We went out and purchased a new magnolia tree at a local Home Depot. You've not quite lived until you've seen a red Prius hauling a seven foot magnolia sticking out of the hatch. Fortunately I got it home without destroying it, even stopping by a local Whole Foods to pick up a triple-chocolate birthday cake for daughter #1. Once home the magnolia was safely move into the back yard. Its planting is one of my little after-work projects for next week.
The sun broke through the clouds for a while this afternoon, and I went out and photographed the little magnolia before the sun dissappeared behind the clouds or I managed to kill it. We got this one because it's blooming right now. This particular bloom has ended, of course, but some of the petals are still attached to the central part of the flower. I like photographing magnolias because of the smooth satiny way the dark green leaves reflect the light. I'm waiting for some of the other buds on the tree to bloom.
The sun came out and bathed the mandevilla bushes with a bright but suffused light. In contrast to the low-key magnolia I decided to photograph this high-key. The little edge of sharpness is enough to satisfy that "sharpness need" I seem to have for photographs. But I'm working on that. As Kirk Tuck once said, why does it always have to be sharp?
While I was at the Home Depot buying the magnolia I carried my camera in with me. Bad move. I saw the pots against the wall, so while my wife was out looking at plants I was out photographing the pots. She said everybody looked at me like I was a weirdo. I think she was just annoyed with me because I disappeared for a time, rather than walk with her looking at the plants. Next time I will walk with her to look at the plants, stopping to photograph the really interesting angles. Then they'll look at both of us as if we're weirdos.
Technical
All of it taken with the Olympus E-PL1 and an Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm 1:1.4. Various degrees of post processing in Lightroom 4 and Silver Efex Pro 2, except for the second photograph. It came out of the camera as-is. All Lightroom did was convert the raw file to JPEG.
The pot shots are very nice, both of them. Never discount the value of a favorite lens. I still have yet to put mu 40mm Voigtlander on the PEN. I have the Nikon mount adapter. Maybe later.
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