Around the stables

My girlfriend is mad about horses, for me is something new. There was a local event that I went to visit on invite from my friends and wondered around the stables not knowing what to look for, photographically.


Nikkor-P 105mm f2.5 RF  1/1600sec

I had to be cautions enough to know when a horse was not happy having my big lens pointed too close to his body.


refitted Sony Precision Projection 60mm f1.5  1/200sec (adapted here)

 I loved the people around the horses: genuine and unpretentious, friendly and approachable. A warm rural atmosphere pervaded the event.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4   1/500sec 

I was also there walking around with the most ridiculous refitted lens that I have tried to date. It was awkward to handle as it was never intended to be fitted onto a camera but the results I achieved were worthy of the trouble.


refitted Sony Precision Projection 60mm f1.5 (?)  1/1250sec


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West End markets

On a Friday evening I can't think of a more relaxed social hang-out than the West End markets.
So much less pretentious and more relaxed alternative to the highly polished venues just a street away from here.


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5  1/2sec

Outdoors, with a mix of food stalls and a few trinkets the crowd is more down to earth. One can meet friends, grab a bight to eat, a (socially responsible) drink and relax.
The place is not loud enough to prevent holding a conversation, occasionally heated :-)


G-Lumix 14mm f2.5 1/5sec

Several street performers often play decent tunes with the Spanish guitarist being my favourite.


G.Lumix 14mm f2.5 1/50sec


PS: Sad news. At the end of April these markets will cease, to make room for redevelopment: residential towers...
PPS: Good news: they will relocate up the road :-)

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Spanish guitar

She plays with ease and passion, I find her music really relaxing.


Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9 (16mm film cine lens)  f1.9  1/6sec 

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New Year's Eve

I am not for one to party in a big crowd, celebrations in a drunken stupor and loud shouting.
I am more for the quiet place with selected cherished friends, exotic location, kind of guy.
New Year's Eve was celebrated away from any noise, but the one of wind, cascading water and my little gas stove.


G-Lumix 14mm f5.6   1/6sec

We were tired from walking and rock-hopping; set up camp early.
I had no idea when midnight struck as I was sound asleep.
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Shelter in the forest

There is no forest more enticing than a snowgum one, up high, close to tree-line.


G-Lumix 14mm   f5.6  4sec

The weather twisted trunks look spooky, the dead branches bleached by the elements; however the soft grass that grows around snowgums is inviting to place my shelter.
I feel safe here knowing that the tortured trees will shed some of the high wind, if it had to pick up during the night.

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Vintage portrait lenses

Only recently I have started to explore portraits.
I am not that great with photographing people close-up as I feel that I am bossing them around when I ask to pose a certain way to get the image I want.
Petra however is happy to accommodate my request while I futz with old vintage manual focus lenses: she understands and enjoys manual lenses herself :-)


Jupiter-9 85mm f2 @f4 1/250sec
I could use an auto-focus lens but I am not too fond of the clinical look I get from them: too sharp and the bokeh is often not as "creamy" as old, simpler optical-design lenses.
It's the quirks and faults of the Russian lenses that I seek in some of my images.
The challenge however is to make them work in demanding light conditions as they tend to flare badly in back-lighting.


Jupiter-8 50mm f2  @f4  1/250sec
I often miss the focus since I like to use them rather wide open and the depth of field on longer lenses is very shallow.
There is no way I can get satisfactory images of fast moving subject but for slower type of photography, I enjoy the feel and look that I get from lenses sometimes older than myself :-)

I wanted to see how 4 different lenses perform in similar lighting, time of the day and conditions.
My favorite look comes from the extremely popular Russian lens (copy of the German CZJ Biotar) : the Helios 44-2. At 58mm f2 it is just the right focal length for portrait. Easy to focus (contrasty enough) and the background blur (bokeh) is very much to my liking.


Helios 44-2  58mm f2  @f2.8  1/20sec
The more compact looking (I have a thing for small camera/lenses) but longer focal length of the Jupiter-9 85mm f2 is a very low contrast lens and not that sharp (at least my copy).
I have to work on my images after I shot them as out of the camera they look very milky.


