French Press Coffee and Yellow Roses

A month ago I had no idea what French press was; now I'm slurping some of the best coffee I ever tasted. I saw a TV special on coffee. It suggested that the best coffee was made in a French press. Last weekend, on our way home from the airport, Jane asked me to stop at Garden Ridge Pottery. What the heck; it was Sunday and we were in no hurry. And, she really loves shopping there. It was me who made the best purchase. I bought a $15 French press and can't get enough of this fantastic coffee. :-)

I would be on another photo safari but the weather sucks. It is cold and very windy. I've been putting together a collection of pictures to publish as "Texas, a whole 'nother country." I suppose I could take pictures of structures or animals. They aren't critically affected by the wind. But, it is the peak of wildflower season. I'm in flower mode and taking a flower photo in this wind is totally frustrating. I tried cranking the ISO up to 800 and even 1600 with little success -- keeper success, that is. It did produce some test results. I'll post one with the setting at ISO 1600. The picture is soft but a rose is supposed to be soft. :-)

I am also putting together a picture collection of Jane's gardens. I will have the pictures published as a calendar for Christmas presents. I had taken a few pictures of Jane's yellow roses that run across a series of trellises. I used a closeup, wide angle perspective with high ISO to compensate for the wind. Interesting but not great. I lost some quality in uploading these images. From previous posts, I learned that my images are much larger than necessary for internet viewing. These are seriously downsized. The effect of wide angle closeups is evident but comparing ISO grain or noise isn't realistic.

During the snow and ice, a branch of the roses broke. Jane removed the branch and the cut flowers made a beautiful vase for the coffee table. I took a couple of pictures then started to get serious. A friend had mentioned a need for a product photographer. It is a speciality for which I am too scatter-brained and detail disoriented. The setup would be good practice.

This image is being uploaded full-size to display the quality or lack of quality shooting at ISO 1600. The noise is very obvious in the shadow area to the right. However, the softening of the petals is not objectionable. I kinda like it. :-)

Click on this or any of the images to see a larger version.

I had time to get another cup of French press while that was uploading. Guess I'm a wuss. I had to add some water. :-)

I don't have macro capability with this lens and camera combination. This is as close as I could focus with the 18-135 lens at 135. This image won't make the calendar but not bad.

As you can probably discern, Jane is at work. Drinking coffee, taking pictures and playing on the computer is my entertainment when I'm lacking adult supervision. :-)

After remembering to adjust the ISO ( :-) ) I took this picture with the camera on a tripod and a smaller aperture (f11) to add focal depth. It is more of what a product photographer should be producing. But the hard, dark green leaf in the lower left is ugly. That is what I mean by detail disoriented. Not sure how I should have fixed that. I suppose it could be remedied in Photoshop but the image should never have been taken. This one won't make the calendar. I need more practice.

This is probably the best of the set. It too has the ugly dark green leaves. They might be removed by cropping. That, however, would likely remove the surrounding yellow petals that are needed to complete the impression of softness. It is also a downsized version of the original. Nothing for the calendar in this set. At least I have my French press to enjoy. :-)

Note: after posting I see that the images still are too large. Rather than edit the entire post, I'll remind myself to do better next time. :-(

l8r