bulk bean pics

[songbird]

yesterday was a good day for taking a few pictures of the bulk beans and getting the pictures edited and posted to the website. :)

this one shows the difference in color between the Purple Dove beans grown in various locations. the lighter beans were grown in poorer soil (with very little or no organic matter, clay and in some spots very poorly drained). the darker beans were grown in the North Garden which has actual loamy topsoil put down over the clay subsoil and that area has had a lot of organic matter added and plenty more weeds buried that grew there over the years. the two other pictures are just closer shots of the lighter and darker ones. though if you look closely you might notice that the darker beans are somewhat different from each other too (by a little bit :) ).

these are three other bulk beans Red Ryder, Fordhook Lima and Huey which is a cross i've been working on to get it stable. this was the first year i grew out enough to see how they did in multiple locations and soil conditions but also testing how they did when interplanted with Purple Dove.

and a closer shot of Huey, notice the pinker color background when compared to my other Tan Goats Eye bean that i normally grow instead (i did grow some Tan Goats Eye beans too this year to make sure it wasn't a soil or conditions variation). i'll put the link to the TGE beans here just as an obvious comparison.

Huey is likely to become my main bulk small striped bean that i like to use for making chili because it is firm and stands up to being cooked a long time and it doesn't fall apart easily, plus i like how it looks and grows (semi-runner) and it finishes pretty early and will work ok as a shelly too (i think i'll have to verify this next year for sure). since it is a cross from Red Ryder it has the characteristics i really like from that plant (easy shelling, beans fall out of the pod easy for dry and shelly stage, early, does well anyplace i plant it, etc). this year i planted Huey alternating with Purple Dove and even in spite of that it was pretty productive. i think next year i'll be block planting it and should get double the harvest in the same area as i got this season. note that while i'm not solely focussed on productivity of a bean (i don't want to draw too many nutrients out of a garden at one time) i do like it when a plant is moderately productive enough so that i'm also not wasting the space and my efforts.

there's not too much else going on now other than when the weather cooperates i'm trying to get a garden dug up and some flowers and weeds removed from where they are trying to take over. at the rate i'm going it will be sometime next May when i get this project finished. that's ok. :)

i have some dry bean plants on the fence that need to be taken off and today i may get some of that done now that the sun is out and it won't be too windy or cold. at least if i just go out for a half hour or so and then come in and get my hands warmed up again.

songbird

[T]

This one is my favorite picture of the bunch. It shows and energy of things to come

[songbird]

that is a picture from some years ago, but they are pretty beans and a closeup picture is nice. i almost clipped a shot of the Huey beans to post as a comparison but i didn't do it.

take a look at

:)

eventually i should have a lot more pictures posted there but it may take me several months before i get them all done. it is my winter project.

songbird

[T]

My heart be still!

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

this is a friend's website for even more bean pictures. unlike me he actually has his picture taking figured out. :)

i grow some of his beans out for him because he has so many that he doesn't have room to grow all of them each season, plus he likes to get them out to other people. :) he is the person i've got the Purple Dove beans from and about 50 others.

songbird

[T]

Songbird,

It is a pretty picture, but your show more energy of things to comes than his does.

It is like me holding a zucchini from the garden in my hand a feeling the slicing, the olive oil, the pan, the joy of sharing with a loved one.

His had some of that too, but when you kick it, you bring out the soul. Don't discount yourself. Just keep on what you are doing.

-T

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

well, thank you, those are nice words, but i still have a lot to learn and have certain goals still to reach. :)

here is the bean pic from last year that i liked but it still has problems with lighting.

i think i posted that one before.

i need consistent lighting and color, white balance and such. that is aside from the artistic or visual aspects which i can do in different pictures apart from capturing the collection and interesting beans that show up.

i hope by the middle of winter i can get the whole setup working so i can make actual progress instead of thrashing around.

i have a few things i need to buy first and then work with those. after things calm down a bit from the Black Friday stuff and i can get back to work it should improve.

songbird

[Nyssa]

I've had similar problems doing food photography. Lighting, presentation, and color correction among the problems I'm seeing.

I've snagged a few books on food photography and hope to find time over the winter to actually read some of them and do some practicing with my complicated DSLR that seems smarter than me.

Perhaps some of the hints and techniques in the food photography books might point you in the right direction to figure out how better to photograph your beans and other garden-y things?

Nyssa, who never quite got the hang of her old Nikon film SLR now has even more problems figuring out her newer Nikon DSLR

[songbird]

Nyssa wrote: ...

most of the time when i take pictures outside or the less close up things i'm happy with how those turn out. but i will certainly look into those topics. :)

as for color balance and lighting they have a few gadgets for that which help (a color chart/card with the black and white squares for white balance) and one which lets you adjust your screen so it is showing colors closer to what you are seeing.

those are two of the gadgets i'll be adding to the things here.

the other items i need would be some barriers to block light coming in from the windows and patio door so that the light is more consistent and those will also be white reflecting surfaces to help even out shadows and reflections.

i was hoping for just a bit more depth of field on the macro zoom lens so we'll see if i can get that or not and if not, do i want to use a different lens instead or what.

i'm happy with most of how the new camera is working out, but yes, plenty to learn.

songbird

[Pavel314]

Another thing to consider is the total composition of the picture, after such things as light and color as mentioned above. I've learned over the years to take several pictures of something then keep the best. While focusing on the pumpkin, I'd sometimes overlook the fact that my shadow was in the picture, distracting from the subject. Or some shots might use the light better than others to get a better image of the subject.

Or a wide shot might include something you don't want to include, like a garbage can or a pile of discarded landscape fabric. On the other hand, sometimes you get a lucky accident, like the time I took a picture of our newly-constructed greenhouse just as our black cat was walking past the doorway.

Paul

[songbird]

Pavel314 wrote: ...

yes, sure. :)

with the images i'll mostly be after when taking pictures of the beans, the most important aspects are color and lighting consistency. to me those are unlikely to be very artistic pictures in terms of the wider composition because i want the beans themselves to be captured accurately and to have a record of them for future reference. i have about 400 pictures of this sort i need to do.

once i have that figured out i can think of other arrangements and composition. :)

songbird

[T]

That is the energy I am talking about! Your heart and spirit races with wonder and things to come, like a delicious pot of bean chili!

[T]

Hi Songbird,

A lady I work for is an extraordinary photographer. She told me a real close up captures the spirit a lot better than a far away shot with a zoom lens.

She also told me to not put the main object in the center, but to divide the canvas into three sections and place the main object along one of the third line.

Here are some examples of one my better shots she coaches me through:

And now for a bad example. It shows the difference between getting right up on your subject and zooming on your subject. Make pretty flowers look like a weed. And it is the same plant as three of the above.

And it really, really helps if the sun cooperates!

:-)

-T

[songbird]

ha! i just love the fact that all of those beans came from one parent seed (and i'm still finding more).

songbird

[songbird]

for some subjects that is true. :)

a number of pictures i take the entire context is a large part of why i'm taking the picture to begin with so knowing the goals of the photographer for the picture can help you decide if they've accomplished them or not.

yes, that is a commonly used technique. note that there is a big difference in the kinds of pictures i take. some are merely record keeping, what got done where or where i've planted something or similar. then there are other pictures where i'm more concerned about composition.

yeah, i missed out on some wonderful sunset pictures a few weeks ago.

songbird