My animal and landscape pix are so bad it's pretty easy to throw most of them out^[1] (helped, in the case of the birdies, of having no focusing skills to speak of...) but I've been photographing flowers long enough to have some idea of what I'm doing, and I love them all, not helped by the fact that even if a photo isn't that exciting as an image, it still might be good for reference, or being collaged, or otherwise used. Riiiiight? Yeah, no.^[2]

However, three pictures seems about right for a web page, so that, along limiting images to ones taken on a walk on 9th May, were the parameters, which reduced the task to manageable proportions.^[3]

Japanese maple: 16:48, 09may2021, sony ilce-7c, tamron 70-180mm, 1/200s, f/2.8, ev0, iso 250, focal length 180, WB cloudy, value curve and scaled jpg

I've always walked through the neighborhood, but after COVID, the wizard and I made a nearly-daily habit of it: it's what we do instead of eating dinner together. Since getting the sony, I've brought it along on many of these walks (discreetly hidden under a scarf because I feel like a dork parading around with this [to me] giant ass camera hanging off the chest strap of my backpack). Yet, many of my favourite images come from these walks, and the sony has capabilities the phone simply doesn't.

This photo is also an excellent illustration of why this lens and I get along together so well, and imnsho shows why the dpreview guys also like it:^[4] all I had to do was open it up to its lowest f-stop, extend out to its maximum reach, shoot slightly into the sun, & click.

White iris with raindrops. sony ilce-7c, tamron 70–180mm lens, 1/200s, f/8.0, ev -0.3, iso 160, focal length 180mm, WB cloudy setting. scaled & value adjusted jpeg.

Next up, irises from a neighbor who told me they'd performed well enough, after several years of not, that they escaped getting dug up. Lucky for me—plus, it's always nice to have permission to walk on people's property, even with the telephoto, that makes framing so much easier. I truly appreciate the many other gardeners in my neighborhood:)

flowering tree, sony ilce-7c, tamron 70–180mm lens, 9may2021 17:30, 1/250s, f/2.8, ev -0.3, iso 100, focal length 180mm, WB cloudy. sharpened, scaled jpeg

Finally we have my first pick, which is actually rather imperfect: if you click for the 4000 pixel version, you'll see that the camera focus on the middle of branch, instead of the visual focal point, its tip. I don't care—this looks to me like the background of an Alphonse Mucha come to life–specifically Femme parmi les Fleurs/Woman among the Flowers —and I love it.

I hope these images have brought a bit of the same pleasure to you as well.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.