Chile 2015

Habitat, nursery/collection and show tours.
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nobby
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by nobby »

Thank you Dave for this beautiful travelogue.

It was a pleasure to see your pictures.
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juster
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by juster »

Some beautiful plants here Dave and all so interesting. Thanks so much for all of your work in posting this.
Croydon Branch member, growing mainly cacti and Echeverias
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DaveW
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by DaveW »

Thanks all,

I wondered if I was putting too many pictures in of the same species, and not just the pretty ones either. However I was trying to show variation. We get a wrong idea of plants in cultivation since often the most attractive forms are brought into cultivation, but are not always typical of the species in habitat.

Also these days with most DSLR cameras there is no excuse for taking only a few shots if you have the opportunity. A 32Gb compact flash card in my Nikon D200, which is an old model now can store 1400 images, even shooting RAW. They then can be transferred to computer and used again. The newer cameras can take even larger cards. Contrast that with the days of roll film like Kodachrome when I think I paid about £8 for the last 36 exposure roll, including processing. I certainly would have not taken that many exposures.

Even smartphones can hold quite a few shots and are now good enough for Web use.

What would I do different if I had the chance again? I think I would have taken a small tripod for close up shots, since hand holding I could not use slow enough shutter speeds to be able to use the smaller apertures for increased depth of field, and that shows on the Thelocephala's. Something like this little Cullmann which folds flat and is easy to carry. My home tripod, a MK1 Benbo, is built like a North Sea oil rig and too heavy to go to habitat.

https://www.cullmann.de/en/detail/id/magic-minipod.html

http://www.rtsphoto.com/untitled-sitepage_20

Edit:- I also should have said I broke my golden rule of never using autofocus for close up's. Autofocus is inaccurate close up since in order to spread the available depth of field the point you need to focus on often contains nothing for autofocus to lock on to. Autofocus therefore locks on to a point either in front or behind the desired focus point, so wastes some of the depth of field available. Therefore the human eyeball on the focusing screen is still a more accurate way of spreading the depth of field over the important parts of the subject than autofocus.

Hi Nobby, just read your post on the Ritter Diaries, I wondered if you were Norbert Sarnes. Therefore I should meet you at The Cactus Explorers Weekend in September since I have already booked.

Ritter in fact signed the first two volumes of his Kakteen in S. Amerika for me, since I bought them direct from him.

Thanks again for your comments, because there was not much feedback I did not know whether my pictures and the genera concerned were of general interest.

Dave Whiteley
Last edited by DaveW on Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Nottingham Branch BCSS. Joined the then NCSS in 1961, Membership number 11944. Cactus only collection.
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nobby
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by nobby »

Hi Dave,

yes I'm Norbert Sarnes for my whole life.
I'm looking forward to meet you at the Cactus Explorer meeting.
I hope everyone will understand me - but we will let our pictures speak for us.

See you
Nobby
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whitesands
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by whitesands »

Superb pictures (tu)
Has anybody estimated how old some of the plants are ? I`m thinking of the large Copiapoa clumps . If I had to guess , I would say 200 - 300 years old . Is there any way of proving this . Counting the growth rings is possible in trees , but in cacti ?
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DaveW
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Re: Chile 2015

Post by DaveW »

I have not been on the forum for many years, but out of the blue received an email with a question about this Travelogue, therefore had to reset my password again.

The large Copiapoa's must often be far older than we humans live since many only seem to make a few millimetres growth a year in habitat. They obviously grow much faster in cultivation. Whether the climate was more favourable for growth in the past when some of the largest clumps started I do not know. Certainly the Camanchaca (Mist Climate) seems to be moving southward and the most northerly Chilean plants are suffering.

Anyway pleased you found my pictures interesting since these days with virtually no cost digital photography using cameras or smartphones, there is no point in visiting habitat and only taking a few pictures. Unlike in the old days when a roll of Kodachrome cost £8 for 36 exposures plus processing so then I would have never have afforded to take so many shots.

For those interested in habitat travelogues try

https://kaktusymeksyku.pl/Chile_2013.html

You can use "Translate" to change to your language and there are also other habitat visits at the top of the link.

I should add that since this Travelogue was started both Ingrid and Richard Keim have died and so has Adriana Hoffmann. Also Colin Norton well known to many and a good companion on the trip.
Nottingham Branch BCSS. Joined the then NCSS in 1961, Membership number 11944. Cactus only collection.
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