Nice! Did he take a picture of you too?

Steve

Oh nostalgia - my home territory when Debenhams in Staines was still called Kennards, there was Johnson & Clarks opposite, Woolworths and Marks & Spencer in the High Street and the High Street was where all the traffic was. My father was in a local band and almost certainly played for dinner dances in the Masonic Hall - they played in most of them over the years!

Nice to see that you haven't adopted the '-upon-Thames' suffix .

Steve

Or is the plural 'streptocarpuses'? Anyway, here are some more photos of Mrs. L's efforts at brightening up the window sills during autumn/winter. The usual self-imposed rules of engagement applied - do not do anything that might cause damage unless prepared to face the consequences (which I'm not). Falling Stars is the true name of the variety. Dragon 1 was the first plant to flower from a packet of seeds called 'Dragon mixed' (Dragon 2, 3, ... etc. are not far behind). I don't know the true name of the third streptocarpus, it's called Ivy in the Lubbyman household because it came to us via a devious route from somewhere in Ivybridge, Devon. From what I see on my tablet screen, the embedded images don't do the originals justice (particularly Ivy) , so click for the bigger pictures to see the flowers in their full glory .

Falling Stars and Dragon 1 were take with the K3 + DA 35mm macro. Ivy was with K3 + Sigma Ex DG 70mm macro - very much a test run with this new (to me) lens), which it has passed with flying colours. In fact, the Sigma was acquired in the hope that it would be a better focal length for flower photos in the space I've got available. And it is!

All photos are stacks, processed with Affinity Photo. Falling Stars about 15 images, Dragon 1 about 20 images (I didn't note down the exact numbers). Ivy is 28 images.

Thoughts, comments welcome as usual.

1. Streptocarpus Falling Stars



2. Streptocarpus Dragon 1



3. Streptocarpus 'Ivy' (not her real name)



Steve

No. 4 for me, for the shapes and sense of movement in the waves. More a seascape than a landscape...

Is that really flare in the direction of the castle, or is it haze from spray thrown up by the breaking waves?

Steve

Good for a first attempt .

The bforbes version works best because the image in the water drop is immediately recognisable so the eye is drawn to it. With the original version, some thought is needed before recognising what it is.

Even in the bforbes version, I find that there's too much competing for attention. Would it have been possible to get the water drop with the image located in front of the dark part of the background so it is framed by the dark, point bit? Or having the drop a bit further to the left, so it's half way between the rising dark bits of the background and therefore more symmetrical?

Looking forward to seeing the result of the next band of rain moving in from the Atlantic!

Steve

Nice to get support for what you've just acquired!!

Gave up using razors in the mid-70's (date, not age!) when I realised that not removing facial hair saved a lot of time in the morning that could be better spent in bed. Sharpness since then has been measured in terms of injuries due to chisels, Stanley knives etc.

Steve

Sigma EX DG 70mm macro. I know, I know, it's yet another macro lens. But they all have their uses...

Steve

Thanks.

I forgot to note down the number of images per stack, but it would have been about 15. I'm actually quite impressed with Affinity Photo - just select the stack of images, press 'start' and wait. For something without any means of tweaking the stacking process, it does a pretty good job (but not every time!).

Steve

More of Mrs L's houseplants. Window ledges (and more) are awash with flowers at the moment. Nice to see them as the garden flowers are almost over now.

K3 + DA35mm macro and a few LED lights. All stacks, processed with Affinity Photo.

Thoughts, comments welcome as usual.

1. Saintpaulia (unknown variety)



2. Saintpaulia 'Halo's Aglitter'



Steve

Thanks, folks. Now I've worked out how to do it, there will be more. Something to keep me out of trouble during the long, dark evenings of late autumn and winter... unless Mrs L. wants to use the kitchen.

Steve