Helios Daffodil by phil_howcroft

Helios Daffodil

Our First daffodil of 2019 has arrived in our garden and gave me an opportunity to shoot with my Russian vintage Helios 44M 2/58 lens.

Shot between f2 and f2.8

I am impressed with the detail the lens has captured in the petals. At f2/f2.8 we are going to have a shallow depth of field and the edges of the trumpet are just a tiny bit soft when zoomed in, however viewing under normal conditions the daff looks great. I think the daff is a "Cornish King" variety.

The Helios always creates lovely bokeh and this is just starting to swirl a bit. The majority of the bokeh background is an Euonymus japonicus bush

Lots of negative space to show off the bokeh and the daff on the thirds completes the image.

Edited in Rawtherapee and GIMP

Hope you like it as I am really pleased with the shot.

I love reading your explanation which adds so much to my enjoyment. A lovely picture and hope that Spring is on its way!
February 17th, 2019  
Very pretty! Great focus and dof.
February 18th, 2019  
A lovely daffodil capture against the muted bokeh background -
February 18th, 2019  
I do love a two-toned daff!
February 18th, 2019  
Wonderful close-up shot. Great dof. My daffodils haven't bloomed yet. Do you take your close-ups with your micro lens with the camera on a tripod? When I do without a tripod the pictures almost always come out a bit blurred. Somebody told me that it is imperative that I use the tripod for macro pictures.
February 18th, 2019  
I love daffs. This one is so pretty and that bokeh makes a nice backdrop to the flower without upstaging it.
February 18th, 2019  
Great focus !
February 18th, 2019  
lovely ...
February 18th, 2019  
@pdulis many thanks peter, i am surprised by the quality of this legacy lens

@cocobella merci corinne

@dulciknit i love your "without upstaging it" comment alison , you have a great eye for analysis and critique of pics :)

@sangwann thanks dione, most of my shots like this are hand held. If you get the shutter speed high enough it works fine :)
February 19th, 2019  
@casablanca thanks Casa' so do I :)

@beryl I thought you might like my daff beryl :) thanks for your visit :)

@kwind thank you for your continued support :) much appreciated

@allie912 thanks allison, i do like writing my narratives , I know that an image should speak for itself, but a narrative adds to the photo :)
February 19th, 2019  
lovely detail and a gorgeous background. Such a positive image - this really does look like an announcement of spring.
February 20th, 2019  
Lovey shot with a bokeh that doesn't try to be the main feature!
February 24th, 2019  
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