Slovenian Alpine Meadow

[nfoto]

On a recent trip to Slovenia, we drove over an alpine pass on the outskirts of Triglav National Park. Altitude around 1400 m.a.sl. so not really high compared to the mountain peaks 2.500 m + around us.

 

The weather was slightly overcast, but no rain, thus I availed myself of an alpine meadow containing lots of various buttercups (Ranunculus spp.), speedwells (Veronica spp.), Alpine forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris), Alpine Clematis (Clematis alpina), and a wide range of other species not all familiar to me. I just received the complete Flora Europaea (5 volumes, 6.5 kg total ...) so will probably be able to identify most species. This chore is set aside for later, though.

 

Here I'll show a snapshot taken with my Nikon D3200 (built-in Baader U2" filter) and the Nikkor 18 mm f/4 AI lens. I briefly tried shooting in UV with my 16 mm f/3.5 Fisheye-Nikkor, but results were quite inferior to those obtained with the 18 mm lens.

 

ISO 100, f/22, 8 sec.

 

 

There is very significant focus shift with this lens for UV, so Live View is essential. I might have to modify the focusing capability of the 18 Nikkor to make it even better suited for landscapes in UV.

 

Here is another section of the meadow, close to an ancient bridge hewn in calcareous rock. The Clematis makes itself pretty evident. Same exposure as the first image.

 

 

I'll make specific posts on some of these species in due course.

[OlDoinyo]

The first frame has an Orton-esque quality to it. Is it wind blur, CA, or post-processing special effects?

[nfoto]

Wind blur. Eight seconds without wind-induced movements is a tall order in a mountain pass ...