How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

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Sony a6000 / Sony 50mm f1.8

When the Fall comes, the weather gives us special opportunities.  One of these opportunities came from a set of trees in La Crosse that are nearly 100 years old.

Every fall, these few tall trees around Riverside Park shed their leaves.  It is the hight that gives me options.  And that day the clouds were spotty and the wind was just enough to rest the light collector away from the branch.  

Since it has so far to fall, the wind really carries it away.  I get enough space away from the tree to take that out of the frame.  And then I need to spend much of a day by this tree, running down leaves.  Sometimes I need to spend multiple days in order to get the photo I want.  This one, I had actually come back to the same place multiple afternoons to get the photo of a single leaf with the clouds in the background.

Something else that helped take this photo, was a new camera (at the time) that had a much better focus system than my old point and shoot bridge camera.  This was from my Sony a6000.  I used the 50mm f1.8 lens.  The a6000 was made as a starting sports camera.  So I was able to get my focus on the leaf pretty well.  I also had to shoot pretty fast.  So 11 frames a second was nice to have.

If you were to purchase this photo, the best way to do it justice would be on a large metal print.  Think 12x18.  That would be gorgeous.

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

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Lens - Sony 50mm f1.8 - https://amzn.to/2qsKH6W
Camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2veYxyW

In La Crosse, WI, there is this downtown 'hardware store' that most people think of as either the Downtown Kroner's or Kroner's Really Neat Stuff store.  It is one of those things that makes a downtown of a small town feel like a part of a small town.  La Crosse is one of those cities that has a hard time with that identification. 

Almost bipolar in that aspect.  Some ways a small town... the next block over, you realize too big to be small.  Overall, it tries to keep the façade of a small town.  This is one of those places where you feel it keeping those roots. 

The building keeps a white wash on the front with a black and white art deco style to it.  Obvious with it's run against time.  It has a need of fresh paint.  But the building otherwise keeps the clean lines and great signage.  I liked this because you have a newer car to date the time, even with being a black and white to keep the age of the setting.

There is another element of rule breaking here.  I took this in broad daylight.  Must have been between noon and 1pm.  The light is harsh, but I think it accentuates the sharpness of the building.

From where I was, is also a common location where people eat in downtown La Crosse for lunch. 

That is the other reason I took this, anyone from this town will instantly recognize this spot, that store, and why you would be there.  It has a connection to a local that others won't have.  But on it's own, you can connect with any one from a small town with a downtown hardware store.

This was with my Sony a6000 and a 50mm f1.8 lens.

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

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Lens - Sony 85mm f1.8 FE - https://amzn.to/2Gwzto2
camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2H9lplA

Sony has been growing their lens selection to include some impressive glass.  One particular lens is the 85mm f1.8 seems to perform above its class.  That means it is relatively affordable, but at first had some people thinking photos that came from it were like that of a Zeiss build of glass. 

This is what I love about this lens, besides how cheap it was, it wasn't very heavy (for me) to carry around.  And in spite of some of the photos describing how big it was, it didn't feel that big in my hands... it felt just right. 

I rent this lens for a family photo shoot, but I needed to get a feel for the lens.  I went out to one of the parks with access to wild life and a variety of shooting options.  It was fall, with a beautiful collection of fall colors breaking out all over the place. 

Now, I'll let you in on a secret of mine... I have some color blindness.  But it is selective with trouble between some reds and greens.  You will find other incredible photographers out there with color blindness as well (probably most well know is Trey Ratcliff).  So, when I can see how awesome some color combinations are, I'm sure it is going to look amazing.  At least that is what I'm told... lol!

Being an 85mm lens with a 1.8 f-stop available to it, you can achieve an incredibly thin field of focus.  On top of thin focus, you can gain some silky smooth backgrounds.  With a marsh and fall weather, I knew I could get some greens, reds, blues, yellows. 

So this was a plant that lost all of the pedals and just had a ball of its center left.  I was near the water where some sun had peaked out.  That made me in shade, this plant in light, and a mix of light and shade behind it.  This makes use of one of the greatest assets of a mirror less camera, the electronic viewfinder.  It helped me see the effect I was going for all the easier.

That electronic viewfinder also helps because people can't focus this way, and it helped me nail the focus on the ball.  It also helped me realize if I missed my intention, I could go right to the next shot.  No wasting time.

When I first placed this on some of my media pages, people came up to tell me how neat it was.  People also told me about how some colors were amazing (you know, the ones I didn't even know were there)! 

But that is what makes the feedback so amazing.  You not only get confirmation about what you intended to do... but you get to understand the view of other people around you, too.