e-510 50mm 1/640 f/7.1 iso 100

It seems so hard to believe after the longest winter I can remember, but spring does verimuch seem to be here, and I think it’ll stay a while. What a miserable winter this one was.

Spring means flowers! Well, here on the west coast January means flowers, even this year, but the snowdrops and crocuses of the early year, while welcome in their good time hardly compare to the flowers of April. Daffodils, irises, tulips, blue bells, daisies, cherry blossoms…the list goes on and on, far beyond the six flowers I can actually name…and here I’ve chosen for my first flower of spring this less-than modest weed, the curse of lawn owners everywhere (I’m sure in my time I’ve beheaded, dug up, poisoned or otherwise dispatched tens of thousands of them), the dandelion.

Merciless weed or no, it was this time of year ten years ago when got my first macro-capable lens I discovered just how much of the dandelion I, and I’m sure most of us, was/are missing. Several cameras later in the early days of this site, I got to know it even better. And then came the 50/2 macro a couple of years ago, and then there came today.

I had intended to head out the door this afternoon with the 50/2 and the new 12-60/2.8-4, the former of which is a dedicated macro and the latter being macro-capable, to compare performance. But with the warm weather I was hardly going to put on a jacket, let alone one with pockets big enough to carry the 12-60 (almost 600g, that’s 1.3 pounds in caveman), and besides, today is the kind of day one should spend embracing the universe and not doing silly tests for the three people who visit this site who own a camera either of these lenses would bolt to. What I did do was put on a pair of pants that are good for bending and contorting, ones that it’s no longer important if I get the knees dirty. I left the tripod at home though. Man, I love my tripod, it’s this great big, heavy, beautiful thing that wouldn’t shudder even in a hurricane; I take it almost nowhere unless I’m doing landscapes or I’m getting paid.

Today’s photo(s): the bottom is a 1:1 crop from the top one. Told ya dandelions was beautiful if you look at them right. It’s the 50/2, a lens I’ve used lots but not a lot lately, if I know you in real life I’d be happy to lend it to you with my E-500 body for a week, just to see what else it can see. And that is an offer.

It’s late. But it’s early, it’s spring. Thank goodness this terrible winter is finally over. I miss Hawaii.