4.0 Southwest Forest general
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First day of spring in the forest
Jack in the pulpit full frame (1 of 3)
Arisaema triphyllum, a native of midwestern forests. One of a whole tribe of Jacks living up on the SW hill side. This ground layer plant is catagorized as an ephemeral because they come and go, playing a transient role in the life of the forest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisaema_triphyllum If the plant is properly dried or cooked it can be eaten as a root vegetable. If not properly prepared it is poison (burning in mouth and gut, sometimes serious swelling). The clarity of photos properly made with a large sensor and a good lens makes identification much easier. This image was shot crouched over and hand held at 1/30 sec at f 2.8, ISO 100, at the 70mm reach of the the 24-70 sigma zoom lens on a Sony A900. When I want to get the best photo quality in terms of sharp, crisp and clear details, I shoot at ISO 100 or lower. Using a higher ISO begins to show when you enlarge images looking for good detail. In film it was graininess, in digital it's more like fuziness.
Jack in the pulpit 100% detail (2 of 3)
This is the kind of detail one can see when zooming to full resolution on a full frame DSLR with a decent lens. It's very helpful that most of the modern DSLR cameras have some sort of image stabilization. I don't have to have that tripod for observation type photographs.
jack in the pulpit 200% detail (3 of 3)
A two hundred percent enlargement still retains amazing detail when using large sensors and good lenses. I will admit to boosting the tone curve and clarity settings a bit in post processing to bring out the detail better.
biggest gooseberry patch. In SW forest
Quiet spot in the close to native part of the forest garden
Looks quite open in early April. There a lot of trees, though, and finally some youngsters here and there.
