The 2020 Garden, Landscape, and Other Stuff Thread...

[22-rimfire]

^^^^That was QUITE the project. I like it. I tend to seek a more natural look, but I like the formal contemporary designs too.

 

[Retired UPS Driver]

Retired UPS Driver Do you consider yourself a birder?

What kind of camera equipment are you using?

No I don’t consider myself a birder at all, I just enjoy finding how many different species actually come into or over the yard. In the spring I do buy the more expensive seed as quality does attract better than cheap junk that is just filler and turns into weeds later that just require more mowing.
It’s interesting how many actual birds stay year round that aren’t supposed to or feed in a way that again aren’t supposed to.

My daughter does copyright some of the best of the best as those are outstanding pictures I feel. I’ll put some up here later on if there is any interest shown.

I mostly do it for fun and just to see the amount of species that really do come through here. I don’t travel or go anywhere else to take bird pictures, that just doesn’t interest me. I am an early riser, and I do enjoy some flower pictures that only open and spread pollen at nighttime, once daylight hits them, they just close up and you’d miss them completely if you didn’t know they were night flowers.

My camera is a simple package deal the kids pitched in and bought for me as a gift, somehow it works on Bluetooth and in addition to the S/D card it automatically loads every shot onto my iPad at the same time, so there is really nothing tricky for me to do. Once this Covid stuff is out of the picture so to speak, I’m considering taking a few classes over at the Community College on basic photography and such. There are tons of things I would like to know how to use on my camera, but even reading about it does not produce any kind of desired result. I’m sure a couple of classes would teach me the basics.

Camera is a Nikon D3500 with 5 lenses, 18x30, 18x55, 70x300, HD2.2 converter, HD.43x wide angle

I mostly use the 70x300 keeping it at 300 for the majority of my needs. It works for me and perhaps I can pick up some tips in the class.

Again, I won’t post bird pictures unless there is a desire to see them. Instead I could just simply post when I see something interesting, it’s up to the group here, as I’m the new kid on the block and certainly do not want to overstep the boundaries or on anyone’s toes.

Have a good Friday and an even better weekend my blade brothers and sisters.

 

[22-rimfire]

Retired UPS Driver I enjoy your contributions. I think we all enjoy bird pictures. I love the Red Tail hawk images and amazed that these are actually in your yard or near it. I would suggest you just post a couple pictures at a time. I am not partial to pictures of birds taken on the feeder, but I guess we all do it from time to time. When my one brother got a new larger lens, he made some "natural looking spots" for his yard birds to perch where he could sit on his deck and take bird pictures reliably. I think he had one of those little blinds that you can buy. Yes, he put seed or food out but tries to take pictures without any hint of the seed. He was just learning relative to birds as we all are. Once spring hit, he was out on his kayak sneaking up on birds and other wildlife. He has taken some remarkable pictures. He's in Eastern PA and they seem to have a much larger variety of ducks and birds in general than here in Tennessee. I have been really impressed with his images. He posts on facebook mostly. You could do the same.

You have a very good assortment of lenses. I guess the next step is more of a super telephoto. The one thing I noticed with my 300mm zoom is that I tend to almost always take pictures at the 300mm focal length. So I wouldn't be loosing much having a fixed 300mm lens.

I visit Cades Cove (Smoky Mountains NP) a fair amount and it's mostly in hopes of capturing a few good wild life images. It is about a 2.5-3 hour drive for me each way. But I enjoy it there quite a lot and have been branching out on my activities. Lots of old buildings and so forth but I have seen them what feels like a million times. But I still on occasion visit the homesteads if the weather or whatever sparks my interest. I post pictures from there which are clearly not from my yard or near my yard. I think folks like to see them but there is an undefined overload limit (relative to the thread topic) and so I don't post many often now unless I think something is really interesting and hopefully interesting to some of the regulars in this thread.

There are photo posting threads in the Photography forum here. But honestly it is mostly "just posting" with little comment, good or bad, positive, negative or neutral.... I enjoy the comments personally although I might get my feelings bruised from time to time. Folks like @Mossyhorn and a number of others far exceed my present photographic abilities. I like pictures purely for the art also. I keep trying to improve.

I do travel for picture opportunities. But it is pretty limited. I mentioned that I hope to do some elk pictures earlier. Last time I saw elk in the Smoky Mt National Park they all or most had radio collars and that certainly doesn't make for interesting pictures. I seek a more natural environment. But with that environment, they are wilder and less tolerant of some guy with a camera. It is a hobby and most people spend money on their hobbies.

Did the Red Tailed Hawks nest this year close to your house? That is quite the photo opportunity! Last January, a bald eagle perched in a tree within sight of my house window. It visited just about every tall tree and I feel sure it was searching for a nesting site. I don't want a bald eagle nesting "in my yard".... they'd kill all our pets over time. We have a lake pretty close (~ 1/2 mile) to the house and eagles tend to nest near water. Fish is their dominant food source.