Jupiter-9 85mm f2  @f4 1/1500sec
In the mix of these old Russian lenses I tried also a very long lens: a Vivitar (made by Komine) 135mm f2.8. It was an impulse by on eBay but a very pleasant surprise.
I find it sharp even wide open and the bokeh is rather pleasant even tho not as creamy.


Vivitar 135mm f2.8   @2.8 1/20sec!
Last but not least I do realize that these lenses are easier to use today than when they were designed for film cameras. The incredible image stabilization on my diminutive Olympus cameras allow me to take images with incredible low shutter speeds. At 270mm (film camera equivalence) I shot the above image at 1/20 sec!    If that was on my Nikon camera many years ago, it would have been a total blur, unrecognizable image :-)

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Ready for dinner

As the light starts to soften and the day comes to an end, there is more time to relax around camp.
The shelter is ready and dinner will be started soon.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4   @f4  1/60sec

Spending the night out in nature is one of the simple things that add value to my life.

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Flowering jacaranda trees.

The parks and streets are dotted with purple color: one could compare the jacaranda trees to the cherry blossom in Japan.


Lumix G 14mm  f4  1/125sec


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9  @f4  1/750sec


Lumix G 14mm  f6.7  1/90sec


E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9  @4  1/90sec  (motion blur from the wind)

Scottish thistle

Often despised because of its prickly nature, the Scottish thistle can show its beauty in the right light.


E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9   @f4 1/4000sec

Ball play

Never tired of chasing that ball.


M.Zuiko 40-150R  f11  1/90sec


M.Zuiko 40-150R  f6.7  1/750sec

The granite belt

Running along the spine of Australia's East Coast is the Granite Belt.
The bare giant boulders allow for distant vistas particularly enchanting at sunset.

Lumix G 14mm   f8 1/30sec

There is something about the granite rocky landscape, the smooth surreal surfaces and the grandiose scale of it all. Around the world I have always been drawn to this type of landscape; the High Sierra in California and the Scandinavian Baltic Coast my other special places.

Sheltered camp

Paddling along the Northern outer fringe of the Åland archipelago we always looked for a campsite that would offer shelter from the wind and potentially increasing swell.


M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ    f5.0  1/160sec

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.

Camp on Kestenskär

Heavy clouds loomed around in the afternoon making camp selection a bit more tricky that day: we needed flat ground but where water would not pool under our tent.
Finally a bit higher above the sea we settled for a place that was facing towards the sunset.


M.Zuiko 14-42EZ    f3.5   1/125sec



M.Zuiko 14-42EZ    f5  1/15sec

Ponds on Saggö ön

Away from the immediate shore of polished granite of Åland's North coast low vegetation takes hold in the crevices. Winter storms often dwarf the trees where blueberry and cranberry bushes thrive.


M.Zuiko  9-18mm  f7.1  1/160 sec

Journal writing

The therapeutic act of journal writing at the end of the day, time to reflect over the day's events.
The air just a bit too chilly to lay on the rock, a sleeping bag provided the comfort to feel cozy.


M.Zuiko 40-150  f8  1/100sec

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.

Pond on the granite coast

“There are some places so beautiful they can make a grown man break down and weep.” Ed Abbey


M.Zuiko 9-18mm  f4.5  1/160sec

Old school

There is something about the old school lenses from Germany and Russia that have captured my imagination.
It certainly is not about sharpness or autofocus speed, and certainly not the ease of use of mechanical perfection.
The lenses I am interested in have none of that: they are chunky, stiff, rough around the edges and awkward to use.
So why would anybody want this retro low tech lenses?
Hard to describe in words...


Meyer Optik Domiplan 50mm f2.8 (@f2.8)


Meyer Optik Domiplan 50mm f2.8 (@f2.8)


Meyer Optik Domiplan 50mm f2.8 (@f2.8)

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Pride and joy

Only a shade of her former glory I am sure this sailing boat must have been once somebody's pride and joy.


Lumix G 14mm   f4 1/640sec

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