Inverted autumn

The Northern hemisphere is enjoying that wonderful time of the year where leaves turn pale, yellow and eventually fire red. In some locales the spectacle is indeed a feast for the eyes and I envy the photographers that have the opportunity to witnesses such beauty.


early autumn colors in Sweden, adapted Canon TV-16 50mm f1.4   1/640sec

While in here in Australia the opposite is happening right now: spring is in full bloom. Trees are covered with flowers and some have new growths that mimic the autumn foliage.


adapted Kodak 102mm f2.7   1/1000sec


adapted Kodak 102mm f2.7   1/500sec


Trees bloom and loose the petals at a fast rate covering the forest floor with flowers instead of leaves


refitted F.Zuiko 32mm f1.7  1/320sec



adapted Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7  1/25sec

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Flowery carpets

Northern hemisphere has the wonderful spectacle of fall colors painting the leaves of deciduous trees and I often wish to be there to experience it again.
But here in my subtropical climate there is a different type of fall: flowers from blooming trees.


adapted Canon TV-16 50mm f1.4   1/400sec

The hills are dotted with plashes of colorful trees: purple, yellow whit the occasional orange and red one.  In some places the roads and parks are covered with the falling flowers carpeting the grounds.


adapted Navitar 75mm f1.3    1/2500sec



adapted Duo-Tamron 135mm f4.5   1/50sec



adapted Canon-TV-16 50mm f1.4   1/2000sec

The flowers don't last long: the sun and heat of the day shrivel them up to then be replenished overnight again till blossom is over in a few weeks.


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Birds in the garden

My local botanical gardens are open to birds and human visitors to roam free. No cages, no nets, like nature is meant to be enjoyed.


adapted C-mount Cosmicar 50mm f1.4  1/2500sec



adapted Kodak Cine Ektanon 102mm f2.7   1/2000sec


adapted Kodak Cine Ektanon 102mm f2.7  1/5000sec


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Swirly bubbly world

I am slowly discovering an new way to create dreamy images: from bubbly bokeh to swirly backgrounds.
Majority of vintage lenses, simple in optical design, are often technically riddled with faults, something that modern auto-focus lenses have overcome.
But it's those faults that I really seek to create photographs that offer a certain unusual visual appeal.













And the lens that creates this magic? a diminutive cine lens from 1955 : Kodak Ektar 25mm f1.9

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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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Bee in pigface

Flowering pigface (plant) on the beach attracting bees.


F.Zuiko 38mm f1.8 PEN-F  @f11  1/500sec 

Detail in orange

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


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 

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)

Flower bugs

It's only now that I pay closer attention to flowers that I notice a world of bugs living in them.
Some of them are tiny, hardy visible to the naked eye.


Helios 44-5 58mm f2  @f5.6  1/1000sec


Helios 44-2 58mm f2  @f8  1/125sec


E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9  @f8  1/250sec


Helios 44-2 58mm f2  @f5.6  1/500sec

Water lilly

I often admired these beautiful flowers on some of my kayak outings; now I managed to photograph them.


E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9  1/1000sec



E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9  @f5.6  1/250sec



E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9   @f5.6  1/250sec

Leaves

It has been years, actually more than a decade, that I took a visit to the botanical gardens, however I clearly remember that photographically I could not "see" the beauty around me then.
This time the shapes and light on the little things caught my eye much easier.

Blood leaf, Iresine species

Helios 44-2 50mm   f2  1/1000sec

Never Never Plant, Ctenanthe species

Zenit Helios 44-2  58mm   f4  1/180sec

Shape, light and color

Not all photographs have to tell a story, show a place or record an event; there are some that appeal to me purely from the aesthetic point of view.
Shape, color and lighting can be the only drawing elements, and images that first appear abstract but reveal themselves when observed for longer hold a special interest.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f4 1/180sec



Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm   f8 1/750sec

Feels like Xmas

These small plants remind me of Christmas.
Maybe is the glowing look of the tiny balls-like structure on the stem shining in the morning light, or do they look like snowflakes?


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm   f4(?)  1/350sec

Dreamy

In the late afternoon the color of the light changes, calling me to photograph.
A vintage lens with peculiar perspective ads a dreamy look to the tiny wildflowers.


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


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm  f4(?) 1/500sec

Spiky red

The intriguing contrast of soothing gentle green curves against the aggressive spikes of red.


Helios 44-2  f2.8  1/250sec


Helios 44-2  f2.8  1/350sec

Lilly leaves

Somehow I was more interested in the shape and color of the backlit leaves than the flower itself.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm   f5.6 1/180sec

Paper daisies

The shape, color and structure of paper daisies has always intrigued me.
An extremely resilient flower that seems to tolerate dry and hot places.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm  f4.0  1/350sec


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm  f5.6  1/180sec