saintly's "Autumn Blush"

[Mark Evans]

thats a very good picture mark! looks like im looking at it in real life

the background suits it very well and is pleasing to look at

cheers sam, i'm still working on backgrounds. i'm narrowing down the colours 8)

Try lowering your light.

depends which way you look at it....if i lowered my lighting....it would be more intense right?....

I think this would do great in AGA, you'd be a great ambasador for the UK.

thanks thomas. i will be entering this year, hopefully with this. 😀

Agreed time to start those entries 😉

just checking my full tank shots now 😀

So much sharper and an overall better balanced exposure.

cheers George. i'm getting to grips with light intensities and direction of lights....the thing is, I'm 1 short! :?

so it is feasable to lose the Alternanthera.

arghhh, dont say that....i was going to leave it and trim it a million times I cant believe that out of all the stems in there, this one is close to it's second trim!...the others are behind by about 2 weeks

Question is, can Mark keep this 'scape running until completion!?!

your getting to know me now eh?....

yeah! i reckon this will keep going for the duration. the end goal is to see what some of these stems look like after a prolonged period of grow and cut, grow and cut....call it trimming practise 🙂

eustarils stellata may become my new rotala rotundifolia 😉 ...it's lovely!

 

[lljdma06]

Try lowering your light.

depends which way you look at it....if i lowered my lighting....it would be more intense right?....

So much sharper and an overall better balanced exposure.

cheers George. i'm getting to grips with light intensities and direction of lights....the thing is, I'm 1 short! :?

so it is feasable to lose the Alternanthera.

arghhh, dont say that....i was going to leave it and trim it a million times I cant believe that out of all the stems in there, this one is close to it's second trim!...the others are behind by about 2 weeks

Question is, can Mark keep this 'scape running until completion!?!

your getting to know me now eh?....

yeah! i reckon this will keep going for the duration. the end goal is to see what some of these stems look like after a prolonged period of grow and cut, grow and cut....call it trimming practise 🙂

eustarils stellata may become my new rotala rotundifolia 😉 ...it's lovely!

Hmm. Have you thought about trimming the Alternantera, keeping the tops, which usually have smaller leaves, and then replanting with the smaller leaved stems? Or get it bushy, then replant only the smallest tips? I trained my Alternantera to grow much smaller leaves for my Dutch by doing just that. Selected the smallest leaved stems and only keeping those. You could even train the Alternantera tips in a different tank, then add back it closer to compeition time. I really think the scape needs needs the red, otherwise, you lose some of the originality of the tank. I also would use smaller side shoots to do this training. It does take work, though.

 

[Mark Evans]

Have you thought about trimming the Alternantera, keeping the tops, which usually have smaller leaves,

haha, this topic again Llj.

really, it's not viable to to do it this way. nor IMO do i think it's the best way (or amaono's) the fast growth isn't a problem, i just don't like the plant now. as George say's it's leaves are way to big for the style of scape.

surely if i trimmed and kept the top, by the time it gets to the top of the anubias line (which i want/ my trimming line) the leaves would be big again? ...but if i do it my way, trim at the anubias line, the new growth will be small at that same height! if you get my drift?.....

and....I'm not disturbing the substrate....imagine going into this.....



to uproot and replant it just wouldn't happen.

thanks anyway 😀

i'm not lowering the photo period as i'm still only on 6 hours per day as it is

i may get another 60cm to really fill my boots 😀

 

[Tony Swinney]

Looking awesome Mark 😀 I know what you mean about needing one more light ! I really think you need 3 lights to get a nice overall top light, a good background light, and then a feature light to bring out some specific detail. Separate lights mean you can control the exposure of each area far better - look at Amanos lighting set up - 6 or 7 flash heads some times

Look forward to seeing more 😀

Tony

 

[Mark Evans]

look at Amanos lighting set up - 6 or 7 flash heads some times

no way wow! i'd love another 2 lights or at least one . time to save 8)

cheers Tony 😉 hats' off to ya for sorting the wood too!

 

[Mark Evans]

Re: saintly's "Autumn Blush" The New Look

transformation time!

time for the big red plant to go! and a major trim of everything else.

TBH, it was decision time and to decide what shape i wanted. mound or U shape. I think I want the U shape. well it's too late if i want the other

instantly after the trim, the shape felt right and also it looks much more Nature style.

the second pic should show roughly how it may start to look when it's grown back. i plant to add e aciciualris at the back to soften the whole thing and in the mean time the crypts can start to receive some light and fill out. for those wondering about trimming, you can see the use of the wood to dictate the trim line.

before...



during...


after...

