Together with today's posting I wanted to add this one, a shot with edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) and the landscape, which, most unfortunately, was not a success. There were blooming lots of these famous flowers around the hut, fortunately not picked by tourists (main cause they cannot be found any more on many sites). **Tips for shooting landscapes and flowers together**: use wide angle (28 mm as I use is, in fact, still not enough), 24 mm or smaller is great. Close the aperture as far as possible (f/32 or further) and focus very closeby. Compose your image with flowers and landscape (I am used to lie down on my stomach with low flowers like I've done in [Turtmannhütte](http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=1122569&Start=1&Artist=jcv2&ByArtist=Yes)) and push the button!

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=1128438&Start=1&Artist=jcv2&ByArtist=Yes

The original posting in the gallery can be found here.

Looks very good. I will have to try this now...I have never tried such small aperature for a landscape photo. TY for sharing this info. Did you use the DOF preview button? :-)

Thanks for the little bit extra Jan-Carel! This has been such a cool hike, and though the photo above may not be perfect, it adds to me sense of being there. I lived in Europe as a wee lad and saw some edelweiss when we went on hikes. It is sad to hear it is not as common as it once was, but at least you found some here. I have that song in my head now too, thanks.... ;^]

Message edited on: 01/05/2006 04:45

@coolj001 Yep, I pressed the DOF-button, but with this small aperture it becomes real dark so I was not sure whether those flowers would be sharp or not. @TwoPynts Best places to find edelweiss are locations where they cannot be picked, such as unattainable rocks; a simple telelens will bridge the distance but ok, you can't shoot them in that way with a landscape on the background.

Thanks JC, but I don't think I'll be shooting it in the near future. ;-]

I don't think I'll be shooting this mountain in the near future either, but I may be able to find it with Google Earth and take a screen shot. If only Google Earth had a DOF preview button.

You make me feel the lucky guy... :) If you're looking with Google Earth, it's just the valley south from Turtmann (between Sierre and Visp) in the Rhevalley, north from the Weisshorn (4506 m, 18392 ft).

So lovely Jan-Carel !!!! The Edelweiss are always a wonder when we could see them in the mountains ! Another gift of Mother Nature ;o)))) I like this shot. Maybe it would have been more impressive if all was net, the flower and the mountain behind. But that's a personal thought ;o)))) Thank you for sharing this one in the forum. A very big Hug. Nathalie

Ha ha, yes, Nathalie, I'd love to have it all net - that was just my point and that's why I didn't post it in the gallery! :) When the flowers are on larger distance they get smaller, and zooming in would enlarge both landscape and flower causing a shallower DOF. Chicken and egg story, getting the flowers big can only be done with wide angle (or with photo editing software, but that's not my focus of photography).

Ah-h, the problem for the flowers is the downward (glacier-facing) slope and that they have short stems. Here is one where I would (if allowed) dig a small hole, pre-set the focus on the flowers, and let the glacier blur as it will (the small aperture, of course)... and shoot several pics blind with minor adjustments of camera position. But then my camera is a cheap digital (fit in your palm) and can take the center of the lens to 1/2 inch (1.3cm) from the ground. I do wonder if a small first-surface mirror cocked at an angle could achieve the same effect as an ant's eye-view. BTW, I like the "#12 extra" perspective of the glacier better than the other, even if we lose sight of the well developed lateral moraine. More, please. -- Dick

must be nice, Jan-Carel, to be able to close your aperture that much!!!!! :)

boo-hoo!!! it's not fair! it's frustrating 'cause with my cam the most i can close it is f/8. the only way to close it more is to add a filter. yesterday i used a linear polarizar, and that lets you close your aperture only 1 1/2 to 2 stops more...so f/10 is as closed as i can get mine unless i want to stack filters.

i don't have a wide angle lens either (boo-hoos some more!!) LOL! :)

i would LOVE to see what some of my landscape shots would look like if i could get my aperture closed that much.

kemal and i are getting ready to buy a new cam and it will have a wide angle lens and the ability to close aperature a LOT more. that'll be his cam since i got the new one last year, but you can bet i'll be checkin it out!!! :)

anyway, i really like that perspective on this picture!! perhaps this spring i'll be able to use your tips after we get a new cam and the flowers start blooming!!! thanks for tips!!!

oh, BTW, yesterday when we went out shooting, i was already sick with some kind of virus. well, we were down by the river and i got in some tall weeds...came home with weeds stickin' to my socks and stuff.

apparently while i was down low on the bank of the river with my face in the weeds, i got into something i was allergic to. so now besides the virus i have, my face is broken and and one of my ears on the inside is full of red bumps and is all itchy.

i was covered from head to toe. long pants. long sleeves. only my face and ears showing. boo hoos some more But ya know what, it was worth it 'cause i took some AWESOME pictures!!!! :)

thanks for the tips and the picture!!! puts me in the mood to go sledding!! :)

Message edited on: 01/05/2006 11:31

@drace68 Thank you for your advice, Dick! I simply forgot the landscape can be put out of focus as well, as long as it's recognisable (like the glacier here). With an extension tube (which I happen to have in posession, fortunately) it's easy to get better focus on the flowers. Digging a hole... Hmmm, if you can arrange a bulldozer here, it's solid rock smiling at you! @tvernuccio Sorry about the limited capabilities of your cam, Sheila! The new cam's properties sound promising, as long as you can get your hands on it now and then... :) Lying down on the ground, hmmm, an allergy is no fun. I just plough now and then through the mud, scratching my trousers (and deeper) over the sharp rocks and for grip I grab with my hand a thistle, it's al part of the game teaching me to pay more attention next time (which I have completely forgotten the next time LOL)! But as you say, when you're home having some awesome pictures you see the painful efforts payed off and it adds to the proudness of those pictures when you remember the investments made to achieve these results! jumps back on your sled pushing us together downwards Wheeeeeeeee! (like those Calvin and Hobbes pictures)

l remember your edelweiss... upload remembering it was the first time l'd actually seen the delicate flowers... and was amazed.... heheh chicken and theory love it jan -carel.... you always capture the essence of the alps so beautifully.....:)))))

Jan-Carel, that visual image of you plowing thru the mud and getting all scratched up as me LMAO!!! and thistles...ouchy! i went to put on my gloves right before we went outside to go shooting today, and there was one HIDING in there!!!! Oooooh that hurt! :) Hey, that sled ride was FUN!!!! now what's up with cindy? hollars C I N D E E ! ! ! where are you!!! dontcha wanna go sledding????? :) i thought you loved that stuff!! come on girl! grab your thistle-free mittens and hop on!!! and hey...what about you Nikki??? anyone else game? :)

i love this shot better than the other god i wish i was with you.:) i still have so much to learn ,superb Jan-Carel,maybe you should come to australia and give me lessons on how not to use a camera.:)

Message edited on: 01/05/2006 22:16

I appreciate you explaining how you done the shot keeping both near and far in focus. unfortunately I have not invested in a wide angle yet

Once lying down there on your stomach you don't worry about the mess anymore and keep shooting. So when posting "Turtmannhte 15" I had to decide and I choose the portrait one. However, the landscape one was not fit for the trashcan either, but hey, I can't cover you under piles of edelweiss captures, can I!? :)

Wow! So lovely to see the pretty edelweiss and now I have the song in my head too!