Sunset near Silver Pass, same location I took the sunrise pano posted here yesterday. Epic stuff that night. Got about 10 different panoramas of that view, with this being the final set
@Peter: Nice panos and some incredible colors. The 'Night Tent' image is surreal, loved it.
@Jose: Welcome back. Waiting for more.
@David: Welcome. waiting for more from you.
@George: Loved the bike pics, especially the composition.
@Steve: Happy focussing in between the breaks(between drams)
@Leighton: Thank you for that video. Loved the way those lines fade(Train station image)
@Samy:Nice set.The 'gaze' has a subtle mystery and intensity to it.
@Jim: That is one patient Feral you have there.
@Philippe: Awesome set as always. Absolutely loved the timing on the Lyon pic and the 'Wide' angle wire-fence image
@Bruni : Great set, love the diagonals. Enjoying your little conversations as well with our resident Lyonnais.
Yesterday evening at the Botanical gardens near Rue Royale, Brussels.
Df and 16 f/2.8 AIS. Was a little disappointed with the color rendering under cloudy skies.
Leighton posted a video from Sam Abell that is similar in expressing the crux of a good photo. Personally, I also have a similar approach. I believe composition is everything. Abell would say the subject doesn't matter, and builds his composition in layers....foreground, background, strong geometric shapes etc. However, the composition has to evolve, get tweaked, worked on, viewed from different perspectives - until you find the strongest image, best light, and most impact. Sometimes you have to revisit at a later date an image to get the result you want after multiple epic failures. Abell expresses the required patience required in this video rather well.
bruni wrote:
yeah and look at the terrified expressions when I do. No, no, I want a telephoto......I want to be well back, take my time, think about it, think about life, have coffee, enjoy the view....and when I'm ready, quietly press the shutter unobserved.
gbohannon wrote:
Don't let the hype of the Made in Germany label fool you They are just standard albeit very good tires. Nothing fancy.
Re: the Neopan profile. You can make custom profiles and upload them to the Df and I am sure other Nikon cameras. Although I do not use Nikon software and haven't for many years, there are free tools from them to do it.
However, I use an online tool (not Nikon sponsored as far as I know). Very handy and I have enjoyed tinkering with it.
It is worth noting that Google has made Nik software available at no cost... that includes Silver Efex Pro 2 that offers an extensive array of options for mimicking different black and white film types. You can access SEP either through Lightroom or through Photoshop. Yes, you can do a great many things within either Adobe product, but SEP makes the process amazingly simple to accomplish... They appear to be discontinuing support for the software but it seems to work on my iMac just fine, though I'm still running El Capitan. It is available for Microsoft Windows as well. Here is a link for anyone interested who doesn't already have a copy.
I had great fun taking photos while visiting friends with their infant son. As a courtesy to them I won't be sharing photos, apart from the few I took of Sue during the visit. This was shot with the 105 f/1.8 AI-s as she joked, as Steve and Ben have done recently about how OLD age is slowing me down...
Steve, that set is delicious, as I imagined it would be with those extraordinary lenses. I took both the 105 and 85 with me for the visit with friends. For portraiture you really can't do better than those lenses. The 135 would be up to the task too but I didn't expect I'd take that many photos and also doubted there would be enough room in this couple's home to use it effectively. We are truly blessed with the tools at our disposal.
Taken a few years ago before my pre-AI fascination set in...
CGrindahl wrote:
It is worth noting that Google has made Nik software available at no cost... that includes Silver Efex Pro 2 that offers an extensive array of options for mimicking different black and white film types. You can access SEP either through Lightroom or through Photoshop. Yes, you can do a great many things within either Adobe product, but SEP makes the process amazingly simple to accomplish... They appear to be discontinuing support for the software but it seems to work on my iMac just fine, though I'm still running El Capitan. It is available for Microsoft Windows as well. Here is a link for anyone interested who doesn't already have a copy.
I absolutely love SEP and hate to see that they decided to stop development and support. There is another black and white editor that I use as well. Black&White Projects 4. They put it on sale from time to time and I got it for $35US early in the year.
Edit: Looks like Project 5 is the latest version... Have not tried that one yet.
