Thank you for the kind words, Birma and Greg. : )


Gio67;

That's an interesting vantage point! : ) Nice shot of the closeup yellow one too....



RandGraph47;

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sending such lovely wild lower field shots. The first as well as the last of the valley of yellow flowers is enchanting. The field is a magnet for photographers for sure. : )



Yildiz

I bet the valley looked amazing RandGraph47, and that portrait must have been idyllic. It is such a bonus when mother nature pulls a surprise out of the bag like that . The nearest to this I saw last year was this field of poppies http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4231&hilit=poppies. I guess your valley was similar in that the flowers were just waiting for the right conditions.

(I think everyone is quite happy for people to post pictures from non-Alpha cameras. Just say what you used.)

Thank you all for the kind comments, and kind welcome here. I've only been shooting w/ an A900 for about a year, and still learning its strengths and "got-me's."

I shot the little valley of flowers with an Olympus E-3. Fine camera, but limited in resolution and dynamic range for serious landscape photography compared to other alternatives that have become available in the last couple of years. I had been shooting Olympus equipment since the early '70's and have always been a fan of their lenses.

I'm loving my A900 for its wonderful dynamic range and great resolution and detail rendering. There's no going back after making a huge print.

Thanks again, all.

Here is a stylized rendition of a flower currently blooming in the font walk:

Yes I thought the little valley of wildflowers was very pretty as well. The last would probably look great as wall art.
Greg

A very nice stylised flower RandGraph47. (A rose?)

The only thing flowering in our garden at the moment is this Viburnum cultivar, 'pink dawn'. It has a really nice scent as well as flowers that brave the winter frosts.


Bodnant viburnum 1 by Birm, on Flickr


Bodnant viburnum 3 by Birm, on Flickr

Both with A700 + Tamron 60 f/2, the seond with addition of a KM CUL, CL49-200. I really appreciated my new ball-mount tripod head in grabbing these shots.

Yeah good one, we only have a few flowers in the whole garden that acually give off a strong scent. What's those buds oof in the first frame?
Greg

Thanks Greg. The pink blobs are the groups of unopened flowers. They start very pink and then bleach as they mature becoming almost completely white. I will try and get a better shot showing the different stages.

Hi Birma, : )

Looking very lovely in their pinkish state...


Yildiz

Hi,

The cold weather is driving the few bugs into a frenzy of feeding on the sweet pink camellias we have in the garden. The basics for suvival is no different than the one exposed in Greg's Battle for Survival thread... : : ) The round black bug eats out of the petals to form round holes.

Shot at ISO 1600, with lots of chroma noise and strange patterns as can be seen in the background with the A100.

Yildiz

ps. 6 centigrate Celcius and raining.. probably will also snow later in the day,...well, maybe just a little.

Quick Yildiz get the atomizer full of soapy water, ha ha that'll fix the little varmints. Yeah wow that noise looks familiar...love it, and nobody else can have it either, unless they own an A100. We should start an A100 thread.
Greg

Hi Yidliz - the bugs have got to eat I suppose, just a pity when it is you lovely Camelias that are getting eaten . The background noise is not unplesant, I think, it gives a sort of 'canvas' texture to the background - and the foreground detail looks fine to me. I like anything that gives a 'painterly feel' (as you know) but I suppose it might not be to everyone's taste. I think photographs should not always be too photographic - if you see what I mean .

Just seen Greg's message - yeah A100s teach you about noise . Perhaps an artisitic use of noise thread - so those people with "see in the dark" A580s etc. can join in?

just starting to catch up on all photos here great big "top shot" to everyone

Thank you all!

I think we should start an A100 thread as well. There indeed are shooting types only to be enjoyed with the A100 as most of us observed through our own experiencing. Flaws, setbacks and all but it started a new generation of shooting with the Alphas and deserves more handling as we move on with the more 'contemporary' technical innovations and software.

Many of us still have the A100 in our residential premises, so lets start a thread. Anyone would like to initiate? Please feel free. : ))

Birma;

You're right about the 'painterly' look in the presence of noise. When I study paintings as old as Mona Lisa and see all those brush strokes and fine pigment dots in the background, I see some simlar qualities..but of course there are no strange vertical patterns as A100 produces.

Yildiz

I was only sortof joking about an A100 thread ha ha. Anyway here is another A100 shot just for good measure, some cute little White Dove Orchid flowers came out this morning with their loads of perfume. Pity they only open for one day, but there will be another lot in a month or so.
Greg

A100 KM18-200

thought I give flowers a try, the first is from a red flowering Gum? (I think) no idea on what the second flower is. (plants are not my thing )