booleansplit.com

photos, tips, tricks, and thoughts from an avid amateur photographer

 
 
 
 

Posts tagged spring

warmth

warmth

Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, ISO 125,  f/1.4, 1/60 sec, +2/3 EV, IS on

Been playing around a bit with a Pentax FA 50 f/1.4 lens I’m borrowing. This shot was taken almost directly into the late afternoon sun streaming through the windows on the front of our house. So far I am finding the FA 50 to be a bit soft for my taste wide open (as you can see here) but the autofocus and extra 2/3 stop advantage over my old A series 50mm f/1.7 are nice. There does seen to be a fair amount of purple fringing in a lot of my shots but I have yet to really test the lens with anything more than some plinking around. I don’t think I’m going to do my usual full-on User Review for the FA 50. I’ll probably just do some anecdotal comparison to my old 50 f/1.7 for those people who either have an older manual focus lens and are thinking of upgrading or for those people who are considering their first fast fifty.

BTW, this image was imported into Lightroom using my standard import settings for my K10D. I then selected “daylight” for the white balance and nudged the blacks slider up to 16 to dial in a bit more contrast. Lastly, I cropped it square and rotated it slightly clockwise to adjust for level on the left side of the frame.

a couple of recent macro shots

(untitled)

Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

Heavily processed in Lightroom. Started with the Direct Positive creative preset then poked and prodded for a few minutes until I got what I wanted. The detail however, is all from the lens. I’ve got the review worked out in my head but just have to find the time to put it all together.

Tears of loves lost in the days gone by

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 125, f/1.7, 1/100 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

This time shot with my old manual 50mm and heavily cropped to get the macro effect. Processing was limited to some WB and saturation/vibrance tweaking and the addition of some vignetting. This crop is basically a 100% magnifcation of the original 10MP image. Note the slight purple fringing around the droplet from shooting wide open? That’s how you know this image is real ;-)

worth the wet knee

worth the wet knee

Pentax K10D, SMC Pentax-DA 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited, ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

Continuing to test the 35mm f/2.8 Macro Limited this weekend. Shots like this are clearly where this lens shines. This image was cropped slightly in Lightroom before I applied the Direct Positive creative preset. I then tweaked the white balance to give it more of a warm and sunny feel. Finally, since the background was a bit flat, I added in the vignetting to “frame” the subject.

One thing I’m learning about this lens is that if you go walking around with this lens you’re going to end up with a wet knee:

imgp1156

sprung

sprung

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 100, f/1.7, 1/100 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

frosts are slain and flowers begotten

frosts are slain and flowers begotten

Pentax K10D, SMC PENTAX-DA f/3.5-5.6 18-55mm AL @ 55mm + SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (reversed), ISO 800, f/8, 1/30 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

This tulip was shot hand-held with a DIY super macro set-up. Lighting was via a nearby window:

imgp0114

The title of the photo comes from a portion of a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne called Atalanta in Calydon:

For winter’s rains and ruins are over,

And all the season of snows and sins;

The days dividing lover and lover,

The light that loses, the night that wins;

And time remembered is grief forgotten,

And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,

And in green underwood and cover

Blossom by blossom the spring begins.

About

I'm an industrial designer and an avid hobbyist photographer. People are always asking me "how'd you do that?" So, I decided to create this site as a place to share my experiences and insights about photography, the gear and what it all means to me. I'm not sure if this site will make anyone besides myself a better photographer but I figure it's worth a try. Take a look around and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by!

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