 

[samc]

are you planning on letting it grow up just above the anubias a little?

i think it will look great when grown in and good choice with the u shape, i think it looks better in nature scapes

seeing yours made me want to try a nature scape and now iv got the manzanita wood i have been swayed towards a nature scape rather than a iwagumi and im really looking foward to doing it 😀

you should do us proud if you enter the AGA

 

[aaronnorth]

very nice, reminds me of George's scape in his 125l a few year back.

 

[ceg4048]

Yeah, I have to admit, even though I'm a red freak it does look more balanced that way. 😀

I challenge you to do a red themed scape some day though mate. C'mon, it's out of the comfort zone but you're up to it.

Cheers,

 

[Mark Evans]

argghhh, thanks peeps 😀

I challenge you to do a red themed scape some day though mate. C'mon, it's out of the comfort zone but you're up to it.

OK, your on!

actually, as you probably know, this scape was venturing into the reds/pinks colourations, but it seems to be veering away from that. it looks like a name change is due 😛

and so now the water has settled here's a better quality image to show the new look.

ignore the hardware! and the fact the image isn't square on the background (you'll not see it if you click on the image 😉 )



so, now let another month pass!

 

[soton_dave]

loving the new look 😀
but like ceg said a red scape would look awsome and if anyone can make it work its you.

i say rip it apart and do it now.........lol,oh and dont bin the plants im sure i could make room in my tank to acomodate them

have you thought about selling sachets of "saintly's scapping talent" im sure you'd make a mint......lol

looking forward to next months pics

cheers dave

 

[ceg4048]

Hey I thought you hated blue backgrounds :!: What's up with that mate :?: :?:

Man, that looks pretty sweet though. The only niggle with the trimming is I would've prefered the rocks on the lower left, and the wood(?) on the lower right to be a wee bit more prominent, just for contrast sake, but no biggie, spectacular nonetheless.

Yeah, no pinks call for a name change, maybe something to do with Spring?

Cheers,

 

[Vito]

Another triumph saintly, keep them coming mate! One question how do you get the great square on pic, like even top to bottom if you understand what I mean, for the full tank shots...

Vito

 

[Mark Evans]

Hey I thought you hated blue backgrounds :!: What's up with that mate :?: :?:

i did, until now 😳 the lighting seems to change everything. Also the fact that this background is 3 foot away from the wall means i don't get those nasty lines that you sometimes get with a tank which is close to a wall and a light lowly suspended.

The only niggle with the trimming is I would've prefered the rocks on the lower left, and the wood(?) on the lower right to be a wee bit more prominent, just for contrast sake

i hear you Clive 😀 i will amend!

maybe something to do with Spring?

the thinking cap is on

loving the new look 😀
but like ceg said a red scape would look awsome and if anyone can make it work its you.

i say rip it apart and do it now.........lol,oh and dont bin the plants im sure i could make room in my tank to acomodate them

have you thought about selling sachets of "saintly's scapping talent" im sure you'd make a mint......lol

looking forward to next months pics

cheers dave

cheers dave, i think though it's more a case of copying talent. I just look at amano and try and replicate 😀 but this one tank alone, has opened up the dark and dusty parts of my mind 😀

getting the fish to play ball is a challenge. well, theses fish anyway :?

thanks guys 😀

 

[JamesM]

Looking great bud 8)

 

[Mark Evans]

Looking great bud 8)

cheers dude 😀

One question how do you get the great square on pic, like even top to bottom if you understand what I mean, for the full tank shots...

good question. well i think getting the camera level with the bottom of the tank may help. also i think focal length helps dramatically. i've used the 70mm end of my 70-300 which makes lines a little straighter and with the addition of skew tool in PS helps tons too. i think the "longer" you go the straighter it looks...i think

when you start to go wider, lines become rather erratic. i've taken some with my 15mm (on a full frame sensor) and the effect is dramatic as hell, but lines really do look like tramlines going into the distance

 

[aaronnorth]

wow, the best FTS i have seen, perfectly exposed, yet it still has that saintly feel to it 😀

 

[Steve Smith]

Looking great mate! I like seeing the hacked back shots to give a sense of before and after 🙂

 

[Mark Evans]

wow, the best FTS i have seen, perfectly exposed, yet it still has that saintly feel to it 😀

cheers matey 😀 thats a nice thing to say!

I like seeing the hacked back shots to give a sense of before and after 🙂

cheers dude, hopefully it might help others, seeing rather than just text.

here's how i tried to get my fish play ball....my wife always says that giving me food always gets me to do something so i thought it might work with the fish

 

[TDI-line]

Very cool Mark. 8) 8)