"adavisus" wrote

Bob Hobden Wrote:

Some of your waterlilly photos look strange to me, do you sometimes use
a
colour filter?
If so I can't see the point if you want to use the photo as a
reference, as
an art work fine, but not as a reference.
Seen lots of such photos in shops selling plants which only leads to
customer disappointment.
Regards
Bob Hobden

Hi Bob,
No colour filters, or polarising lenses. Straightforward fine grain
kodachrome film usually, with Nikkor lens. I tend to shoot around
midday in 80's and 90's full sun under blue skies, with f16 depth of
field and a tad of reflected light bounced in to the shadows, film
tends to capture the blooms well, though, the shadows can be too dark

Some exceptions are made for interesting or difficult light, those you
notice as different perhaps. For example, James Brydon scorches easy
midday, so I shot it just after dawn, the sky was an exceptional deep
blue and James Brydons bloom was particularly striking in that light.
Thats what it does, at that time and light of day

Sometimes I try twilight exposures or shots in dappled shade for night
bloomers and delicate varieties with a hint of electronic flash to perk
up the shadows and details. Editing is done to reduce discrepancies
between the scan and the transparency. Yellow stamen tend to be paler
than the original, easy enough to colour correct

So you might say with the priority being accuracy and having a
transparency for checking, the images I post are probably among the
most accurate, with the caveat that film has its limitations, blue
violets are affected by the Ageretum effect

Being in a climate with relentless heat, humidity and blue skies will
grow a plant that does different things to what folk may be used to in
cool, cloudier Northerly climates. I shoot in the heat of summer, and
the cool of October and get to compare the difference

My main motive photographing waterlilies is to sit down in Winter with
the photo's and double check their identities, think about planting
them different, to have an accurate reference to show to folk who are
interested in trying waterlilies. I do swaps with folk who have
collections of interest and compare notes

A bloom has a brief time at its peak, I quite like the challenge of
capturing that and the ephemeral effects, shimmering reflections,
sparkles, that make a water garden an eye catching feature

Thanks for explaining the differences I see.
Some of the leaves especially look very strangely coloured, not green or
browny red, and some of the flowers have an intensity of colour that I've
never seen in the plant**, all of which is what made me think you may have
used a colour filter.
** but then I see them in UK light. :-)

My favourite Hardy Lily atm is "Peach Glow", huge flowers of the most
stunning colour. My is even trying to push up flower buds now, in the frost.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden