Posts Tagged Flowers
September 20, 2010 – Some Weird Plant
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on September 20, 2010
Some Weird Plant
Monday, September 20, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1059
Anyone have any idea what the heck this thing is? I found it earlier this summer in the Rose Garden. I’m going to call it a “flower”, but I don’t even know if that’s true. I like the texture though. That’s it for today, short post, eh?
UPDATE: Somebody identified the plant as an “Astilbe”. Now I (and you) know!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Quantaray 70-300mm lens. 1/100s, f/6.3, ISO 800. Focal length: 183mm.
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September 8, 2010 – Spring Blooms
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on September 8, 2010
Spring Blooms
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1518
Remember those days, back before I had a macro lens or even a set of extension tubes? Ha ha, yeah, those were the days, huh? Back when we were all (5 months) younger and (5 months) more foolish. Back then, in order to get macro shots, I either had to use a set of magnifying glasses on the front of my lens, or just focus as close as I could and call it good. Wow, how primitive! And then, and then, and then.. I got my hands on a reverse-mount adapter, which suddenly allowed me to get freakishly close! I could take pictures of flowers and bugs and little awesome tiny things! Unfortunately, since none of the lens’s electrical connections were attached to the camera, I lost the ability to do simple things like control my aperture. That meant that, in addition to the shallowness of field that comes along with macro under normal circumstances, I had to approach the problem wide-open! That meant that, instead of getting a picture of a bug, I’d get a picture of an extremely narrow sliver of a bug, surrounded by a big blurry splotch that was most likely the rest of it. Ah, nostalgia.
That’s when I took this picture. This spring. With my reverse-mount adapter. I was really excited about it at the time, but since then I’ve moved on to things like extension tubes, which are really not much more expensive (30 bucks instead of 15), but still give you the benefit of things you normally take for granted, like the aforementioned aperture. Combine those with a cheap macro ring flash, and then the magic starts happening! But, I didn’t realize any of that at the time. Oh well, it was still fun.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, 18-55mm kit lens with reverse-mount adapter. 1/1600s, ISO 200.
Popularity: 10%
August 25, 2010 – Orange Daisies
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on August 25, 2010
Orange Daisies
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1649
Well, okay, whatever, maybe they’re not daisies. Seriously though, what are they?? I don’t know, and none of you ever feel like telling me. So, eff it, they’re daisies.
I like a lot of the elements of this picture. But I’m only posting it today so I can talk about what I *don’t* like about it. Because not only do I feel that it didn’t live up to its potential, I don’t even think it’s a particularly good picture. Why? Well, it’s too dark, and there’s not enough contrast.
For whatever reason, things that are really strongly red or orange really play tricks with the camera sensor. The redness maxes out way too early, leaving the rest of the image a bit dark. I tried to brighten this one up, but when I was able to get it to the point where I was happy with the overall illumination, the deep red and orange petals were way beyond blown out. So, the only way to be able to maintain ANY of that red vs. orange details (which is the most interesting part of those flowers, if you ask me), was to keep it kind of dark like this. And I guess if you’re not looking at it in the context of any other pictures, it’s not too bad. But I’m not super happy with it.
Then, there’s the contrast. I was trying to go for the effect of having those two flowers in front really pop out, but I also wanted to create the idea of them being in the middle of a huge flower bed full of them. Unfortunately, in this result, it’s hard to catch the difference. There’s just not enough of a difference between the in-focus ones and the out-of-focus ones for your eye to grab on to. A lot of times, you can use focus vs. bokeh to provide that contrast that I was going for, but with the strong reds and the lack of a sharp edge on the far petals, in this case they just blend together. Another option would have been to put a little bit of green just above that close flower, I should have gone with that. It’s of course easy to say that now, I just wish I had thought of it then.
Oh well, maybe next time, huh?
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i. Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. 1/320s, f/9.0, ISO 400.
Popularity: 13%
August 20, 2010 – Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Picture of the Day, Washington State on August 20, 2010
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Friday, August 20, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1466
Oh man, I was so excited this week to pick out a mediocre image for mediocre image Thursday. But I missed it! I totally missed my chance! Dang! I mean, that’s not to say that Thursdays are any different from any other day of the week. But, it’s always nice to get a chance to explicitly call out mediocrity when you see it. You know, get rid of all the pretense and such. It’s liberating!
Today, we’re back to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. I think this one is from this year, but I can never keep that straight. I, uhh… don’t really have a whole lot else to say today. Since it’s already late. See you all on Monday!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Quantaray 70-300mm lens. 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO 100. Focal length: 271mm.
Popularity: 17%
July 28, 2010 – Ixora Flowers
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on July 28, 2010
Ixora Flowers
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1480
So, I don’t actually really know that these are called Ixora flowers. I THINK they are, but I only feel that way because I did a bunch of googling to try to find an answer. I mean, sure, a google search for “ixora flowers” returns a bunch of results that look just like these. But the folks who posted all of those may have just made the same mistake that I did, and now we’re all in a giant echo chamber, assuming that if everyone else says that’s what they are, then that must be what they are. Of course, I didn’t just randomly guess “ixora”, and then hit up google to see if I was right. Ixora is kind of a strange word, honestly. I can’t remember how I stumbled on it, but it probably came up sometime when I was searching through a list of Jamaican flowers.
Oh, right, forgot to mention that little detail. This is another picture that came from Jamaica. These little guys were on the hotel grounds. Yeah, I totally worked hard to get the flowers that I did, I walked all the way down the sidewalk from my room. So, anyway, there they are.
At the time that I was in Jamaica, I didn’t yet have any of my totally crazy macro tools, so I ended up taking this with my Quantaray 70-300mm telephoto. It gets to 1:4 on its own. I guess I did have my reverse-mount adapter, but that would be way closer than I wanted to be. I also brought my “macro kit”, which is the set of little magnifying lenses that you screw on like a filter. I used that a few times on the trip too. But not for this one. I mean, seriously, why did you even bring them up??
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Quantaray 70-300mm lens. 1/500s, f/8.0, ISO 200. Focal length: 300mm.
Popularity: 16%
June 10, 2010 – Yellow Flower
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Picture of the Day on June 10, 2010
Yellow flower
Thursday, June 10, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=941
Hey guys. Quick (and late) post today. This is some kind of yellow flower that I found in the Washington Park Arboretum here in Seattle awhile ago. Not much else to say about it really. So, I’ll stop there.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 200. Focal length: 154mm.
Popularity: 9%
May 25, 2010 – Dogwood Blossoms
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on May 25, 2010
Dogwood Blossoms
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=277
Well, hey guys. How’s it goin? Yeah? Good to hear. Uhhh.. Have a good weekend? Great, great..
Here’s some dogwoods. I like dogwoods, they’re pretty. But for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to get a good picture of them since several years ago, and it’s really aggravating. I keep seeing nice looking dogwood trees, but then when I get close I realize there aren’t any nice blossoms down where I can reach them. Oh, also, they tend to be, you know, in people’s yards. So that would seem a little bit rude, to just go tromping around on somebody’s yard, and start snapping pictures right outside their living room window. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m totally not above doing that, I’m just afraid of shotguns.
Anyway, here’s a picture. Woo!
Notes: Canon PowerShot S500 (Point and shoot). 1/400s, f/4.9.
Popularity: 6%
May 18, 2010 – Daisies / One Year!
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on May 18, 2010
Daisies
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=572
Well folks, we made it! One whole year. Holy effing crap, that’s way longer than I expected I’d keep this thing going for. Granted, the vast majority of you weren’t around to see those days, but whatever, you’re here now! (Actually, that’s not even true, most of you – “you” being defined as the set of people who subscribe to my RSS feed or otherwise regularly read the blog – don’t actually read the blog. So you’re not actually here now. But that’s fine, I’m going to count you anyway.) So.. Now that we made it to a year… now what? Hmm, good question. Let’s do some homework: your job (each and every one of you) is to go talk to no fewer than two of your friends, and convince them to become followers of the blog as well. Or, alternatively, explain to them why following the blog would not be in their best interest. The important thing is to have the conversation. And take notes, I want proof! And, you should also click on the Facebook like button down below (well, it’s only there if you’re actually looking at http://picture-of-the-day.com, not if you’re looking at this post in, say, Google Reader, so if that’s the case, click through!!) A few of you did a good job following directions when I first put that thing in there, but then the enthusiasm significantly waned.
