Togetherness

[mickeyobe]

Togetherness



Pentax K100d. Tamron 80-210mm

Mickey

[PeterW]

I like this picture a lot, Mickey. In black and white I don't think the subject would have made a picture but in colour it works.

You say "Please crtitque mercilessly". I'm never without mercy. Remember: The koala tea of Murphy is not strained.

All I would say is that the highlights are just a little dark in the top left corner, and a shade dark in a couple of other places at the edges. To me this spoils the balance because it stops the cacti (I presume they are cacti?) from completely filling the frame. It's one of those things that once you've spotted it it always intrudes, but it wouldn't be difficult to correct in PS.

PeterW

[Randy]

Really nice Mickey. We have some of those growing in the back yard, is it called Hosta?

[mickeyobe]

PeterW,

If only I had had cuppsa that gritty unstrained Koala tea years ago I would probably be a much better photographer today. Thank you.

I am going to take the photo back to Photoshop and see if I can't make it unintrusive.
I never much liked working in my darkroom but I do enjoy Photoshopping.

❀❀❀❀❀

PeterW & Randy.

It is not a cactus. It is a succulent. It has no needles but possesses thick juicy leaves.
It is called, among other names, Hens 'n' Chickens and that is what my mother called it.
It is very hardy unless I try to cultivate it whereupon it promptly dies.
It is called 'Sempervivum' in that old Roman dialect that horticulturists are so fond of.
Some Greek friends of mine feel it brings good luck as 'sempervivum' means 'live forever'.

Mickey

[PeterW]

Mickey:

It is very hardy unless I try to cultivate it whereupon it promptly dies.

Hmm. Doesn't seem to live up to its name, then?

It is called 'Sempervivum' in that old Roman dialect that horticulturists are so fond of.
Some Greek friends of mine feel it brings good luck as 'sempervivum' means 'live forever'.

I believe that old Roman dialect that horticulturalists are so fond of is known as lingua Latîna.

But aside from them, and a few ancient academics in the secluded cloisters of Oxford colleges, surely no-one today speaks lingua Latîna, the dialect of the once all-powerful Roman Empire. Not even the Greeks.

Sic transit something or other.

PeterW

[vintageslrs]

Mickey--Love the photo!
Nice textures and colors!

Bob

[SidW]

House leeks

Nice colour Micky. This is a tricky subject, whether succulents like here or a mass of blooms on some plant. They never seem to fill the frame properly and you only see it when you get home. Go closer or zoom in. But usually you have to crop anyway - I'd cut off about 1/3 from the left edge, keeping the rosettes that are evenly lit. After cropping I resize the image back to the original size in pixels, the equivalent of cropping and enlarging in the wet darkroom.

Peter's comment is two - cropping on the left will remove the distracting shadow, then bring the highlights up to pure white and use the full range from black to white (Layer>NewAdjustmentLayer>Levels in photoshop), to get fulll contrast. Be careful not to burn the highlights.

By the way, Finnish radio or TV do the daily news in Latin (or at least they did until recently). fun to see how they render modern objects and activities. Photoshop might be officina picturibus, although the actual metaphor is the High St dev 'n print place rather than darkroom.

[mickeyobe]

Thank you, SidW.

I am going to try your suggestions along with the others.

Once I learned that in Photoshop I could undo the errors that I inevitably made, I lost my timidity and am now willing to try anything.

I also purchased the excellent book by Nick Vendome "Photoshop Elements 4 in easy steps". It is a great help.

I can now do things in Photoshop, that I would never have dreamed possible in my darkroom. What I was able to do in the darkroom sometimes took hours. It now takes minutes - and I can sit down.

Why did (does) Finnish radio still broadcast in Latin. Is it still a living language in Finland?

When I went to high school in the 1950's Latin was mandatory in the first year. I was happy to drop it after that year as were most of my contemporaries.
All I remember is amo, amas, amat. And that may be incorrect.

Mickey

[Reiska]

That sempervivum has nice green tones and an interesting geometrical structure. Tamron lens has done it's job under your command very well. A very nice surface-ornament.

Latin is still an option in the classical line of the senior high school language assortment, though not very popular today.
I have noticed Latin an useful language to understand otherwise not familiar words in many situations.
I even use it when discussing with French or Spanish or Italian people,
Latin helps to understand foreign words, special words in chemistry, physics and medicine.
Perhaps trivial but sometimes interesting and yes the Nuntii Latini (Latin news) are still on the air.
I studied Latin for one year and did like Mickey, changed the course.


www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii/id50.shtml

There are two official languages in Finland, Swedish and Finnish. Most Finns can manage with both
languages. First foreign language in Finnish schools is English and the studying begins at the third class,
that is about at the age of nine years.

