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This and That from AHS to Region 2 The Region 2 Symposium 2005Jeff f Salterer: : A Varieariety of Images—My FirstForays Into the Digital WorldBy Don Jerabek, Watson Park Daylilies, Indianapolis, IndinanaWell-known hybridizer Jeff Salter of Rollingwood Gardenshas recently made his first forays into using a digitalcamera in his garden. After continued encouragement, or shallwe say “prodding,” by daylily friend David Kirchhoff, Jeff finallydecided it was time to purchase a digital camera. He relays thatquickly upon purchasing a digital camera. one is confronted withunfamiliar terms and unfamiliar adjustments such as “ISO” and“white balance.” He commented that some terms seemed to makelittle-to-no sense such as “noise reduction.” Jeff asked, “Whatdoes noise reduction have to do with photographs?” Hecommented that, “ Any button on auto,” seemed an easy one toselect. Who wouldn’t want things to be adjusted automatically?”Next button? HQ?!? HQ must mean high quality. Let’s pick thatone,” Jeff continued. Other terms to confront include RAW,TIFF, SHQ and SQ; what could these all mean?Jeff commented, “The nice thing about having images asslides, is that they are tangible. They are physical. You can holdthem, stack them and sort them. You store them, arrange them. Iam a person focused on the tangible.” All the more reason that atransition to taking and keeping digital images can be a difficulttransition. But, Jeff continued that even after purchasing a newdigital camera, the camera did spend a number of months in adrawer before he finally took it out into the garden.Luckily for Jeff and his wife Elizabeth, they have a teenagedaughter, Alex. She was able to help them get more comfortablewith the camera, as well as help them transfer some of their oldslide images to the computer in a digital format. The audiencechuckled with delight, well aware that our children or grandchildrenfrequently have to be mobilized to help us become morecomfortable with our new digital age. He commented that it isequally as possible to convert digital images into slides.Jeff’s talk included sharing images of his 2005 introductions inboth fashions: The flowers were shown as slide images fromKodak film and also as digital images through a MicrosoftPowerPoint presentation program. The images were taken with atraditional Nikon S(ingle) L(ens) R(eflex) camera loaded withKodachrome 64 film and a new Olympus digital camera. Theoutstanding beauty of his introductions was obvious, regardlessof whether the image was slide or digital. Jeff did remind us that“unlike a traditional camera, the settings of a digital camera arenot hardwired and if not set properly, you can lose your settings.”He also cautioned that when doing a Powerpointpresentation, you can not assume that the colors you see on theHAPPY HALLOWEEN (2005)(HALLOWEEN HOCUSPOCUS X (EXOTIC TREA-SURE x MASK OF ETER-NITY))A pale creamy orange withslight pink salmon infusion anda large black eye and doubleedge of black and gold. Edge isvery heavy and pronounced andhas bubbles and tiny teeth thatsurround the entire petal.laptop screen will be the same colors as the digital image that willbe projected by the digital projector onto the screen, but that thisproblem is getting much better. Jeff added that digital cameraswith larger image capture sensors were preferable over cameraswith smaller image capture sensors.Of the 2005 Introductions he shared with us, his HAPPYHALLOWEEN was a crowd favorite. Other daylilies of note werehis new introductions and seedlings that expanded the interestinglook of the CHINESE TEMPLE FLOWER (I. Munson 1980)throats that are becoming strong, fascinating, and create a clearand distinct throat patterns. Other crowd pleasers were SPRINGSENSATION, as well as the magnificent reds and amazingbicolors coming out of SPRING SENSATION breeding. Jeff alsoshared images of seedlings with the largest and most expandedeyes the crowd had seen.The question from the audience was raised: “At what point is theeyes expanded to the point that it is no longer an eye but itbecomes the dominant petal color and is, therefore, no longer aneye?”Jeff left the crowd with a bit of advice of hybridizing: “You needto select what YOU want and like, not what someone else likes;not what is liked by the hybridizer down the street.” And, he leftthe crowd with some advice on digital cameras and presentations,saying, “The ability to create more interesting presentationslike the ability to add parentage and comments makes thedigital media both the trend in the future and a plus for a moregenerally interesting presentation.”For the hybridizer or the photographer, Jeff brought forwardinteresting and educational comparisons that will help all theattendees make better daylilies and make better images of theirdaylilies.Jeff Salter and Region 2 Ways andMeans Committee Chair NikkiSchmith of the Southern MichiganHemerocallis Society(Image: G Meckstroth)SPRING SENSATION((ENCHANTINGESMERALDA xSEEDLING) X ROYALRENAISSANCE)Bright cerise rose red withtiny lime heart.Flower images on thispage: Scanned from 2005catalog by G MeckstrothSTORM PRINCEJeff Salter 2005(COSMIC SENSATION X(SOLDIER OF FORTUNE xSeedling))You can visit Salter’s Rollingwood Gardens: http://rollingwoodgarden.com/AHS Region 2/Great Lakes NewsletterSpring-Summer 2005 Page 29