I took this series of pictures about three weeks ago, just before I got my new DMC-FZ28, so this is sort of a swan song for my old faithful FZ18. It started about a quarter after 7pm, on a typical summer evening. This is behind my house, looking west. Looks like it's going to be a great sunset. But you can't get a wide view from here because of the trees that surround the property. So the Artist's Muse and I put on our walking shoes and headed out to our sunset-watching spot, about a mile away.The journey you are about to see took about forty five minutes. I took 160 pictures to get the group you see here.
But first, the far-up lens. This is actually a reducing glass, the opposite of a magnifying glass. It's a three inch diameter lens on a handle, just like a regular magnifier. But when you hold it in front of something, it makes it smaller instead of larger. And that's why I call it my far-up lens -- it's the opposite of the close-up lens. One use is to hold it out in front of the camera as if you were holding it in front of your eyes.
The far-up lens is big enough so that you can hold it in front of the camera's lens and take pictures through it. The effect is the same as you would get from a wide-angle adaptor -- it gives the camera a wilder field of view. And since the DMC-FZ18 already has a 28mm equivalent, the result is even wider, as you see here. Note the curvature at the bottom of the image. Gives the horizon an interesting curve.
So we started out down our road and then a left turn onto a road that soon turns to dirt and gravel, but is very hilly, with lots of good places to watch a sunset. Along the way, we saw this young bird who was also watching the sunset.
Further on, we saw this young deer, also waiting for the sunset.
Almost there. Let's take a look through the far-up lens.
Nice vista. Sun's behind the clouds, but it will be out in a minute. Let's step back a little.
A wider view. Actually, it's a panorama.
That's some view. The sun looks mighty small from here. Let's get closer.
This is what you can do with a camera with an 18X zoom lens.
Stepping back a little bit.
Here we can see the clouds overhead.
And a little further back.
The sunset in a single picture.
The sunset in a panorama.
Moving in a little bit for another look at the sun dropping behind the mountain.
Here's the same shot through the far-up lens. Notice how much wider the scene is.
Here's a vertical view through the far-up lens.
A last look through the far-up lens.
One last close-up as the sun drops below the mountain.
One last wide angle shot.
One last panorama as the sun falls behind the mountain.
Time for one last look down the road.
Still time for a 1930's telephone pole motif. And finally...