As for this picture.. You may recognize it as the image that’s used as my avatar when I post comments, as well as the image that’s used as the favicon for the site (the little picture that shows up on your open browser tabs or in your bookmarks list). Also, it’s used as my profile picture on my Facebook page. It’s not that it’s one of my super-favorite pictures or anything though. The truth is, when I first made my Facebook page a year ago when I was bored, it was one of the first few images I saw, so I just grabbed it and tossed it up there. I figured it actually looked decent enough there, so I just kind of stuck with it. But I never got around to actually posting it until today. (Saying “I just grabbed it” sounds wrong – I did actually take this picture, it’s not like I just grabbed it from some random site on the internet or anything – and by the way, none of you are doing that with my pictures, right??) Occasionally I think about freshening things up a bit, and picking a new image to use for those purposes. But… whatever, it’s fine, it’s good enough, and I’m lazy. So this picture it is.
Okay, see you all next year on my 2 year anniversary!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Quantaray 70-300 mm lens. 1/400s, f/8.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 300mm
Popularity: 8%
May 6, 2010 – Poppies
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Picture of the Day on May 6, 2010
Poppies
Thursday, May 6, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=368
I’m pretty sick today, so I don’t really feel up to writing a bunch. So, here’s a pretty simple shot of some poppies that I don’t have much to say about. It’s… some poppies. It’s also kind of old. I’ve been posting a lot of old pictures lately, not sure exactly why. Okay, g’nite!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Quantaray 70-300mm lens. Shutter speed, aperture, ISO all unknown.
Popularity: 5%
April 8, 2010 – Purple Flowers
Posted by Dave in Flowers, Macro, Picture of the Day on April 8, 2010
Purple flowers
Thursday, April 8, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=971
So I kind of ran out of time to post something today, but rather than just leave you all hanging until tomorrow (so soon after ignoring you all for two weeks) I ended up just grabbing this shot out of the archives. It’s just some flowers that I walked by one day when I was at the zoo in Seattle. I liked the colors, that’s all. No clue what kind of flowers they are, but that’s not unusual.
As for tomorrow, I can’t decide if I should post another shot from my recent trip, or if I should try to space those out a bit so that I don’t overwhelm anyone. Hmmm, I’ll sleep on it, and let you know tomorrow.
UPDATE: I figured out what these are: Camas Lilies!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300 mm VC lens. 1/100s, f/6.3, ISO 400. Focal length: 300mm.
Popularity: 8%
May 22, 2009 – Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Flowers, Picture of the Day, Washington State on May 22, 2009
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival
Friday, May 22, 2009.
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=889
This was taken up near La Connor, Washington, during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. There’s a bunch of tulip farms up there, so every April, there’s a ton of tulip fields to go check out. It’s kind of a trip, seeing whole fields of these really bright, bold colors. Each time you go, there are different varieties blooming, and thus totally different colors. This time around, we ended up in a tulip field with these pinks, some deep reds, and some purples. Since it’s the Seattle area in April, the weather of course can be hit or miss, but if you hit it on a nice day, it can be a lot of fun.
Because of the holiday weekend, this is going to be the last post until Tuesday. I haven’t decided for sure yet what my general policy will be on weekends. I’m leaning towards only putting up pics on weekdays, but if you have an opinion either way, let me know. Or don’t. Whatever. 
Map: http://tinyurl.com/o3tmax
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300 mm VC lens. 1/400s, f/8.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 200mm.
Popularity: 8%