper, and give you a belly ache. I’m addicted to the concept of fluorescent spring colors all soft and gooey sprinkled with sugar.

Peep Photoshoot (Olympus E-10)

Yellow and sugary, soft and gooey, enough sweetness to send you into a diabetic coma. But, they are so good. I have to eat just one a year around Easter time, just like Cadbury Eggs, Peeps are a ritualistic tradition.

Peeps: Recipes and Crafts to Make with Your Favorite Marshmallow TreatPeeps: Recipes and Crafts to Make with Your Favorite Marshmallow TreatPeeps: Recipes and Crafts to Make with Your Favorite Marshmallow TreatEaster Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 3 Ct. - 30 Chickens TotalEaster Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 3 Ct. – 30 Chickens TotalEaster Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 3 Ct. - 30 Chickens TotalEaster Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 4ct.Easter Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 4ct.Easter Marshmallow Chicks Peeps Variety Pack 4ct.

After I broke these little chicks free from their cellophane wrapper I posed them on my springtime tablecloths for a photo shoot. My soon to be 18-year-old son did not find the humor in this, he rolled his eyes (I get that a lot from my kids) and anxiously awaited when I would be finished playing, so he could eat them. Which he did, all three boxes.

He was quick to point out that the sugar-free Peeps tasted terrible. I agree, if you’re going to eat something as nutritionally void as a Peep then just go for the sugar.

Photography Notes: taken on my Olympus camera, I’m finding it hard to know where to set the exposure, the viewfinder isn’t intuitive and it’s a little like a film camera, I don’t know what it’s going to look like until I get it into the computer.

Day 144/365: Softball Glove

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Softball Glove (Fuji Camera)

I love this image taken at my daughters softball practice. The evening lighting provided really soft lighting and I used my aperture priority setting to get the depth of field. This is straight out of the camera (SOOC)

By the way, she is already tired of me bringing my camera to practice and the games,

“Mom, put the camera away! You have all summer!”

“Yes, my dear, but I need my photo of the day!”

She rolls her eyes, stay tuned for more softball and baseball pictures this year.

Day 143/365: Shimmering Tulips

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Shimmering Tulips
Shimmering Tulips (SOOC)

For this I broke out an old camera, an Olympus E-10, to see if I could get more clarity and crispness to my photographs.  I bought the camera on Ebay several years ago used and it’s sheer size was a hindrance to taking it everywhere.

I will compare my two cameras later, when I’ve had a chance to take some additional pictures with it, but here is the first. I really like how it captured the reflection on the tulip petals, something I don’t think my Fuji S1500 could handle.

So what do you think, should I stick with the camera I’ve been using, or use a higher quality lens and forsake megapixel size?

BTW, this is straight out of the camera, even better.