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Fwd: Photographing ferns : 2 posts by 1 author. Attachments (13)

I am attaching a selection of images of a Dryopteris I took beside
woodland at Iver Heath Fields (not far from Pinewood Studios – where
studio filming of James Bond takes place), county of Buckinghamshire, UK.
Hopefully, they will meet with our fern expert’s approval as an example of what can be done, rather than just taking one or two images.
He can advise IF I have missed any important part of the fern and make and offer any other advice to encourage better images in future years to ENABLE him to identify the less common/more difficult to distinguish species more readily.
As with photographing flowering plants, more images per plant, of good, in focus, close-ups of the important parts of a plant are INVALUABLE and at times ESSENTIAL for a DEFINITE, RELIABLE identification.  The extra, quality images also reduce the time required for identifications and provides useful additional information plus better REFERENCE images to help others in the future.
THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IN MODERN DIGITAL CAMERAS TO
AID THE STUDY OF BOTH HIGHER AND SO-CALLED ‘LOWER PLANTS’.
THEY CAN BECOME INDISPENSIBLE TOOLS IN FIELD-BOTANY.
There are limitations ‘magnification-wise’ but such progress compared to what could be done with slide cameras in the past.
Keep forgetting to bring along a ruler to help dimension-wise in my photos! 


Could I just say very emphatically, that what is usually needed is the LOWER half of the frond, including stipe and lowest to mid pinnae.    This is so frequently ignored!

Why needed?  Because that is the part where the greatest degree of lobing, dissection etc. – and the greatest differentiation from other species is shown.
Only when we need to see if there are subapical bulbils or flagellae is it normally important to photograph the upper half of the frond – as in the majority of these photos here.
Hope this advice is disseminated and assimilated!!





 

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