Matthew Durr Photography

Reflections
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/320

Summer keeps on a-rollin’ in the bluegrass, as temperatures remain warm, fields stays green, and flowers continue to grow. At the same time, and just how I detailed a couple weeks ago, my summer work keeps me busy for a lot of the time I would prefer to dedicate to photography. That’s the downside to making money, I suppose. It does take time and effort to earn it. 🙂

On the bright side, with all the recent rumors flying around about the full-frame NEX, it’s a good thing I’m saving my money! As many readers know, a full-frame NEX-7-styled camera is one that I have dreamed of for a long time. I’ve got just about all the full-frame AI-s Nikkors I need for such a camera, so the rumored announce date of September 24 cannot come soon enough!

Back to the here and now, let’s take a look at all things photographic over the past couple weeks:

First up, I’ve been getting some responses to my Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 review in regards to the lens’ supposed “poor” bokeh. While I cannot argue that bokeh at medium distances can be either unique or distracting—depending on how you look at it—bokeh at or near close-focus is plenty smooth for both effective and pleasing subject separation.

Abundance
32mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/50
What I DO like about this bokeh more than the Sony 35mm is that some detail still comes through the blur from the lines of an out-of-focus subject. For instance, the background black-eyed-susans, while well out-of-focus, still have relatively defined petals to give the image context.

The thing is, with a lens as wide as the Zeiss 32mm is, rarely will bokeh be of much concern at medium- to far-focus distances, and the extra sharpness the Zeiss brings can be appreciated:

Peace
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/80

Creek
32mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/15

When dealing with purposeful motion-blur, though, sharpness consideration goes out the window. 🙂

Moving Down the Road
32mm, ISO 100, f/9, 1/6

Now getting to some more macros, a single set of late-summer “surprise lilies” bloomed nearby, all by themselves in the shade:

Surprise!
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/40

Very interesting liliies, the Lycoris squamigera are. Their circular configuration creates a nice symmetry to photograph, and the concentration of the smell attracts many small bugs:

Tiny Pollinator
105mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/80

But what got me the most this past week was a surprise nighttime visit from a large East Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. This guy flew into the porch and, like many flying bugs, couldn’t figure a way out. Eventually, he decided to settle down on the most likely of places, a fake flower bouquet!

Fake Flowers, Real Butterfly
105mm, ISO 100, f/8, 30 Seconds
Funny juxtaposition here. 🙂 Converted to black-and-white due to a bug-light emitting a color of light that couldn’t be color-balanced (even with a gray card)

After letting him fall asleep (and giving me a chance to change the lightbulb to a color-friendly hue), I went to create a couple more photographs from angles not typically seen:

Abstract
105mm, ISO 100, f/11, 25 Seconds
Even at this website’s downsized 2000×1333 resolution (click for it), the detail on each individual scale on the wing is astounding.

Sleeping
105mm, ISO 100, f/11, 30 Seconds
Click to see the embedded full-size crop, it’s amazing how still this butterfly stood. This is a thirty second exposure, and the detail in the large compound eye is tack-sharp. Also, the wound evident in the lower right of the image could be one reason this insect decided to go to sleep. 

The next day this large butterfly, wound healed, still couldn’t figure a way out of the porch (even with the door wide-open!). With careful handling, I could get it to crawl all over my hands. A tingling experience you aren’t likely to get outside of the Butterfly Conservatory at the Museum of Natural History:

Fascinating… 🙂
32mm, ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/60

Now comfortable in my  hands, I chanced taking the insect outside for a couple last shots:

Little Friend
32mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/80

Posing
32mm, ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/30
Still weak from not eating, I left him on the closest flower—the surprise lilies featured earlier. And…the post comes full circle. 🙂

That’s all for this update, guys and gals, thanks for dropping by! I’m still doing everything I can to make more photographs before my final year of university work resumes in September, but at the same time, I need to make as much money as possible at work. Finding balance has been the key.

P.S. I still haven’t gotten to selling the Sony 35mm yet. I’ll keep you all posted.