Monday, August 17, 2009

Mummified



An oddball I found in the field on 1 Aug 09. I call it the mummified anomaly.
I wanted to do something different with it.
I thought a sepia tone maybe, but did not like it.
I applied the cross processing effect I blogged about earlier. Then added vignetting and a photo frame from a photo aging kit I had within Filters Unlimited.

Here's the before pic:

Goldenrod



About the only thing I have yet to post from the field are different kinds of goldernrod.
It's taking a long time to blossom and I'm not getting very good photos of it. Seems like there is too much yellow and the pics lack definition/contrast and look blah.

I'll post some closeups of what's blossoming so far, and that's probably it. I've lost interest in it.



(Those white spots are morning dew.)



npwrc
Under Asteraceae (The Aster Family)
Shows 5 types of goldenrod:
1. Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
2. Prairie [Missouri] Goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis)
3. Soft Goldenrod (Solidago mollis)
4. Gray Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
5. Rigid Goldenrod (Solidago rigida)

That about wraps it up for My Walk In The Field Series.

So month of August:
Goldenrod
Blazing Star
Sunflowers
Curlytop Gumweed

Month of July:
Purple Coneflowers
Prairie Coneflowers
Prairie Clover
Wild Bergamot (Beebalm)
And more - July is the booming month for prairie wildflowers.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cross-Processing



Here's a post-processing technique that I keep digging up, so will post here for easy access.
I tried it on an avocet pic that needed a lot of help to look decent.

I see this and similar effects online quite a bit. Usually as a Photoshop Action (Macro) with no explanation. I've also seen vintage or retro effects which seem similar once the general how-to info is understood.

I thought the below book excerpt gave a good explanation of the process and is very helpful in learning what can be done with Curves Adjustments (in PSP9 or Photoshop, or whatever).

Cross-Processing
From book: Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook
(Note: Book was at the local library. For the most part, either I didn't like the effects featured in the book or they were too "fiddly" and time-consuming for my taste.)
Cross-processing is developing color print or slide film in the wrong chemicals — for example, color negative film in slide chemicals ("C-41 as E-6") or slide film by the color negative process ("E-6 as C-41").

...for a period in the 1980s and 1990s, cross-processed images were very much the vogue...

The most common combination is C-41 as E-6, in which slide chemistry is used to process color negative film, and it's a quick job to imitate it in Photoshop.

The curve adjustments can all be done on one layer OR can be on separate layers. I also saved all curve adjustments as presets. (Both in the Adjust area and Layers area within PSP9 Menus.) I made a few more presets when I was studying the material. A cool tone (turn down the red and turn up the blue) and an increase contrast (S curve).

Something significant I hadn't realized is the Dropper Tool can be used within Curves, so a specific color can be selected out of the photo and it will show up as a point in Curves.

More LINKS

A few discussion groups at Flickr:
Digital Cross Processing group
Technique group

layersmagazine
(Slightly different technique.)
add even more contrast - curves adjustment layer
The basic rule of thumb is to raise the red and green in the highlights,
and to drop the red and green in the shadows.
The reverse is true in the blue channel.
Red and Green have the same "s" curve...
Blue has the same "s" curve shape only backwards...

Histogram Adjustments



My "notes" based on the Paint Shop Pro 9 Help Files (available both within PSP9 and in the printed manual).
I'm going to post this to my blog for easy access.

Here's some of the relevant text to go along with the image:
Adjust > Brightness and Contrast > Histogram Adjustment
Luminance Lightness values of the image. If you are correcting contrast, start with this channel.
Color Pick a color channel from the drop-down list: Red, Green, or Blue.

On the left side of the histogram, look for a gap between the left edge and the point where the graph starts to rise. If there is a gap, it shows that the darkest pixels in the image are not completely black. Click and drag the Low slider (the black triangle) to the point where the graph rises. The top Low edit box displays the low position (from 0 to 255). The bottom edit box displays the percentage of pixels that are between zero and the low value; their contrast will be lost. As a general rule, keep the percentage below 0.1%.

On the right side of the histogram, look for a gap between the right edge of the window and the point where the graph decreases to zero pixels. If there is a gap, click and drag the High slider (the white triangle) to that point on the graph. This changes the lightest pixels in the image to white. As a general rule, keep the High percentage change (the bottom edit box) to below 0.1%.

If the overall image is too dark or too light, adjust the gamma. (Gamma is a standard measure of change in an image’s contrast.) If the image is too dark, drag the Gamma slider (the grey triangle) to the right to increase the gamma (the number changes in the Gamma edit box). If the image is too light, drag the Gamma slider to the left to decrease the gamma.

If the graph has peaks on the left and right sides and contains low points in the center, the midtones need to be compressed. Shadows and highlights need to be expanded to reveal the information they contain. This often occurs in flash photography when a subject is too close to the camera; the subject appears brightly illuminated but the background of the photograph is very dark. To compress the midtones, click and drag the Midtones slider up.

If the graph peaks in the center and has a low number of pixels at the left and right sides, expand the midtones by dragging the Midtones slider down.

