Vintage lens offer a different way of viewing nature. Brazos Bend State Park is an easy subject.
I want to start with my favorite image from this short visit. It’s the one above. I’ll try to pay more attention to species identification now that I’m doing One Square Mile. I think this is a Sugar Hackberry tree (Celtis laevigata). It’s saturated with moss and vines. There’s a tree behind it, to the left, that is possibly a Swamp Chestnut Oak or maybe it’s a Cypress.
The view is limited due to the rendering of this particular lens - the Biotar 75 1.5, first introduced by Zeiss in Germany in 1938, then confiscated by the Soviets, embroiled in a post World War Two trademark dispute and then re-introduced by the Soviets as the Helios 85. I confess I’m partial to the Biotar given the intellectual theft by the communists and the documented superiority of German glass and manufacturing.
I love the rendering of this lens, especially as this image is backlit by a bright, hot Texas summer sun. Now, just slow down, would yah? Take a look again at the masterful swirly bokeh above…
Great, let me introduce you to Brazos Bend State Park.
The park is about 30 easy-driving miles southwest of Houston. A former hunting lodge, the park covers 5,000 acres but I confined these images to one square mile. The Brazos River fronts a 3.2-mile eastern boundary, thus the name Brazos Bend. It’s riddled with fauna and flora.
Earlier in the day, I had photographed some engineers and products at an industrial manufacturing site. A secrecy agreement ensures my silence, which is a bit frustrating as I’d otherwise gladly share some images. I finished around 3 pm so I decided to take advantage of being in the boonies… These are splendid boonies with forests, swamps and bayous, riverway, fields and open skies.
I only saw a smidgen of the park. There’s a pier and walking paths. Here’s another image with the Biotar, which is only sharp in the center when wide open.
Below is the same image, cropped, so you can appreciate the functionality of the lens.
The Biotar was initially introduced as a cinematography lens but some select portrait photographers got a hold of it. It was an expensive lens - the equivalent of two months salary of a German engineer. It can be a tricky lens to use sometimes, given manual focus and age but look how beautifully it renders...
Just writing and posting this makes me now want to do a portrait shoot at Brazos Bend. (Contact me!)
I also took images with the Minolta 58 1.4, a gem of a lens introduced by Minolta in 1966 with the offer of an impressive bokeh. Here’s my second-favorite image… or is it my first? I love the vibrancy and mystery.
There are 12 species of trees at Brazos Bend - Bald Cypress, Bur Oak, Hickory, Osage Orange, Sugar Hackberry, Water Locust, Black Willow, Live Oak, Pecan, Swamp Chestnut Oak and Water Oak). Here’s an image with the Minolta 58 1.4.
The swamp was bathed in light and yellow flowers - Thin-Leaved Coneflowers (Rudbeckia triloba) aka Brown-Eyed Susan.
I walked in and out of a few patches of dark woods… bring your mosquito spray! Near day’s end, I saw this beautiful contrast of light and darkness.
So look, life is a challenge for every human being. Look around and note the diversity of species or materials or humans or light or color… draw from it and appreciate what you see and experience. It’s not always as grand as walking in Brazos Bend - but if you don’t like what you see, then try to find views and perspectives that make you happy.
One square mile. Easily understood. You walk a mile, turn left, walk a mile and turn left, walk a mile and turn left, and then walk another mile right back to where you began.
Editor’s note: Some of these images were previously shared on Facebook. If you’ve seen them before, I hope you saw something new. Images taken with a #Fujifilm GFX100S and a Sony A7R2. Lens used: Biotar 75 1.5, Minolta 58 1.4 and Fujifilm GF 110 2.
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