Saguaro Wanderings: Seeing 2011 (#14)

For your consideration: a pair of images taken with the new 70-300mm lens, at once similar in genre yet jarringly different in mood.

The first offering is of an odd statue I only recently spotted next to a local gas station beside a freeway on-ramp. Adding to the the quirky, ambiguous nature of the effigy is the fact that it is propped up at a relatively considerable height in the midst of thick hedges, staring blankly into nowhere, from the confines of a private residence.

While this tableau does not depict it, the torso bears a sad set of wings which fails to settle the question of fallen angel, or fairy? (Fear not, this mysterious being will be featured in future posts.)

The second image is from the first outing with the new lens (taken when the evening was still young - see this prior post for the full story). Thanks to the joy of having a remote shutter release (range: 100') I can create such poses without having to dash across terrain, then scamper to adopt an obviously feigned "relaxed" stance before a timed-shutter goes off . . . In this case the main challenge was picking the focus point accurately, as this lens has a rather shallow depth-of-field. Having made my best estimate I was able to casually stroll to the desired spot, settle in comfortably, then trigger shutter from my assigned seat with a small device hidden in my hand.

(In fact I was far enough from the tripod-mounted camera -- perhaps 60' -- that I couldn't hear the release over the din of the freeway underneath; I had to guess when the camera would be ready for subsequent shots at various exposures . . . This submission is a composite of two such images, one exposed at —1/3 EV and the other at +1/3 EV. Blending them allowed me to tone down some hot spots and internal lens flare present in the brighter original.)

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