Had a short trip to Colorado last month, and was lucky to spend a day up on Grand Mesa looking at the fall colors. There’s something about the aspen groves that I find very satisfying, and I was very fortunate to have been able to be there on the right day.
The details: FujiFilm X-E2 / XF55-200 @ 58mm. iso 200 – 1/1000th @f/4.5
I remember when I was about five or six years old, we were living in Albuquerque (my Dad was stationed at the Air Force Base there) and my Mom had this massive sterling silver and mother-of-pearl handmade squash blossom necklace. It was an amazing piece of work – heavy and ornate. I never really understood why it was called a “squash blossom” (figured it out later) but for some reason it’s one of the things that sticks out as a significant milepost (that and camping, tumbleweed and our beagle) of my memories from living there.
This zucchini plant isn’t producing any fruit, but the flowers are wonderful. Little bit different set up on the camera. This is a screw-mount ASAHI Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4 lens with a macro tube. A bit tighter than the NIKKOR 55mm I normally use for macro work but it works!
The details: FujiFilm X-E2 with Takumar 50mm 1.4. iso 200 – 1/125th @f/1.4
I was out in the backyard a couple weeks ago pretending to help with yard work. My major distraction was this eight-spotted skimmer that had taken up overwatch on one of the trellis poles from last year. It was very patient with me, but honestly as a model it really didn’t accept my suggestions for posing.
I have always been fascinated by a dragonfly’s wings – the veining looks like a delicate leaf.
The details: FujiFilm X-e2 with XF55-200mm @200mm. iso 200 – 1/160th @f/5.6
Out tromping around on Whidbey Island and ran across this water lily in a lovely pond. It somehow seems more tropical than you’d normally expect from the PNW, but I like it.
The details: Fujifilm X-E2 with Fuji XF55-200mm @200mm f/7.1 @1/350th ISO 200
A little backyard safari action again this month, this time a little more fauna than flora. Of the many things I learned this month, apparently, not all ladybugs have spots. Also, they’re not true “bugs” but beetles. Called “ladybirds” or “lady beetles” in other parts of the world… Either way, I think its amazing the things you can see if you just look.
The details: Fujifilm X-E2 with Nikon Micro-NIKKOR 55mm, 1/60th @f2.8, ISO 200
This week saw a quick trip to the Bellevue Botanical Garden for some spring color. The daffodils did not disappoint as they stand watch over this field of blue groundcover. I’m amused at how I tend to take inanimate objects and inject a little personality into them. As if the daffodils are the mounted infantry to the field of soldiers in the foreground. Or giraffes thundering across the savanna behind a herd of wildebeests. Or whatever your imagination fills in for you.
The details: Fujifilm X-E2 with Fuji XF18-55mm @18mm. 1/350th @ f6.4, ISO 200
The View From Here 