Anyone want a pair of snowshoes? They’re going cheap. Actually I’m just kidding, but they have not been any use to me so far this year. With half of winter now in the history books I’m beginning to wonder if any snow accumulation will occur? A very small amount of snow fell Friday night with the temperature steadily increasing. It didn’t amount to more than a few centimeters but produced patches of ice covered grass on my lawn. I thought it might be interesting to try a few shots even though a stiff northwest wind promised to keep things cool.
Basically I spent my time hunched over like someone looking for a contact lens. Staring at the ground for compositions is an unusual task. For the last six months I’ve used nothing but a normal prime lens (35mm f/2 x 1.5 crop factor = 43mm full frame equivalent) so I’m quite accustomed to knowing what I will see in the viewfinder before I even put it to my face. While walking around yesterday I was, quite honestly, lost. I decided to use a 105mm macro lens (160mm with crop factor) which got me in very close but I had no idea what would be in the viewfinder until I focused and checked it out. After an hour or so I was catching on a little.
I purchased this lens a few years ago from a seller on eBay. Optically the lens is fine but it has an odd quirk. Part of the focus range requires me to have the camera in aperture priority mode, then in the middle range of focus the aperture defaults to f/32. At this point I have to switch my mode to manual and set the aperture on the lens itself – manual mode will not work except in the middle of the focus range. If I am required to continue turning the focus adjustment it will soon give me an error and then I have to return the aperture ring to f/32 and return the camera to aperture priority mode. I curse it every time I have to do this.
I enjoy macro photography. It’s fun to examine the world using a point of view that shrinks me to the size of a rabbit or toad or ant depending on the magnification. Mainly I look for pattern, arrangement of color, and lines. Once I see things on the computer I decide whether I want to further abstract the image or leave it in a realistic sort of state.
I never went more than 200 meters from my house but I was outside for two hours. Before finishing up I spent fifteen minutes sitting beside the lake. I wiggled my butt into some loose gravel for a very comfy seat and looked out over the ice. After a moment I noticed a small opening in the ice about five feet away and each time a gust of wind came water churned up and spread out in a butterfly shape. As soon as the wind pressure diminished the butterfly got sucked back into the hole.
Excellent!! ^^
Wow!
You have some absolutely stunning pictures here; all so unique with wonderful colours