Interesting differences in your photos. The surrounding yellow/chartreuse plants give a yellowish look to some of the leaves. I'd say the darker one is more true to the plant. Yours is a beautiful dense plant. Mine is more open this year.

And mine has bloomed already.

This one appears much lighter. The dark leaves bounce the light around and it can appear lighter colored. When wet though the dark comes through regardless.

I absolutely love this hosta. It is strong and makes fat seedpods. A real standout with its round water lily leaves.

Settings on the camera make a huge difference. Just for fun yesterday I took a pic of the same LIBERTY; in the top right corner the camera was on a setting for food, giving a blue tone to the plant.

I never take pics at high noon. Colours are all washed out. I think the best time to take them is just before sunset, especially after it has rained. Much more depth to the shots.

I think it differs A LOT depending on how well you know your camera and the different settings, what type of exposure of sun the area gets and then what time of day it is, in that order. I get the best pics in the morning hours. The colors are truer to the plant and really pop. I can get great pics at noon (that is the 2nd best time for pics for me) and all the pics in the evening are usually crap, with the exception of a few here and there.

By the way, I actually prefer the second pic (fyi, I'm a graphic designer on the side, so I know at least a little bit about what makes an image work, although when it comes to your own pics, it is personal preference), I think the second one is truer to reality and doesn't have that dark haze over the whole pic, like it's been underexposed.

Here is some morning pics

and here are some mid-day pics:

Notice, Brother Stefan is the first above in each set. Look at the differences in the exposures.

Look at this hosta, Dixie Cups:

Morning Shot (tends to be softer, more forgiving lighting)

Mid-day Shot (the sunlight fully exposes the hosta)

Evening Shot (the lighting plays around with the colors and tends to make blues REALLY blue--notice the hazy look to the pic)

The settings that I use depend on the time of day I am taking the shot. All of this is just my experience, but again, everyone is not the same with what they like--that's what makes taking pics artistic and fun!

Funn I have a camera on my Asus tablet which consistently gives cooler shots. I have to watch it when taking pictures that I want to upload immediately from the garden to Flickr and thence to GWeb or the color is way off.

I'm going out more to take pictures in the evening rather than the morning because I am up and working early and do not stop until lunch. Then back at it. I came in just now for lunch and a break. The temp is not so unreasonable outdoors officially but the humidity is high. Our a/c is set for 80 and I am freezing to death with my clothing dripping wet. Brrrrrr. But after I get my "palate" cleared this evening before dark I expect to go look at the garden again with my camera in hand. To me visually that is my magic hour. Just as the solar lights come twinkling and sunlight is fading.

I'm about to get a new cell phone with a 14mp camera the Galaxy S5. I'm android not iPhone person. They say (in techie reviews) that it is the best cell camera although not as good as a DSLR. I need a blonde camera.

Mine were taken during overcast skies, I like the resulting photos better. The second best is evening for me, right before the auto flash kicks in.

Mocc, that is too funny. I knew we were kindred spirits! I am an Android person, too, not an iAnything person, LOL. My pics were taken with my Galaxy S4, which I LOVE. You will be over the moon about the S5, I am sure.

Funn, I thank you for your opinion on the camera picture quality using the phone. As a graphics person, you know a lot more than I do about what cameras can do to color. Any hesitation I had about using pictures from the camera is gone. Now I just have to swallow the purchase price of the phone. Gulp.....

Let me start you off on the right foot, Mocc. First thing you do after you get your S5 is go into camera settings and change it from "Auto" to "Daylight". I have to do it every time before I take pics. It goes right back to Auto after a few minutes, but this change makes a HUGE difference!

photos are best, taken on a cloudy day ... when you are printing on toilet paper at 200 mph ... at 200 dpi

for variation ...

put the camera on RAW image and you can have some real fun with the images in photoshop.

you can adjust anything. It is the camera settings and quality equip that get you the ... true to life... colors.

if you are taking people pix in broad daylight, use a flash because you can see their faces better... you can fix it in photoshop, or better yet, give it that ol' time look w. sepia.

_~

dkB *35+ years in the dark room ... b4 digital*

Yes, Funn, I'll remember the daylight setting instead of auto.
And Bragu, I had no idea you were into cameras and photoshop. I'd love to do some photoshop stuff. I think Clear Fork River Valley would look great in mixed up colors.