A Few Triumph (Motorcycles) Colors

Larz Anderson Auto Museum.  European Motorcycles lawn event
spread far to the right and out of the view of my camera.

I photographed the collection of Triumph gas tanks below at "European Motorcycle" day (September 2017) at Larz Anderson Auto Museum:

Photo Story: Bee With a Coat of Pollen

What is so fun for me is that this potentially (I haven’t decided yet) portfolio photo was shot while out photographing motorcycles!  How interesting that the motorcycle photos are all snapshots and not worthy of a portfolio.  None of my car photos are worthy of a portfolio either, nor do I expect them to be; but it just seems so ironic that I would end up today with my favorite photo being a pollen-covered bee. The fact that this was not my intention makes it all the more special.  It’s sort of like pond fishing for sunfish and catching a beautiful little brook trout.  

Panasonic GX80/85 with Olympus 60mm macro

1/125, F5.6, ISO800

A circular polarizer was on lens but was ineffective at this angle.

The polarizer explains the ISO800 as it cuts 1.5-2 stops of light.

The morning had been spent at Larz Anderson Auto Museum for a lawn show called “European Motorcycles”.  It was a beautiful day and the place was packed with motorcycles both new and old from BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Norton, etc. I’ll be posting some of the photos later. I enjoyed a couple of hours walking around, taking photos, and chatting as best I could (as I know little about motorcycles.)

Halfway home I stopped at a small grocery store to buy a fresh cookie and a soda, and spotted a bench in a small park with blooming flowers. Perfect for sitting and eating a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie!  As it happens, in addition to the Olympus E-M1 with 12-100mm zoom which was the combo I used for the motorcycle images, I had my new Panasonic GX80/85 with the Olympus 60mm macro attached.  Perfect!  

Scouting around I saw zillions of bees.  But looking closer, almost camouflaged, was this single bee covered with pollen.  I can certainly understand how this happens, because each little ball of pollen has little velcro-type protrusions, appearing under magnification like miniature thistles. But this was the only bee I spied with a coat of pollen.  He did not get it from this flower. My guess is that it came from entering one of the daylilies nearby.

Auto Walk Around: 1931 Ford "Model A" Deluxe Roadster

This Model A Deluxe Roadster is owned by a couple from New Hampshire who I unfortunately did not meet.  It is in pristine condition, both inside and out.  There does not appear to be a speck of dirt or grease on the engine. Could that odometer possibly be showing original miles? It indicates 1653 miles!

The Model A was produced between 1927 and 1931, and replaced the old Ford “Tin Lizzie” (the Model T) which Ford had produced for 18 years.  This particular vehicle, a Deluxe Roadster, cost $475 when new, and prices ranged from $385 for a basic roadster to $1400 for a town car.  All had 4-cylinder 40hp engines.  The spinning speedometer appears to go up to 80mph, though the advertised top speed was 65mp.  Of special note is that the Model A was the first automobile with safety glass used for the windshield.

Photo Story: A single sunflower and a bit of flash

I am so happy with this image that I had to share it and a few thoughts.  Your mileage may vary as to the attractiveness of the subject and lighting, and my chosen composition.  But what I like best is that half the light came from a flash and half from the morning sun, without looking like a flash was used. Whenever I can use a flash without the image looking like a flash image, I am happy.

The sunflower here (a cultivated hybrid Helianthus) is the only full size blossom (of three) in a single 8" plastic pot on the railing of our small wooden deck.  Laurie picked two of these pots up at the local grocery.  We were having company for lunch on Saturday and she thought (and I agree) it might brighten things up a bit.

Saturday morning while having my morning coffee on the deck, I noticed some nice morning light.  I positioned the flower so the light came in from the side.  For many people that would be enough, as the light coming across the flower created some nice texture.  But I tend to prefer my macro and closeup images to be a bit “flatter”.  That is, I like front-light as long as the light doesn’t look unnatural.  I want to avoid that “deer in the headlights” look created often with flash photography.  I realize that a flatter image has less contrast and creates more mid-tones and less dynamic range, and many people might not like that approach… But one of the nice things about being a hobbyist is that I really only need to please myself.

