• Members 567 posts
    May 29, 2023, 5:11 p.m.

    I had the Barbeque Competition shoot yesterday from 10 to 5. Got to come home for about an hour between the judging and the award ceremony. I shot these after supper. Brisket for supper that my wife cooked at home. I guess a fitting end after the competition! I will subject you to some images later.

    names are below the images!

    Andrew

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    Columbine, these face downward and are more difficult to shoot than the hellebores that also face downward

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    French Lilac

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    Devil's Walking Stick, highly invasive

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    Flowering Deutzia

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    Upright peonies

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    JPG, 4.0 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280009 -1.jpg

    JPG, 3.2 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280014 -1.jpg

    JPG, 3.5 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280011 -1.jpg

    JPG, 3.6 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280032 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.9 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280024 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.5 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280029 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.6 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280020 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.4 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280004 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.4 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280018 -1.jpg

    JPG, 2.6 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

    P5280001 -1.jpg

    JPG, 3.6 MB, uploaded by 19andrew47 on May 29, 2023.

  • Members 336 posts
    May 29, 2023, 9:17 p.m.

    I like your flowers, Andrew, but now that I've seen upright peonies I want to see depraved peonies.

    I haven't had brisket for a long time. I think I'll buy a corned beef, some cabbage and new potatoes.

    Have you read the rumour at four thirds rumors? Some people working at DPReview may buy it and keep it running. It said that amazon may be cooperative due to lots of hate mail threatening to never buy from them again and also to spread the word and try to prevent even non photographers from patronizing amazon.
    The one thing I cannot put up with here is the blurry pictures. Even when shown full size they look blurry.
    Let's see, this one is very sharp. Rich

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    JPG, 3.8 MB, uploaded by RichZ on May 29, 2023.

  • Members 281 posts
    May 30, 2023, 2:53 a.m.

    Lovely flowers Andrew. Quite a variety. We don't have peonies blooming yet, and just one columbine so far.

    RichZ - maybe you should get your glasses checked. I looked at the image you posted in gallery view and 1:1 and it looks clear and sharp to me!
    (Or maybe I need my glasses checked 😏)

  • Members 567 posts
    May 30, 2023, 4:38 a.m.

    Rich, we have the droopy type of peonies as well, but only a few. We likely have about 30 of the upright plants in perhaps six varieties but they have been in the ground now for too many years for me to recall. We only planted 18 originally but they spread and now there are likely hundreds we could extract. I should likely split some next year or later in the fall this year. The droopy ones don't seem to spread as much but they too will do so. They get flattened rather easily by heavy rain. I am on the look out for some 'tree peonies'. I have seen them at the botanical gardens and like them a lot. They are not trees as the name implies but I suspect the stems are more herbaceous.

    I like the flower you showed above. If I post a 20 MB image here it will show all 20 MB if enlarged. The thread view is not terribly sharp but it is better than it was a few weeks back. They did make improvements in that aspect.

    I had not heard any rumours about anything. I have checked in on DPReview from time to time, but not in the past few days. We have lost so many people that I am feeling rather down about that aspect. I am not particularly upset with Amazon. I wish they had not made the decision they made but they are in the business of generating profit and if the site did not do so then it is reasonable to move on for them. Sad for us though! I do buy from Amazon from time to time, mostly things I can not get elsewhere easily. Sometimes it is cheaper but often not.

    I guess I should check in at 43rumors or whatever the site is that provides information from leaks about up coming products. I like to know what is coming. I have lost track of the home theater and audio markets with the demise of the print magazines I used to subscribe to before they went TU. It is difficult now to keep up with where the markets are at. On the other hand it has likely saved me money. Not sure if that is a good thing though.

    Have spent most of the day going through the shots from the competition. Not great fun I have to say. I have learned some things though so if I get asked to do this again I will give the organizers directions about how to handle the awards so that the images are worth having. Also, I need to come up with a site to host hundreds of images, temporarily, for events like this, or hockey, or the fashion show I shoot, so that people can go there and download any images they want. Not sure how many times I have been asked where people can get the images I take. Will I be posting them on line??? Likely got asked twenty times yesterday.

    Andrew

  • Members 567 posts
    May 30, 2023, 4:44 a.m.

    Thanks Jim. We have lots of columbine up but no doubles yet. We do have some if they come back again this year. The peonies we have bloom at different times. The doubles of the upright varieties are damaged by heavy rains so I hope we don't get any while they are in bloom. When we first saw these we bought a bunch and have never regretted that choice.

    Andrew

  • Members 336 posts
    May 30, 2023, 3:51 p.m.

    You are likely right, Jim. My vision is worse on some days than others. Rich

  • Members 336 posts
    May 30, 2023, 4:32 p.m.

    I am also feeling down about the people lost. I quit buying from amazon years ago when they retained my credit card and enrolled me in amazon prime. They refused communicate with me to undo it and I had to have my bank threaten them with a complaint to Visa before they removed it. Then they re enrolled me again the next day and my bank had to cancel my Visa card and issue me a new one with different numbers. I imagine many people can't get it undone and decide that now they have free shipping from amazon prime and let it go, and perhaps even buy more from amazon. I am not one of those.
    Last summer Gill's By The Bay asked me to put my pictures online for them. I put around 250 on Flickr for them to download. I got requests for photography from them and from customers of Gill's and might have got back into commercial work but then hard times came and I withdrew from everything but your thread...and then that went to Hell. Rich

  • Members 676 posts
    May 31, 2023, 2:20 p.m.

    Very nice set .. looks like the garden is in full bloom. These all need to be seen in the full gallery view, as all pictures here. I particularly liked the upright peonies .. locally they bloom for about a week or two and are gone by this time of year .. The local BG didn't do as well with them as they have on other years and I wasn't there at the right times for them so I got very few pictures this year .... I also liked your French lilac. .....

    WhyNot

  • Members 222 posts
    May 31, 2023, 2:22 p.m.

    Great set Andrew
    What I always find amazing on your side of the pond, is that you have a rush of everything all at once. Here those flower types are separated by about 6 weeks...

  • Members 510 posts
    May 31, 2023, 2:41 p.m.

    Lovely display of colour. I'm looking forward to the BBQ shots. I'm hungry!

  • Members 567 posts
    May 31, 2023, 3:38 p.m.

    Thanks WN. We have two varieties of the upright peonies in bloom today. Also the rhododendrons are almost completely open now and some yellow irises today too.

    Andrew

  • Members 567 posts
    May 31, 2023, 3:40 p.m.

    Thanks Rich (Belg.) Even more open today. I will have to go out and have a look about. Our blooming season is shorter than yours so when stuff starts to appear it becomes a blaze of short lived glory!

    Andrew

  • Members 567 posts
    May 31, 2023, 3:42 p.m.

    Charlotte, be careful what you wish for! Not sure what I am going to do with these BQ shots here but I don't think it will be the full set of hundreds. A selection of the processed images though. I need to find a place to upload images for download by people. I really don't want to have to pay for it but it may be the only alternative.

    Andrew

  • Members 281 posts
    May 31, 2023, 5:47 p.m.

    Check your email.

  • Members 318 posts
    May 31, 2023, 6:12 p.m.

    Lovely Andrew u must put in a lot of man hours in that garden u get ur reward in Beautiful flowers 👍

  • Members 567 posts
    May 31, 2023, 9:15 p.m.

    Thanks Paul. Gardens are a lot of work. Seemed like a good idea 35 years ago, but it got out of control about 15 years ago and now we are paying the price!

    Andrew