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

This was one of those photos where everything just worked.

I took this on a Friday morning. Two days prior my wife and I were out biking around the neighborhood with our kids and we went past a pretty large field full of yellow and red flowers, and at the time I told her that I’d like to return the next morning to take a picture. We talked about how the red flowers might really stand out against the yellow ones, and in the right light it might look pretty cool. Sunrise was about 6:20am and I knew if I left for work at 6:45 I would have time to drive past this field, hop out, snap a few pictures before the sun was too high in the sky, and then get to work right on time.

Things didn’t work out for a photo opportunity the next morning but when Friday rolled around I was able to get out the door with a few minutes to spare–enough to drive past this field and stop to take some pictures. I brought my D750, 50mm lens, and +4 close-up filter just in case I wanted to get a few macro images. The flip-out screen on my D750 made compositing much easier since I was able to put my camera in Live View, hold it close to the ground, and see precisely what the scene would look like as I took some pictures. (Even though I normally prefer the optical viewfinder when using DSLRs, Live View does have its advantages.)

A few minutes later and I just wasn’t having much luck. I had plenty of shots of flowers but nothing that really stood out to me though perhaps I might share one here in the coming weeks anyway. I liked the lighting, I liked the colors, and the dew drops covering the grass were a really nice added touch that helped lend some unexpected sparkles to the pictures. The problem wasn’t necessarily finding a good scene, it was finding a good composition. How could I use the various elements to create a solid photograph? And that’s when I saw this butterfly.

I now had a clear subject and focal point for a photographic composition, and I carefully made my way over to the place it was resting in order to take a couple of pictures before it flew away. Once again Live View and the articulating screen helped immensely, and I took several shots at various apertures in order to play around with background blur and overall subject sharpness. No matter what I wanted the butterfly to be as sharp as possible so I shot some at f/1.8, others at f/2.8, and a couple more at f/4 just for good measure.

What I didn’t expect when I loaded the image into Lightroom was how much I liked the bright spots of light thanks to the dew on the grass. They added so much to the image that I ended up choosing this as my favorite picture form the morning even though the butterfly is just a tad soft compared to the shots at smaller apertures. Even stopping down to f/2.8 had a hugely noticeable effect on the bokeh balls (is that what they’re called?) on the left side of the composition, and that was a compromise I just didn’t want to make.

This image also reminded me of one I shot nearly five years ago with the exact same lens, but on my old Nikon D200. It’s fun to revisit old photos as a way of seeing how much you can learn with a little time and experience :)

This picture is very similar to one I posted a few years ago, and while I guess you could say this is a remixed version of the original I don’t know which one I prefer. I kind of like them both :) There’s something cool about a length of thick twine tied to a post that makes for an interesting photograph, especially when you can get close. Maybe it’s because it creates a sense of nostalgia or conjures up thoughts of simpler times, or possibly it could be that pictures like this invite the viewer to create a larger story in their own minds. Whatever it is, I like photos such as this and fortunately they’re not too difficult to find either.

This was taken (where else?) right near Theta Pond on campus and even though it’s similar to its 2016 counterpart I like how this one offers more context, more life, and more of a story to tell. I had my Fuji X100F with me, partly because I really like shooting with it and partly because it’s so much smaller than a DSLR that I end up carrying it more places, and even though it’s not designed to take close-up shots it does offer some degree of macro capability such that I can often get decent results without using my 50mm lens and a close-up filter. It’s not the same as a true macro lens but the X100F does have a close focusing range of about 5 inches which is enough for what you might call macro-lite photos.

I think what attracted me to this particular scene was how the rope and post were somewhat hidden amidst the leaves of a gingko tree. It created a bit of a sense of mystery, even though the actual scene in real life wasn’t all that noteworthy. I shot this at f/4 partly to get a slightly wider depth of field but also because the X100F does get a little soft when using wider apertures to focus at close distances. I also shot this in JPEG using Classic Chrome and I don’t think I did much in post other than possibly add a bit of vignette. I really like the JPEG files straight out of the X100F and sometimes I think it’s fun to deliberately try to get things right in camera and not postprocess at all (or just a tiny little bit). This is a classic case of me forcing myself not to over-think things and just go with the results I get.

Ah, the classic Theta Pond Fountain shot. You can’t go wrong with pictures like this, and even though there have probably been thousands of images just like this one taken by thousands of photographers over the years here at OSU…this one is unique and this one is mine and I like it just the same. It’s something I’ve written about before here on Weekly Fifty and something I still struggle with–the idea that my photos have to be new and original or they won’t be of any inherent worth, and that’s simply not the case at all. Of course it’s good to try new things and experiment with new techniques, but there’s nothing wrong with going out and taking pictures of familiar subjects at familiar settings just because it’s what you like. And this is something I happen to like :)

I’ve had the Fuji X100F for about half a year now and I’m still kind of amazed at how useful this little camera really is. I went out for a walk on at work an overcast afternoon in the middle of May and the conditions were perfect for getting a shot like this–lighting was good, there was no wind, and campus was basically empty since graduation was the previous weekend. With the built-in ND filter on the X100F I was able to set the camera down on a rock, set a 2-second timer (to eliminate shake from pressing the shutter) and fire off a short burst of 1-second images that left the water silky smooth and the background tack sharp too. I shot this in RAW, unlike a lot of pictures I take with the X100F, so I could adjust the exposure and some other settings in Lightroom, and the result is the kind of picture I really like to have in my catalog.

And I guess I should say a disclaimer here too: I don’t mean to come across as someone shilling for one particular brand of camera, but good gravy I sure do like that X100F :)

I know I posted a windmill picture last week but I couldn’t resist sharing another one from the return trip on my visit to Nebraska. This was south of Junction City, Kansas, and I shot it at about 2pm on May 6. The weather was nice and I liked how the clouds streaking through the sky gave a bit of scale to the image while adding some dynamic elements too. On my return home I didn’t plan on stopping much since I wanted to get back to my wife and kids, but as I approached this windmill I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a picture. What really stood out to me was how perfectly it was positioned in the sky, with the vanes and nacelle clearly visible in the afternoon light. If it had been turned a bit to the left or to the right the image would not have had nearly the same appeal, but as it stands I was able to get what seems (to me, anyway) to be a pretty solid photo of a windmill on the prairie. Basically, when I think of the classic image of a midwestern windmill, this is what comes to mind and I’m glad I was able to get this particular shot.

Shooting with my X100F meant I could not change my perspective or alter the composition by zooming or fiddling with levers and dials, and instead I had to park my car on the west side of the highway, walk across to the grassy hillside, and move around until I got the shot I was looking for. Or, rather, until I got a couple dozen shots while not really being certain of what I was looking for. I knew that the overall scene would make for a good picture but I wasn’t quite sure of precisely what angle to use, where I should stand, what I wanted in the foreground, etc. Playing around with those elements turned out to be kind of fun and I ended up with a handful of images that were interesting and fairly compelling, but something about the way the sunlight bounced off the rudder in this particular shot made it stand out from the rest.

I did try moving around so I could see the fence receding into the horizon but that had the downside of creating a composition wherein the windmill was somewhat sideways and despite the fact that I tended to prefer the natural elements in that type of picture I kept coming back to the image you see above with its distinct windmill shape set against a bright blue sky. I shot that at f/5.6 since there was clearly no lack of daylight, and I wanted to get a picture that was nice and sharp where shallow depth of field is simply not needed.

Taking these two pictures (this one and last week’s) was a fun way to get out and see my surroundings a bit more than I’m used to, and even had the practical benefit of helping break up my drive a bit and allow me to get out and stretch my legs. And my advice for anyone reading this post is to do the same: the next time you find yourself traveling, consider the road less taken and see what sights you will discover along the way.

Edit: My dad found this windmill too, just like the one from last week. Thanks again, Dad!

In early May I drove up to Nebraska for the weekend to see some family and, as I often do when I’m traveling alone (as opposed to with my wife and kids) I took a slightly longer but vastly more scenic route compared to the interstates and freeways. I cut through Kansas on Highway 15 instead of I-35 and I-135 and in the process managed to see some interesting sights in the Flint Hills that make long drives like this a little more enjoyable. There’s a judgement call to make whenever passing something that might be worth a photo, though: is it worth my time to stop and try to get what might be a good picture, or should I press on towards my destination knowing that each stop along the way gets me there just a little bit later?

That was my dilemma on this particular drive and though I did park my car several times to get out and take pictures, I knew I also wanted to visit with my family before everyone went to bed and every photo I took along the way meant I would pull into even farther past my planned arrival time. Because of that I tried to be intentional in the photos I took, and kept my eyes open for two specific things: lone trees in the middle of a grassy field, and windmills. Both make for interesting picture opportunities and both are not exactly easy to come by, though one might think that on the open Kansas plains a lone tree wouldn’t be too difficult to spot. (They’re actually a lot more rare than you might think!)

I believe I got this shot near Abeline, Kansas, though I can’t remember if it was north or south of the town. The sun was setting and I knew I would be losing all daylight soon, and even though I had stopped to get a windmill photo about an hour before this one I thought I might as well give this a try just for kicks. I pulled over, grabbed my X100F, and sat down as close to a barbed-wire fence as was humanly possible in order to reach my hands through it and get a decent shot of the windmill. I dared not cross the fence on to private property, but I hope that just reaching across wouldn’t count as tresspassing!

I shot this from a low angle to give a sense of presence and authority to the windmill, and purposely put it on the left side to help the viewer see the wide expanse of grass and sky on the right. Highway 15, along with some overhead power lines, are just outside the frame on the left side and while I wish I could have mowed down some of the pesky grass sticking up from the bottom third of the image I figure it’s all part and parcel of living in the midwest so might as well just embrace it.

My wife likes windmills and shortly after I returned home from the trip I got this printed on canvas for her to hang in her office. She likes it a lot, and that’s probably the highest compliment I could hope to get on a picture like this :)

Edit:
My dad found the exact windmill after a lot of searching on Google Earth. Thanks Dad!