A new denizen has moved into the stump. Actually, this was the Porch Dragon, whose portraits appeared in the post with mid day sun and dark shadows a few days ago. Porch Dragon moved out to the stump over the last week or so, spending less and less time on the porch and chair. PD now officially claims the stump, hanging out there for all the others to see every sunset. So I guess Porch Dragon is now New Stump Dragon.
That mad rush before last call and the lights all turn on is more universal than we might imagine.
The original Chair Dragon has moved down to the driveway and lives under the saw, where she has been courting with the big, bruiser, dominant male. I think she’s trying to get one more round in before mating season is over. That mad rush before last call and the lights all turn on is more universal than we might imagine.
The chair is now occupied by a juvenile, hardly more than a hatchling, who runs around trying to look threatening and doing pushups like the big lizards. He’s so tiny I’m surprised a bird hasn’t picked him off, as he’s snack sized. But his portraits are for another time.
For now, some studies in dynamic range, depth of field, and bokeh out by the stump. All taken with the 105DC, manual focus. I’m afraid the exif doesn’t record the defocus control setting, though.
Here’s the dynamic range study. Various settings at an angle with difficult light. Note the Bokeh on the f/2 shots with the green halo. A rare unpleasantness in that otherwise spectacular portrait lens, but I guess that’s why you have the defocus control. Spin it out to f/4 and use the DC to wash out the background. Enough writing, you can see it for yourself.
Behold!
And some work with easier light, playing with depth of field and composition.
And some portrait work. Mostly experimenting with exposure and composition here, some are spot, others center weighted. Seemed like an interesting experiment at the time, but after they’re processed the exposure differences are subtle. The composition and the lizard’s pose both make a bigger difference to my eye.
