Portrait Mode

In 2000, Red Baron acquired his first digital camera just in time to take many photos of his first grandson. Since then, digital photography has progressed by leaps and bounds. I have owned some excellent pocket cameras. As time went by, smartphone cameras have gotten better and better. So in recent years, I have taken all my photos with my iPhones and given my digital camera to Elisabeth.

Well, I admit smartphones have no optical zoom, but I still remember the analog photography days when I was happy with just one focal lens. The iPhone 7 Plus's dual camera partly mitigates the missing zoom. I can now capture high-resolution slides during lectures with a longer focal length, even when I am not sitting in the front row. But there is more to it. Using both lenses simultaneously lets you take photos in portrait mode, where a person's face stays in focus while the background blurs.

Red Baron doesn't take many portraits, since most people are camera-shy. I found another use for Apple's portrait mode: photographing flowers. Below, you may enjoy a collection, or rather, a whole bunch of flowers I took in my neighborhood over the last few months, with growing enthusiasm.

Enjoy.

The most gratifying objects are roses.

Wind roses

The yellow rose of Wiehre

Hollyhock

Rhododendron

Orange-fulvous daylily

Oleander

Geranium

Back to the rose. I took this one at the end of April.

PS: Since I am not an expert in flowers, please correct the names.

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