Aug 122011
Some roses from my garden in August, 2011
Scepter’d Isle
Wollerton Old Hall
Munstead Wood
Lady Emma Hamilton
James Galway
The Lady’s Blush
Alan Titchmarsh
The Alnwick Rose
The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild
Gentle Hermione
William Shakespeare 2000
Hi Robert!! I so like your photographs. I tried and tried to buy a DSLR this year but there is no money in the budget, so I’m limping along with a 7 year-old Canon point and shoot and a nice new 4 GB compact flash card. I tried the manual controls but can’t get anywhere, so I’m back to using automatic settings for a time.
The Gentle Hermione almost looks like a peony–lovely. I had rose chafers all over my peonies again this year, they were decimated, but for some reson my climbing rose seems to escape damage. Except from the black Labrador down the street who jumps up and pulls the rose hips off to eat.
Your dog Megan is looking cute. Congrats on teaching full time, you certainly put in the work for it.
Judy (cadla)
Hi Judy,
Thanks so much for stopping by to look at the pictures, I’m really glad you enjoyed the photos.
Does your camera have an “Aperture Priority” setting? If so, you should experiment with that to see how you can focus on a subject while the background becomes blurry (that’s how I like to take most of my rose pictures). Another hint might be to set the exposure down a level as most automatic photos tend to over-expose, at least in my experience. And finally, try reducing the contrast a notch, as many roses, especially red ones, give cameras a lot of trouble as they try to capture the entire range of reds.
I really like Gentle Hermione, but she’s been well replaced by several other roses in my garden now as a “favourite”. At the top of my list these days you’d find Scepter’d Isle, Wollerton Old Hall, Munstead Wood, St Cecilia and maybe Jubliee Celebration (although my bush hates her current location and desperately needs some love).
Thanks for the comments, and just enjoy shooting the pictures rather than worrying too much about them, I find the experience of taking the photos… really spending time looking through the lens and seeing the roses from different angles and combinations, is often more enjoyable then looking through the results (although I do love that too).
best,
robert
I don’t have that Aperture Priority setting but I have turned down the exposure slightly and I found that helpful.
I think your comment about enjoying the process and not worrying about everything is wise. I shall give it another go on manual, thanks.
The generic names for roses are so lively, aren’t they? As far as colour goes I really like Scepter’d Isle.
Hi Robert!
I have fallen in love with English (Austin) roses last autumn and I have some 12 differnt ones so far. But after seeing your webpage I desperately need more of them!!! You are a great photographer too! David Austin should hire you to make his catalog of roses
Thank you for inspiration!