Maybe there is a spring this year, after all?

[nfoto]

This winter has been cold, white with snow packs the depth of which hasn't been seen for decades, and excessively long. Up till the last days snow was plentiful everywhere and nights had subzero temperatures. Yet we are way past the Spring Equinox so it is traditionally expected to be a spring this time of the year.

 

A few days without night frost and the harbinger of spring, Tussilago farfara Colt's Foot, suddenly appeared on road verges. Time to haul out the UV gear and brush up the basic techniques. My life has changed dramatically in recent time, I have moved away from Oslo to take up residence in the countryside, I have had my gender change, and now live next door to my girl friend of the last 25 years. So life is potentially good, but photography has become rusty.

 

I availed myself of a sunny day to do UV shooting hand held for a change to get the "feeling" for UV challenges once again.

 

This is among the better ones I came up with today. Nikon D3200 with internal Baader U, Tamron 21mm f/4.5 lens, ISO 800 at f/11 and 1/10 sec. I didn't expect critical sharpness anyway as the flower heads were buffeted by gusts all the time and shutter speed was on the slow side for hand-held photography. Nevertheless results were pretty acceptable, all things considered.

 

[OlDoinyo]

I envy you the ability to hand-hold at such a shutter speed--I would have needed 1/80 sec or faster to produce such results.

Did you use an extension tube to get this close?

[Andy Perrin]

Nice picture, glad you are having a good year so far. I am dealing with similarly frigid “spring” conditions. I have seen a couple of flowers in the past day or so but they are clearly treading cautiously.

[nfoto]

I envy you the ability to hand-hold at such a shutter speed--I would have needed 1/80 sec or faster to produce such results.

Did you use an extension tube to get this close?

 

Well, hand-holding is easier with a shorter focal length. This however is challenged by focusing close as any camera shake tends to show up more clearly.

 

The Tamron has a 0.25m near limit and removing its rear filter probably makes it focus a little closer, thus no added extension is required. It still does infinity focus at least in UV. The optical performance for visible light photography is less than stellar in contrast to its very good quality in UV. Beware of its propensity to heavy flare when shooting into the sun, however.

[nfoto]

A wider view of the same Tussilago colony is provided by the Sunex 5.6mm f/5.6 Fisheye lens. This fisheye is not a world record breaker for UV, but does allow a variation of the class of UV depictions we find ourselves locked into.

 

 

Taken with the same Nikon D3200 (modified) as the first picture. The Sunex lens passes slightly less UV than the Tamron so exposure was f/5.6, 1/25 sec ISO 800. Hand-holding this lens is about the only feasible approach, by the way as one otherwise always winds up with tripod leg(s), finger(s) or hair flowing into the perimeter of the image circle.

[nfoto]

Another quick snapshot in UV -- this time of my little red Peugeot on a road verge, and the apparently inevitable Tussilago.Nikon D3200, Tamron 21mm f/4.5 lens, f/7.1, 1/20 sec, ISO 800.

 

 

Camera hand held again.

[nfoto]

In the Tussilago - car shot, a power pylon in the background is almost completely hidden in the UV distance "haze". I had an idea what I could get out of that subject so moved over to get the tower in my finder frame.

 

A "candy UV" version of the Tussilago, dedicated to Andrea. The Tamron 21mm handles strong light sources pretty badly and flares a lot in UV. However, there is still "bite" to render the solar disc distinct in a sky otherwise quite washed out. In order to get some foreground detail, I kept the basic f/11, 1/10 sec exposure also for this capture. Hand-held camera as before.

 

 

Due to the massive flare, image contrast is low and much fine detail is lost.

[Andrea B.]

A "candy UV" version of the Tussilago, dedicated to Andrea.

 

And I thank you for the nod to my Candyland series !!! :D :D :D A most enjoyable artistic version of the dear little Tussi. It's such a charming flower. Just comes up out of nowhere bloom-first, headlong into the snow. And like you I enjoy the conjunction of nature and steel.

 

I like the fisheye UV work.

[nfoto]

I'll round off this season of Tussilago by the following example of using a moving vehicle to produce some background detail.

 

 

Nikon D3200 (internal Baader U), Tamron 21mm f/4.5 lens, f/8, 1/13 sec, ISO 800, hand held.

 

This kind of photography is literally point and shoot. I don't even look in the finder a fact that my aching lower back appreciates :D -- getting the camera into the position for the capture is tricky enough on it self.

 

I might repeat using a tripod support, but this improvised method is much more fun.