I went looking for a little local color close by in order to exercise my Olympus camera with the 20mm Lumix lens.

I have been thinking a lot and making lots of images; but not posting them this winter.  I have been trying different cameras, different lenses, and different processing as I consider how and what and can photograph after it warms up a little.

One dilemma that I have to resolve is which camera will I use, and when and where.  I had been photographing mostly with the Olympus E-M5 III but switched back, again, to try a Pentax KP and one lens, the Pentax 18-135mm zoom lens. I planned to use the Pentax outdoors, especially in bad weather, but I used it to make this image as I considered other uses.  I plan for it to be my apocalypse camera.  Theoretically I could use either camera as a one and only, but they do have different advantages for specific uses, and I’m still working those out.

Some might find it odd that my main differentiators are the hand grip, the on-off switches, and the LCD.  I need to use two hands to lift and turn-on the smaller lighter Olympus since the on-off switch is on the left side (from the rear) while I can lift the Pentax and turn it on with my right hand at the same time.  I also like the tilt LCD of the Pentax better than the articulated LCD on the Olympus.

Another differentiator is that I have some prime lenses for the Olympus and it is silent to use with the electronic shutter.  The Pentax’s IS only works when using the mechanical shutter and if I buy prime lenses for it they will be screw drives and noisy to focus.  That grinding focusing noise along with the shutter and mirror slap makes the Pentax noisy so I try to only use it when I’m some distance from people or animals.

I originally processed these in B&W, but I knew some of you were wondering if I had decided to go all B&W.  I really don’t have an answer, yet.  Most likely I will switch back and forth depending on how I feel, etc.

I have some things I wish to learn how to do that I think will work best in B&W, but they might not.  I go through periods when I think about doing all of my processing in one way, but I soon get bored with everything the same.  If the future is like the past, at least for my photography, I will keep trying and searching for “one way” and never quite get there.

One problem that I have is that I’m not sure that I want to photograph “pretty flowers” this spring.  I know full well what these buds turned into in previous years and I have photographed them over and over before.  I need, really need, to do something different, and I haven’t found it yet.

Life is a journey, and as old as I am, I still keep searching.  Wouldn’t it be interesting if these buds surprised me?

Staying in my comfort zone seriously limits my photography.  It is only my curiosity that makes me take such images through the windows so that I can play with the processing and see what is there.  The problem is that I need to take my curiosity further afield and get out of my comfort zone.  The older one gets, the harder it is to do that.

It snowed this morning, but not much, and it didn’t last.  It had all melted by late in the morning.