Poppies in the Foothills Fuji GFX 50R: There's a three week window during late spring when the California poppies bloom throughout the Sierra Nevada foothills here in California.

indigoblues

There's a three week window during late spring when the California poppies bloom throughout the Sierra Nevada foothills here in California. This image was taken at Big Bar Road where it crosses hwy 49 at The Mokelumne river. I live up the canyon about 8 miles from here, and from my back deck I can see huge orange patches of the blooming poppies up and down the canyon. Pretty spectacular

Photo taken with my Fuji GFX 50R and vintage Nikon Series E 100mm f2.8. I love this lens. It is small, light, and very, very sharp stopped down from about f4 to f11. It almost completely covers the medium format sensor on the Fuji GFX 50R with just a very small amount of cropping needed. It is a manual focus lens which I love. It's always in my camera bag, and I use it with the Fuji GFX 50R and also my Nikon Z5 using $20.00 adapters from Fotasy.

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frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

indigoblues wrote:

There's a three week window during late spring whe... (show quote)

Stunning.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Beautiful!

indigoblues

frankraney wrote:

Stunning.

Thanks so much, Frank. I appreciate your kind comments!

indigoblues

NMGal wrote:

Beautiful!

Thank you!

therwol Loc: USA

indigoblues wrote:

There's a three week window during late spring whe... (show quote)

You have a good eye for spotting photo opportunities wherever you go. This is an eye popping picture. Your Fuji camera is simply amazing as well. I just spent 3 grand on a Nikon D850, and I'm wondering if I should have considered medium format instead.

By the way, that stretch of road has a "special" memory for me. I was driving some kids to Angel's Camp for ice cream in the other direction when the driveshaft of my car disconnected going up a hill. Your photos of an area where I used to live is bringing back memories. I've been to nearly all of the places where you've taken pictures that you've posted recently.

indigoblues

therwol wrote:

You have a good eye for spotting photo opportuniti... (show quote)

Wow, you sure know your way around these parts... it's fascinating how images can trigger memories. I bet you were going around the "10 curves" stretch of hwy 49. It is VERY windy section with sharp turns and it has a steep incline into Mokelumne Hill. Lots of accidents on that part of 49.

Re: your Nikon D850-- I bought a Nikon D800E for a short time a couple of years ago (had a Nikon D700 years before that) as one of my back up cameras. Got it for a great price. That darn thing was SO heavy!! It literally made my wrists hurt and gave me a neck ache carrying it. I sold it after a few months. Image quality was great, but camera with lens was just way too heavy (I'm older, petite female). I also missed the EVF of my mirrorless systems. With EVF I never have to look at my exposure meter, I just adjust my settings until the image looks right. Same with white balance. I also rely heavily on focus peaking as I shoot almost exclusively manual focus. I like looking in the viewfinder and seeing exactly what I'm going to get on the finished image, no surprises. Lastly, mirrorless is a lot lighter and smaller than competing DSLR cameras-- that's a huge attraction for me. That said, I think the Nikon full frame DSLR's are amazing cameras with stunning image quality. Really, any higher end camera is capable of excellent IQ no matter the maker.

Best image quality I've ever seen, though, is with the Fuji medium format sensors. Just jaw dropping clarity and detail. Plus, the ability to use adapters on mirrorless cameras is the icing on the cake for me since I have a lot of legacy Nikon glass.

therwol Loc: USA

indigoblues wrote:

Wow, you sure know your way around these parts... it's fascinating how images can trigger memories. I bet you were going around the "10 curves" stretch of hwy 49. It is VERY windy section with sharp turns and it has a steep incline into Mokelumne Hill. Lots of accidents on that part of 49.

From where you were standing to take that picture, turn around. First hill going up the road in the other direction. I walked down the hill, across the river and found a house on the right. No phone, or so they said. (This was before cell phones.) By that time, an off duty Jackson cop had found my wife and kids in the car, right in the middle of 49, and had called for help.

indigoblues

therwol wrote:

From where you were standing to take that picture, turn around. First hill going up the road in the other direction. I walked down the hill, across the river and found a house on the right. No phone, or so they said. (This was before cell phones.) By that time, an off duty Jackson cop had found my wife and kids in the car, right in the middle of 49, and had called for help.

I know exactly where that is! Thank goodness everyone was okay. There have been a number of fatalities on that section of hwy 49 in that past few years. BTW, that house was a B&B for a long time... business closed a couple of years ago. Nowadays you wouldn't be so lucky-- there is a LOT of traffic on those 10 curves all hours of the day