Feb 282014
 

Three Vases ©2014 April Siegfried

{click image to view large}

Sunlight changes so quickly. This moment made me stop, and then run for my camera—adjusting settings on the fly. There was no time for a tripod setup.

On first review, I was dismayed to see that even at f11—the best exposure I could capture handheld—focus on the foreground vases was soft. Then I realized what actually caught my eye was the background shadow and light, and that is sharp. Yes!

This camera has been my best friend for 6 years now, and is showing some signs of age. I know it so well I can shoot without thinking, and it’s going to be hard to move to a new system. However, the Fuji XT-1 sounds very appealing and would bring me full circle to my first love affair with digital: Fujifilm FinePix E900 (dating back to 2006). I still have that one, though it was re-purposed for a “shoebox camera” in 2009.

 

Nikon D300; 1/15 sec @ f11, ISO 3200 (handheld);
18-200 mm f/3.5–5.6 @ 112mm (168mm EFL); focus distance 1.5m

  3 Responses to “Three Vases”

  1. Looked at the picture before reading your comment and thought you did that on purpose. Pretty vases are everywhere, but what did you do to the window to get those sweeping brushstrokes of light? And a modern pinhole camera? Interesting….

  2. It’s a portly family at a movie! It’s a gathering of differently-crednetialed speakers at a PowerPoint meeting. It’s anthro-po-morphic April at her finest cinematically. Oh yeah, the colors splashing across the curvilinear surfaces are magical!

    • What delightful stories you envision for this image, Ted! Me and my husband laughed on reading, because they’re so apt.

      On a more serious note, you remind me of a quote I’ve saved:

      There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real, is taking place in everything.—Chogyam Trungpa

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