* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #895 / Revived #115 on 2025 06 11*

Hi Simplejoy. Great to hear from you again.
Seedheads are favourite photography subjects of mine. They are varied and Mother Nature is infinitely resourceful in her designs and strategies to ensure the seeds are successful. All that potency of meaning gets wrapped up in beautiful forms. Close up photography brings them to our attention.
This is a lyrical rather than botanical study.
I like all the space on the left. It works unusually. It adds appreciation of the strength of the centre's fine stalk as it leans to the left. It's proudly resisting the forces that threaten to pull it over. Having just one of the stalks in focus further makes us aware of that fine line of stalk.
I'm not sure whether the yellow disk is the sun or another light source, I think it's the latter. Whatever, the positioning of the seedhead between this and a somewhat suggested similar but darker shape to the left, highlights the seedhead as the subject in a very low key way.
There's something of a suggestion of a landscape here with hills and sky and sun. I don't think it is, I think it's a close-up of a much smaller-scale reality. The point however is that the implied hills/sky gives the seedhead a broader association that we probably make subconsciously. I did for me anyway and I'd be interested to know if others looking at this shot got something of the same feeling.

Great selection and variety. My fave.

Simplicity is operative word here. Superb.

@MikeFewster Yes, I certainly "see" a wide landscape behind the plant. That is an impression or sensation/impression that comes immediately when looking at the image.

@simplejoy In short (a lot has already been said by other contributors): The plant, or seedhead, whatever kind it is, is on it's way towards the upper left. It will soon hit the ceiling though. I wish there was quite more space to the left and above the plant.
The image is well composed. I like how the dark upper right is mirrored to the the left making a frame for the plant.

The plant is almost sharp (don't get it wrong, here it is sharp enough). Is that the best you get from the old lens? If so it's interesting - what else do you use the lens for?

Thank you! Indeed a "painted landscape" is what I've been going for when composing for this one. I enjoy the look this lens produces, it's quite unique and the lack of sharpness at distance adds to the effect. It is our tiny garden which is depicted here so the furthest point away from the plant is around 4-5 metres behind it. Indeed - not much space.

Thank you! You're right... more space above the plant would have been preferable, however it would have destroyed the "illusion" of a landscape, because the part above would have been darker. Perhaps a tighter crop could have worked, but I wanted to keep the plant on the left for balance. It's always a trade-off, I guess. As mentioned above the background is our (tiny) garden, so there are not too many options to play around with. Also it's windy pretty constantly here at the moment, so I often have to work with what I can get currently.

I don't mind the lack of sharpness with this lens. According to the booklet I got from Zeiss, it was optimized for 1:1 magnification. It is sharper at closer distance, but of course not up to a modern macro lens. Here are some samples:

I've seen it all, youngins... by simple.joy, on Flickr

Row, row, row your bokeh… by simple.joy, on Flickr

Happy Women's day! by simple.joy, on Flickr

It's very often about compromises. Wind blowing doesn't make close-ups easier!
The lens... I think it is sharp enough for a lot of things. ("Sharpness is overrated anyway.) In the third of the extra images you show there is some not very pleasing CA around the petals of the center white flower. That is, for me, a bigger problem than having a lens that is on the soft side. Anyway, interesting lens, Graphikon sounds as the lens is made for a bigger format.
Thank you for images and the explanation!

You're right, the CAs are noticable - but I guess, there's a reason why manufacturers still rarely make macro lenses faster than f/2.8... even 90 years later! The Graphikon needed its speed for the purpose of capturing fast moving subjects (like droplets or lines appearing on a screen), where being able to capture the movement was likely more important than having maximum sharpness or detail. I'm sure it improves when stopping it down further, but I like its look wide open. You're right - I guess what makes the name "Graphikon" sound more large format, is the connotation with Graflex/Speed Graphic and other makers who used such terms... I was thinking more of the graphical industry initially (Rodenstock had a series called "Apo-Graphigon" and Wollensak made a "Graphic Raptar" - what a name!), but I guess the Graphikon might have a different origin and also seems to be the significantly older lens.

Thanks :-)
Die Wachau is not so far away from you. Yes, well worth a visit sometime. The wines are great too :-)

These weirs are so much like the ones on the Atlantic coast of Canada. Nice image of the zigzag structures (what a leading line!) made of sticks and string, leading us to a large formidable piece of classic architecture. Gentle early light on a beautiful morning gives it a peaceful feel. I see that these are, as usual, done with your phone camera. I do hope you had your real camera and a zoom to get some closer detail from the weirs. They are intriguing.

A purse fully of parrot, I see. Or a smaller species with parrot features. The groundskeeper at a local park wears a larger parrot on his shoulder as he works on bushes and shrubs, so I am used to seeing them travel about.

Were you using a polarizer? If not, might one have helped cut the reflections so the feathered companion might be more visible? I'm terrible about forgetting mine, and am often sorry.

Cool glimpse of the outback in the rear there.

Love the way you've framed this, with the monument lizard looking out at the mountains and the classic Austrian village in the valley below them. There is nice color contrast between the lizard and the red roofs, too. Well taken. And thanks for showing us the colorful inspiration for the sculpture. From your photo I can see why the artist chose a mosaic design to recreate him.

A lovely flower portrait with sinuous lines that suggest movement where no movement exists. Lovely color. Ii am not sure whether you shot it using a lightbox or created the lightbox effect in post, but it is well done anyway.

I saw there was a lot of traffic around this photo and read some of the interesting comments about the flag.

Yes, in the US there are more open displays of flags, and more variation in why and how they are displayed than I've seen in other countries. And that has changed drastically in the past decade. What it means to this particular resident I can't guess. I could write all day about the variations and my own conclusions about them. But I won't. So I'm sticking to the design.

A tiny house in great colorful detail. A cacophony of clashing and contrasting colors and shapes that is downright dizzying but also engaging in a disruptive way. My favorite feature is that it seems one can see through the front door and right out the back! Cool find.

Thank you. It was light box.

I did indeed also have a small "real" camera with me (Panasonic GM5 with Olympus 40-150mm F4-.56 kit lens).
But those images will probably have to wait for processing until I am retired (almost). They join the backlog.

I wanted to get an image of a Comet that passed by back in March. It isn't quite what I had imagined, but still I think an interesting result. Also, doesn't look like much as a preview.

Pleasing casual portraits that show emotion and personality. Monochrome renders the backgrounds and colors nicely irrelevant so we can focus on the person. There is a little bother with the overexposure on the hand in the bottom one, pulls the eye away from the real subject a bit too much, and I suspect it is not retrievable.