The second shot from my then new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, on Feb. 16, 2023, was a lone, bright orange flower in our apartment courtyard. Even a couple days ago, the thing appeared to be vital. But today, when leaving for a walk, I saw something surprising. Well, you can see from the portrait pair.
The Featured Image comes from the S23 Ultra. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 10, 1/800 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 1:57 p.m. PDT. The photo is cropped 3:2 but not otherwise altered. Color, dynamic range, white balance, etc. are as shot. I used the smartphone’s Portrait mode, which blurred the background. Does that look natural enough to you?
Not long later, I took out Leica Q2 for comparison. The second shot is close-cropped but, again, otherwise unaltered. Feel free to compare color accuracy and bokeh, for starters. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 2:10 p.m.
I will miss the orange Gazania, which grew in an excellent sunny spot—or was two months ago. I need to confirm by observation but possibly sunlight no longer beats down as much where was the flower. Hence, the sudden demise.