The afterglow

Sunsets: I have shot at least a couple of thousands. And I never tire of them.
From my very early days doing the mistake to just wait for the sun to come close to the horizon and then point in its direction before it disappears. If I was smart enough, I would have at least a subject in between so I could end up with a silhouette, of dubious quality.
As film could not hold the high contrast too well I then tried to wait for a softer light, post sunset, if my subject was back-lit. Suddenly the colors will start to show up in my slides, way more pronounced that my eyes could see. Little I knew that our eyes adapt to the changing light temperature and what might have looked "normal" with my eyes, film would record as very warm tones as the whole landscape was lit by candlelight.


adapted C-mount Navitar 75mm f1.3 @ f2    1/25sec

With digital photography things change a bit: one can adjust the color setting and the sensor can capture way more details in the shadows than any film ever could. But the soft light remains the same.
I wait, knowing that the real show will happen when people are gone :-)


* and thanks to technology I was able to create this image that otherwise would have been totally blurred in my film days: 1/25sec on a 150mm lens!

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Same place: 3 different moods

I was hoping for a fiery sunset that evening.
All week long the sky has been turning spectacular with powerful red skies; but I was stuck in the city.
Now it was Saturday and I headed to the beach: it was going to be low tide at sunset.
But one thing it's sure with outdoor photography: I can't control the light.
What I thought was going to happen didn't: there was no fiery sky, no dramatic clouds.
The sun lowered to the horizon and then it met low dark clouds. The light went from soft warm to steel cold and flat.

I had a few vintage lenses with me, none of them really designed for my camera. One was a slide projection lens from a Kodak Carousel that I mounted on some macro bellows to be able to focus and certainly the hardest lens to use. Very low contrast, not very sharp and rendering highlights with a glow.


Kodak Ektanar C 102mm f2.8 slide projector lens  1/4000sec

As the light quickly changed I suddenly was faced with a very blue light that robbed all the typical colors of a beach at sunset. What it gave me instead is the opportunity to create a different look, of a more somber and pensive style.


adapter lens from miniature SLR system Pentax-110: 70mm f2.8 (fixed aperture)  1/640sec

Eventually the light faded away and just as I was heading back I notice the mangrove tree silhouetted against the sky.


adapter lens from miniature SLR system Pentax-110: 18mm f2.8 (fixed aperture)  1/200sec


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Snowgum grove

My favourite trees.
Twisted by the harsh winter winds their resilience is inspirational.


G-Lumix 14mm f5.6  1/125sec

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January late afternoon on the beach

While some of my friends are enjoying (or hating?) winter in the Northern hemisphere I get the pleasure to walk barefoot on a sandy beach in Queensland.


Vivitar 135mm f2.8  @f5.6  1/125sec

I never tire of a walk before dark, sometimes I am gifted with a spectacular sunset.


G-Lumix 14mm    f5.6  1/10sec 


Vivitar 135mm f2.8  @f5.6  1/350sec


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Last catch

They dragged the net into the sea one more time and then gathered to see what they caught.


Sigma 60mm f2.8 DN  @f5.6  1/180sec

Australia Day weekend attracted a lot of people to spend time with their family, outdoors.

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Granite spires

Granite spires of the high country in the Australian Snowy Mountains.


G-Lumix 14mm f5.6  1/500sec

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Top dog

Like in an old-school duel: at dawn, on the edge of the sea cliff they established who is the top dog, err.., top kangaroo.
A few kicks, a couple of punches (really) but no loss of blood, to verify the pecking order.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9  @f5.6  1/750sec

Reflection on Saggö ön

We spent 3 days camped in just one location because the granite coast had too much to offer, visually.
Every evening we would wait for the sun to get closer to the horizon before our evening "photographic walk".


M.Zuiko 9-18mm  f5.6  1/160sec
The endless low soft light was a visual feast for me, used to sub tropical abrupt sunsets.
The open spaces, gently curved shapes of the polished granite devoid of visual clutter reminding me vaguely of the American South West sandstone desert.

Boulder hopping

Endless hours can be spent exploring the granite shores polished by the glacial action.
High above the shore large boulders lay in the crevices where only winter storm waves can reach them to tumble them.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm  f4.0  1/320sec

Late sunset in Åland

After a day of rough seas, pulling into this little natural harbor was a real relief.
I called it the Japanese Garden, where ponds and low vegetation is arranged in almost a made-made form. The small gentle waves were only a reminder of the big seas earlier in the day.


M.Zuiko 14-42EZ  f4.5  1/6sec (handheld)

The sun seemed to never set, just skirted to horizon, hiding behind the light clouds
We were tired and half asleep when the light outside the tent changed and started to glow.

Bagnasciuga

Wet-Dry: Italian word for the foreshore where the waves meet the beach.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm f5.6  1/1000sec


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The beauty behind death

When life ends death takes over pervading a sense of soberness.
Give it time the skeleton left behind can again become beautiful.


M.Zuiko 17mm  f5  1/20sec

Turtle shell at low tide.

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Rockit and the sea

The mesmerizing and soothing power of watching the sea.


Canon 300HS

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The difference

I see two types of photographs: the ones that mean to record an event or place so the mind can be later jogged, and the other, more involved and profound, that are an artistic expression of one's creativity.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm (at 9mm) f7.1 1/80sec

I find myself drawn to the latter.
As light and shapes are constantly evolving in front of my eyes, sometimes present for only a split of a second, my skill to capture the moment is tested; I have to think fast and move swiftly.

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