On the bird seed choice thing.... my sister gave me a bag of Sam Club's "premium" seed mix and I can clearly see it is better than the typical less expensive stuff. I often spike my bird seed with black oil sunflower seeds as they seem to be the dominant attractant to the feeders.

On the community college photography course topic.... I considered it seriously. I don't think they really explain all the buttons and settings available on a DSLR camera as the models change. So I would read the class description carefully and it really depends on what you're trying to learn. My older brother taught a nature photography course for a local college for a number of years and it was well received. He said teaching the class kept his interest up in learning new things and loved to see what the "kids" did with their cameras. He regularly writes articles in several newspapers on outdoor subjects and uses his images for them as well as selling to these publications for other uses. He makes enough $ money from this to expense his equipment and document mileage expenses for his income tax returns. I sometimes wish I did the same thing, but it takes years to develop a reputation and open doors.

My suggestion in terms of classes is to find a nature photography class. This assumes that you have a basic knowledge of the relationships between ISO, f stops and shutter speed. Nothing has really changed relative to digital and film cameras; you're still dealing with light. The books by David Busch I think are very good in explaining the different settings. I generally try to buy his book on each DSLR camera body I own. His books are much easier to understand than reading the "manual" provided by the camera manufacturer such as Nikon.


Sorry for being long winded with this post. I was afraid that I scared you away from contributing to this thread. We have been doing the same thread yearly for the last while. Keep on clicking!!

 

[taldesta]

You know I've been sleuthing away here to find the best balance between speed to stop those hummer wings and focus as I've mentioned. Of course, a manual for this older new-to-me camera might help. I do play with photo viewer to analyse what's working - and note what's mostly not working though

Screen shot



So I know I shot this one at ISO 400, on Normal (Auto) High Speed Setting, f/4.4 at 1/220th. Almost caught those wings! And, gardeners might agree that I did nail the glads and the cosmo foliage at least



Sometimes I will save a posted pic to my desktop to check its properties to see what settings produced it- so I would find information with action or challenging pictures that would help me. Some devices or programmes are set to remove properties and some aren't.

Just to add that I enjoy images of all kinds. I kind of travel this way. Thanks for the memories, all!

 

[22-rimfire]

Increase the ISO to 800 should help and give you one more f stop or step increase in shutter speed. Historically I mostly used ISO 64 slide film and fast film was "400" to get good color saturation. These days, it seems anything up to 1000 seems pretty good resolution-wise.

 

[taldesta]

Increase the ISO to 800 should help and give you one more f stop or step increase in shutter speed. Historically I mostly used ISO 64 slide film and fast film was "400" to get good color saturation. These days, it seems anything up to 1000 seems pretty good resolution-wise.

Thanks. Same here on the slide ISO 64 - even 25 on occasion and the 400 for action or low light.

I had bumped the ISO to 400 while stalking the hummers and will bump it up again for sure. I liked the results Retired UPS Driver had with stopping the hummer wings so it looks like a shutter speed of 1/1000 is a goal.

I've just got to find the manual for all the rings and adjustments on this camera ... may be able to get it online. I want to know what the 'high speed' setting does - for example, I see that the ISO setting varies from 100 to 200 on auto but can't tell if this is the 'high speed shooting' mode or otherwise.

I'm on it. The tiny, winged happy-noise-makers will be gone all too soon!

 

[22-rimfire]

taldesta The thing to consider is just how large you reproduce your photos. I haven't printed a photo in quite a long time larger than 5x7". The grain thing hasn't really changed but now we call it resolution (pixels). Small pictures such as we post here really can be shot at pretty high ISO's as long as you're getting the color you expect. For work stuff, I downsized my photos to about 2x the size they were reproduced in reports. So, essentially they were about the same as what you and I post here in this thread. That also kept the file size on a report containing as many as 50 photos smaller.

This also relates to focus in that a smaller reproduction lessens the impact of a less than perfect focus on the subject.

 

[taldesta]

taldesta The thing to consider is just how large you reproduce your photos. I haven't printed a photo in quite a long time larger than 5x7". The grain thing hasn't really changed but now we call it resolution (pixels). Small pictures such as we post here really can be shot at pretty high ISO's as long as you're getting the color you expect. For work stuff, I downsized my photos to about 2x the size they were reproduced in reports. So, essentially they were about the same as what you and I post here in this thread. That also kept the file size on a report containing as many as 50 photos smaller.

This also relates to focus in that a smaller reproduction lessens the impact of a less than perfect focus on the subject.

I used to print large images and went for quality accordingly. Now I document more with digital - and was in the habit of compressing size for posting here and emailing, a requirement of dialup for all these years ... and a habit I continue even with the recent installation of wifi here in the boonies. I have fun with it and nobody truly cares as long as things don't go too fuzzy. The largest I print are 8 x 10 for my ever decreasing wall space ...

