Autumn leaves

Finally the summer heat has given up and opened the doors to more temperate days, the harsh light replaced by more subtle and lower angle with softer warmer hues for a longer "golden hour".
And while there are no frosts around to change the color of the leaves, like typically in the Northern hemisphere, autumn foliage takes its own twist here in Queensland.


adapted Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7  1/400sec

Recent heavy rains have reversed the typical role of spring new shoots making it happen now, in autumn. Some bushes have come alive with new pink and purple leaves


Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7    1/320 sec



Pentacon 50mm f1.8    1/1250sec

On the other hand other trees are starting to change color and shed some of their leaves. It's a mixed combination of spring and autumn at the same time.


Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7   1/10sec



Kodak Cine 102mm f2.7  1/200sec



Kodak Cine 102mm f2.7   1/80sec


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Mushrooms in the forest

The excitement was palpable when I stumbled across a group of mushrooms that looked like "porcini" (Boletus Edulis). As a kid I used to roam in the forests near my house and find them occasionally; it was like hunting, the thrill of the find.


adapted Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/60sec

It turns out that those mushrooms were not porcini but instead very bitter and not really edible, even if not toxic.
The real reward came from the variety of mushrooms that I stumbled across and instead of looking at them as dinner trophies I observed them with my camera


adapted vintage cine lens Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/60sec




adapted vintage cine lens Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/20sec




adapted vintage cine lens Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/160sec




M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ    1/13sec



adapted vintage cine lens Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7   1/125sec


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Scorched by the fire

It was my friend Melt that pointed out how beautiful the bark looked. I didn't understand: all I saw was the negative side of the recent bushfire.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/60sec



Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/125sec

Where I walked a few months ago now the fields and forest were all charred by a fire; my eyes were focused on the destruction of the grassy meadows and the green bushes. Then I shifted my concern knowing that it was only natural to have periodical fires go through these places, more so essential to the release of some seed pods.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/640sec


Australian flora has adapted to survive a non devastating fire, where undergrowth get cleaned up and transformed into rich nutrient for the next generation of taller plants. Some seeds need to be exposed to high temperatures to germinate, a from of survival to give the new shoots a chance to become strong enough to survive the next fire.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/160sec

Now I was observing the saturated deep orange hues of a gumtree that otherwise looks mainly light grey. The charcoal details on trees showed ant activity while the grass was starting to recover with new tender green shoots.


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/80sec


Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/125sec



Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/500sec


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Invasion of blue aliens

At low tide an army emerges from the sand and invades the edges of the shallow ponds.

Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7 1/1250sec

In their impeccable blue uniforms for a few hours they work hard at making "cannon balls".

Kodak Cine Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/800sec

But as the tide floods again their conquered beach they retreat underground once more.

The relentless life of a soldier crab.

Kodak Anastigmat 63mm f2.7  1/1600

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Back-lit plants

More and more I dwell on the shapes and highlights that plants produce when viewed back-lit.
I used exclusively Pentax-110 lenses adapted from a miniature SLR system of the 70's to produce this set.


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/3200sec


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/25sec + adapter with 2-blade aperture control


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/320sec


Pentax-110 50mm f2.8  1/2500 + adapter with 2-blade aperture control

At the same time I had with me a native auto-focus lens for my camera but I failed to produce any images that I liked.
For static subjects, where the bokeh is important to me, the modern lenses just can't give me what I look for. With a modern lens, as I compose my image I never really know what it will look like until the image is taken as the camera will close down the aperture of the lens only then and not show it while I compose. I find that for critical work that is not how I want to take my  photographs.
Manual focus and manual aperture glass on the other hand shows me that very instant I touch the lens how the final image will look like, no guessing or chimping after the shutter was released to see if I "got it".

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Frozen explosions

A very rusty old shipwreck caught my attention on the beach.
I became intrigued how salt over time can weaken and destroy even the hardest steel.
I love the great display of warm colored shades.


Pentax-110 70mm f2.8(fixed)  1/800sec
Details on rivets and fixture appear as a frozen explosion about to burst.
Like the layers of an onion the structure of the steel is revealed after all these years.


Pentax-110 70mm f2.8  1/80sec



Pentax-110 70mm f2.8  1/640sec


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Details of nature

I see beauty in the mess that old tree trunks can create.
At closer inspection there are details that are intriguing, almost man made.


Vivitar 28mm f2.0   @f4.0   1/500sec

High tide tangled some grass around this old trunk. It almost seems that somebody has carefully knotted the straw around the bleached wood, but it is indeed the waves that managed to tangle it.


Industar-61 50mm f2.8 @f4  1/15sec

The insects have been working under the bark of the fallen tree; now the weather has exposed their tunnelling.

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Rainforest trees

In the dense subtropical rainforest the trees are overwhelming; I rarely see the whole tree.
The close proximity of the giants keeps my view focused at the base of their trunks, observing the intricate shape of the roots and texture of the bark.


G-Lumix 14mm f4.5  1/4sec

The light is diffused and the moisture allows for vines, lichens and mosses to grow, sometimes creating abstract paintings on their bark.


G-Lumix 14mm f4.5  1/15sec

And the root system is at times rather bizarre, nothing like I have ever seen in a European forest.


M.Zuiko 9-18mm f4.5  1/15sec

Bokeh of a vintage lens

A 50 year old vintage lens from Germany is my favorite one for close-up photography.
It renders the out-of-focus areas with a creamy bokeh and tends to create "bubbles" on the highlights.
Mounted with extension rings it is often used hand held on my mirrorless cameras.



Often images look closer to watercolors than photographs; the shallow depth of field has blurry backgrounds with edges that seem to "bleed" softly into the next color.



The Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 is a manual focus lens, very small in size compared to modern lenses. Not exceptionally sharp, it might not please the perfectionist wanting to achieve details in every twig or grass blade but it is the lens that I regularly take on my outdoor trips to recreate the "feel" of  a place more than just accurately record it.



Somebody once said: I am not interested in image quality, I am interested in quality images.

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Bug invasion

They favored a particular root of a tree, gathering en-masse.
I am not sure what was going on but at close inspection the bugs were very colorful.


PEN G.Zuiko 38mm f1.8   @5.6  1/20sec

Dragonfly

Standing in the creek laying eggs on a log just under the water's surface.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9  1/1000sec

Textured sea rocks

The sea's edge, at low tide.


Zuiko 38mm f1.8 PEN  @f8  1/3000sec

Detail in orange

Maybe is the color what drew me closer to the shape of this paper daisy.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 

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

Old scars

Bearing the scars of a life subjected to beauty.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm F2.9 @f8  1/90sec

Born not to grow free its body shaped to please, now paying the toll.
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Beach combing

Sand patterns on the foreshore

A stranded jelly fish looks like an glass art object

M.Zuiko 40-150R   f8  1/350sec

The aimless trail of a sea snail reminiscent of Nazca desert drawings

M.Zuiko 40-150R   f8  1/180sec

Tropical ice

Like a block of ice melting in the sun, reflecting the late afternoon light.


M.Zuiko 40-150mm   f11  1/750sec


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 @f11   f11  1/3000sec

Lyrebird

I was very excited when I came across this feather on my trip.
I often hear the lyrebird singing and mimicking other birds but they are very elusive and they are easily startled.  Feeding on the ground of the canopy I see their digging looking for insect and worms but only twice I have managed to spot them.

The structure of the lyrebird feather, close up, is fascinating
It seems that the combination of fluff and stiffer feather might be from a juvenile bird.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4  @f8  1/30sec


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4  @f11  1sec