Photo of the Week 2026-03-30

 

Now I know that Spring has just arrived but I've delayed outdoor adventures for a bit while I convalesce after hernia surgery one week ago. Any recent photography activity has been limited to some shots of Sully around the house or working on the computer with images from previous outings.

 

And that's where today's photo caught my eye. Back in November, I mounted up a couple of vintage lenses on modern digital camera bodies and went for a frosty morning walkabout in the Guelph Arboretum. The sun rose magnificently in clear skies bringing it's warmth in colour as well as temperature. Low in the morning sky, it provided exquisite back-light for the remaining fall colours and foliage.

 

' morning smoke '

From a distance, this Smoketree (I did not take note of the specific variety) with it's feathery 'flowers' gave the impression that it was smoking or steaming which drew me closer. I enjoyed some close-up shooting using the back-lighting to bring an ethereal, abstract feel to the images.

I was using two different camera/lens combinations and cannot recall which lens was used for the image above, likely a 35mm or 50mm variant of the vintage Canon FD lenses I have acquired. Unfortunately key-wording was skipped for files from one setup on import to the computer and being a fully manual vintage lens, there is not electronic communication with the camera to have the info recorded in capture metadata.

Note to self ... don't forget to keyword when importing images, particularly those shot with vintage lenses.

DJE 

Photo of the Week 2026-03-16

 

I recently picked up the photo kit of a retired photojournalist to add to my growing collection of Canon classic film SLR's and lenses. Surprisingly, the lenses were in quite good shape and showed little abuse, the camera an F-1 3rd and last generation, showed signs of serious use with a couple of dings and some brass showing through worn paint. All were in good working condition so after a detailed cleaning, I replaced the light seals and mirror bump pad in the camera, loaded it with film and took it out for a spin in Downtown Guelph. I've yet to finish the film but will shortly I'm sure. Until I have those images ready to share, here are some from the same outing using my digital camera with a vintage Canon FD 35mm f/3.5 manual lens from another purchase ... 

 

Now an added bonus ... or maybe not depending on your take ;-)

 

It was time to update my profile pic here on Google / Blogger so I mounted up a vintage portrait lens on the R5 and set up for some portrait selfies using the Canon Camera Connect App on my phone as remote trigger. I thought it's been a while since some of those following me have seen this mug and wanted to let you know what Iook like in case we run into each other.

 

 Damn it's hard to get your subject to smile ;-)

 

DJE