Pond

Yesterday, I visited my sister for Independence Day dinner. She and her husband installed a garden pond when they first moved into their home a decade ago, and have been improving it over the years.

Water lilies and water hyacinths grow in profusion, although the latter is not in bloom, and there are what I believe to be pickerel weeds (pontederia cordata) in one corner.

There are flashes of orange under the surface from the goldfish that managed to acclimate to life outdoors. Of course, they are descended from wild fish, but still, it's impressive to me that they thrive in such a small space. They do get supplemental food, and they sometimes swarm to the edge of the pool demanding a handout when people approach.

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Sunset

I also experimented with the HDR (high dynamic range) setting on my phone for some sunset shots. I am reasonably satisfied with the quality, but I will share with and without HDR images so you can see the difference.

Above: standard photo with auto settings. Below: HDR mode. Essentially, the camera takes several photos to adjust the exposure in different parts of the image for more even lighting. The result is an absence if overexposed bright areas and underexposed shadows.

Whether the effect is what you want or not depends on your intent as a photographer, of course, so saying one or the other is objectively "better" would be an overreach. As it is, I am just experimenting with camera settings so I have a better chance of getting the most out of my phone.