Dahlia Photos: the sublime to the blurry forum: Tips on Taking Pictures of Dahlias
Views: 64, Replies: 195 » Jump to the end |
|
|||
| I'd love to see that one in "real life"! I'l be looking forward to seeing it displayed. How well does a waterlily this big hold up? That is a lot of petal to support. Do they tend to droop after a day or 2? |
|
|||
| We generally do not pick our first year seedling flowers as we save them for each other to see on the bush. If there are two nice flowers on the bush, I have been known to pick one and put it on the kitchen table to surprise Margaret. I believe I did that with the giant sized red waterlily. As I think about it, most seedlings are evaluated on the bush as you can see the flower clearly. It is surprising I suppose that we do not cut very many flowers to bring inside. As far as vase life for these extra large waterlilies, they would probably do well as they do not have as many petals as a Giant or Large dahlia. As with any flower that is over 7 inches in diameter, it is a bit hard to fit them into a bouquet with smaller flowers. I would believe that people would buy a bouquet with that extra large flower in it and remove it later as sort of a "bonus flower" that they would put in a bud vase. |
|
|||
Margaret and I like this 2012 seedling and will grow quite a bit of it this next season. Taking pictures of purple dahlias is difficult. I am going to try a hint that my son told me recently. They have white balance paper that you can place in your shot and later you can correct the color of the picture so that the white paper is white. Theoretically, that would give you true colors. I suppose this might be really useful for the trial gardens where they are trying to match the color of the flower to the color chips and if you took a picture with the white balance paper you could do it later and and more accurately. The trial garden directors find that there is seldom any agreement by the various judges about what the exact color chip is the correct one for the flower.  |
|
|||
| Ted, make sure that you have some women on the team trying to evaluate colors. Here is why: James Owen (for National Geographic News Updated 1:11 p.m. ET, September 7, 2012) Men and women really don't see eye to eye, according to a new study. Females are better at discriminating among colors, researchers say, while males excel at tracking fast-moving objects and discerning detail from a distance—evolutionary adaptations possibly linked to our hunter-gatherer past. (See more health news.) The study, led by Brooklyn College psychology professor Israel Abramov, put young adults with normal vision through a battery of tests. In color experiments the men and women tended to ascribe different shades to the same objects. The researchers think they know why. "Across most of the visible spectrum males require a slightly longer wavelength than do females in order to experience the same hue," the team concludes in the latest issue of the journal Biology of Sex Differences. Since longer wavelengths are associated with "warmer" colors, an orange, for example, may appear redder to a man than to a woman. Likewise, the grass is almost always greener to women than to men, to whom verdant objects appear a bit yellower. (Also see "Men's Offices Have More Bacteria, Study Finds.") The study also found that men are less adept at distinguishing among shades in the center of the color spectrum: blues, greens, and yellows. Where the men shone was in detecting quick-changing details from afar, particularly by better tracking the thinner, faster-flashing bars within a bank of blinking lights. The team puts this advantage down to neuron development in the visual cortex, which is boosted by masculine hormones. Since males are flush with testosterone, in particular, they're born with 25 percent more neurons in this brain region than females, the team noted. (Related: "Why Deaf Have Enhanced Vision.") Evolution at Work? The vision findings support the so-called hunter-gatherer hypothesis, which argues that the sexes evolved distinct psychological abilities to fit their prehistoric roles, the team says. (See "Sex-Based Roles Gave Modern Humans an Edge, Study Says.") Noting that men in the study showed "significantly greater sensitivity for fine detail and for rapidly moving stimuli," the researchers write that their hunter forebears "would have to detect possible predators or prey from afar and also identify and categorize these objects more easily." (See "Video Games Improve Vision, Study Says.") Meanwhile, the vision of female "gatherers" may have become better adapted recognizing close-at-hand, static objects such as wild berries. John Barbur, professor of optics and visual science at City University London, noted that females are often "worse off in terms of absolute chromatic [color] sensitivity than males." But when it comes to noticing subtle differences among shades of a color, women do tend to come out on top, as they did in Abramov's experiments, said Barbur, who wasn't part of the new study. "If you're not dealing with the absolute sensitivity for color detection but the way in which colors are judged—such as the ability to describe a color, or what that color means, and so on," he said, "I'd say that females are definitely much better than males." So next time A dahlia takes off across the field I will call a man for help finding it...but in the meantime...ask your wife at least! |
|
|||
| When I am on a team selecting dahlia colors, I defer to women most of the time. However, there is one judge who is getting a bit old who has questionable abilities in this area. When judging at the trial garden the difference between shades of a color is usually unimportant. But when the color is right at the margin of one color or another it is important to do a good job. Some dahlia colors are close to color chips in three colors. Orange and Bronze can be confused easily along with some yellows. I try to select colors that a "person off the street" would use if it is close between our oddball colors and a common color. So I am more likely to call a flower orange than bronze. Lavender is a bit tricky too and there are lavender chips that people may call purple and others they would call pink. To me a lot of the red colors on the color chart are a orange-red rather than red- orange. But I can live with that. |
|
|||
 |
|
|||
| Ted, that seedling appears to have a lot of blue undertones on my screen....reminds me of blueberries....sort of a wildberry punch! |
|
|||
| And that's what makes all the pictures so interesting, Jon! On my laptop screen it looks like a deep raspberry! (And they tell us technology is supposed to make things easier...) C DG |
|
|||
| If it reminded me of blueberries it would be blueberries cooked with a bit of lemon juice, which brings out the red colors in it. What I really like about it is the intensity of color and the way it would change in different lighting...there is a depth to colors like this that go way beyond a single word, and they change during the life of the flower. I would love to meet that flower face to face and see the color without the computer interpreting it for me. One of my favorite flowers is Hollyhill Renoir. How would this compare with it, Ted, both color wise and form wise? |
