Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens

[jbtaylor]

Located in NW Washington DC, this collection of gardens is a target rich environment for photographers.
http://www.nps.gov/keaq/index.htm

Some samples.

a900 and ZA 135mm




RX1

[sury]

Beautiful place, beautiful shots. And that lens again. grrrr
One of these days, JB, one of these days......

[jbtaylor]

You cannot resist.
You cannot resist.
You cannot resist...

[the_hefay]

I really like the first shot, but they are all good.

[aster]

.

Admiring each and every one of these shots, JBTaylor.

So pure and smooth the flowers appear but not without a little thanks to the Zeiss 135 mm. : )

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[jbtaylor]

Thanks to all for commenting. This place is a small piece of heaven in an otherwise poor neighborhood. I wonder if the residents ever take advantage of it. None of the patrons looked anything like the residents just down the street. An unusual experience.

[sury]

JB,
Are these OoC pictures,JB?
What PP, if any, you did? Curious
to know. My resistance is wilting.

Sury

[jbtaylor]

Sury,
They are not "OoC" but my work in post is limited. I have Lightroom 3.6 on the home computer and just upgraded the work laptop to Lightroom 6 so that I can manage raws from the RX1. In LR 3.6, I tweak Black from 5 to an even number (OCD), never much more than 3 or 5 in either direction. I bump contrast to the low 30's (default is 25), clarity to the 16-20 range, and vibrance to 10. It is a rare thing for me to go to the tone curve control or bump exposure and/or recovery. LR 6 has a different layout but I work under the same premise. I simply don't know enough about the tool to do more than accentuate what is already in the file.
The lens is just that good. Image 3 above is the RX1 @ f4.0. That is a Zeiss 35mm 2.0. It gets great reviews but when compared to the image below (the 135mm @ f4.0) the difference in bokeh is clear. Sharpness is a little more comparable.



Controlling for differences in focal length, the RX1 wide open shows some good blurring but the bottom left corner is just not as smoothas the 135mm.



Hope this helps.

[sury]

JB,
Thank you. It certainly helped. I thought they were OoC images. Ha!!!
I feel my stength to resist is up a notch.

Sury

[jbtaylor]

Looking for the perfect OoC lens is a long journey.
Take beef jerkey. It will sustain you.

[sury]

All kidding aside, I was curious to know your PP flow. Thank you.
There is something sublime about your photos, I have no doubt about it.

Sury

[jbtaylor]

All in good fun. I have no idea whether I use PP in an adequate way or not. I don't know whether I overcook the images or not. I also don't follow other forums on this website and therefore don't know what should or should not be done to an image.
The images that I present here are always an attempt to show what was in my head before I captured it. That vision is limited by my lack of understanding of LR. This particular lens helps me to present that view better than any other tool that I possess. That explains my advocacy. It helps me look beyond the primary subject and find something that others might not.
We are very far apart geographically. That doesn't stop us from being close about the hobby that we love so much.
Keep shooting and I will keep looking.

[sury]

Amen to that thought. Certainly our passion is shared and that is good enough for me.
That is one aspect of this forum that keeps me stick with it. The esprit de corps shown here
is just phenomenal. You too keep shooting and I will enjoy while "suffering" through the bokehs.
It will be almost like being thrown in "liquid oxygen", the liquid wont let you live and the oxygen wont
let you die.

Sury

[aster]

.

I'm beginning to get the impression that THAT inducement may not be intended only for Sury after all. Just a hunch..

Lovely, dreamy shots of flowers, JBTaylor.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[jbtaylor]

Thanks aster. The inducement applies to all.