The Color Purple

How can I capture purple a lot more realistically?  In the garden I have several plants that are various shades of purple.  Lobelia?  Forget it.  It always gets so washed out.  I just can’t figure out what the problem could be.  A Nikon  D90 is being used with no flash.  The sun is setting in the examples provided below.  Settings for each photo are provided.

Black Knight Butterfly Bush is practically black.  Whenever I take a photo, the color seems to fade or brighten.  It’s just not the blackish-purple that you can see in person.

F stop	f/56
Exposure time	1/50 sec
ISO speed	ISO-3200
Exposure bias	0 step
Focal length	55 mm
Maximum aperture	5

Although my butterfly bush photo is similar to others I’ve seen while researching the topic, that doesn’t make me feel any better.  It simply means I have company with this problem.  (Note:  Farmer MacGregor is not posing for The Nursery at Ty Ty.)

Lavender is really stumping me.  It completely washes out no matter what time of day the photo is taken.  Too blue.  It’s as if the images are Photo Shopped too heavily.  Too processed.  None of my photos are touched up but what you see is a bit different than what you get.

F stop	f/56
Exposure time	1/15 sec
ISO speed	ISO-3200
Exposure bias	0 step
Focal length	55 mm
Maximum aperture	5

 

Not only do I want to conquer this hurdle to correctly capture the color purple in the garden, I want to conquer this hurdle before the plums and grapes ripen.  The Santa Rosa plums are more red than purple – so are the Red Flame grapes.  Purple zinnias will be planted soon.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I’m a Pepper. You’re a Pepper.

Remember that Dr. Pepper jingle from the 1970s?  Oh, it’s stuck in my noggin. 

The heat has been turned up in the garden and everything is starting to pop.  Here’s an update:The Black Hungarian Peppers have started to develop.  This variety of hot pepper is definitely living up to its name – BLACK.  All the varieties of tomatoes have fruit.  Carbon won the award for most bashful as it developed last.  Now I need to decide if I want to prune off lateral branches to encourage vertical growth up the string.  Like thinning seedlings, this may take psychological strength. The Butterfly Bush is in full bloom.  It’s about a week behind where it was in 2009.  I guess it’s because of the mild spring weather that its schedule is slightly off.  This variety is Black Knight.  It’s deciduous and blooms on new growth.  In the fall, it needs to be pruned down severely.  If sugar was a flower, it would be a Butterfly Bush.  The scent is sugary sweet to me.Jaune D’Or Ovale radishes are taking off faster than I can eat them.  They will be distributed to friends and neighbors for their enjoyment.  The radishes were planted with a row of Mule Team tomatoes to ward off pests.  So far, so good.  As these are harvested, a new crop will be sown.  These radishes are mild.

More lavender has been harvested and hung to dry.  All the Candy Hybrid Onions have been harvested and are on the drying rack along with the garlic to be used throughout the summer.

Summer Savory was planted in the holes of the cinder blocks where the Borlotto Solista Beans are growing.  Insects are repelled by this herb.  The peppery taste helps flavor the beans.

I also planted some Italian Parsley.  The directions on the seed packet from Victory Seeds directs me to freeze the seeds for 3 – 5 days and to soak them in warm water for 4 hours before planting.  Phewy!  I just sprinkled the seeds in some rich soil and lightly covered them.  They are being irrigated with a drip line.  Hope my shortcut method works just as well.

As always, my supervisor was there to oversee all the work. Licorice had a sister by the name of Pepper.  Good Old Pepper is buried on the other side of the garden wall.  She was a good cat.

So with Black Hungarian Peppers, the peppery taste of Summer Savory, and thoughts of Pepper the Cat, I was humming the Dr. Pepper commercial from the 1970’s.  The video quality stinks; but the tune is just fine.  Enjoy the ride in my time machine.