Woodland Photography Pt 1: Tamron AF 70-300mm

Early Spring is a great time to be out in the woods, especially on a sunny day – the trees may still be bare, but the forest floor is bursting with life… the under-story plants, shrubs and smaller trees rush through their flowering and leafing cycles quickly, to take advantage of the unrestricted sunlight – in a few weeks, once the trees leaf out, the canopy blocks off most of the light, and the small bushes go into the “quiet survival mode” until Fall when they get their chance in the sun again!

I’ve been out with the Sony Alpha 700 and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6. The choice of lens for woodland photography may seem surprising, but I find that the Tamron is very useful – the extended zoom range (the 70-300mm is equivalent to 105-450mm) on the Sony Alpha provides an useful stand-off distance so one can zoom in on an intresting flower or bud from a distance of at least 5 feet away without having to brave the underbrush and wicked looking brambles – the woods around here are chock full of wild raspberries and dog rose brambles. This also has the advantage of not blocking the light.

Besides, the Tamron 70-300mm is also a 1:3.9 macro, and since can focus down to 5 feet at the extended end of the zoom range, it does a great job. Moreover, I marvel at the fact that the Sony’s built in anti-shake allows me to handhold the 450mm equivalent lens. I would never have been able to do that with my manual Olympus bodies or even the auto focus Minolta 800si.

By the way, I purchased my Tamron lens about 8 years ago, back in June 2000 – I know they still make this lens, but I am not sure how the build quality has changed, or if it is still made made in Japan. I’ve always been very pleased with the Tamron, and even more so now…. with it’s super-zoom length of 450mm f/5.6 and equivalent when mounted on the Sony Alpha 700, it’s a formidable piece of optical engineering, and very cheap at the price. This is a true “cheap awesome lens”.

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Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm

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Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens. I used a Polarizer.

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

Flowering Dogwoods and Wild Mustard – Carroll County

Mid-April is the time for flowering dogwoods and vast expanses of wild mustard growing in the fields all over Carroll County… later in the year, these fields will be planted with Soya beans or Corn, but for now, they are just a golden mass of flowers, gently swaying in the slightest breeze. The dogwoods are something to look forward to, as they appear just as the Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias are fading, and they are much more durable blossoms. April is also the time of heavy rainfall here in Maryland, and delicate blossoms like the cherry don’t hold up well. Here are some of the pictures I took in Gaithersburg, and along Rte 27 north of Mount Airy, on the road to Westminster, MD. Mostly flowering dogwoods and fields of mustard blossoms – and a few redbuds.

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Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Redbud	Redbud
Redbud	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Pin Oak flower	Birch flower

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Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Redbud

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Thistle

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Dogwood and Mustard

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom lens. I used a Polarizer. Close-up of Pink dogwood photographed with a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 lens with Tiffen 812 warming filter

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC

Ever since the first signs of Spring, I’ve been out with my cameras, not wishing to lose any of the magic of the Great Annual Awakening of Nature. Maryland’s topography is so varied that even though it is such a small state, Spring arrives early in the southern part of the State, especially around Chesapeake Bay and the lower Potomac – almost a full month before it arrives at the Northern regions – near the Pennsylvania border. The rolling hills and valleys of Carroll county are decidedly cooler than DC and the annual cherry flowering takes place almost a week after the Tidal basin flowering

This year (2008) the the Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off on Saturday, March 29 – the flowers began blooming a couple of days before that, and on the 29th, it was close to approaching the peak – and it was 50 degree weather the next few days are likely to be cold and rainy, and we’ll lose a lot of the blossoms. I’m hoping that the flowers last until next weekend. The Festival itself runs until April 13th – but I’m afraid the flowers may be all gone by then. Here are the flowers.. as usual, it was a family trip, but we got separated looking for parking, and never caught up with the other car (which, incidentally, had our picnic lunch). My group ended up snacking at the refreshment stall behind the Jefferson Monument. I was able to walk around a bit under the trees, and here are the pictures. The crowd was very heavy on Saturday.

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2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

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2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700, Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 SAL18200 lens at Landscape setting and Auto ISO. I used a polarizer. The Shutter speeds ranged from 1/320 second in the Sun down to 1/50 second in the shade Here are the rest of the pictures.

