Exploring the wonders of creation through a 50mm lens...and other lenses too.

So, do you remember how last week I went on and on about patience, planning, and forethought? Yeah, this image had none of that. Not that it’s a bad shot–far from it, I would say. I quite like it, and am really glad to have been able to take it. It’s just a bit, oh, ironic I suppose, that after all my rambling about taking time to consider so many photographic elements in advance last week that I would take a picture like this that employed none of that whatsoever. And yet, it still turned out great. Is there a lesson to be learned? I dunno. Maybe, maybe not, but at the end of the day it’s the results that count and if this photo is any indication, sometimes you it takes a lot of preparation to get a good image but sometimes all you need is a little energon, and a lot of luck. Or maybe just the latter.

After taking last week’s photo of the yellow leaf I turned toward my office and strolled down the path, but then I saw this little green leaf protruding from the hedges that line many of the sidewalks on the OSU campus. It was glistening from the previous day’s rain, and the sun was still low on the horizon such that the entire leaf looked like it was basically glowing in the early morning light. Even better, some of the lights on the Student Union were still turned on, which meant that I could get another composition (just like the one from last week) that is only possible in the early part of the day just after the break of dawn. I hoisted my camera to my eye, set an uncharacteristically large aperture of f/3.2, and fired off a couple shots.

The entire experience lasted less than a minute (I had to get to work on time, after all) but I suppose that’s somewhat à propos given how the whole thing came together–that is, pretty rapidly. What I like most about this shot is the huge balls of blurry bokeh just to either side of the leaf, as if framing the subject intentionally in between them. Which, I guess, was rather intentional given that I kind of intended for that to happen once I noticed the lights in the background. I also think it’s kind of cool that if you don’t know that this leaf is about two inches tall, you might be forgiven for mistaking it for a Christmas tree. Maybe that’s some kind of reminder that even though Christmas was a month ago, the spirit of the holiday can last all year round.

One of my favorite times to take photos is during, or perhaps slightly after, a warm rain. Another one of the best times to go out and capture the world with a camera is in the morning. And still yet one more fantastic time for photos is in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. So when these conditions come together, the results can be almost magical. Not actually magical, but pretty cool nonetheless. I was walking around Theta Pond at OSU on a recent rainy afternoon when I saw a tree that was lit up like an Independence Day firework–just an explosion of red amidst all the greens and yellows surrounding it, and the first thing I thought of was what it would look like in a picture. But not just any picture, mind you: a blob of red leaves doesn’t make for a very interesting image. What I had in mind was something else as the subject, with a mass of blurry leaves in the background behind it. As I looked at the tree while I was walking, I thought about coming back to the same location the following morning when the sun would be low on the horizon to get a shot that just isn’t possible later in the day.

So as I left for work extra early the next day I had my trusty D750 with 105mm macro lens in tow, and instead of going to the office I first made a stop at the tree by the pond. I had to walk around a bit and look at things from a few different angles, but eventually I settled on a single yellow leaf just to the west of the red tree as my primary subject, with the glowing amber leaves behind it as the sun shone through them.

I’m not sure how much distance was between the subject and the background, but I would guess around 15 feet–whatever the number, it was enough to create a really good sense of separation between the yellow leaves and its crimson counterparts. I took a few dozen photos at various apertures, all roughly similar to what you see here in terms of overall composition. This one ended up as my favorite for a couple of reasons. First, I liked the sharpness of the subject, and even though a few parts are out of focus most of it is on the same plane and if you click through to the high-resolution original on Flickr you’ll see an incredible degree of subtle detail that really shows just how delicate and finely-crafted it really is.

I also like the blurriness of the background–you might not even know it’s red leaves, but the bright balls of light shining through hopefully give some kind of clue. I also really enjoy the crisscrossing lines, which are really just small tree branches, as they lend a sense of dynamic energy to the shot that some other versions were missing.

This is one of those photos that reminds me of how much fun photography can be, especially if you put a bit of work into it. This image didn’t take more than a few minutes (I got to work on time) but it did require just a bit of forethought and planning that’s really fun when it turns out to work how you hope.

One of the most interesting things about photography is how the act of reflecting on, and analyzing, an image can make it stick in your mind in a way that otherwise might not happen. Two years ago I took this image of some backlit river oats seeds while out on a hike with my family, and subsequently used it as the subject of a Weekly Fifty post. In the process of doing so, the image kind of lodged itself in the back of my mind–I don’t think about it every day, but when I happened upon a similar scene (which you can see at the top of this post) the earlier shot from early 2023 immediately resurfaced. I remembered the glowing serrated edges of the leaves, the drooping bows, the blurry brown background, and most of all, the excitement I felt at being able to capture the shot. So when I came across the scene you see in today’s featured photo, this time near Theta Pond on the OSU campus, I thought about how I could take another photo inspired by the original but hopefully improved in a couple of ways.

Even though this shot shares a lot in common with its earlier counterpart, there are several elements that, in my view, demonstrate a bit of personal growth and change. First, the colors are a lot more interesting. Instead of a palette consisting entirely of browns and yellows, the new image is marked by a huge swath of green in the background. It implies nature, life, and vibrance whereas the original felt dull and a bit melancholy. Again, not that the first one was not a good picture, just that the second one is, in my opinion, improved in some important ways.

There’s also a clearer focus on one single subject–the leaf right in the middle of the frame–and other leaves surrounding it for context and depth. This sense of subject is kind of present in the original, but the additional colors (or color, I guess, if you want to put a fine point on it) serve to emphasize the single leaf in the center even more.

Finally, the background has more things going on which help to provide a small but important sense of context. There’s another brown plant on the lower-left, and a bit of sky peeking out in the top-right. It’s subtle, but it matters, and it all helps to make this new image, in my opinion, a fun improvement over the original.

Then again, we all know that photography is highly subjective and it’s entirely possible someone might look at both shots and prefer the first one from 2023. That’s not just OK, it’s a good thing, as it shows that there’s no one single correct answer and just because I might look at these two images one way doesn’t mean you have to also.

One of my longstanding conventions here on Weekly Fifty is that I don’t really create my posts to coincide with any particular point in time. I take pictures often and then schedule them weeks, sometimes even months, in advance so as to give me plenty of buffer in case I just don’t have the time, patience, opportunity, or let’s face it, mental energy to get my camera out and take a new photo every single week. As such, I often don’t even know when a given image will get published until I write the entire post and then click the “Schedule” button in WordPress. Where I’m going with this is, here we are on the cusp of a brand new year and the picture I have to go along with it is…a couple of leaves. It’s a fine photo, but there’s not much in terms of symbolism or meaning–not that you can attach to turning the calendar to a whole new year.

Though perhaps there is something to be mined, or gleaned, from this picture of a handful of leaves changing from green to yellow to bronze. It’s an illustration of the passage of time, of the constant nature of change, and the hope of better things to come even in periods of uncertainty. Leaves wither and die, only to be replaced by buds of new life. It’s also a bit ironic when you consider the overall composition of the image: the bright subject at the center of the frame is actually the leaf that is closest to withering away. Is any of this a metaphor, and if so, what does it mean? I honestly don’t know and at some point this kind of overanalysis becomes not only reductive but counter-productive. At the end of the day it’s just a picture of some leaves with cool backlighting, so maybe it’s best to just leave it at that.

It was that very backlighting that really drew me to this scene. I liked how the low sun made the leaf in the center glow with life even as it was drying up, but I also thought the interplay of light and shadow was kind of cool too. Only part of the subject is clearly visible; the upper half and part of its side are shrouded in darkness, as are other parts of the surrounding leaves. It’s something I don’t often do in my photos, and I find it not just interesting but compelling, in a sense, and something I might try looking for more often.

And with that I’ll wrap up this post by wishing you all a very happy new year. Whatever it holds for you and your loved ones, I hope meet the opportunities, blessings, and challenges with love, grace, patience, and kindness for your fellow man (or woman) on this pale blue dot we call home. God bless you, and thanks for being a part of Weekly Fifty.

You probably know by now that my go-to gear setup for taking Weekly Fifty photos is a Nikon D750 and 105mm macro lens. After acquiring, and then extensively using, a small but not-too-shabby collection of camera gear over the years it is this combination that I keep returning to because it just does such a phenomenal job in almost every photographic situation in which I find myself. I haven’t done an official inventory, but I would guess that about 90% of the photos I have shared on Weekly Fifty this year (and probably last year) were taken with this camera/lens combination. However, and you probably could tell that this was coming, there are some situations where it just isn’t all that great. The most obvious is, of course, any time that a true telephoto lens would just get better results–particularly when it comes to nature and wildlife. Even simple shots of a squirrel, like you see here, are much easier with a zoom lens or telephoto prime with a focal length of at least 200mm.

And yet, that’s not to say these kinds of photos are impossible with other lenses such as a 105mm. They just require a bit more patience, practice, and to be honest, luck. I often have my camera in hand as I circumnavigate the OSU Theta Pond, but unless I also have my 70-200mm zoom lens it’s just not that easy to get pictures of the squirrels, geese, and other animals hanging around the are. And because that lens is heavy and cumbersome, well, it usually gets left at home in favor of the 105mm or even the classic 50mm lens that started it all. What can I say? It’s the reality of the situation. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll get the 150-600mm Sigma lens I’ve kind of, sort of, had my eye on for a few years. Until then, though, patience is the name of the game and that’s what we’ve got here with this squirrel picture.

I saw this rascally little rodent circling one of the cypress trees near the pond and even though I just had my usual camera/lens combination, I thought I would make a go of it and see if I could get a good, or even halfway decent, shot. Taking photos of squirrels with a 105mm lens is tricky, but not impossible, and sometimes it’s nice to have a bit of a challenge. It mostly meant moving slowly, waiting, moving a bit more, waiting some more…you get the idea. Eventually he held still long enough for me to fire off just a couple of clicks of the shutter, and honestly, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I like that the squirrel’s pose is more interesting than if he were just sitting there minding his own business. It’s like we’re engaged in a bit of a face-off, him wondering what I’m up to and me just hoping he holds on for just a few more seconds while I take his photo. Thankfully, he did :)

I shot this at f/5.6 to keep the depth of field under control, 1/180 second to minimize motion blur, and ISO 400 because that’s what my camera decided to use in Auto-ISO. If you zoom in super close you might find a few things to nit-pick, but overall I think it turned out just fine. I haven’t taken a photo like this in a good long while, and who knows, maybe one of these days I’ll bring the ol’ zoom lens, leave the 105mm at home, and see what else I might be able to get.

Finally, as this image just happens to be posted on December 25, and is also the last one of the year, allow me to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, blessed, and joy-filled new year. Thank you for being part of Weekly Fifty, and here’s to a 2026 full of photographic possibilities 📸