Forest hike

Challenge of the day: walk across the Fontainebleau forest, from the Fontainebleau RER station to the next station! That was quite a big walk, but a really nice though :-)

I had brought my camera with me, equipped with the 50mm lens (still the most practical lens to carry around) and even if I did not have the opportunity to take a lot of pictures, the view was truly enchanting. Trees were not garnished with little green buds yet, but there was already some new flowers - and Spring was definitely in the air.

So, a few forest pictures - to change from flowers!

Solemn tree-lined path


Up the hill


Tall grass


Last Winter colors before Spring

Macro urge

Macro, macro, when you hold us...

On a very sunny day, coming across a beautiful garden with lots of beautiful flowers, I could but feel enthralled at the sight of those wonderful colors.

But I still have difficulty managing the focus area: with such a tiny spot and such a blurry background, it is really hard to get the sharpness where I want to.

Here are a few of my favorite ones!

Pink and white

Outburst of colors

Flying away

Macro attempt

Hooray!!!

I've just had the opportunity to try out the Sony 90mm 2.8 macro lens that my friend had bought some days before. And - OMG - I'm so thrilled with it!

This lens is tremendously sharp; besides, it's a macro lens so you can lean muuuch closer to your subject. And you can even see details like leaf veins, threads of fabric, or even dust particles.

As it was my first try with this macro lens (which weights more than 600g...) I had some difficulties setting a clean focus where I wanted to, and since the light was that good either, if was not easy for me to hold the camera and shoot without moving too much. In addition to that, the wind didn't help, with all the blossoms and leaves fluttering around...

In short: an absolutely delightful lens, though I still have to work on it if I want to take full advantage of its capabilities!

I cross my fingers, and hope I can get my hands on this lens a few - I mean, a lot more times :-D

Buds in green atmosphere


Opening daisy petals


Some pink and green flowers

Spring urge

Now that we are reaching March, I can't wait for Spring to come at last!

I've been missing the opening buds on the trees, the colorful flowers by the roadside, the buzzing insects and everything which comes with the warmer temperature and the bright sunbeams, and for quite some time now.

It's definitely time to begin enjoying Nature again; I need to think about new photography subjects and interesting places to go to within the few next weeks!

Some green pictures from last summer to set the mood :-)

White umbrella

Red bark

Yellow stripes

Photo mash-up #8

I felt like making a new photo mash-up (even though the last one was but a few days ago...) so here, a new theme which is not a color this time: NARROW STREETS!

How about a stroll in Paris old streets & passageways?

 

 

Happy passageways day :-)

Doorknobs

I really enjoy photographing close objects; for instance, small items like doorknobs.

In any case, I just love photographing doors :-). They evoke a sort of  mysterious atmosphere, maybe because of my having read too many of fantasy & sci-fi  novels (the parallel worlds or portal things, I guess ;-D).

So, here are a few doorknobs of varied shapes and colors:

Sculpted metal

 Rusted doorknob

Hand-shaped

Blossoms

Though I'm supposed - from my somewhat Biology background ;-) - to have some knowledge in Botany and more especially in botanical determination of plants & trees.

However, when I came across those early February blossoms it got me confused and I am not even sure of which kind of tree they belonged to: was it a plum tree? A cherry tree? Or even an apple tree?

My guess is a plum tree, but correct me if I'm wrong :-)

Blossoms in blue and white


Bokeh and blossoms


Blossom and blue sky


Blurry atmosphere

Photo mash-up #7

Today theme is BLUE!
Be it blue sky or blue water...

 

 
Happy blue day :-)

Snowdrop

Spring is coming! 

Wandering today in a small forest nearby, I was delighted to come across some beautiful and delicate snowdrop flowers. 

They were all gathered on a patch of grass, slightly away from the most frequently followed paths and bathing in the early sunset light that was filtered through by the surrounding trees.

What a refreshing view for all nature lovers :-)

Snowdrop flower


Snowdrop bokeh


Eerie atmosphere

Bokeh again

One evening this week & suddenly feeling like walking a bit, I took a stroll outside my apartment in the early night - carrying my camera with me of course.

There were a lot of beautiful lights, so I ended up capturing quite many bokeh samples!
A few of those pictures below:

Blue and yellow bokeh

White and yellow bokeh

Orange bokeh

Moon-shaped bokeh

Photo mash-up #6

A photo mash-up about the color ORANGE - light tones, but cheerful enough to chase Winter away and welcome Spring!

Happy orange day :-)

Photo of the day

Sometimes, there are pictures that you really want to get - that you have been planning to take for ages - that require this light here, and this piece of water there, and those people at the back, and this object at the front, and so on...

And sometimes, though the result is almost always worth the trip, you have to go through pretty hard times in order to get them: stay in the cold wind for hours, get a blocked back or a sore neck sitting in an awkward position, or get yourself drenched (or your camera)!

Hard time being a photographer

Paris at night

Today, following my photography companion after sunset in Paris streets, I endeavored to learn something new to me: taking pictures of famous monuments through their reflections in large puddles from below / further around.

I was fascinated as always by the lights at night, so I did not take just the few pictures I had been planning to try, and had not the opportunity to take more than one reflection... But the idea went out quite well and I will surely try this method again, on a future rainy day ;-)

Below my first try with Notre-Dame, the magnificent cathedral that is famous across almost all countries in the world - and another picture from a similar night so that it does not feel too lonely here:

Notre-Dame Cathedral


Street lights

On a rainy day

Though the weather has not been so cold for the season, we've had a lot of rainy days recently - not a good time for photography... Unless you get the chance to take a closer look at raindrops that came hanging at every leaf or outdoor object. 

And yet, the sky and nature are so sad, that it is not always possible to get an interesting color assortment! I'm eagerly longing for Spring now :-)

A few picture of my most recent trips around my place:

Multi-colored pavement

Frozen lake

Reflections in a small pond

Photo mash-up #5

I haven't been following the Catchy Colors contest for quite a while... I must give it some time on the following days :-)

In the meantime: a photo mash-up about the color BEIGE (stone beige here, more precisely)!

Happy beige day :-)

Macro or not macro

Whenever I take photos of very close objects, and/or with a large DOF, I feel attracted to the prospect of getting a macro lens :-) 

My only fear is that if I had to swap lenses, I would be much bothered about the dust or any king of particles that could get on the sensor (problem that I've experienced very recently ^^). Of course, I could get the appropriate material to clean it on my own - yet, is the benefit worth the trouble? Can I manage without an additional lens? 

To buy, or not to buy - that is the question: whether 'tis wiser to change my 50mm over...
(I don't think so, for the moment!)

Light ray on moss


Through the wires


A ram's head?