Weekender 24th / 25th Ocober 2026

[Man From Ironbark]

It is halfway through Saturday for me. Opted to start the weekender. We are currently in a veritable swarm of moths and butterflies.
This is the painted lady on Helichrysm or paper daisy.

and the Liime Orchard Swallowtail amongst parsley and larkspur.

[dewarp]

Great macros there Peter. I particularly like the first one - jumps out at me.

The next image in my handful is "Post Bank Client".

I'm not much into photographing people. However, I went to a PSSA Congress last year, and they had a session of photographing local folks in a makeshift studio setting. I captured a fair number of interesting portraits, this being one of them.

   

I first made a coloured version, and then converted that to B&W using the old (free version) of Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. The only "addition" was to add smoke to the unlit cigarette. The B&W version beats the coloured one easily.

[Man From Ironbark]

What a great portrait. I don't even want to see the coloured version, this B&W is so good.

[Rich]

Awesome photos Peter! Agree with Pete on the first one.

WoW Pete! Just an awesome portrait! The addition of the smoke is delicate, almost unseen, but adds a ton of interest!

I think you have all seen the Corn Palace, but have you seen the corn-by-number road map to apply it? Here is the design for next years Palace. The theme is African Animals. The one shown, I think you can tell, is a Lion. This looks a little more detailed than normal. Should be interesting. Will add updates. They are to be done, weather permitting, the end of November I believe.

[Man From Ironbark]

Thanks for the comments.

The corn palace must keep quite a few people in work.

[Dave]

MFI, two fine photos that show a mastery of DOF.

I especially like the first, which IMHO is one of your very best.

Peter, like you I'm not into photographing people, but I do recall one from years ago. If I remember it correctly it has some similarities to yours: both in grayscale, both featuring a guy wearing a baseball hat and sporting a  whitening beard. But the big difference is that mine was just a mediocre photo while yours is a sensitive and masterful portrait.

Hi Rich. I've enjoyed your photos of the Corn Palace for years, and it 's interesting to see some of the detailed preliminarily work. The  folks who create the finished products are indeed skilled artists.

I have a coupon for 50% off on an 11x14 2027 calendar from Shutterfly, so I've  been searching for which images to use. I think I can use 13 different photos (1 for the cover and 12 for the months). But the problem is that I've already identified 55 candidate images, and I'm not finished with my search.

[dewarp]

Thanks for the comments folks.

Rich - That corn palace never fails to amaze me!

My third image is titled "One In a Million".

The South African entry to the Chelsea Flower Show in London has captured one of the top prizes for three consecutive years now. After each show, the entry is totally reconstructed using fresh flowers in Stanford, South Africa so that the locals can view the presentation. To a large extent, the entry makes much use of Proteas, which are native to our Western Cape area.

We didn't get to the local showing this year due to both of us getting bouts of flu. However, I used one of my shots from the 2025 show to produce this image.

   

I photographed an area of a large flower display in a huge wicker "basket". One flower was masked out, and the background image given a treatment with the Redfield Fractalius filter and some B&W work.

[Man From Ironbark]

Nicely done.

[Dave]

Wonderful image. The shapes and colors are intriguing and your restrained handling of the filter combine to make this image a winner.

It proves that the cardinal rule of composition (Never place your COI in the middle!) can be ignored by someone who knows his/her stuff.

[Rich]

Yes Peter, it used to be city employees but now is contracted out. I am not sure, will have to ask someone in the know. I have seen about 6 at one time with 2 on a lift, four getting the corn ready. Sometimes two lifts.

Thanks Dave. It is an interesting way to make a mural for sure!

Thanks for the comment Pete! Some people in town spell amaze as amaize!

I agree with what Dave has said about your photo. A very striking image! The soft B&W background makes the flower pop. Just amazing adjustments to make an excellent image better.