If you are improving your image, skip this step. If you are creating artistic effects, use the Output Max and Min sliders on the left side of the histogram to make further adjustments. The Max slider is the white circle within a grey square; the Min slider is the black circle within a grey square. To darken the image’s whites, click and drag the Max slider down. To lighten the image’s blacks, click and drag the Min slider up. (pg149-150 printed manual)

Guidelines for Analyzing the Histogram
The usefulness of the histogram depends upon the image content as well as its channel values. For example, an image of pale, desaturated skin tones may display a big saturation peak on the left side (in the lower values) of the histogram. An image of a bright red fire engine may display a peak on the right side (in the higher values) of the histogram. If the images were improperly saturated, the saturation histograms might be reversed. (pg148 printed manual)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Blazing Star





Dotted blazing star
OR
Narrow-leaved Blazing Star
(Liatris punctata)
Asteraceae (The Aster Family)

Toward The Sun

Leafy Dew



Music

Haven't done a music post for a while. Here are some recent "newbies" I've added to my playlist.

Eet, by Regina Spektor
Official music video currently at YouTube.

Tree, by The Northwoods

Dusk, by The Carraways
From a music blog which, when googled, can be found.

First Train Home, by Imogen Heap

Set Adrift On Memory Bliss by PM Dawn

Can't believe I haven't blogged Foo Fighters yet.
Times Like These (acoustic version) has a permanent place on my mp3 player.



Everlong is one I've added recently to my playlist.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Butterfly - Monarch



Monarch (Danau plexippus)

bugguide
"...compare Viceroy, which has a dark line across hindwing and is smaller."



See ND Butterflies
(pdf file mentioned here)

Besides the Viceroy, there are Queen and Soldier under the Genus Danaus
which look similar to the Monarch.

In ND butterfly pdf it says that "occasionally, a second species, the Queen [Danaus gilippus] butterfly strays into the Northern United States." (pg 8 under milkweed butterflies)

Soldier (Danaus eresimus) is not in North Dakota.

butterfliesandmoths.org

enature

Butterfly - Northern Crescent



Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta)

bugguide

enature

butterfliesandmoths

ND Butterflies (Previous post)

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Sideoats Grama





Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)

Had to switch to manual focus to get the shot.

npwrc

Mexican Hats





In the field I'll come across some different colored prairie coneflowers (Ratibida columnifera) once in a while. Not sure why.
Pretty though.
Pics taken the 1st and 4th of August.
The coneflowers have definitely peaked a while ago already.

American Avocet



American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)

npwrc
Marshbirds and Shorebirds of North Dakota

cornell
enature

Backlit, harsh glare, overcast sky. Yuk. Had to do some post-processing work to get this one pic to turn out as well as it is. I hope to return to site at a better time and weather day.

Roadside Sunflowers of a Different Kind











These were about 4 feet high.
Tall/lanky, leaves thin and at bottom, blossoms branch out at top.
Didn't see anything online that looked like that.

There is also yet another roadside plant that has a similar "body" (lanky, leaves, branch out top, etc) but the blossoms look more like a dandelion than a sunflower. Could not id those either.

npwrc
Asteraceae (The Aster Family)

Googled "flower head of sunflower family" and found lots of diagrams labeling the disk flower and ray flower parts.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Sunflower Road





I tried different angles on the sunflower road view and I like these the best.

There was also this beauty further in the ditch:



And surprise, I had company.



He was the exact same color as the sunflowers.
Talk about blending in.



Then there was this sunflower which was very different and stood out from the rest along the road as we were driving by.



The petals (ray flowers) were fabulous:


Later, we saw this one lone sunflower in a field of wheat or grain of some sort. The result was a happy surprise with an unusual background effect to it. I like it.



Common sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

usda

efloras2

davesgarden
Family: Asteraceae (ass-ter-AY-see-ee)
Genus: Helianthus (hee-lee-AN-thus)
Species: annuus (AN-yoo-us)

(At first I didn't catch that double u in annuus.)

wiki
Sunflower varieties list

Try Google Images on Autumn Beauty sunflower.
Or how about Peach Passion sunflower.

Definitions:
phototropism
An orienting response to light.

heliotropism
An orienting response to the sun.

tropism
An involuntary orienting response; positive or negative reaction to a stimulus source.

Turkey Vulture



Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Best in-flight bird photos I have so far and it would have to be a homely turkey vulture. I have a few more shots of him in flight, but this one is maybe more unusual since it is just as he is taking off.

cornell
"Although it has an ugly, bare-skinned face, the Turkey Vulture is beautiful on the wing. Seldom does this graceful and talented bird flap its wings as it soars over large areas searching for carrion."

enature
"Turkey Vultures are valuable for their removal of garbage and disease-causing carrion."

Blue Flax Field

Looking for a good angle on a blue flax field:



Didn't really find one. I think it might be a prettier field once all the buds blossom? It seemed fairly muted.



The kind grown for oil and fiber is common flax (Linum usatissimum).
Linaceae (The Flax Family)
usda





I never found any WILD blue flax in our field.
npwrc
Blue Flax (Linum perenne var. lewisii)
"Unlike the annual common flax grown for oil and fiber, blue flax is a perennial with a long taproot."

npwrc2
Wild blue flax (Linium lewisii)

Sunday, August 02, 2009

The Foxtail Barley Incident





Walk In The Field Part 35 - Grooved Flax



I think this plant is Grooved Flax (Linum sulcatum).



Only 5 inches high. I had a companion to hold the yardstick, so we measured many of the plants that trip. There was another grooved flax plant that was about twice as tall, about 10-12" maybe? So it does get taller than this.

Walk In The Field Part 34 - Stiff Sunflower



I only saw a few sunflowers in the field so far, but I'm expecting more to pop up.

Identifying sunflowers seemed difficult.
I think this one is Stiff Sunflower (Helianthus rigidus).

Synonym:
Helianthus pauciflorus