Blossom

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Mike Farley
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Joined: Tue 11 Sep 2012, 16:38
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Blossom

Postby Mike Farley » Tue 24 Apr 2018, 15:55

Having just been admonished by another member for what they considered to be a poor quality entry on my part into a recent competition*, it is with some trepidation that I submit this image to the forum. The shot is a reasonable effort, but falls short of what I can do when I really bother to apply my admittedly limited skills. It is my response to Iggy's "Is Spring Really Here?" posts and is the blossom of a tree** planted in my garden.

Blossom.jpg
Blossom
Blossom.jpg (91.35 KiB) Viewed 948 times

So, why is this shot here? Firstly, it is a crop from a larger frame and might feature in the new talk I am preparing, where I propose to investigate human perception and the effect it has on the way we arrange our images. With this shot, I adjusted the crop and adjusted tones to ensure that it is as visually pleasing as I can make it. The new lecture will be a continuation of my "Aspects of Composition" presentation which I am giving at the club on 30 May.

In addition, I was testing out a recently acquired lens. I will not call it my newest lens, since it was manufactured over 40 years ago in the former Soviet Union. Helpfully, the Russians used a serial number convention where the first two digits are the year of production, so I know this one was made in 1975. It is a Jupiter 11 (135, f/4) which has a reputation for variable manufacturing quality. This one came from a reputable dealer who tested it for me, so I know it is one of the better ones. My version has the L39 threaded mount, which means that it has a rather long minimum focussing distance of 2.5 metres. The lens is based on a prewar Carl Zeiss design and consequently has a rendering which is typical of that period. In this image, I further challenged it by shooting against the light for a contre jour effect on the blossom.

* I have told the person concerned that it was a one-off occurrence which, categorically, will never, ever happen again.

** I have no idea what the tree actually is. The garden centre which sold it claimed it was a crab apple but the fruit it produces look more like cherries. It was the same place which sold us a rose bush which was a completely different colour to the variety shown on the label. Plant recognition does not seem to be their strong suit ......
Regards

Mike Farley
(Visit my website and blog - www.mikefarley.net)

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