As with many seasonal creeks, the height of water comes and goes, depending on the rainfall. To prevent erosion, boulders have been dropped alongside the creek, which helps keep overflow contained as the stream wends its way to Paradise Falls a few miles away.
Again, the Nikon Df with the Vivitar Series 1 135mm f2.3 lens.
This is a view of the little creek that runs through our neighborhood park. It’s a pleasant place to wander. When I went there this weekend, a border collie was doing what they do best – running and plopping in the water, staying submerged, and then shaking it all out. A family was there, exploring and showing their toddlers the crayfish. (I think the dad was the funniest – a big little boy!) I was enjoying myself, being an audience to it all, while finding new growth, leaves, and viewing a magnificent sky filled with clouds.
I did post in LR and OnOne, using a VSCO preset for Fuji Astia in the final rinse (so to speak.)
The other morning I was out to a local park, one which has a small creek running through it. With all the recent rains, the creek is rushing along, and you can find ducks with their mates, kids, dogs, photographers, and molting crayfish. Also, dead and drowned palm trees, which is good, because they are an invasive species and the city doesn’t seem inclined to get rid of them.
Anyway, I decided to take a bunch of panoramas with a narrow DOF. This is one of them. I really enjoy doing panos – not sure why – maybe it’s because I always find the natural world so grand that a small image never seems to do it justice. Also, with a pano, you can crop – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t because you wish you had included just a bit more here or there.
Spring is just around the corner . . . . I went out this morning to a local park with my Nikon Df and some of my old, classical 1970s lenses. This was taken with the renown Vivitar Series 1 135mm f2.3 lens, made by Komine. It’s one of my all-time faves.
We all talk about “equipment” at sometime or another. Evaluation of the tools we use is important simply because some tools are better than others. Hammers are pretty simple items – you can use a shoe or a rock if necessary – but a well-balanced hammer in hand is quite nice to use. Paint brushes, too, are tools. Every artist has favorites, and ones which are okay, and others which you cannot wait to send to paint brush heaven. There are surgical tools, gardening tools, big tools (cars and tanks), little tools (nail clippers), software. A tool helps one accomplish a task more easily.
Without a doubt, lenses and a camera are tools. For me, they have been tools for a while; I am still struggling with photography, deciding if it is a “yes” or “no” in my vision of creativity. The fact is, it is a bunch of expensive tools, but not necessarily break-the-bank kind of tools. Cameras and lenses are all individual in quality. I’m just beginning to appreciate some of the more sophisticated elements of the Nikon camera. I’m also enjoying the manual art of some of the lenses, and the mechanical and electronic and computer sophistication others display. Software is another area for enjoyment because it can be the vehicle for the final creative effort, but I wonder if it will ever become something I really enjoy because I really don’t like sitting indoors at a computer for hours on end. I probably will enjoy it as I master it.
I’ve acquired a few older lenses in the past year, ones which require manual focus, but which will interface with the aperture priority chip of the Nikon. This means the camera can set the time for my exposure, based on whatever else I’ve dialed into the camera. The other day, I picked up a lens which doesn’t do any of this. It is big and heavy and produces lovely images. It is a Vivitar Series 1 135mm f2.3 lens, and weighs at least a pound.
Last night, we went to dinner at Josh’s parents’ house, so while the light lasted, I played with the lens in the kitchen, garden, wandering around. At times I pushed the ISO, other times I dropped it. I had to think about a lot of things, and totally enjoyed it, looking at the LCD on the back of the camera to “chimp” over the picture. Time, distance, focus, aperture – the old fashioned dance of the photographer with his equipment.
I’m not sure if it is me, but what I see in the older lenses is a very different quality of contrast and color than I see in my newer lenses. I usually use my newer lenses on some variant of the automatic mode, so I wonder if that impacts things. Maybe, maybe not. I suspect some of the differences is in the glass and coatings used. Older lenses seem to have a more mellow quality, as well as brighter, but not as harsh as newer lenses. One day I wlll take the time to find out.
Today’s pictures on this post are taken with that new-to-me old lens. You can see more of them if you want on my flickr page. I didn’t post-process any of them, except to resize them and add my name.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 