Cherry Blossom Days

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Cherry Blossoms Close-Up, Branch Brook Park, Essex County, April 5, 2010 ⇑

I am savoring the time I can take out of the day to visit the cherry blossoms in Branch Brook Park. The wind has picked up and blossom ‘snow’ was quite strong at times today. The white cherry blossoms appear to be in peak bloom while the pink cherry blossoms are still a tiny bit immature. I will be adding more photos today as time allows.

Some have asked about the equipment used to take all the cherry blossom photos. I used my oldest camera, a four year old Samsung GX 1S (rebadged Pentax *ist DS) with the standard 18-55mm kit lens on most shots taken this week. The close-up images were captured using the Samsung GX 1S and a beautifully made 30-year-old Vivitar Series 1 (Kiron mfg.) 70-210mm F:3.5 lens (one of my favorite lenses ever). One of the reasons that I love the old GX 1S is the bright viewfinder, much brighter than what is typically found on budget-priced DSLR’s nowadays. This makes it a breeze to do precise manual focusing with the old Vivitar lens. Plus, the Sony 6 megapixel sensor in this camera (the same sensor used in the Nikon D40) is one of the best ever made. As you can see, they can take great photos when used properly. All photos were shot in raw mode and edited using Capture One 5.

More Cherry Blossoms Close-Up, Branch Brook Park, Essex County, April 5, 2010 ⇑

White Cherry Blossoms Close-Up, Branch Brook Park, Essex County, April 5, 2010 ⇑

Photos by Donald Peterson. Click on photos for larger view.