Likes Cold Temperatures and Lots of Light

[Michael Erlewine]

By now I have been using the Zeiss Otus lenses for years. And I consider the Zeiss Zeiss 135mm f/2 Apo Sonnar T* ZF.2 Lens an Otus, even if it was just the pre-cursor. And despite contrary opinions, of the four Otus lenses (135mm, 55mm, 85mm, and 28mm), the 135mm (in my work and opinion) is the sharpest of the bunch. Here is a single shot at f/13 on the Nikon D810 of my favorite indoor wintertime flower, the Cyclamen.

[David H. Hartman]

Indoor? I didn't know you were from the frozen north too.

Dave Hartman whose Southern California blood is quite thin.

[Michael Erlewine]

Indoor? I didn't know you were from the frozen north too.

Dave Hartman who's Southern California blood is quite thin.

 I am in Big Rapids, Michigan, which sits on the edge of 900,000 acres of the Manistee National Forest...in north-west Michigan (Lower Peninsula). Where are you?

[David H. Hartman]

Southern California in Loma Linda. I hope the Cyclamen like temperatures down to 32*F as a friend planted some recently in Redlands, CA a few miles east. We're had snow here once in the last 26 years that I've lived here.

Dave

[Michael Erlewine]

Southern California in Loma Linda. I hope the Cyclamen like temperatures down to 32*F as a friend planted some recently in Redlands, CA a few miles east. We're had snow here once in the last 26 years that I've lived here.

Dave

Cyclamens like it in the low 50s fahrenheit, with sun. Freezing them will hurt them.

[Akira]

Michael, your photographic style has proved to be solid, stacked or one-shot.  The fidelity is impressive for sure, but I like the entire atmosphere more than that.

[David H. Hartman]

I was looking at this photograph earlier on my phone. Now that I can see it well on my home computer I'm really drawn to the leaves. I never noticed the edges of the leaves. It's like little numbs rather than the typical serrations one often see on leaves.

Dave

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael, your photographic style has proved to be solid, stacked or one-shot.  The fidelity is impressive for sure, but I like the entire atmosphere more than that.

Well, I do have a secret to my photography, call it my "special sauce." This brief articles was not written for photographers but it is about photography as used as tool for greater awareness. It does require an open mind, so you have been warned.

http://spiritgrooves.libsyn.com/photography-as-meditation

[Akira]

Well, I do have a secret to my photography, call it my "special sauce." This brief articles was not written for photographers but it is about photography as used as tool for greater awareness. It does require an open mind, so you have been warned.

http://spiritgrooves.libsyn.com/photography-as-meditation

Thanks for the link to the interesting essay.  I'll read it during the holidays.

[Andrea B.]

I was also drawn to the edges of the cyclamen leaves. Quite interesting!
It would be interesting to see a study of just those leaves.

[Michael Erlewine]

I was also drawn to the edges of the cyclamen leaves. Quite interesting!
It would be interesting to see a study of just those leaves.

Your wish is my command.

[Bill Mellen]

Beautifully done Michael!

I always enjoy your work.

[Michael Erlewine]

Just for fun, here is the Noct Nikkor lens, with a K-1 extension ring (the lest possible) on the Nikon D810. Here the point is the bokeh and general out-of-focus areas. Another great lens, but of a different type.

[Michael Erlewine]

D810, Noct Nikkor Lens

A little more wistful.

[Andrea B.]

The leaf edges are like fine beading.