Spring snuck up on me!

[jerryph]

I worked a couple hours today to remove the last of the snow in our little garden in the front of the house and what did I find? Spring!

This 3" high surprise was under the snow, can you believe it??

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2414675538_66d6e31280.jpg

I had mentioned the Sigma 105mm F/2.8 prime earlier today, so I took it out planning to do a few test pic with it tonight and this is the lens that I had on my camera when I saw the flowers, so I decided to use it. This lens I use the least... but I think I will start to play with it a little more after seeing these results. :)

[LensBaby]

Very nice photo! I can't believe that they made it with snow on top of them!

[gjtoth]

Nice shot!

Just goes to show ya: Sometimes flowers are more resilient than people :)

[dkippen]

Jerry -

I was so excited, I noticed a couple of my crocus up yesterday when I came home from work. I think I've lost a lot due to lack of snow cover the year before.

[jerryph]

Gary - You could not stick me under a blanket of ice and snow for 6 months and expect me to bloom... lol

Debbie, this batch came from my sister, she had a few extra plants and shared them with me. What is funny is that hers did not come out yet and mine are just exploding. Today in the sun I could see that they were open and a lot nicer!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2416292053_7fc54a81ed.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2416292053_7fc54a81ed_b.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2416291949_e2ddbff279.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2416291949_e2ddbff279_b.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2417111578_8d6f94cf1f.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/2417111578_8d6f94cf1f_b.jpg)

Again this was with the 105mm prime, and I should have known this, but each lens gives me better results once I get to know them more... and a good reason I should practice more with all my lenses so that they stay fresh in my head. The results today are much better than yesterday's pics.

[ladyups]

Wow, Jerry...I love crocus and these are beautiful. I keep thinking I will plant some but planting in the fall has never been exciting to me. I guess I want to see instant results, not wait 6 months...;)...but I'm going to plant some this fall in my front flower bed. After this drab winter, I realized how much I like color! These are great photos. I'm going to have to invest in a bigger prime lens. My 50mm is great but I'd like to have a 100. My hubby's Christmas list is getting full.:):)

[LensBaby]

Your color saturation is just perfect. I think they are just beautiful! Do you mess with the color curves on your photos?

[jerryph]

Believe me or not, they are 95% straight out from the camera. The ONLY things that I did was increase sharpness 30%, increase contrast 3% and convert to JPG, that's all that I did, I swear. That Sigma 105mm F/2.8 prime really does an amazing job.