Out and about with my Heliopan and [Leica]

[4season <4season@boulder.net>]

It's silly I suppose, but the accessory that's gotten me all excited
lately is a yellow-green Heliopan filter, in E39. I can't believe no one
mentioned this in prior discussions, but it's metal ring is so much
better than it's competition (B+W, Hoya et al) as to be a joke: It's
super-easy to get ahold of and doesn't seem to bind at all--small diff,
but an absolutely delightful one, if you change filters much. Complaint:
Now I also want an orange, red, blue and polarizer--and a second set in
55 mm!

I've been concentrating more on evening light in my recent landscapes,
and it's a wonderful time to be out, as the wilderness areas near
Boulder Colorado are still brilliantly green, and the setting sun seems
to set the grasses and shrubs ablaze.

The Boulder campus of the University of Colorado (CU) runs parallel to
Boulder Creek, and taking one of the nearby trails, I encountered a
small gree caterpillar, hanging in midair, suspended by the thinnest of
threads. It was small, I didn't have an SLR with me or a tripod, so I
grabbed the 90 Summicron-M, got in as close at it would allow and shot
at f/2 @ 1000. I chose this exposure for a couple of reasons: First, I
was trying to do a macro shot without a tripod. Secondly, I wanted to
blur the background as best I could, taking pains to place unavoidable
bright spots in an aesthetically pleasing manner. No filter used. An
iffy shot, but fun. 

>From streamside, the CU buildings seem to loom high overhead, from a
cliff. The campus buildings are mostly pink granite with red tile roofs,
and from my vantage point, one in particular seemed to be about to be
reclaimed by the forest. I made a number of exposures with the 50
Elmar-M, wishing some that I also had a polarizer, to better separate
sky from granite, but taking great delight in the fine cloud formations.
Used the Y-G filter here.

While walking along the water's edge, I found a wonderful little scene
of downed tree, backlit foliage and bright reflections on the water. I
did my best to keep direct sunlight from falling upon the lens surfaces,
but this was a tricky shot at best--mostly low contrast, but a few very
hot spots, probably beyond Zone IX. Still, it was an irresistable scene!

Part of the prior day was spent amongst the ponderosa pine trees, and
here, I had to fight the usual impulse to go with the widest lens
possible, and instead, used a 90. Tricky, but it does get one to see new
possibilities. I did cave in and use the 35 Summicron as well, but very
differently than usual: The ground is covered in tiny wildflowers, which
I wanted to emphasize, so I practically placed the camera on the ground,
and shot at very close range, with just the bottoms of trees in the
background (out of focus) to convey a sense of place.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend, I think! Must get to processing film
now: I've got a new 5-liter pack of Xtol, so there's no excuse :-)

Jeff