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

Look back through my posts here on Weekly Fifty and you’ll probably see a handful that look a lot like this: yellow crocuses (croci?) poking through the brown grass. This is the first one I can remember sharing back in 2013 and it’s a scene I enjoy revisiting each year for a few reasons, even though I’m not sure that any subsequent photos really have a lot to add to the collective conversation. For one, I think shots like this are pretty. It’s enjoyable and somewhat reassuring to see the same sight each spring–as long as these flowers make their annual appearance it’s a sign that all is right in the world. I also enjoy experimenting with different ways to present this scene in terms of lighting, angle of view, closeness to subject, backlighting, even my editing choices. Is today’s picture any more or less interesting, or valuable, than any similar photos I have taken in years past? Maybe, but maybe not. Was it a fun picture to take? Absolutely, which is all the reason I need to post it here :)

The gear I used for this shot is nothing special: D7100 that I got in fall of 2013 and the same 50mm lens I’ve had since spring of 2012. I took this at f/2 in the late afternoon which gave the backlit flower a bit of a sunny glow. What I did differently this time around was pay careful attention to the whole composition. Not just the flower in front, but the other flowers in the background, the green blades of grass, even the white highlights on the right side. By looking at the entire scene and not just the main subject I was able to create a picture that is, in my opinion, a lot more visually appealing than some other similar photos I have shot.

It’s a good reminder to me of why I like learning from my past pictures. I used to get embarrassed by some of the photos I have taken, even ones here on Weekly Fifty, but I’ve really tried to see my old pictures as learning opportunities. It makes scrolling through my photo stream a lot more interesting and, even at times, inspiring.

I don’t know if these types of photos are cheating or not. All it takes to create an image like this is this simple process:

• Find a small object sitting on the ground.
• Set your camera to Aperture Priority
• Open up your aperture as wide as it will go
• Take a picture

Of course it helps to pay attention to lighting, composition, contrast, and a lot of other elements as well. But if you just want a cool-looking photo to share on your Instagram, this process works almost every time and that’s why it almost feels like cheating.

And yet, that doesn’t mean that these kinds of photos aren’t fun to take :)

I like it when I can find photo opportunities like this instead of create them artificially, and this feather sitting on the ground is a good example. I was walking around Theta Pond in February and saw this white feather sitting on the dark ground, and that type of contrast is nice because your eye is immediately drawn to the subject and then, later, to the surroundings. The sun was already kind of low on the horizon because that’s what happens in the afternoon in February, and I knew my 50mm lens would capture the scene pretty well.

I set my D7100 on the ground, enabled Live View, and took a few shots at f/1.8. I always like to stop down a bit after getting some shots at 1.8 just in case the depth of field is too shallow or the image is a bit soft, but in this case it was the wider-aperture version I liked best. Even though the 50mm f/1.8 lens isn’t a top optical performer the sharpness of the feather was pretty solid in this image, and there was a very slight breeze that had lifted it up just a bit to add a sense of weightlessness to the picture that I quite enjoyed.

I don’t know what I expected to see on a recent walk around Theta Pond, but this was certainly not it :) Normally I just see the usual–ducks, geese, cypress trees, and magnolia flowers, but on a stroll by the pond earlier this year I happened to come across this painted rock nestled among some tree roots. Initially I thought it said “Faith is” and it reminded me of one of my favorite verses from the Bible.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Turns out there was more to the rock than I realized, and upon closer inspection I saw another word: for. For what? I don’t know. I could have picked it up and read the final word or words, but instead I chose to leave it as-is and live with a bit of mystery. I can think of a lot of statements that would finish what this rock started, so rather than reading what this person intended I prefer to leave it open to my, and your, interpretation.

