Eastern Sierra Superbloom — Everything Growing as if to Make up for Past 3 Years
Related: Dr S, Eastern Sierra, focus stacking, Fujifilm, Fujifilm GFX100S, Fujifilm medium format, Fujifilm mirrorless, medium format, peak bagging
My Vitamin C “cure” (so far) is holding—energy level has remained solid for over 2 weeks now, and no relapses in spite of some rigorous days. I am continuing the dosing. The only glitch is an itchy beard after 10 days... out of shaving cream. A dip in a snowmelt creek sure felt good (afterwards), but who told the local flies and mosquitoes about the timing?
The record snowfall is producing a superbloom in the Eastern Sierra. Flowers are now all over the place up to about 8500 feet elevation and that will continue up for another 6 weeks or so.
Everything is growing as if if it has years to make up for—robust plant size, copious blooms, the plants are singing for joy. Pretty awesome.
I have tons of material from the Nikon Z8 but I tire of shooting it after 10 days. No fault to the camera (excellent), but why not reward myself with more than twice the pixels for the same effort?
That is, a comparison of the Fujifilm GFX100S vs the Sony A7R V reminds me ("us" once I publish it for you to see) that medium format has its place. I previously expressed skepticism of its advantages by proofs including pixel shift on Sony, but here in the Eastern Sierra, it is feeling its oats, at least for single-shot captures. It depends on the subject matter, it seems.
Below, 25 frame focus stack (level 4 spacing) at f/9. Zero retouching—straight stack in Zerene Stacker—maybe there are defects but it looks awfully good. I’ll post it and an aperture series in medium format soon.
Fujifilm GFX100S + Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR @ 57.6mm equiv (70mm)
ENV: Hilton Creek, altitude 7250 ft / 2210 m, 55°F / 12°C
RAW: WB 5100°K tint 22, +10 Whites, +10 Clarity
[low-res image for bot]
Dr S writes:
There is wisdom in obtaining a very appealing image at very little effort even if it doesn't match the highest level of critique.
I think back only 10 to 15 years ago where what you achieved in the posted image could only be in the dreams of photographers at that price point.
DIGLLOYD:it took some effort to compose the right viewpoint, but yes, one press and 25 frames shot is awfully handy, and that’s the main downside to non-AF lenses. It was quite still (only the faintest movement of air), so it's as close to perfect as one can hope for outdoors in terms of moving leaves and such.
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