Tag: flower

An Orchid and Its History

Orchid

I took this photo back in 2011. I had bought my first DSLR, a Nikon 7000, after using a friend’s D70 for over a year. Back then I was not only learning to take pictures, managing ISO, exposure, aperture, etc., but also learning editing software. Lightroom was at version 3 I think, not the CC or Classic of today. Since then I have played with a number of different post editing programs, but in reality don’t use any of them to the maximum potential. Do I want to?

Certainly I am better at editing than I was 12 years ago. Then HDR was sort of “the thing” and I pushed things a lot, and often with rather dreadful results. Before having my cataracts removed, I also starting pushing colors as my vision declined. Now I still look at color as a very important part of photography, but of late I am looking more at contrast, complementary colors, and the sorts of things you look at in painting.

Pictures are still what I look at more than anything, whether photos, paintings, drawings, or just the world around me. The visual is always what intrigues me. Some people are sensitive to sound or scent or taste, and I wish I had the ability to experience them as deeply as I do the visual. I wonder what synesthesia would be like – does it enhance or confuse?

Anyway, back to editing. Below is the above orchid edited in 2011 in black and white.

And below is a new BW edit of the same . . .

Interesting how times and experience change us . . .

On the Forest Floor

One of the things about following a track in the woods regularly, you see things that you don’t see another time. Where we were staying near Spokane, our daily walks took us out along the same track, under the pines, alongside the river. While the season didn’t change much in the few days we were there, what I saw became more specific, like this flower against the fallen tree. Different times of day, too, presented the light in different ways as it shone through the trees. This familiarity is one of the delights to be had with the familiar.

White Rose

White Rose (1)

More going back through the photographic archives!

This morning I came across some images from 4/2011 when I was using a friend’s Nikon D70. I think this may be a Pope John Paul II white rose in my front garden. I took a number of images with an exposure long enough to let me blur the image, but short enough not to make a mess. There are about 10 that I did, some which are rather nice, I think. I like this one because of its softness, but also as I was looking at them, I was also thinking they could make for some rather interesting paintings.

From Below

What is it about old German folding cameras? I have a number of them and, while they can feel clunky compared to point-and-shoot cameras, or DSLRs (or mirrorless), there is something just so wonderful about using a film camera.

This is a cropped 6×9 image from my Zeiss Ikon Ercona, ca. 1950 and serviced by Jurgen Kreckel. His cameras are well worth their costs, high or low.

I have problems figuring out how to go up or down with a camera-top viewfinder. My brain doesn’t seem to “get it” but maybe I’ll get the other half to logically explain it to me. He’s good at that.

So, out for a walk to check out the camera – I bought it last July – and trying to become familiar with the camera, and guestimating exposures. Some good pictures resulted, and some dogs. I’m better at guessing exposure factors for 100 speed film. I used a roll of 120 Portra 400 film as my test roll.

Whenever I get film back, I am always so pleased. I really do prefer it to digital, hands down, but digital has its place, too. This Ercona was fun to use, a bit of a pain, too, but whenever you have something new in hand, or something old, there is always a bit of a trial-and-error period. This happens even if you have shot with the camera before.

A rose by any other name, and shot with any camera, is pretty sweet – even better when you like your photo!

Namesake

This is a beautiful amaryllis which my mother-in-law had sent to me for a Christmas present. It’s called a “Naomi,” which pleases me no end! It’s a rather stunning one, I think (much like its namesake); a bit short, but with 6 flowers on each stem. It’s also a lovely pale salmon, more pink than orange.

Gifts like this really do “keep on giving” because I have been enjoying it for several months now!

Gazanias

It’s been a busy few weeks it seems, to the point nothing is getting posted! So, back at it with some images in C-41 black and white, Ilford XP Super 400 and the Bronica SQ-AI 80mm f2.8 Zenzanon PS lens (for you techies out there!).

I took these in particular because the gazanias are a two-toned variant, in yellow and an orangey color. I wondered how they would look with the orange lens filter I had on. I wonder if the contrast would have been stronger if I hadn’t used the orange filter, but still, I think they turned out pretty good! The overall contrast is pretty nice even if not as strong as I had hoped for on the flowers.