What I am liking now is playing with the Custom Picture Control profiles in camera. The last 3 images I posted were resized jpg. No processing outside of the camera. I am trying to hone my skills and do as much as I can in camera. But still shooting RAW + JPG so I will always have the RAW file to fall back on.
rico wrote:
I just paid $50 for a single tire made in Germany (Conti). It has a Kevlar sleeve to resist intrusions like broken glass—a regular hazard about here. As for multinational bikes, it's nothing new: mine dates to 1982 and has French tubes and wheels, German rubber, Japanese groupset, and Italian headset. We've come a long way from sew-ups.
Nikkor 800/8 AI-S, D3X, f/16, one studio light, background treatments.
Nice shot Rico. But I have to ask, how deep is your studio to use a 800mm lens for that shot
Funny you mention sew-up tires. I was just talking about those with some very young riders at our church the other week and they looked at me like I had a 3rd eyeball. They never heard of sew-up tires and did not believe that you would "glue on" a tire. I can't say I used them, but I remember my dad having them on his Raleigh.
I can't believe it - I wake up to find a sensational set of images this morning. WOW.
Philippe - that tribute is very touching. so good to see the nikki lens out and about and used so effectively.
Lestor - what wonderful use of the fisheye. I've been playing with the 16mm f3.5 recently and I know how hard it is to get a good composition and your 3 are all wonderful (I have some issues about vignetting, but I'll put them aside till we know each other better).
Laura - well, well well, love the waterfall shots. Have you bought up the shrubbery in the right foreground?
Peter - that sunset is quite a looker - beautifully rendered
Steve - very funny - the word is not "wide". Maybe it's you, or maybe it's me, but the 105 and 135 shots seem much crisper than the 85? The 135 seems to have more purple fringing than the 105? (I ask because I have these lenses ....but I don't have the patience to do these kind of tests, but I've always had this impression about these lenses. My 85 was always a bit soft wide open, or maybe not so much soft but a lot of aberrations crept in that took away the bite it gets when stopped down. Oh sheesh, now Curtis will chime in and flame me)
gbohannon wrote:
... I have to ask, how deep is your studio to use a 800mm lens for that shot
Shooting distance was lens MFD of 35', so I don't plan regular studio deployment. The strobe itself was 2' away from the subject. My shooting space is large enough if I shoot through two rooms, but it was easier to drag the set into the hallway. Besides bringing far subjects closer, 800mm is useful for perspective compression—inside or outside. Only the narrow DOF makes life a bit tricky.
Two things remain constant around here, regardless of the posting pace: friendly, engaging conversations, and great photos! A faster posting pace just intensifies it all.
Here are a few monochrome driftwood images from Moorecroft Regional Park in Nanoose Bay, just north of Nanaimo, all courtesy of the 50 f/1.2 Ai-s on my D800E.
At the end of my ramble this afternoon I came upon a small bird enjoying the bird bath near the street. I'd just stopped at the post box to see if there was anything to pick up when I saw the bird. At about that same time a larger robin appeared and the two birds began jostling for position. They clearly didn't intend to share the water on this warm afternoon. I had the 105 f/1.8 AI-s mounted on the Df and began grabbing shots as the birds maneuvered about three feet in front of me. I got a couple of keepers that tell the story...
After a moment he got serious about his bathing and my camera set at 1/100th of a second with the lens wide open was not going to keep up. I'll share the photo nonetheless.
Ken H, I remember you posted shots of that house a while ago as well. I can see myself sit on those stairs having a cold one (or some of Steve´s whiskey ) and fish some trout. It really seems like a place I could thrive in.
James, nice cat shots. It´s so much fun to those small cats play with a piece of paper
George, those clean and nice shots of your bike details reminds me that I need to clean up and give mine some love. Nice.
Peter, that star and tent shot is what it´s all about being out in the wild. Love it!
Philippe, top street work!
Leighton, that train station shot is great, love the comp.
Samy, love that shot of Shenandoa River. I also like the bridge shot. Looks wonderful!
Roberto, great work with the HC85/1.8. Love that lens too.
Ben, I love that 16mm street shot!
Steve, nice rainbow shot. One day I´ll get my hands on a 15mm!
Lestor, awesome b/w´s from Brussels. I really like the pp.
Laura, nice river shots, they really tickle my fishing nerv....
Glen, love those wood shots with all those natural patterns.
Curtis, lovely bird shots of Robin. I like the third and the last the most.
They are just standard albeit very good tires. Nothing fancy.
