I never saw very many of them growing up in California, but here in the Southeast, the magnolia is indeed a common sight. Over the years, I've become a huge fan of these majestic trees, although some folks can't seem to wait to cut theirs down. I guess the shallow root system can be pretty annoying and the leaves hard to rake, but I find them lovely to look at and don't feel compelled to rake, so that isn't a problem for me. Also, magnolias don't tend to fall on your roof the way the pine trees do, so there's that. In addition to their beauty, I've come to appreciate how magnolias help me mark the four seasons. In particular, once they start to bloom, you know it's fixing to get hot.
This particular tree was a healthy specimen -- just look at the number of blooms. The photo was shot using a very old Fuji 690BL and the Fujinon 100 mm f/3.5 lens on Portra 400. This is the original model of the so-called Texas Leica, a beast of a camera producing an enormous 6x9 cm negative. I loved the older model because you could change lenses, and I used it until the day it broke in my hands.
Anyway, out of all the varieties of magnolia, my personal favorite is the so called large leaf magnolia. The leaves can get as long as 40 cm!
The image above shows the seed pod of the large leaf magnolia in my neighbor's front yard. This image was made using the Leica R8 and the 35 mm f/2 lens, also on Portra 400.
It has been raining on and off the past few days, a slow drip interspersed with unpleasant, overcast skies, and lukewarm temperatures. When it finally clears this evening, the ground will be saturated and many of the fallen magnolia leaves will be filled with rainwater.
I hope you have good light this weekend.
