As the end of the Summer begins to approach, the wildflowers in this area of Ohio are practically exploding with color. Combine the colorful wildflower backdrop, with the songbirds that have been out hunting and gathering food, and you have the makings of some great wildlife photo opportunities.

I’ve been out a lot over the last few weeks, squeezing in an hour or two in the mornings on some weekdays before work. And several hours each morning on weekends. This year I’ve FINALLY come away with some Indigo Bunting shots that I’m happy with. 

OK, enough talking. Here’s some pics!

Unfortunately, in addition to the beauty, I also saw some tragedy this weekend. At Caesar Creek State Park yesterday while shooting with Eric Wright, we saw a Great Blue Heron near the Marina that had fishing line wrapped around his ankles. Its things like this that make me hate people - how difficult is it to clean up your fishing line? Multiple parks I have been to have signs and disposal boxes for line. 

Near the beach we came across what I think was a Catbird that obviously was suffering from the bird disease that is affecting many birds in the Eastern and Midwestern US. This is the first time I have seen this in person, and it was something I’ll never forget.

I reported both Birds to the Ohio Department of Wildlife. I’m hoping I don’t have things like this to report again anytime soon.

On a brighter note, I also was able to take advantage of the beautiful blooms to compare three lenses that are known for interesting background “bokeh”. On my visit to Bill Yeck Park this morning I brought with me the following to shoot on a Nikon D7100 body:

• Carl Zeiss Jena Biometar 80mm f/2.8 (medium format for Pentacon) with F-Mount Adapter

• Zenit Helios M44-7 58mm f/2 with updated f-mount

• Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Ai 

I shot each one wide open, with multiple shots on each lens to pick the sharpest - because manual lenses are sometimes difficult to nail focus in one shot. I thought about trying to shoot all three at f/2.8 but honestly one usually buys these lenses to shoot them wide open to get the most background blur. The Zeiss lens had a bit further of a min focal distance - 1 meter versus .7 meters for the two others, so I shot the two other lenses at the same distance from the subject. All three files were imported into Lightroom with the same settings - WB as shot, with “camera standard” profile applied.

As I expected, the Zeiss lens had much “swirlier” bokeh as compared the to the other two, with the Helios being nearly as swirly. I like the color and contrast of the Zeiss.

I also think the Zeiss is possibly the sharpest of the three. TO be fair, I think the Helios and Nikon would be sharper if stopped down a stop or two. I think if I have some portrait work coming up in the future I may grab the Zeiss lens and shoot it.

That’s it for now. I hope you are getting out there to enjoy the last bit of Summer!

Fall will be here before we know it - I’ve already seen Pumpkin Spice flavored foods at the grocery.

Jeremy