Thanks mocha. 😀
I guess we'd get bored of the bluebells if they were around all year. They could become like dandelions - pretty, but very very common.
It is most encouraging to see all you friendly people in this thread, contributing excellent and interesting photos, and discussing them. I can see that we shall have to go to a more frequent format before long, which I am pleased to note. As far as that is concerned, perhaps people could say how may postings per thread they would consider a good number. If threads get too long, it is hard to go back and find things.
I try to get the depth of field that you see with F11 and sometimes I focus on the petals that are not the closest but not the farthest distance either...that is somewhere in between. It's challenging. No, I did not do any special processing. I use the free version of IrfanView for software.
Just to let you know also.... The rhododendron flower was taken in the shadows of other trees which gave me that combination of colors, both of the flower and the background.
I think around a 100 to as many as 200 postings is a good number. How many posting contributions we would get (of course) would depend on the participation. When I hosted it on the other forum, I would make it a point to reply to every photo. But anyone could reply and I'm happy also to see this interaction as well which leads to greater postings. Since we broadened this to be on "Your Canon Photos" with a welcoming for all brands, I expected that it would be quite popular. So each thread could be easily done once a week, if this continues.
That's why I enjoyed visiting the Canon DSLR photo thread. There's not a lot of criticism here. Just a bunch of people who enjoy taking and sharing photos. Sometimes you can ask for help or advice, and it's freely offered without any judgements.
I, myself, think a weekly thread would work better. You'll have to ask Digirame how much of a hassle that would be.
I found there's no extra hassle starting the photo thread once a week. I would just copy & paste my standard "welcoming" statement and start it with a new date. That's easy. 😀 Sorting through my photos and replying with my own set of pictures is what took time, especially if I showed more than ten. Sometimes I would select them the day previous, so then it would go faster.
That the long explanation. 😀 The short explanation: There's no hassle for a weekly thread. 😀
Two different rhododendron bushes, different colors, in my backyard in Virginia. I also have a white rhododendron, but it was past prime when I was taking photos the other day. I planted all, about 1994. Azaleas are now past prime too, with the exception of one very late blooming species, a deep pink rose color.
Sandy Fleischmann on flickr