This article may seem a bit off-timing, but I’ve been shooting maple trees at Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.
Since my shoulder injury, I have been using my PENTAX K-3III less and less. I am too lazy to take the heavy equipment out of the house, or I am afraid that I might drop it. However, I still want to take pictures of flowers, birds, plants, and seasonal scenery with an OVF, and after much deliberation, I decided to take pictures of autumn foliage with the K-3III and a single focal length Limited lens, which would eliminate a large part of my worries about weight.
I brought out my four single focal length Limited lenses: HD DA15mm F4, smc FA31mm F1.8, smc FA43mm F1.9, and smc FA77mm F1.8. The longest lens is 77mm, which is a little bit short range for maple shooting, but that’s the plan from the beginning, and we’ll just have to make do.
So here we are, at the east gate of Koishikawa Korakuen in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, with the FA31mm.
The majesty of the Tokyo Dome looming up close is one of the features of the scenery here, for better or worse.
This is the view right after entering the East Gate, and it appears to be the height of the coloring of the Iroha maple (Acer palmatum). DA15mm
There are many photographers, men and women, including myself, with single-lens reflex cameras, and many more with smartphones who are becoming casual photographers.
When I see a view like this, I tend to take more shutter clicks.” I’m a sucker for “a scene where the light shines through the trees and creates shadows. FA77mm
Beautiful transmitted light too. FA77mm
The background is not only blurred, but also squeezed to emphasize the volume. FA77mm
We also tried to target the water mirror. Not a great success. FA31mm
As a side note, several ducks in this pond are strangely active and move around on the surface of the water at quite a high rate, so it was quite difficult to find an undisturbed opening to take a picture.
The thatched roof in the background, including the vintage flavor of a little past its prime. FA77mm
I worked very hard switching between the four lenses, but I ended up relying on the 77mm lens. The 43mm lens, which I originally found difficult to use, was not selected at the time of writing this article.
In addition to the maple tree photos, I was able to capture some late autumn scenery in the park, so I would like to add a few more.
The hall standing deep in the woods buried in fallen leaves. FA77mm
A standing lotus fills a pond and withers. Here is where the FA43mm appeared
Plantings deepen the fall colors around the pavilion.FA77mm
Coincidentally, I ended up with only vertical photos in the last row.
So, this was a Limited Lens Photo Walk that made me realize that the FA77mm is my favorite lens. I found myself enjoying the comfort and pleasure of using only a single focal length lens, and perhaps this is one of the ways in which Pentax cameras and lenses can be used to their fullest potential.
