Our Japanese Magnolia is blooming, has been for several weeks. It is almost done now. Last week I spent a bit of the day photographing this magnificent tree. Most years the tender blooms get hit by cold weather and it doesn't last its full time. This year it did. I fell in love with these trees years ago, seeing the ones in downtown Macon. So much more beautiful than the cherry trees.
Anyway, this year I did it right, shot some with about every lens I have, or at least from the extreme long to the extreme wide, and in between. I started out with the 600mm, getting the nice isolated shot above. That old Nikkor 600 remains so sharp and crisp. Lord knows its a hand-full. I could not hand-hold it in my prime, much less now as an old man. And I used to roam the sidelines at Atlanta Stadium with that thing on a heavy tripod.
I took a ladder out and climbed up into the tree and shot with various wide angles. Really like the one here with my fisheye. You can really see the heart of the bloom and the tree as well. I stayed on the ladder and tried the 70-300 with a +4 close-up lens for the last shot. Made some very nice contrast between the different shots with different lenses.
This is a good way to see different views of common, every day subjects, by trying all your different lenses,across the different ranges. It is a good lesson to shoot them from a distance as well as close as you can focus. Very different results. Also a good way to learn your lenses.
So, go shoot, have fun and learn.
