Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A standout grasshopper photo.


The first time I saw it, I thought it was a mechanical toy! Such fantastic details of a grasshopper was captured by Vivian Bvivian using a FUJIFILM-Fine-Pix-J 100 digital camera.




Photograph courtesy of Vivian Bvivian. Published with permission.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Brown pigeon, bato-bato









BirdGeopelia striata
Common NameBrown pigeon, Zebra Dove, Kurokurot,Batobatong Katigbe
Camera Fujifilm hs25exr finepix bridge camera
Location/timenear U.P. Clarkfield
Date/timeFebruary 5,2013, , 10:59 A.M.
Settings1/350s, f/8
PhtographerDr. Ernesto P. Adorio
HostFacebook
ReferenceBirds of Alabang HIlls


Photo owned and copyright by Ernesto P. Adorio.

Brazilian candle flowers


First time to see another candle flower which is not a lutea.




Plant/Flowerpavonia multiflora x gledhellii.
Common NameBrazilian Candle Flower Plant
LocationNegros Occidental
CameraSamsung ES110
PhotographerAl Claud Jr.
AttributionsAl Claud Jr.(common name), Penny Quilter (scientific name)
Reference

Photograph owned and copyright by Al Claud. Linked with his permission in this blog.


Saturday, February 23, 2013

Tree with showy blue flowers: the Jaracandra tree





Plant/TreeKingdom(Plantae),unranked(Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids), order(Lamiales), family(Bignoniacea), genus(Jacaranda), species(J. mimosifolia)
CameraPanasonic S3 Digital Camera
LocationAustralia
Photographer Susan Estrope Dicker
AttributionIdentification(Susan Estrope Dicker)
Reference Wikipedia


Photograph owned and copyrighted by Susan Estrope Dicker of Australia.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Simple tools for image manipulation in Shotwell



I am sometimes impressed what you can do with Photoshop which is a Windows application. For us Linux users, the free photo manager Shotwell provides simple tools. Here is an original image.




And here is a post-processed image obtained by a little straightening and a little adjustment.



So If you are short of funds in buying Windows powered computers and Photoshop software, LInux provides simple tools in Shotwell. The following are available:

Enhance, Crop, Straighten, Red-eye, Adjust.

Enhance will try to improve the contrast. Crop allows to select a region in the photo, Straighten allows to straighten photos, Red-eye will remove red eye reflections in photos which used flasth and Adjust allows setting the Exposure, Saturation, Tint, Temperature and Shadows. The best thing to do is to install Shotwell, which is already standard in Ubuntu based Linux distributions.




Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Indian tree and bird.


I saw the bird atop the Indian tree and photographed it in zoom mode with my HS25EXR camera.Details are lost in the bird but at least we can see features! These types of scenes yield USABLE photos instead of high RESOLUTION photos. Someday we may be able to catch the same bird much nearer to make a clearer photo, which I suspect to be a wild pigeon,but which my friends say is a shrike.




We will post more photos of the Indian tree.

Here is a photo with a lovely sunset as backdrop.



Plant/treePolyalthia longifolia chinensis
Common nameIndian tree
CameraFujifilm Finepix HS25EXR camera
Location(first photo) UP Clarkfield, Pampanga;
(second photo) Petron Station, NLEX, Bulacan
Date(first photo)Feb. 19, 2013,(second photo)Feb. 28, 2013
PhotographerDr. Ernesto Adorio
AttributionElla Bernales Jacildo(botanical name)
ReferencesStuart xchange,
Wikipedia

Monday, February 18, 2013

Seagull photo with a canon S95


An incredibly clear photo with rich details of a seagull taken with a Canon S95 digital camera.



I like the way the S95 camera captures and renders the colors.

BirdSeagull
LocationBay of Monte Carlo, Royal Gardens
Camera Canon S95
Setting F 4.5, ISO 125, Expo time 1/1000
PhotographerPenny Quilter of England

Photograph owned and copyright by Penny Quilter. Published in this blog with permission.


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Rivina humilis, weed like with bright red berries


Considered a pest since it can crowd out other plants, this plant attracts birds to eat its berries and disperse it in some other places. In fact I saw an untamed brown pigeon one day in our family house in Sum-ag Bacolod City near this plant which has created a dense thicket!

