Soon after shooting the Monarch on the aromatic purple flowers, on Feb. 23, 2021, I captured a delightful collection of daffodils; but they bleached out in the sunlight and they weren’t focused within the narrow […]
Tag: nature photography
The Monarch and I agree: What an Aroma
San Diego is a three-season climate: Early Summer, Mid Summer, and Late Summer. The first fully flourishes: Little birds tweet; crows caw; citrus grows in residents’ yards; squirrels scamper; and non-perennials burst with fresh flowers; among many other delights. In some other locale, these things would be signs of Spring, but Summer never really ends here and merely transitions from states of vitality—which booms this fine February. Despite the drier-than-typical third season, lusciousness abounds. Sights and sounds of vibrant life are everywhere.
Smells, too. While walking along Meade Ave. between Alabama and Mississippi, in the University Heights community, on Feb. 23, 2021, a wondrously friendly fragrance greeted my nostrils, and I stopped to regard the source—the purple flowers you see in the Featured Image. The Monarch presented photographic opportunity, and I pulled out Leica Q2 for two deliberate but hasty shots. Luckily, the first is wings down; the unpublished other, they’re up. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 28mm; 10:39 a.m. PST.
Imperfect Bouquet
Highly recommended: Avoid making Macro-shots of hanging-flowers when windy. Pixel-peeping the Featured Image reveals what happens when the breeze blows the vine after the shooter focuses but before he (or she) clicks the shutter. I […]
The Bee Tree
I am not a photographer and bear no illusions about ever being one. My composition skills are raw, and rarely cooked, and I lack the post-production sense that someone else would use to create art. My camera, the Leica Q2, is professional grade and seemingly beyond my skills. But I handle the all-in-one well enough, and it is satisfying to use—enjoyable and versatile.
I am a storyteller, however, and use photos to mark moments or to illustrate a narrative. Take as example the Featured Image (warning: 30GB file), which I captured today along Georgia Street between Lincoln and Polk in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 11:36 a.m. PST. The original was portrait, but I cropped square.
Flickr a Week 50a: ‘Rastplatz’
Our nature trek starts with Enzio Harpaintner and self-titled “Rastplatz“, which translates from German as “resting place”. He used Fujifilm X-H1 and Fujinon XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens to capture the little bird, on […]
Flickr a Week 49: ‘Ice, Ice, Baby’
The Photostream of Matthias Ripp is a troublesome affair, because almost any image would humble this series with worthiness. He is an artist. Among the many contenders: “Autumn Walk“; “Magic of (Low) Light“; and “Say […]
Flickr a Week 45: ‘Foggy Morning’
Our Wednesday selection, self-titled “Foggy Morning“, is a metaphor for the United States, following yesterday’s Presidential election. Many things are unclear, which makes the title appropriate. More importantly: The photo, which Sarah Horrigan captured on July […]
Flickr a Week 42a: ‘Style Icon’
There is “no cuter bird than a puffin”, says Rob Oo, who captured self-titled “Style Icon” in Vestur-Bardastrandarsysla, Iceland, on July 21, 2018, using Pentax K-S2. Vitals: f/8, ISO 1600, 1/350 sec, 250mm. The bird […]
Flickr a Week 41a: ‘He’s Coming To Get You’
We celebrate Sunday with self-titled “He’s Coming To Get You“, which Charlie Marshall captured on May 1, 2019, using Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens. Vitals: f/8, ISO 2500, 1/320 sec, 150mm. “I saw this wolf in the HIghland Wildlife Park near Kincraig,” Charlie says of the Scotland shot. “At the time, he was chasing another wolf”. The photo is a keeper for composition and drama.
“I’ve been a keen photographer since I got my first camera at the age of six (I saved up ice-cream wrappers and sent off for a small, leaky plastic camera)”, Charlie says. “I spent a lot of time in my twenties and thirties using disposable cameras, which forced me to focus really hard on composition because there was nothing else to focus on”.
Flickr a Week 41: ‘Gonepteryx rhamni’
For the first Wednesday of the month, we go to Roar A G Magnussen for self-titled “Gonepteryx rhamni“—more typically called the Common Brimstone. He used Sony Alpha 6000 and E 30mm F3.5 Macro lens to […]
Flickr a Week 33a: ‘Mighty Mouse’
What a sight is this little critter—self-titled “Mighty Mouse“, which Sue Cro captured on May 17, 2017, using Olympus E-M1 Mark II and M.Zukio ED 60mm F2.8 Macro lens. Vitals: f/18, ISO 200, 1/200 sec, […]
The Urban Pumpkin
Now here’s something you don’t see every day: A pumpkin growing among the decorative greenery-space separating sidewalk and street. My wife and I first came upon the thing sometime last week, while walking home from the grocery store (Smart and Final). Making the same journey today, we were surprised to see the odd round of orange undisturbed. Amazing.
What may not be apparent from the Featured Image (warning: 24MB file), which I captured using Leica Q2: The pumpkin grows precariously close to the street and entrance to a parking lot—on Alabama Street across from the BLVD North Park, which is really located in the less-trendy San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. But, hey, anyone living nearby Smart and Finally can claim to rightly be in North Park. Blvd is real-estate marketing fiction.