Hepatica 2010

[Ragged Robin]

What a way to come to the end your Hepatica season, Gunilla, with H. nobilis 'Odette' - gorgeous 

[Gunilla]

Thanks, I like it too 

Anne, it's one of Andreas Handel's selections. I have not thought of the name before but now it all makes sense.  Earlier I showed another of his plants, the pink transsilvanica 'Schwanensee' (Swan Lake) and Odette is the princess turned into a swan in the ballet.  I know that he also has a lovely white nobilis called 'Giselle' named after another ballet, I believe.

Schwanensee flowered for a long period.

H. transsilvanica 'Schwanensee'
A blue double found by my father many years ago

[Luc Gilgemyn]

A very subtle pink on "Schwanensee" Gunilla !!

[zonneveld]

Hello Hepatica lovers
I tried to send you my article on Hepatica. the pdf file is 517.000 however the limit is at 500.00 So it did not work. Is there another way to send it to you? ( if you are interested)
Ben Zonneveld

[Maggi Young]

Ben, Thank you for this article which I was very pleased to receive from you. I have reduced the size of the pdf  and it is now approx. 470kb.... I will resend it  to you and then you should be able to send it to those  with the 500kb limit. 

[Lori S.]

1, 2) Hepatica nobilis 'Rubra Plena'
3, 4, 5, 6) Hepatica transylvanica
7, These photos are about the closest to true colour (rich blue-purple) that I've managed to get this year - Hepatica nobilis.

[cohan]

good show, lori--i like the transylvannica especially--like the colour and shape, though nobilis is nice too; i guess because blues are much less common here than violets (i mean as general flower colours) the less violet shades catch my eye first..

[cohan]

Thanks, I like it too 

H. transsilvanica 'Schwanensee'

lovely colour and form on this one, gunilla..

[Lori S.]

good show, lori--i like the transylvannica especially--like the colour and shape, though nobilis is nice too; i guess because blues are much less common here than violets (i mean as general flower colours) the less violet shades catch my eye first..

Cohan, if only I could capture the colour accurately (dang!), you'd see that that form of C. nobilis is nothing like the colour of any of our native plants - it's really most unusual and beautiful!  Given my rudimentary photography skills, I guess you'll just have to see it some day.

[cohan]

good show, lori--i like the transylvannica especially--like the colour and shape, though nobilis is nice too; i guess because blues are much less common here than violets (i mean as general flower colours) the less violet shades catch my eye first..

Cohan, if only I could capture the colour accurately (dang!), you'd see that that form of C. nobilis is nothing like the colour of any of our native plants - it's really most unusual and beautiful!  Given my rudimentary photography skills, I guess you'll just have to see it some day.

part/much of it is the camera's capability, but blues are hard to capture! i can see though that this is a deeper/bluer blue than anything that grows around here..

[Lori S.]

Yes, we discovered the problem that cameras have with the blue spectrum (something to do with the visible spectrum and... ?) first with blue-flowered tropical water lilies.  A solution, apparently, is to use a filter (though that is beyond my abilities and inclination)... though you can tell when a filter has been used as everything turns blue, including the yellow stamens on the water lilies.  It sort of helps to reduce the exposure, though I try not to fiddle too much with photos.

[Rodger Whitlock]

Yes, we discovered the problem that cameras have with the blue spectrum (something to do with the visible spectrum and... ?) first with blue-flowered tropical water lilies.  A solution, apparently, is to use a filter (though that is beyond my abilities and inclination)... though you can tell when a filter has been used as everything turns blue, including the yellow stamens on the water lilies.  It sort of helps to reduce the exposure, though I try not to fiddle too much with photos.

In the bad old days of film, most films were notorious for rendering blue flowers as purple, and rendering all red as bright undifferentiated fire-engine red. Kodak published a formula for the filter pack you needed to use to get the blue flowers rendered properly, but it involved so many filters that it dimmed things by a full three stops (iirc), so you had to take much longer exposures. It was not a practical solution! If it had been, I'd have all the filters needed.

Digital cameras seem to have much better color rendition as a general rule, but they're not perfect. There are two ways to deal with the imperfections. One, in your camera tinker with the white balance settings. Two, for every photo take a photo of a test card that includes a 17% neutral gray swatch plus a section of colors that represent pure colors. Then in post processing (Photoshop, Gimp, PaintShopPro), just tinker with the color balance until the test color patches come out right, then apply those adjustments to photos taken under the same conditions.

[gote]

In the bad old days of film, most films were notorious for rendering blue flowers as purple, and rendering all red as bright undifferentiated fire-engine red. Kodak published a formula for the filter pack you needed to use to get the blue flowers rendered properly, but it involved so many filters that it dimmed things by a full three stops (iirc), so you had to take much longer exposures. It was not a practical solution! If it had been, I'd have all the filters needed.

The problem was (and still is) that the sensitivity of the film goes further into red than the sensitivity of the eye. Thus blue with a tinge of infrared will come out redder in the picture than the eye will see it. A typical difficult subject is Ramonda myconii. This flower seems to reflect unusually much in the infrared range of the spectrum. The problem can be solved by a single filter that cuts in the right place. A dye filter (or a stack of dye filters) will not do it but an interference filter will. An interference filter will not affect exposure time. However, they are difficult to get. (Did Kodak not know? probably they did but probably they manufactured dye filters not interference filters    ) 
A digital camera has the same problem and in a much higher degree. For that reason, digital cameras come with the filter built in. If you remove the filter, your camera will take infrared pictures in the dark and also see through some kinds of garments  but the colour balance will of course be worse than awful. (And it is a very delicate operation)
If a blue Ramonda comes out purple or pink, the filter in your camera cuts too long wavelengths and this can be corrected by applying a filter of the correct wavelength.
An interference filter will not affect any other colour than those that come out pinkish because of the infrared problem so it can be on the camera at all times (or built in).
Cheers
Göte

[Lori S.]

Thank you for the explanations, and solutions, Rodger and Gote!  

I take it "test cards" would be available at camera stores?

If you remove the filter, your camera will take infrared pictures in the dark and also see through some kinds of garments  

I thought only Superman could do that!!  

[gote]

My Hepaticas seem to be later than everyone else's but this year the show in the forest was better than it has been for some years now. Reason: 50cm of snow prevented the roe deers from eating the buds.
Lilac hepaticas are very difficult with my camera but this time I think the colour is about right.
The white one is a true albino there is no pigment on stalks or backside of leaves (except green of course).
My transsylvanica liked the heavy snow. bets show ever.
I call the double red 'Dalsland'  because this is where it was originally found. It is very vigourous and spread widely in cultivation.
Cheers
Göte