Category Archives: Flora

Spring: Bench & Weigela

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140427_bench & wegelia by 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF55-200mm @ 55mm, f/5.0, 1/400 sec, ISO 200

This post will start a series on Spring as it comes into our garden.  This image is a composite of two images. The first is a straight image of the garden bench against a red Weigela.  I then overlaid a C-blur of the Weigela on top and adjusted the opacity to my taste.  I can never pass by an opportunity to capture red!

Spring has come slow to SE Pennsylvania this year.  The plants and trees are now rushing into bloom before we can catch up cleaning the yard.  Each new day is a gift that we very much appreciate.  So here’s to 27 April 2014 … it is a beautiful day!

 

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Remains From Prior Year

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140408_Spent Cone Flower by © 2013 Karl Graf. Fuji X-T1, XF55-200mm @ 58mm, f/5.0, 1/55 sec, ISO 400 (hand-held)

As new growth emerges from the ground, the flora from the previous year stand above protecting it.  It is a natural progression.  But now is the time when all “good gardeners” remove the old in preparation for the new.  My preference is to let the old and new coexist in a natural environment.  But in our garden, I don’t vote.  I just need to spend more time in the natural areas close to home.

This spent cone flower caught my eye.  I minimized the DOF to keep the focus on the flower head and blur out the ground.  I converted to B&W to further keep the interest on the spent flower.

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One Day Makes A Difference

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140402_Single Crocus by . Fuji X-T1, 60mm Macro

One day makes a huge difference as nature moves forward.  Two days ago, the crocus blooms were all closed.  Yesterday it was 60 degrees and they just burst open in full glory.  I enjoy watching as Spring evolves in our garden.  I just received my 60mm Macro lens for the Fuji X-T1, so I thought I would give it a try.  I definitely could use a tripod …

This image is processed in Topaz Simplify using a impressionistic painting style.  This type of processing hides my lack of sharp detail.

 

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Spring is Coming ???

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140331_Emerging Daffies by . 140331_Emerging Daffies by . 140331_Emerging-Daffies by . Fuji X-T1, 55-200mm

Spring has been long in coming.  It has been a long, hard, cold winter with record setting snow fall.  Since the “official” spring started one and one-half weeks ago, it has been cold and wet with even a little snow flurry.  But finally I see emerging spring bulbs coming up.  Maybe Spring is really here!  This morning I thought I would give my new travel camera its first try.  I purchased my new FUJI X-T1 on the recommendation of two of my mentors/instructors,  John Barclay and Tony Sweet.  They have both fallen in love with the new FUJI X-series cameras.  It will take me a while to get familiar with its strengths and weaknesses.  It is sure a lot smaller and lighter than my Canon SLR’s.  Hopefully the weather will get a little warmer for more pleasant shooting.

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Tiger Lilies

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140220_Lily in Snow 1 by © 2013 Karl Graf. Canon 5D MarkIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO 400

The pods of these spent Tiger Lilies looked like mouths opening up to feed.  They look like they are struggling for survival to keep their heads above the snow.  They are quite different than their summer budding.  The image below was taken from about the same spot last summer.

140220_Tiger Lilies by © 2013 Karl Graf.

 

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Where Did the Sun Go???

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131210_Sunflower in Snow by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 70mm, f/8.0, 1/80 sec, ISO 1600

This spent sunflower hung its head over when it couldn’t see the sun.  The ice crystals added to the “over the hill” state of the flower.  Even under the weight of the snow and ice, the stalk remained strong.

I normally do not use the presets in Silver Efex Pro, but this one (film noir #1) seemed to highlight the image I visualized.

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First Snow

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131209_Leaf in Snow by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f2.8L @ 62mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec. ISO 800

Fall color is gone.  We just had our first snow fall, quickly followed by freezing rain.  I got up early to capture the moment before it melted.  The fresh snow was covered by a thin layer of ice leaving interesting ice encased shapes.  To capture the contrast of the dark leaf against the bright snow, I over exposed by +2 stops.  Treatment in B&W captured the dreariness of the morning.

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Fall Color: Last Bloom

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131207_Fall_Last Bloom by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 66mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO 1600

Looking down on a brilliant bed of fallen leaves, I noticed this single geranium bloom soaking up the early morning sun rays.  It stood out stretching its neck out to show off its last hurrah.  The rest of the plant had withered away preparing for the winter ahead.  I will have to wait until the end of May to catch its first bloom of the new year.

 

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Fall Color: Leaves in the Grass

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131206_Fall_Leaves in the Grass by Karl Graf. Canon 5D MKIII with EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 63mm, f/8.0, 1/400 sec, ISO 1600

The color of fall in Eastern Pennsylvania has all passed.  This entry is the start of a series of posts of an early November morning shoot in our back yard capturing the last of the fall color.  The early morning sun caught these fallen leaves just right to pop them out from the frosted grass.  Simple things tend to catch my eye.  I constantly look down as I walk through the landscape.

On this shoot, I was testing out the low noise performance of the 5D.  There was  a steady breeze which required me to use a fast shutter speed.  I also normally use a tripod where ever I go.  This day I wanted to be “free” and capture images quickly as I saw them.  With a high ISO of 1600, the 5D performed exceptionally well and allowed me to capture the images that I was targeting.

 

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