4.0 Southwest Forest general
Read MoreJack 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.