Photo of the Week 2025-08-11

 

I've come upon an unexpected, though not entirely surprising fork in the road on this leg of my photographic journey. Returning to film photography required a return to some older, in fact vintage gear, some of which I've mentioned in previous posts.

 

Today's image started with an opportunity to acquire (at no cost) a few Canon FD film camera bodies and lenses. This led me to pick up an adapter that would enable me to use the lenses on my current digital bodies. I'd intended the set up to be used mainly for quickly testing performance and operation of the vintage lenses which can suffer from a number of issues relating to age and poor storage conditions. Initial test shots using our Wheaten Terrier, Sullivan, as captive subject were very successful and inspired me with something else to explore.

 

And explore I did ...

 

' dreamy knapweed '

One of the vintage lenses in my arsenal is a 1971 vintage Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 Chrome Nose and ... what's the sense in having a f/1.2 lens if you don't shoot it wide open? 

 

Right?

 

Right!

 

This image captured in mid day sun, along a local concession road where chicory and knapweed are in abundance. Shot with my lovely, very clean copy of the 55mm f/1.2 on my 2020 vintage Canon EOS R5.

 

Using vintage lenses means manually focusing and wide open at f/1.2 near the lenses closest focus distance proved a challenge hand held. The conditions may have been better suited to using a tripod to steady the camera and using the rear LCD display magnified to focus because the depth of field is very, very thin.

 

And what does a 1971 vintage Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 Chrome Nose look like. This ...

 

It's a hefty beast for a  'standard' lens, weighing in at 565g (1.25 lbs) due to it's all brass, metal and glass construction typical of the day. By comparison a typical 50mm standard lens today can weigh half as much. Of course comparable premium lenses are comparable in weight but without the solid feel and tactile helicoid focus system.

 

With results like this, there just may be a return to the shallow DoF style that some knew me for a few years ago.  

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-07-19

 

It might be a bit surprising how new gear with new features can inject new energy into the photographic journey ...

Oh I love new gear just because it is new gear, but my recent return to using macro lenses and wide apertures with shallow depth of focus has been aided by the availability of an articulating LCD screen on the back of my new camera. Previously, I had been required to perform some interesting contortions in order to be able to see through the camera viewfinder or view the rear LCD to accomplish the precise focus I wanted. This resulted in some laughable scenarios where my forehead could be planted in the cedar duff covering the forest floor as I worked to get an upward angle on a wildflower, or where strange grunting and groaning noises could be heard in the vicinity of a low slung tripod set close to the ground for that bug's eye view.

Things are much easier now. Oh, I still need to get down on my knees for a lot of the wildflower images, but other than a bit of additional hunching over to shade the articulated LCD and zoom in for that perfect focus, it's a new day, a new way for my nature macro photography and here is another example of the results ...

colourful viper

Until you stop and take a close look, Viper's Bugloss appears to be just another roadside weed. Actually, it produces very intricate, colourful and interesting flowers that bud pink amongst a hairy green tuft before turning purple and stretching their pink stamens far out where the bees and other insects do their pollination routine.

 

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-03-30

I'm glad to have photography to help keep me busy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every time I get the urge to go out as I would in "normal" life, I head to the computer and click away into my image archive, ultimately finding something to occupy my time for a few minutes and possibly hours ...

Already, I've been reminded of so many people, places and things from early in my over a decade of digital shooting ... and I've only really been concentrating on the Urbex / Rurex content that I have.

Fascinating to me are the details to be found in abandoned locations ...

low fidelity

DJE