A Little bit of Tweaking

The only decent view I get of the clouds and sky is looking South from my front garden. In other directions close trees limit the view. This is the view as seen by the Lumix a couple of days ago. To get some contrast in the clouds I let the camera take a 'reading' from the sky before lowering the view to take the shot.





Of course that meant that the foreground was under exposed and it is spoilt by the telephone wires which cross the view.  This seemed a suitable subject for another trial in PaintShop Pro with the Re-dynamizer plugin  First though - get rid of the wires. For that I use  a plugin called Wire Worm. This is one of a small group of plugins which are free. It draws an elongated loop (length and width fully adjustable) to enclose the unwanted part of a picture. This loop is then dragged and nearby pixels are blended in to replace the offending section. The process is better done in short sections.


Next was to let Re-dynamizer do its job. Here I have just used its own suggested settings which have increased the contrast in the clouds and brightened up the foreground. Now we can see 'bee heaven' - the lavender bushes and the Hibiscus that they frequent from dawn to dusk.





As I mentioned a short while ago this plugin is not free but I think well worth the £15 it cost to register, which I have now done. Both pictures have a border which is put on by another free plugin - One from a whole group called Border Mania which includes the gold coloured frame I also use.

Friday at the Flicks (Bees and Hedgehogs)

Nothing as out of the ordinary as head banging flies this week.
Just busy bees working hard on slippery Hibiscus flowers as they strive to reach the nectar right at the bottom and becoming covered in pollen in the process...  (Taken with the Lumix TZ7 about three inches from the flowers)



... and a mix of video and stills of the visiting Hedgehogs. For a while visits were down to one hog visiting just once each night but activity is increasing again. No Sumo wrestling seen recently as the hogs arrive at different times.



Thanks
My grateful thanks to Adrian, Keith, Frank and The Wessex Reiver who all identified my dark coloured damselfly as a female Common Blue. That is quite exciting as I know the Blue-tailed Damselflies are breeding in my pond and it would be great to see a second variety become established.

Damselfly ID Needed

Spotted a very dark coloured damselfly over the garden pond which led me a merry dance trying to photograph it. By the time I had fetched the camera it was nowhere to be seen, I stood by the pond for ages waiting to see if it would appear again. Finally I looked down and there it was resting on the rim of a planter about a foot away from my leg. I would say it is slightly shorter than my resident Blue-tailed Damselflies but with a thicker body.





My ID sheet mainly shows damselflies from above so I can't tell which have the dull yellow ochre which this one has underneath.

As for the head banging fly from last Friday. It got mentioned in dispatches - well a poem anyway - along with other creatures in a Poem written by Glo on her blog Porcelain Rose.

Following a suggestion from Matron I have joined the Nature Plus section of the Natural History Museum. There I have put the photo of the red-eyed fly to see if they will come up with an identification.

Wall Butterfly and other wings.

Twice last week I saw a Southern Hawker dragonfly circling the pond. Every now and then it would disappear under the hedge next to the pond so I guess it was hunting for food. Unfortunately so far it hasn't settled for a photo session. While I was waiting, camera in hand, hoping for the dragonfly to land I spotted a butterfly on a flower. It was the first time I had seen any of the brown varieties in the garden so I took several shots before it disappeared.



I had to look up to see what had visited - A Wall Butterfly, Lasiommata megera. A female I think judging by the tiny white spot near the front wing tip.

During our afternoon walk yesterday I was lucky enough to capture a shot of a Common Darter dragonfly as it rested.



There are still plenty of bumble bees in the front garden. They are now spoilt for choice. Not only do they have the lavender plants but also the hibiscus which has come into flower.



Also being attracted are a few of the local wasps.



Visiting bird numbers are well down recently. They are able to find plenty of natural food. At least it means that my seed stock is lasting a decent time.

Friday at the Flicks (Busy Bees and Flirting Flies)

Once again my Lavender bushes are attracting scores of insects both day and night. During the day each of the three plants attracts at least twenty bumble bees of four types at any one time. White butterflies have started to visit and before long I expect more varieties will arrive. Late evening, as the numbers of bees diminish, their place is taken by dozens of moths.

A short video of just a few of the bees. (Taken with the Lumix TZ7)



Earlier in the week a couple of flies on the water lily leaves caught my attention. It was the first time I had ever noticed a fly moving sideways. Is this a case of an ardent admirer stalking its victim, a happy dancing fly showing off to its partner or part of a mating ritual? (Taken with the Panasonic DVD camcorder)


Whichever it was the smaller fly was very persistent as this activity went on for quite a long time.

Have a great weekend observing the antics of the wildlife around you.

Red Eyed Fly

Spotted this resting on a solar lantern in the garden today.



It appears to be either Eustalomyia or Anthomyia but which group and which particular member of the group has eluded me as there are so many with red eyes and black and white markings.

Sunset

Last night was the first time for quite a while that there has been a sunset where the clouds reflected the lovely oranges and reds as the Sun dipped below the horizon. This gave a photo opportunity and a chance to experiment. I used the Lumix TZ7 and tried several different settings. Also I was able to try out a plugin which gives HDR like effects on single photographs.

The first pair are looking towards the setting sun from my back garden.
First as taken by the camera:


Secondly the same file after processing:


This pair are looking to the South:
Again, as taken by the Lumix:


Once again the same file after processing:


I was astounded how much detail there was to be found in the deep shadows using the RE-Dynamizer HDR plugin. There are quite a few controls to tweak and these were just a first trial to see what it could do. RE-Dynamizer is not free but the trial version is fully working and just adds its name to the top and bottom of the picture when saved. It is a standard Adobe type file and should work with any program which can handle them. I use Paintshop Pro X2.

The Lumix does not have the facility to take RAW photos and it was obvious, especially on the second pair of photos, that it introduces some noise on JPGs. It will be interesting to see what it can do with RAW files.