[John Parry]

Not been eaten by the raccoons then Mickey? LOL (I never did see one, except squashed in the roadway!

Regards - John

[mickeyobe]

John,

"Not been eaten by the raccoons then Mickey? LOL (I never did see one, except squashed in the roadway!"

I am truly sorry that you did not get to see a raccoon.

No. The little beasts seem to prefer people food to people as food.

My grapes should be ripe for picking ( by the coons ) in a few weeks. I shall try to get a picture of one of the little thieves and post it here if I succeed.

They are nocturnal animals and they can read human minds. The eve of day I think that I will pick my grapes tomorrow the coons will ravage my vines. And, incidently, use my back deck to relieve themselves so they can gorge even more.

Unless one's garbage container has a very secure, raccoon proof, lock the little masked thieves will get into them and strew the rubbish all over a wide area in search of a gourmet feast.

They also like to find or make holes in our houses' exterior walls and make their nests between the outer and inner walls or in the space under the roof. They are noisy and smelly tenants.

They are vicious but endearing looking creatures however their black masks should be a warning of their true, less than honourable intentions.

Raccoon road kills are common. They waddle rather than walk and, I theorize, they are so full of stolen grub that they cannot move quickly enough, when they cross the road, to evade oncoming vehicles. Their just desserts.

To add insult to injury. They are legally protected.

By the way - For many years their skins were used to make luxurious fur coats. I believe that in the 20's and 30's college students were particularly fond of them
( the coats ).
Their striped tails decorated many automobile aerials and bicycle handlebars.
Every boy wanted a coonskin hat like Daniel Boone wore.

Now seems to be payback time for them.

Mickey

[Deleted]

Had a friend in high school who came home one night and his headlights revealed some growing eyes in the back of his open garage. He slammed the garage door and congratulated himself on catching a raccoon. But the "cute little critter" proceeded to rip up the interior of the garage. And he wouldn't leave when given the opportunity! Finally sent him to coon heaven with a .22 short.

[John Parry]

Wayne

Never seen a .22 short. What film does it use?

Regards - John

ps Here we all are trying to help the planet and what is your friend doing? Bet he wouldn't have done that had it been a skunk (I smelt one of those!)

[mickeyobe]

John,

" Bet he wouldn't have done that had it been a skunk (I smelt one of those!)"

You missed so much while you were here.

If you have never inhaled eau de FRESHLY FLATTENED skunk you haven't lived. It is a memorable, never to be forgotten, olfactory experience. It leaves you breathless. It brings tears to your eyes. And it is a scent of the highest quality as it does not quickly fade.

Demented drivers that delight in trying to run over birds and squirrels and cats and chipmunks will franticly swerve across multiple lanes of traffic or drive their vehicle up the nearest maple tree to avoid bruising a skunk.

Any creature that has been "skunked" immediately learns a lifetime lesson without the need for any intensive studying or repetitive copying on the blackboard.

They are beautiful, elegant, regal, black with white little animals that are sometimes mistaken for cats - a mistake that only occurs once in the lifetime of any being.

The leisurely midnight stroll of a skunk family in any neighbourhood will always result in the sound of windows being slammed shut.

They are tolerant creatures and will give plenty of warning such as raising the tail higher and/or presenting the assend (sic). If it lifts its two rear feet off the ground it really means business. At that point and, even well before, a prudent individual of any species will quietly execute a quick, smooth, dignified retreat.

I am fond of skunks. Their scent to my sensitive shnoz reminds my of the smell of caraway - much too much caraway.

No. I have never had the courage to linger long enough to get a photo.
Perhaps next time you visit ..........

Mickey

[John Parry]

Mickey,

I suspect I did actually see a raccoon - it was leaving my sister's garden in a hurry, preceded by a black squirrel. When I mentioned it to my brother-in-law he asked how it moved. I said that the squirrel was running, but the other (which I thought was some other type of squirrel), was waddling along. He said it would be a raccoon. I notice that you used the same word for it's gait, so yes, I probably saw a raccoon's backside!

The skunk I smelt (smelled?) was probably a roadkill. "Good Grief! - what's that stink?" - "Skunk" LOL My sister says that a car that's actually flattened one, rather than just hit it a glancing blow, is almost impossible to sell. I can believe it!

Regards - John

ps amamus, amatis, amant. The latter is the ablative, which we don't have. Or was that mensa? Anyway, it was at that point that I gave up...