I also wanted to take a picture :)

This shot wasn’t all that tricky, except that composing it presented just a bit of a challenge given that it was so low to the ground. I used Live View on my D7100, but since that camera lacks a flip-out screen I had to contort my body at a weird angle just to see what I was looking at and adjust the composition accordingly. I shot a few frames at f/1.8 and then a couple at smaller apertures just for good measure, and found that this one at f/2.5 presented the best combination of sharpness and background (as well as foreground) blur. The 2.8 image would have worked fine too, but I liked the slightly extra bit of bokeh afforded by a slightly wider lens opening.

I have been thinking about the answer, or possible answers, that could finish this inscription and this experience, though brief, was a good reminder that photography can sometimes take your mind to some really good places.

Ok so full disclaimer here: I don’t know anything about horses. I’m calling this post Chestnut because apparently that’s what reddish-brown horses are called, but I could be way off base here. Feel free to correct me :)

This is a companion to last week’s picture, and if you read that description of how I got the shot I’m not going to replay the whole thing here. Basically we had a snow day so my wife and our kids, in the course of the day, were able to walk down to the edge of a horse pasture near our house and get a few shots of the inhabitants. This horse seemed casually interested in us and kind of strolled over to where were were standing to see what all the fuss was about, and as she walked closer I fired off several pictures with my Nikon D500 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens.

This ended up being my wife’s favorite picture and I agree with her. I had a few others where the ears were visible, but I liked how this image conveys a sense of closeness and intimacy that the other pictures lacked. I shot this at 116mm so the horse wasn’t exactly right next to me, but it feels like you could rub your hand on her head when you look at the picture. I really like how the shallow depth of field puts your focus right on her eye, and the frost in her mane and on her chin (as well as the monochromatic background sell the feeling of how cold it was on that early February morning.

I often talk about how you can find photo opportunities almost anywhere, even in your own backyard. That was certainly true in this case, as this horse is almost literally in my own back yard. Almost, but not quite. There’s a big field behind our house in the middle of the block, I’m guessing maybe ten or fifteen acres, and for as long as I we have lived here there have been a couple of horses living there. I know it’s silly but even after more than ten years and getting to know almost all our neighbors I’m still not exactly sure who owns the horses, but there they are: hanging out, doing their thing with plenty of room to run around and enjoy life.

So when we woke up to a fresh coat of snow one morning in early February I thought about getting a picture of one of the horses. We only get snow once or twice a year here in Oklahoma, and even then it’s usually gone by mid-afternoon, so I knew that if I wanted to get a picture of this horse walking through the fresh powder I wouldn’t have much time. Schools were closed but the library was open, so I hopped in the car with my kids to go return some books, and brought my D500 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens in case the horses were out enjoying the snow.

They were, but it didn’t really work to get a picture. The horses were at the far end of the pasture and even zoomed in to 200mm on a crop-sensor camera I wasn’t really able to get a great shot of them. No worries, I thought. We’ll come back a bit later.

After returning the books and heading back home, the boys wanted to get outside and play so we bundled them up and spend the next hour or two throwing snowballs, pulling sleds, and just running around. After a little while I asked everyone if we could walk down to the edge of the pasture to get a picture, and my wife and the kids were all for it. So we went down…and no dice. The horses were standing around a pile of dirt too far away to get a good shot. I thought that would be the end of it.

Later that day after a round of sledding on a nearby hill and just as the boys were getting hungry for lunch I asked my wife if she wouldn’t mind one last attempt at a horse picture. It was still cold and overcast, so we all walked down and I think at that point the horses had decided we weren’t going to give up on this photo opportunity quite so easily. They saw us at the fence line on the eastern edge and slowly walked over to say hello. And that’s when I got this shot.

The D500’s focusing area covers almost the entire frame so I was able to focus on the horse’s head and keep it locked as it got closer, and I basically just fired off a lot of shots at f/2.8 in the hope that one would work. And this one sure did! I like that you can see the horse’s eye so clearly, as well as the foreleg kicking up a bit of snow as it’s walking towards us.

I think I’m going to use this as an opportunity. I’m going to track down the owners of these horses and share this picture with them. Hopefully they will enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed taking it :)