Vintage lenses and flora

Close up shot of a false sunflower bud taken with a vintage Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.5 macro lens

A childhood spent roaming the prairie on horse (and pony!) back in Eastern South Dakota is the base for my love and interest in all that grows out of the earth. From the striking wood lily to the common thistle, all flora has colors, textures, or lines that are beautiful in their own right.

Pair that with a photography hobby using vintage lenses, and the results are an intimate look into the wild flowers, grasses, and yes—weeds that cover the Black Hills.

I use a variety of vintage, manual-focus lenses that still render wonderful photos, often with a unique quality that today's modern, precise lenses lack. My decision to go the mirrorless route with the very first micro four thirds camera on the market—the Panasonic G1—led me to the vast array of legacy lenses I currently own and use. I quickly realized the kit lens that came with my G1 was not versatile enough. But lacking the funds to purchase new lenses, I searched for alternate solutions and found that with an inexpensive adapter, micro four thirds cameras were perfectly suited to using the old, fully-manual lenses from the film era. For about $50 I acquired a pristine 1970s Konica Hexanon AR 57mm f1.4 lens. It takes absolutely stunning photos and I was hooked! From Pentax to Miranda to Helios, I've collected all sorts of legacy glass and it's very intriguing to see how each one renders images differently. And now I've even started to resurrect the 35mm cameras that often came with these lenses and have started shooting film! 

Almost every time I go hiking in the hills I've got my camera with a vintage lens attached. The images I come back with go to show that what's old can still be useful and what's mundane can still have beauty.