|
|||
| Renoir is a half shade darker purple. Seedling grows much taller at about 5 feet and flowers do not swirl as much as Renoir. Seedling has longer, stiff stems. I like them both. I bought a new monitor for the computer that is color corrected. Pictures look different on other monitors and my wife's laptop is an example. They are less vibrant there and slightly different colors. Karen Bull's new website for Canadian customers looks great on my monitor: http://ksbull.wix.com/ddc-dahlias |
|
|||
| My son found a new lens for my slr digital camera and I have been using it to shoot the seedling pictures. He says that in order to get really sharp pictures, you need to use what is called a prime lens. It is a 50 mm F1.7 that was used on an older film camera. When used on a digital camera it turns it into about a 69MM lens and that is perfect for portraits and dahlias. My other lenses were zoom lenses where you could zoom(magnify) the image. With a prime lens you adjust the size of the image by moving the camera closer or further away. This lens also allows me to get a bit closer to the flowers and is in focus at about 12 inches. The lens is totally automatic and I use the auto settings on the camera much of the time. More often, however, I use the AV setting that allows you to select the aperture setting(usually to F8) and the camera automatically adjusts the shutter speed. The auto focus works very well. This lens is over 20 years old but much better than the "kit" lens that came with the camera. Here is an enlarged section of a picture I took of Hollyhill Hotshot and I did not use a tripod.  |
|
|||
| That's really nice. |
|
|||
Lovely, Ted! A new toy...woo! Fun thread. Finally something I can speak on  For some of my recent pics I have also used a translucent diffuser. It comes in a set of reflectors with black, gold & silver. I use it to do headshots of people outside when it's too sunny but I need a certain spot. It also works for flowers if you want to get a shot & the sun is too high in the sky. I find the absolute best time for images is after a rain storm. There is moisture in the air & you can get a reflective quality to the light. I think the two biggest mistakes people make is not paying attention to the background, and not using light properly. You can have "full sun" as long as it's first first thing in the morning, or late at night & about to go down. The light at night can tend to be too warm though (orange-y looking pics). So, if you don't know how to adjust in post processing, it can look pretty bad. You do not want shots unfiltered in afternoon full sun...yuck. You also do not want "backlit" shots which can be nice for people, but doesn't work very well for flowers as it really doesn't bring out the subtle tones of the petals or the shape of the flower since you have no shadow. |
|
|||
| Lots of photographers to give us good advice here! Thank's Darcy. I have certainly shot enough bad photos of dahlias..I try to get out before the marine layer lifts in the morning but sometimes I don't make it or we don't get the marine layer. I have learned that my camera doesn't pick up the golden tones well so I almost always have to up that part when editing them. I wish there was a way to make a permanent adjustment on the camera. I so don't mess with high tech stuff though! |
|
|||
| You should be able to set your camera to the "cloudy" setting which will give it more of that warmth, Noni. |
|
|||
| OH! I didn't know! Thank's Darcy! There must be a cloudy setting there somewhere. I know there is a "Low LIght" one..do you think that would be the same or is that more for dusk and candlelight? I have an Olympus Tough. |
|
|||
| Sure...yes that camera has one. I think even simple point & shoots have them now days. Usually they present as a sun, clouds, a lightning bolt, a lightbulb, etc. If you post process, you can certainly change them quick enough there...but you might as well just get it mostly right in camera when you can. "The Tough TG-1 iHS has AUTO white balance, so why is it necessary to have white balance presets? Having white balance presets grants the photographer more creative control. For one thing, daylight can be warm or cold. On a sunny day, early and late light has a warmer appearance than when the sun is high. The AUTO White Balance option might color correct for that warmth, thus taking away the ambience. Using the Sunny day setting will preserve that warmth. The AUTO White Balance will also diminish the red, yellow and orange colors in a sunset, so it is advisable to use the Sunny day setting when shooting sunsets. On cloudy days, the light seems colder because the clouds absorb the warmer red and yellow frequencies of the sunlight coming from above the clouds. Therefore, there is a Cloudy day setting in the presets to record the images with a warmer appearance. Creatively, the Cloudy day preset can be used on a sunny day to give images a more “golden†appearance, or it can be used to make a sunset warmer. The Tungsten light setting compensates for the yellowish color cast of indoor lighting and candle light. The Tungsten light setting should be used for shooting subjects being lit with floodlights, for example, for posting to an Internet auction site. Creatively, the Tungsten light preset can be used outdoors in daylight to make the images appear more blue—giving a surreal feeling of coldness and moodiness. The Fluorescent lamp preset provides a color balance option for fluorescent lights. This preset is valuable when photographing in business and office environments." |
|
|||
| WOw, TON OF INFORMATION! I certainly found the person to ask! Wayyyyy to tired to mess with it right now but when I have recovered from Sat Market I will look it over. Other then this problem I love the pictures I get with this camera. I went in and asked for the one that would be the best for taking closeups of flowers without a lot of fooling around and I have really enjoyed this one. I've always said I don't mess with anything equipment more complicated then a sewing machine and now those are even more complicated then I like (but I have quit sewing). |
|
|||
| I surched around last night and found a photo editing app for my iPhone . I played with it for a bit , looks like it could help me out a lot . |
|
|||
| I've been trying, without success, to take a decent image of Skipley Bonanza and Clearview Avia ( someone else's bloom) with my makeshift setup in the kitchen with my iPad or my little digital camera... Neither can capture the correct vibrant range of purples or reds, regardless of the light source. So frustrating. I'll have to take them into the studio tomorrow and allow my hubby to show me up.  Our soft boxes and spot lighting should be better, with a much better camera with actual color balance. |
| « Back to the top |