This was the week; I was determined to get the new SLR camera out of the box, put the lens on, and start taking some pictures. And what better subject matter to learn on, then pretty flowers?! It's not like I need to be nervous about wasting film developing any more, right?
So, I sprayed myself down well with mosquito spray, because all the rain we've had has created a biblical proportion, blood-sucking swarm to take over our yard, deck, and everywhere outside. There was a nice, late-day sunshine for pretty good lighting, so I started trying some of the ideas I'd seen on Youtube video tutorials.
Mr. Froknowsphoto said to first take a shot on the cameras automatic settings and see what the settings come up as, then start trying different F stops to see how it changes the pic. I could handle that, and it got me used to pushing the buttons and navigating the touch screen.
First the garden from the street view on automatic, and after I let a little more light in via the F stop:
We created this garden about mid-June. There was a small, dorky, weed-filled circle around the pump thingy, but Mr. Fix-it and I envisioned something larger to incorporate the pretty pine tree, and the sump reservoir that he had created last year. He wanted to make mowing easier, and I wanted more flowers, combined with some nice grasses to create privacy for the patio. Mostly...more flowers. They're kind of like dishes...never enough.
I knew I wanted a variety of grasses, because we only have the really tall pampas ones on the back part of our property. I never really liked them before, but they've kind of grown on me, especially since the garden centers have been offering more types.
I also wanted a lot of "face flowers" as florists would call them; flowers that have a center. I love big bouquets of them everywhere, so I wanted a large variety of colors to choose from, especially mid summer into fall. I chose shasta daisies, different types of rudbeckia, and quite a few new cultivars of coneflowers in vibrant roses and coral colorways.
To get a little more yellow, I picked up some coreopsis, which always look cheery and happy, and some white spire-looking things-don't remember their name. I liked the addition of some purple and black for fall, so added one purple palace huchera and some veronica for texture. I tucked in one reddish toned yarrow also.
I divided a big bunch of Autumn Joy sedum and some of my yellow daylilies and spread them around. And right in the center is a Limelight hydrangea that I'm excited about.
Having a camera again with a manual focus was kind of a treat; reminded me of the old 35 mm Canon I used for a long time. I think I'm gonna have fun with this new Nikon;)
I'm really liking the textures going on at the pine tree end of this garden. The combination of the rocks with the tree bark, needles and pinecones, along with the hostas Mr. Fix-it loves splitting creates a woodland feel.
With all the rain we've had, we haven't really had to worry about watering these newbies, and I think they're really coming into their own. Can't wait to see them all filled out and tall, so I can pick vases full for my house!
And the new camera? It's gonna take awhile to get the hang of it. Of course, taking the pictures is only the beginning of the learning curve. I am watching Youtube videos on photoshop too, to learn how to make the fancy pictures blog sized.
Think it was easier to pull out my palm sander...
Can you see a difference in picture quality? I'm going to go pull this post up on my phone and see what I think.
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