BCSS - Forum

I raised half a dozen of these an few years ago - the mother is Thelocactus Conothelos v Aurantiacus with typical small bright yellow flowers but I have no idea who the father is (other than another Thelo). The hybrid flowers are peachy orange and fully 3.5 inches across.

Last few days .... get those pictures in

Flower open today despite the rain, Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra from Abbey Brook according to my label but nearest I can find on their list has cross other way round

2189 1979 Abbey Brook CF1634 E.calorubra x calochlora Deep salmon pink petals edged with violet, sepals Brownish violet, filaments crimson. Scented

Picture in previous post was taken using phone, not been back to greenhouse to try and get "better" shot using camera but not sure if it really improved results even though it gave me much more control over settings while taking pictures. Still not sure I've found best angle to capture the flower

Photographing the plants is another passion of mine, as well as growing them of course!
Here's a Gymnocalycium friedrichii 'Agua Dulce' hybrid with split seedpod.

I couldn't find any rules as to how many photos you are allowed to submit...

2 last minute photos

Haworthia x 'White Ghost' Aeonium x 'Ballerina' (believed to be a variegated form of x santosianum, or x globosum)

Thanks, guys, for setting me a real challenge. I didn’t judge them until after the due date and I had to work hard to justify my choices. I’ve made positive judging comments as I believe judges should.

Aeonium2003 Sun May 01
Aeonium Mardi gras.
Beautiful colour choice but I think I’d like a little more illumination on the right-hand side of the plant

Jim_Mercer Mon May 02
Aylostera 'Celebration' 3 images
If ever there was a perfect demonstration of how the background and illumination can influence the way in which one perceives a subject, this is it. The second image with a darker grey backdrop enriches the colours and sets the plant as the main subject of the picture

Aeonium2003 Tue May 03,
Aeonium "goblin"
Beautifully captured with an excellent depth of focus and well lit. The choice of a rectangular frame doesn’t work for me. I’d tightly crop to give the central rosette alone.

Aeonium2003 Tue May 03
undulatum x Zwartkop hybrid
Again an excellent subject but the fence and other herbage dominate the image. The subject is “lost” in these distractions. A tighter crop and a little adjustment of the illumination would be my choice.

Jim_Mercer Wed May 04
Aylostera 'Celebration'
The exposure / illumination is inadequate for the job. The highlights (whites / creams) are muddy / grey.

Christian Thu May 05
Assorted Sempervivum hybrids
I like the geometric arrangement of the pots but the terracotta colour dominates the image and the plants take second place

Jim_Mercer Wed May 11
Weingartia 'Carnival'
Nice plant but the exposure is inadequate for the job. The image lacks “punch”

Paul in Essex Wed May 11
hybrid between Agave montana and Agave mitis,
I like the natural looking arrangement as though the plant was in its natural / home setting

edds Fri May 13
Rebutia 'Amber'
Good composition / arrangement. Nicely arranged in the frame, but the colour balance is “off” by about 1500K

Nicevans Tue May 17
Epiphyllum ‘Bliss’
Two excellent offerings. The second / closeup photo is almost abstract and has real feeling for the plant and its features, but, (yes there’s always a but) if you’d cloned out or cropped out the sliver of grey/brown on the top left which is so distracting, this image would have been a contender for the title.
In comparison, the first image has an excellent composition. Well illuminated. Well captured.

Smel Tue May 17
Epipyllum Chancery
I like the colour contrast between the magenta of the flower and the complementary green of the foliage. Well spotted. It bounces of the page. I’d like to have seen a little more ooomph in the lighting to have separated the stigma and stamen from the lower petals. They got a little lost by looking “muddy” rather than yellow.
Aporophyllum 'Wendy'
In comparison, here you got the stigma and stamen beautifully separated from the body of the flower and got a 3D look. Why did you crop the picture so tightly? You lost some of the flower. The grey background was a perfect choice and the focus differential between plant and flower was excellent.

Jim_Mercer Tue May 17
Lobivia ‘Carnival’
As a demonstration of the evolution of the shot, this was a good teaching series of images. I would prefer the ‘full pot’ shot to the close-up version, but neither of these had the crispness in the pollen. Was it ‘focus’ or ‘camera shake’?

edds Tue May 17
Jackie Jefferson
The differential focus between flower and plant sets the 3D effect. The neutral colour of the backdrop further enhances this. An excellent composition.

JST Wed May 18
hybrid Echinopsis Rebecca
Beautiful plant well photographed. To give more impact I would crop to a square format.

Jim_Mercer Thu May 19
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra
Nicely composed and photographed but why did you crop so much of the petals?

Jim_Mercer Wed May 25
Chamaelobivia 'Lincoln Aloha'
Nice capture of the flower, pity about the background especially the plant plus pot. I’d have darkened that.

jerryb23 Thu May 26
Thelocactus Conothelos v Aurantiacus X #1
Nice capture pity the flower has so little details / texture in the petals
Thelocactus Conothelos v Aurantiacus X #2
Much better petal rendition. I’d trim the right-hand side off the image and make it square format.

Jim_Mercer Mon May 30
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra #1
Contrast is a little “flat”
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra #2
Better contrast put the stigma / stamens look out of focus
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra #3
Great composition but the image is tending towards “burnt out”
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra #4
Better focus but the far petals are becoming “blocked out”
Echinopsis calochlora x calorubra #5
The best out of these five

Cactimania Mon May 30
Gymnocalycium friedrichii 'Agua Dulce' hybrid
I like the concept but I don’t like the black background on the left. The plant and the pods are sharp and well-focussed and well lit.. I’d trim the image to make it square format OR I’d extend the background above the seed pods to make the image “portrait” rather than “landscape”

Aeonium2003 Tue May 31
Haworthia x 'White Ghost'
Are the leaves supposed to be in focus? Or are you directing my attention to the inflorescence? There are tricks you can use to achieve this by cropping the image or darkening the leaves to make the inflorescence more prominent
Aeonium x 'Ballerina'
I can’t see what it is that you want me to concentrate on. There’s too much going on in the picture including stuff out of focus but sufficiently sharp to attract my attention and some manky bits of brown on the leaves which make me look there, rather than the rosette of leaves in the bottom right which is what I guess you want me to look at.

My short list in no particular order.
Jim_Mercer Mon May 02 Aylostera 'Celebration' #1
Paul in Essex Wed May 11 hybrid between Agave montana and Agave mitis
Nicevans Tue May 17 Epiphyllum ‘Bliss’ #1
edds Tue May 17 Jackie Jefferson

Any of these would stand for me as telling real story and saying something about the plant and why YOU photographed it.
My choice (and it was a very difficult final choice) is edds Tue May 17 Jackie Jefferson because the lighting and focus were spot on. There’s sufficient differential between subject and background. The story flows dynamically from top left to bottom right giving implied movement. Well done Ed and over to you.

Thanks very much Terry! I wasn't expecting that as I know how high your expectations are for a photo! The Jackie Jefferson has rewarded me today with another flower but it's facing out a window so impossible to photograph!

I will put my thinking hat on.

Well deserved Ed
I checked my judgment against those of the VAR a.k.a. my wife and she agreed with my short list and final winner
Looking forward to seeing your category choice

Jim_Mercer wrote: ↑Mon May 02, 2022 10:54 am Aylostera 'Celebration' which is one of Southfield's hybrids - I keep a couple of A4 cards to slip behind/under plants in my greenhouse to try and get clearer pictures of the individual plants, can't always decide whether black or pale grey is best...
web-102747.jpgweb-102627.jpg
I did take a picture of this plant yesterday before seeing this month's topic so I had left the label in the pot but this picture shows setup used with card placed on upturned pot in tray at edge of greenhouse bench web-155553.jpg

Amazing!
Is it the same as this one?