Strangely though it is a common plant, it is not listed in Dr. Stuart's Xchange database for medicinal plants.






Plant Rivina humilis
Full namePlantae| Angiosperms |Eudicots | Order: Caryophyllales| Family: Phytolaccaceae|Genus: Rivina| Species: R. humilis
Common namePigeonberry, Rouge Plant, Baby Peppers, Bloodberry, and Coralito
LocationBacolod City
PhotographersSusan Estrope Dicker(1st photo), Dr. Ernesto Adorio(2nd photo)
CameraPansonic S3(1st photo), Olympus VG110(2nd photo)
AcknowledgmentDinah Canada (scientific name identification)
ReferencesWikipedia
AlbumsFacebook (E.P. Adorio)

First photo (c), 2013 by SED of Australia.

Images are not to be used for commercial purposes.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Prickly Pear cactus, opuntia




PlantOpuntia cochinellifera,Opuntia ficus-indica
Common namePrickly pear,abakus, dila-dila, nopal, palad
CameraFujifilm HS25EXR
LocationClarkfield, Pampanga
PhotographerErnesto Adorio
ReferenceStuartxchange,
Wikipedia


Mickey mouse eggplant, nipple plant, Solanum Mammosum







This funny looking plant "fruit" is the mickey mouse eggplant, found in the wild. According to some it is NOT edible, but stuart xchange says :
Fruit makes an excellent vegetable, the elongated kind is most cultivated, eaten before it ripens, before the seed hardens.Good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin B. The green leaves are a good source of vitamin C.



PlantSolanum Mammosum
Common nameMickey mouse eggplant, Cow's Udder Plant, Nipple Fruit
LocationSalvador Benedicto
CameraNokia C3
PhotographerErnesto P. Adorio
ReferenceWikipedia,
stuart xchange

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

"Deathly white" unknown plant flower at UP Clark





Some may like the flower, but I find it strangely solemnly sad to look at.


And it is not still identified, though it is commonly called IVORY flowers. I have posted the photo in Facebook and will give P100.00 to the first one who can properly identify it.


Identified today, February 13, 2013 as Calotropis Gigantea by Dinah Canada.


Plant/flower Calotropis Gigantea
Common Name Ivory Flower, bowstring hemp, calotrope, crown flower, crownplant, giant milkweed, madar
LocationClark Field, Pampanga
Camera Fujifilm HS25EXR camera
AcknowledgmentElla Jacildo (common name), Dinah Canada (scientific name)
Referencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calotropis_gigantea


Friday, February 8, 2013

Birds in sky formation



Taken with Samsung WB150F digital camera, 1/180s, f/3.7, ISO 80 In Sta. Maria, Bulacan, February 9, 2013.


Sunday, February 3, 2013

Sweet scented mock orange flowers, Philadelphus



I was amazed when my Australian based FB friend posted a photo of a "mock" lemon or orange. Seems the name is appropriate since they gave off the same scents but never bear fruits. Wikipedia showed that it belongs to the genus Philadelphus with 60 members.





Plant/FlowerPlantae/Angiosperms|Eudicots/Asterids/Cornales/Hydrangeaceae/Philadelphus
Common NameMock Orange or Lemeon
CameraPanasonic S3
LocationGladstone, Australia
PhotographerSusan Estrope Dicker
Referencehttp://Wikipedia entry

Image owned and copyright by Susan Estrope Dicker. Photo hosted in Facebook.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Delicate "ginger" lily blooms


Our Australian Facebook friend has posted a clear and stunning photo of a "ginger" lily like plant on her Facebook page. The buds look like nipples full of milk, I joked that it should be named nipples flower.



Here are some photos I took in Salvador Benedicto with my trusted HS25EXR camera.

Plant Languas speciosa, Zerumbet speciosum
Common nameShell ginger, langkawas na pula,
LocationGladstone, Australia
PhotographerSusan Estrope Dicker
CameraPanasonic S3
Date Feb.18,2012
Referencestuart xchange
AttributionsCommon name: Ella Bernales Jacildo

First image owned and copyright by Susan Estrope Dicker.Linked with permission from SED.