I just want wings

 

[knarfeng]

I just want wings

Just for luck, let's clarify: "You want hummingbird wings."
I don't think you are ready for your own.

 

[22-rimfire]

I used to print large images and went for quality accordingly. Now I document more with digital - and was in the habit of compressing size for posting here and emailing, a requirement of dialup for all these years ... and a habit I continue even with the recent installation of wifi here in the boonies. I have fun with it and nobody truly cares as long as things don't go too fuzzy. The largest I print are 8 x 10 for my ever decreasing wall space ...

I just want wings

I have precisely four enlarged pictures on my walls. My walls in my house are covered with art (mostly S/N prints), and a few originals. I quite like Robert Tino's art work and own many of his prints. They generally fall into the landscape or nature themes as do the majority of my photographs. I have only enlarged one photo for my own wall space and it was a shot I made on a foggy morning on the White River in Arkansas years ago (~1980). The other ones were enlargements I had made for my parents which they had in their house until both passed. I brought them home. I regret not taking more "people pictures" but it has just never been my thing.

My one sister has an enlarged print of a black bear in their living room that they took in Cades Cove.

Wifi (high speed) certainly changes our comfort with viewing online images (or posting).

Hope you get your wings!

 

[LEGION 12]

Dug up my wildflowers in the front got way out of hand if I plant mums in the fall will they come back in the spring ?

 

[22-rimfire]

My mums almost always make it through the winter and re-grow the following year. They will bloom early if you don't prune them or at least mine do. I generally buy a couple mums every fall just for a little color augmentation. Generally whether they make it through the winter or not is not a big concern of mine.

 

[taldesta]

The summer heat seems gone ... and the plants are loving it. Marigolds giants are blooming (L of steps), beans are getting to be a nice size, tomatoes still have great foliage and the harvest continues. I've been taking off the tomato blossoms so all the energy goes to the fruit on vine.



Lots of flowers are growing for the hummingbirds too - nasturtiums in planters, tall cosmos to the right and zinnias below the window where I've gathered the curtains for a camera 'blind'. The trellises are perches for little feet, not for the plants to climb



Bee balm is almost done but will outlast the very last migrating hummer - lots of food for the stragglers.



Dwarf bee balm is putting up a valiant effort here for a second bloom in zone 4a



Loving the zinnias - my grandmother's jumble garden of colour.

 

[cj65]

Hoya carnosa tomentosum. Hindu rope, porcelain flower, wax plant variety. They are lots of fun and relatively easy to grow in patio Shade. No freezing allowed.

 

[cj65]

The summer heat seems gone ... and the plants are loving it. Marigolds giants are blooming (L of steps), beans are getting to be a nice size, tomatoes still have great foliage and the harvest continues. I've been taking off the tomato blossoms so all the energy goes to the fruit on vine.

View attachment 1411983

Lots of flowers are growing for the hummingbirds too - nasturtiums in planters, tall cosmos to the right and zinnias below the window where I've gathered the curtains for a camera 'blind'. The trellises are perches for little feet, not for the plants to climb

View attachment 1411984

Bee balm is almost done but will outlast the very last migrating hummer - lots of food for the stragglers.

View attachment 1411985

Dwarf bee balm is putting up a valiant effort here for a second bloom in zone 4a

View attachment 1411988

Loving the zinnias - my grandmother's jumble garden of colour.

View attachment 1411986

My parents had a vacation home in Palm Springs. Mom lived for the heat. I am outside right now in 110 plus weather and love it. Zinnias were always planted when she got there. I am a little sentimental right now looking at those zinnias.

 

[taldesta]

cj65 Zinnias - so much colour, long lasting ... for the pollinators and also surprisingly inviting for the hummingbirds. No wonder they were among your mom's favourites for the summer home.

BTW when the heat approaches 80F, I'm done. 110 !

 

[cj65]

cj65 Zinnias - so much colour, long lasting ... for the pollinators and also surprisingly inviting for the hummingbirds. No wonder they were among your mom's favourites for the summer home.

BTW when the heat approaches 80F, I'm done. 110 !

View attachment 1414143

View attachment 1414144

Lolz, I deduct you are gardening not in the USA! Coolness, I sold retail garden plant material through college.

 

[taldesta]

Lolz, I deduct you are gardening not in the USA! Coolness, I sold retail garden plant material through college.

Deduction correct. Ontario, Canada ... winding down the gardening season here now. Yes, I've gathered from a few posts that you are familiar with plants and growing. That Hoya carnosa tomentosum does look interesting too.

 

[cj65]

Rachio timer is my success. I set up the valve for hanging basket. Irrigation schedule influenced by weather, I will take some pics.

 

[cj65]

I am an old school garden guy and did wire basket with sphagnum moss for my stag horn fern and other Hoya. A pteris fern volunteered and occupied the stag horn’s space too. Not bad for southern CA