I was contacted by Photography Week Magazine a few weeks ago, asking if i would be willing to let them publish one of my pictures. The image they selected was from a recent trip to Nevada City. Photo taken with the Fujifilm X-T3 with the 80mm Macro lens. Published in issue #331
Dad's Restoration Project
My dad has been a geek since his early teenage years, with a love of all things ham radio. He supported the family by owning a small business that sold ham radio equipment. I grew up around dusty old ham radio equipment. I can still remember the unique smell you get from these antiques and seeing my dad work on these antiques bring up a lot of childhood memories.
He is retired now, but he still has a love for radios and radio equipment. He recently developed a passion for morse code keys, the history behind them and restoring these little communication devices. Most of them come to him covered in grease and dust. He takes each one apart and restores them back to working condition.
Just a sample of over 100 in my father's collection.
Many of the 100's he has collected were made in the early 1900's and 1940's. Below is a small handful that he has already restored or are in different phases of restoration.
The graphics on this box are really amazing. Inside is all the original documentation and equipment, in original condition.
This device uses a punch tape to transit sounds. It was used for training.
This was a military device, still waiting restoration.
Another still waiting to be restored.
Nevada City Dark Tourism
I always find cemetery shooting to be a challenge. I don't always know what compositions will work best to bring out the details of the old headstones and statues. This week I decided to try shooting with the Fujifilm 80mm macro lens and I think it was a perfect choice. I think this will probably be my goto lens for future cemetery visits. A few samples are below.
Tulip Gardens in Nevada City
For one month a year (in April), you can visit the Crystal Hermitage gardens in Nevada City. These impressive gardens feature around 17,000 tulips and flowering trees in a beautiful hillside location, about 25 minutes from downtown Nevada City.
Fujifilm 16mm lens. The building in the background is a small church.
The gardens are visited by 1000's of people and it seems like everyone is taking pictures with either cell phones or full size DSLR cameras. With all of the colors and different types of flowers, you can imagine why it is so popular.
Fujifilm 16mm lens
Fujifilm 16mm lens. Only about 60% of the tulips are flowering when this image was taken.
Fuifilm 16mm
If you are a Macro shooter, these gardens are a great opportunity to get close to some flowers and maybe a few bugs.
Fujifilm 80mm f2.8 Maco lens
Fujifilm 80mm f2.8 Maco lens
Fujifilm 80mm f2.8 Maco lens. In addition to flowers, you will find status and water features.
Fujifilm 80mm Macro Lens
I recently picked up the Fujifilm 80mm Macro lens and from the moment I held this lens, I knew it was special. First thing you will notice about this lens is the size. It is a pretty large and heavy lens, made of all metal and glass. The only plastic seems to come from the lens hood. Even with the weight, it seems to balance well on the Fuji X-T2, even without a grip. When I really noticed the weight was when it was in my camera bag.
As other people have said, the sharpness of this lens is insane. But even more impressive is how smooth the backgrounds are when using this lens. It is by far the highest quality glass I have used and I expect to be using it for a lot more then just close up macro photography.
The image stabilization made it possible to shoot sharp images like this without a tripod.
Shot handheld, thanks to the outstanding OIS features included with this lens.
Shot in the blacksmith shop at Empire Mine State Park.
Another handheld flower image.
Like all Macro lenses, the depth of field is very shallow, so locating the ideal focus point can be a challenge. Overall I thought the lens focused quickly when used inside and outside. Being able to work without a tripod gives me the freedom to quickly move around the subject.
Empire Mine blacksmith shop
I really like how well this lens gives you a feeling of depth, even when shooting directly at something like this old rusty gear.