Photography by Naomi Drew
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!
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.
Vining petunias trail down the sides of pots. I never put them in the ground. Snails and slugs devour them, and there is some kind of virus that is in the local soil that kills them off. So, in a pot, away from slimey critters.
A rather invasive plant, Jupiter’s Beard, also known as valerian, is a favorite plant of mine. It sort of wanders around neighborhoods, settling in, then blowing its seeds into new places. I have no idea why it is called “Jupiter’s Beard” but I think it is a great name for a plant!
Always lovely to see in blom!
A close-up taken using the X100V. SOOC, too.
As a ground cover, Vinca Major is wonderful for shady areas. Soft, long vines with brilliant leaves and purple flowers make for a lovely display. It’s always been a favorite of mine.
Happy Easter!
I took my Nikon N90s, Nikon 28-85 f2.8 Macro, and a roll of the new Kodak Ektachrome E100 to the botanical garden – always a favorite place! Springtime is the best, too, as trees and bulbs and plants are all in bloom. This was taken as the last of the narcissus bloomed and were fading away. At the gardens, the narcissus are the first up and first to fade.
I am pleased with the new Ektachrome E100. Yes, it’s a positive film, needing E6 chemistry to process, and it costs more than B&W or color. However, positive film has so much going for it, and here is more than ample proof. Film, camera, and lens all came together quite nicely.
This is a panorama shot with a very narrow DOF. The focal point could have been better, but it is the row of daffs in front of the trees. The third clump in the very front from the left is best in focus, but I probably could have focused on the blooms in the second clump. Oh well.
I probably took 60 or so images here, and got a really well-covered area. The point is to see the different layers of in and out of focus areas. The foreground is sort of in focus, then the daffodils, and then moving back, the trees become increasingly more blurred. Sometimes doing these big panoramas can produce exciting pictures – other times, rather meh to downright worthless. If you enlarge the picture, you will be able to see the levels of focus more clearly.
The beauty of digital! So much can be thrown away, so much can be play, so much can be a learning experience that is cheap – film does not make this an economic adventure at all.
Nothing says Spring like the heady scent of narcissus. While I don’t have any in my own garden (why not??), the botanical garden has them placed in various areas throughout. It’s an annual hunt . . . some bloom earlier, some later, depending on location.
Nikon and Ortho Plus 80.
I can see why everyone is raving about the new film from Ilford! Ilford Ortho Plus 80 is an amazing film! I couldn’t wait to get my first roll back from being developed, and the image above is straight out of the camera, with minor dust removal, signature and frame added.
Being a slow film, detail is great, but the need for bright light is important as well. I used my Nikon N90s, which is by far one of my favorite cameras, and my carry-around-everywhere Nikon 28-85 f2.8 macro lens. I used box speed for the entire roll.