This image was taken hand-held. ISO was 200. I used aperture priority with EV compensation at minus 1 stop.  This increased the shutter speed from 1/80 to 1/160 thereby cutting the ambient light by half (i.e. one stop).  A flash was then used to “add back” that one stop of light.  

I do not recall what power on the flash was used.  I think the Olympus 36R flash was set up for TTL, but I don’t recall if I added or subtracted any flash exposure compensation.  With a non-moving subject it is easy to experiment. Manual flash is also very easy to use.  Just try, say, 1/16th power and adjust upward or downward from there until you get a good exposure.

"Hybrid Helianthus"

Panasonic GX85 and Olympus 60mm F2.8 Macro lens

1/160, F3.5, ISO 200, -1EV, flash (Olympus 36R)

Processed with Lightroom

Photo Story: Mum's the Word

I am so pleased with this image of a red mum in a pot on our front steps.  

Plan A today was to spend a couple of hours at the botanic garden, about a 30 minute drive from home.  I had my bag packed with two mFT bodies.  One with the 60mm F2.8 macro and one with the 12-100 F4 zoom.  

According the the weather apps on my iPhone I expected about 50% cloud cover mostly from high altitude clouds.  I thought that would be perfect for providing diffused light on little flowery subjects.

As it turned out the weather improved more quickly than I expected, so that when I was ready to leave the house I was seeing blue sky with just a few remaining clouds.  I decided to abort the mission and instead go fishing.

However, before switching gears I still wanted to press the shutter a few times.  That always makes me feel good! 

Laurie had just bought two mum pots at our local Market Basket grocery story for $3.79 each.  I’m really not much of a mum fan because they always look a bit synthetic and plasticky to me, though the pot of red flowers and pot of yellow flowers do make out front steps look nice.

When a large cloud briefly blocked the sun I took this image.  The sun was behind the flower, but with the cloud diffusing the light, this composition does not look backlit.  There was plenty of indirect light hitting the flower.  I like the collection of rainwater in the lower leaves, and what appears to be dust or pollen sprinkled on the red petals around the center.  

"Mum's the Word"

Panasonic GX85 with Olympus 60mm macro lens and CPL

1/125 sec, F8, ISO 640

Processed with Lightroom 

The main thing I did in Lightroom was to use the radial tool to create a vignette in the corners.  In this way I could reduce the brightness of the green background, which helps direct one's attention to the center flower without being distracted (as much) by the background. 

A circular polarizer was also used, though my angle to the sun was not optimal. I think it nevertheless helped cut down the shine of the petals and enhanced the colors. The light cutting characteristic of a polarizer explains the ISO of 640, which otherwise would have been closer to the native base ISO of 200.

Auto Walk Around: 1955 MG TF1500

This red beauty was produced in 1955, the last year the MG T series 2-seater sports cars were produced.   It is owned by Jamie Goodson of Marshfield, MA. 

The T series was produced by MG from 1936 to 1955.  It was replaced by the MGA.

All images were taken with a Panasonic GX85 and 35-100mm F2.8 zoom.

Auto Walk Around: Red 1959 MGA 1500cc Sports Car

This 1959 MGA is owned by John Gill of Littleton, MA.  MGA's were built from 1955 to 1962.  Only about 100,000 were built. All were built in Great Britain and nearly all were exported.

I viewed this beautiful red MGA at a lawn show at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. Brookline, MA.

All images were taken with a Panasonic GX85 and 35-100mm F2.8 zoom.

Page 13 | Western Road Trip 2017

A few rivers in Yellowstone.

Except for one or two of the photos below, these are not exactly “river” images.  Mostly they are landscapes which I think composed nicely with a bit of river in the foreground or background. Nevertheless I thought I’d make a collection of them by posting them together here.

The Firehole

The Gibbon River

The Gibbon River

The Gallatin

Bison on the Lamar River

The Madison

The Madison

Page 12 | Western Road Trip 2017

Yellowstone Lake

Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake in North America above 7,000 feet elevation.  It is 24 miles long and 10 miles wide. At it’s greatest depth it is 390 feet.  I’ve read that average water temperature is 41 degrees, but I don’t know what this means for summer water temperatures. The fact that swimming is not recommended suggests that it remains very cold!

Yellowstone Lake is at an elevation of 7,700.  The snow capped mountain in the distance is Mount Sheridan at 10,300 feet.