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olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

 

Olympus Trip 35 – Fall in Montgomery County, MD

Some more Fall pictures. These were taken near Dufief Pond, and at Morris Park near Rockville. A couple are from Turkey Run State Park off of the GW Expressway. This year, Fall was pretty spectacular, even if it seemed to come a little late. We had a generally warmer than usual Fall this year, and the rains came just as the leaf color was reaching it’s peak, so I probably did not get the very best pictures, especially since I was only able to get out during the weekends.

Nature waits for no man… and so it is with Fall colors. I wish I could take a week off during the peak Fall days, but that usually impossible because it’s the busiest time of the year at work. Most offices are winding down projects and programs in preparation from the Holidays, and being able to get outside and spend some time communing with Nature is a welcome respite.

These pictures were taken on short hikes with my daughter Sunny – she loves being out in the woods. I was using my black Olympus Trip 35. I don’t get that one out much, since I am afraid that I will scratch the black finish. The Olympus Trip 35 never ceases to amaze me – the simplicity of the camera belies the extremely sharp lens with its beautiful color rendition and forgiving zone focus system. You can hardly ever go wrong with this little camera.

Compare these with the pictures of Dufief Pond taken with my OM-2n and Tokina RMC 70-210 f/3.5

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Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond	Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond
Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond	Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond
Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond	Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run
Olympus Trip 35 – Morris Park	Olympus Trip 35 – Morris Park
Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run	Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run

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Olympus Trip 35 – Dufief Pond

Olympus Trip 35 – Morris Park Woods

Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run

Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run

Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run

Olympus Trip 35 – Turkey Run

Olympus Trip 35 – Morris Park

Olympus Trip 35

Olympus Trip 35 – Berries, Westminster

Photographed with an Olympus Trip 35, Fuji Super 200 film. Zone Focus at 6ft, 10 ft and Infinity settings.

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text and images © 2007 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners.

 

Fall Pictures: Olympus 35 RC Rangefinder

First roll off my Olympus 35 RC. I finally got around to changing the seals on this old mechanical beauty – the Olympus 35 RC was one of the last mechanical Rangefinders that Olympus made. The RC has an Auto mode – it’s a shutter priority system. You set the shutter speed, and when the camera is on Auto, it will set the Aperture. I prefer using the Sunny 16 rule, and was glad that the RC offered a manual override that allows me to set the aperture as well.

I was very curious about this particular camera – it’s very similar to my Ricoh 500G, and I had been looking for an Olympus rangefinder for a long time. The camera is a joy to use.. the operation feels smooth and precise, and feels comfortable in the hand. The Olympus RC details are in the in the Olympus Cameras page along with a description.

All of these pictures were taken near my brother-in-law’s house in North Potomac, and in the grounds of the park adjoining the neighboring Dufief School. As can be seen, the lens on the Olympus RC is outstanding. I love the way it renders the Fall colors. These old cameras had single coated lenses, and that did something magical for the color and bokeh given the right lighting. This is something that I feel the new multi-coated glass/optical plastic lenses cannot replicate. But again, maybe it’s just my imagination.

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Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC
Olympus 35 RC	Olympus 35 RC

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Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Olympus 35 RC

Photographed with an Olympus 35 RC rangefinder camera, Fuji Super 200. Exposure was 1/250 at f/8 and f/11

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text and images © 2007 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners.

 

Sauter’s Delight

Sauter’s Delight is a farm located just outside of Westminster, MD on Old Bachman’s Valley Road. It’s very picturesque, and I have photographed it several times. Also, since it’s easily accessible, because it’s easy to park by the roadside without having traffic whizzing past all the time. These were taken over the course of the year, from Late Winter through Early Summer to Late Summer with different cameras, lenses and film using the Sunny 16 rule.

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Late Winter, OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f/1.8

Late Winter, OM-1, Zuiko 50mm f/1.8

Early Summer, OM-2, Vivitar 24mm f/2.8

Early Summer, OM-2, Sigma 35-105 (60mm)

Late Summer, OM-2, Zuiko 200 f/4

Late Summer, OM-2, Zuiko 200 f/4

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Photographed with an OM-1 and OM-2 Camera, Zuiko 50mm f/1.8, Sigma 35-105mm, Zuiko 200mm f/4 and Vivitar 24mm f/2.8 lenses on Fuji 200 and Fuji 400 film. Exposures ranged from 1/500 at f/16 to 1/250 at f/8

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text and images © 2007 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners.