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Springtime in Texas always ends too quickly and then summer temperatures light everything on fire is an absolutely lovely time. Crisp mornings, warm but manageable afternoons, and perfect evenings for a few drinks with friends on a patio somewhere.
Springtime in Texas is also good for capturing the State Flower of Texas: the bluebonnet. These beautiful flowers dot the landscape and spread from south to north in April, usually peaking in the north Texas town of Ennis (the Bluebonnet Capital of Texas) in mid-April. Over the years I’ve made plenty of visits out to the Ennis area, as it’s only 45 minutes south of Dallas, for previous pictures of the week even!
Previous bluebonnet pictures of the week:
Picture of the Week: Texas Bluebonnets
5 Pictures: Stormy Spring and Texas Bluebonnets
Picture of the Week: Texas Bluebonnets
Picture of the Week: It’s Bluebonnet Time in Texas
Picture of the Week: DFW Airport and some bluebonnets!
It’s time for some more bluebonnets!
I went to one of my favorite fields toting some new camera gear: the Sony A1 and the Fuji GFX100S. They’re the newest additions to my gear bag (I bade a fond farewell to my Sony a7rIV and Fuji GFX100) and I figured the bluebonnets would be a good chance to put them through their paces (well, I had the GFX100S in Iceland at the volcano, so I guess that was a pretty good test already).
I have a nasty habit of always defaulting to a wide-angle lens when it comes to landscapes (and indeed I brought my 12-24mm GM lens with me) so I had an idea and brought along my unicorn lens: the massive 400mm f2.8 G Master. I normally use that lens for sports photography or planespotting but thought it might work for the sunrise picture I wanted. For the Fuji I had the trusty 32-64mm f4, a great landscape lens although I wish it were a bit wider.
I got to the field and didn’t have much time before the road would be closed for cycling race. The bluebonnets were filling the field in nicely, and I grabbed a quick story for my Instagram channel.
I put the 400mm on my A1 first, as I was looking forward to testing the new 50-megapixel sensor. The images were absolutely STUNNING. I loved the compression of the long telephoto lens and immediately want to start using telephotos more for landscapes. The orb of the rising sun made for a really wonderful background I think.
I turned the camera vertical to see just how much I could explore the narrow depth of field from that amazing lens.
I love the solitary bluebonnet amidst a sea of blue.
I grabbed the Fuji for a more conventional sunrise shot and loved the colors and detail that came from that amazing 102-megapixel sensor.
Overall an absolutely beautiful Spring morning here in north Texas, I hope everyone is having a good weekend!
