wednesday walk at St.Petersburg
This was a post for #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay. And since it turned out that it consist for 2/3 of flowers, I share it to this community. And maybe even its my 1st post here, I dont remember exactly.
So, this walk was mostly about the flowers, and a little doze of #streetphoto. Actually, I was testing my new telephoto lens I obtained at the second-hand market, and besides that I was cycling, i.e. did not have my hands free... anyway, a memorable walk!
Blue, err, cuties, not meanies! One of the most touchy may-june flowers, especially for those who choose 'Napoly blue' as their fave colour.
A beautiful orchid.
And daffodils.
I met the first bumblebee...
Which at first grazed for a long time in the thickets of petunias, and then sat down on the ground - it was a real clearing among the flower jungle! - and cleaned its paws for a long time. Posed me carefully, such a good fellow! However, this time my camera was not equipped with the macro lens...
But it's a good thing to test, I need to understand what things I can shoot with this lens and what I can't.
It was the centerpiece of the story; cycling down the street, I stumbled upon a huge flower bed, parked my bike, unholstered the camera and spent a quarter of an hour testing out on the flowers my new lens.
As for the end of this story... the last notable meeting of that day happened when I returned to my place, in the yards, I met this pigeon...
...who encountered quite a rare and valuable gift: almost intact ear of corn thrown into a trash. The dove gave himself a real feast! I think it made a really nice diversity in his menu; such a pity that I didn't come across this scene earlier - it would have been perfect for a #SMAP contest held by @nelinoeva. One of the rounds had this prompt, "Birds and Vegetables" - but I skipped it because had no suitable photos.... Corn would fit perfectly!
And here is how the story began.
I rode my bike to the city center, met the salesperson and bought this telephoto lens. Experienced photographers, I think, will recognize it by its characteristic wardrobe trunk.
Yes, this is the famous 70-200mm, and I will probably tell about our acquaintance and my impressions in more detail in another community. But words cannot be thrown out of the song, and my walk and the whole subsequent photo session was provoked by this particular lens.
It is heavy, fast-focusing and... long-range. The lens is sharp-sighted in same way, as this local yard cat overseer..
Of course, this lens is not designed to photograph beautiful flowers ... (but it did a good job of this task too!). This is an expensive toy, and I bought it to indulge in street photography, photograph people and city life - and do it from afar, remaining unnoticed.
And of course it was the first one I tried. Below - a few photos taken offhand, quickly, I didn't let the AI of the camera think about focusing for a long time, and I didn't think about building the frame for a long time. With its task - to quickly give a clear result - the lens coped, I give it 5 out of 5 points!
No eye contact. Sadly.
A three-dog-lady... Perhaps I should stop here. I have a lot of street shots from this session, and they are not very valuable. What do you want from test shots! Finally, a little more tulip beauty.
Thanks for walking with me, see you next time!
| location: | St.Petersburg, Russia | May 2022 | natural light |
| camera/lens: | Canon 5D | 70-200mm | raw-conv |
