Weeks 31 and 32 of 52

[mtngal]

Week 31, Oct. 1-7

I made a point of getting out and taking pictures this week. I also got a 52-52 coupler so I could reverse my 24mm f2.8 lens in front of the Vivitar S1 105 macro lens, or the old K mount Takumar 135mm lens. I think there’s a limit to how useful this combination will be, it’s difficult to deal with that tiny of a dof.

Getting away to St. George and a beautiful landscape gave me some incentive to get out of my office at lunch.

Tuesday I spent some time taking pictures of white azaleas. (K5, 77 Ltd)



I had a vague idea that I would do a composite picture, with a person walking over one of my Cedar Breaks. I never got around to doing the composite, but while sitting on a bench Wednesday, taking people walking across a patio, I spotted this squirrel. I really liked the picture and would have used it if I had ever gotten around it.



Friday found me out with the reversed 24. The dof is really tiny, even with the 24mm stopped down. There’s also a limit of how much you can stop down the lens – too much and the picture is black. This first picture is a blade of grass, taken at an angle to show just how tiny the dof field is (and this is with the 24 stopped down to f11 or so!)



The same blade of grass, taken straight-on so there’s not as much trouble with dof. I found the structure interesting, not something you can see with the naked eye. I have no idea what the magnification is, but it’s quite a bit more than 1:1.



A very tiny drop of water on a grass blade, this is a stack of 6 shots using CS6 to stack/extend the dof.



To give you an idea of the difference, here’s a link to one of the frames I used: http://mtngal.zenfolio.com/p487897818/e45e6c46e . The photo following that one was with the Viv alone, it gives you an idea of just how small the drop of water was.

Sunday found me still playing around with macro, only this time with the DA 35 macro. A young grape leaf growing on my front porch:



Week 32, Oct. 8-14

This turned out to be another week where I didn’t take many pictures, and the ones I did weren’t exactly exciting.

Oct. 10 - Fall had finally arrived, with some rain. (K5, FA77 Ltd)



It was still raining Oct. 11. I always stick the camera bag in the back of the car on the way home, and of course, there was a beautiful rainbow. With the camera out of reach, I hope I can be forgiven for posting a picture taken with the iPad.



The rain moved out by Oct. 13, but not all of the clouds. (K7, DA 55-300)



I wonder what the line painter was thinking of as he painted the line?

And so ends another week.

[nhmom]

I love the blades of grass. And, yes, what was that line painter doing? There's got to be something you can use that squirrel shot for. He's so cute.

Patty

[tacticdesigns]

Really like that last one. It's got a nice going home town feel to it. As for what the painter was thinking, probably was too busy looking at the nice view and forgot about the painting!

[mtngal]

Thanks, the blade of grass photos were interesting in that you don't see the structure like that when looking at a blade with your eye. I find that fascinating.

And perhaps the line painter was dodging a coyote that was running across the road (like the one that ran in front of me this morning, though he was far enough ahead that I didn't even have to break for him).

[BobIr]

Love the squirrel capture, with all 4 paws off the ground. Great timing.