February 5, 2013

No picture today - yet. No published pictures yet here this year.

Did some updates to the DNS and hopefully should be seeing the results of those a bit later today.

August 16, 2012 -- Shimano 105 rear cogs on a Gunnar Sport

Playing Macro a bit. Canon 5dII + 40mm lens and a Macro Extender tube. I hand held a 430exII speedlite with a Rogue FlashBender setup as a snoot. Flash was fired via a Canon ST-E2.

The bike was my birthday present to myself. Cyn had gotten a new commuter bike earlier in the year, and my older bike, a GT Karakoram mountain bike was around 17 years old - it was frankly painful to ride for any distance. I test rode a couple bikes, without having found one that felt right. We were about ready to head out, and the sales guy we were working with at Spokes Etc pointed out the Gunnar up front. I took it for a spin and was hooked. Expect to see more bike and biking photos in the future!

June 20, 2012 - First world problems...

First world problems -- does one pack a 24-70 f/2.8 zoom or three primes, 28 f/2.0, 50 f/1.4, 80 f/1.8mm plus a 1.4x macro extender? 21mm wide or 17mm fisheye?

June 17, 2012 - Bees of Bluemont

June 17, 2012 - Bees of Bluemont

Bluemont park is walking distance from my house, along the system of trails which connect to the W&OD here in Arlington. Among the features of the park are several gardens, which always have something blooming. Today was this orange colored something with smallish flowers. The bees were clearly enjoying themselves.

Photo Details - Canon 5DmkII, Canon 70-300 f4-5.6 IS USM L lens. Image was shot at 300mm, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/500th.

June 3, 2012 - Frog at Riverbend Park, Fairfax County VA

June 3, 2012 - Frog at Riverbend Park, Fairfax County VA

This was taken on a hike - though it was a bit more like a walk in the woods than a hike - at Riverbend Park in Fairfax County, VA. Riverbend is one of a string of parks which can be found along the Potomac - it is traversed by a trail called the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. I was with a couple friends - we drove out and parked, then headed north along the river. The trail here is well marked and generally flat. There are a few rises, but even for my out-of-shape condition, were a pretty easy walk. After one of these, we descended into a small glade with a large algae covered pond. There were several small wooden over looks at the water edge. We could hear the sound of many many bullfrogs and took a few minutes to grab some photos.

The above is one of several good ones I got. I also have a wide angle photo that I'm currently using as the background on my monitor at work. The above was shot with my Canon 5dII and my Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 zoom, at 300mm. The camera was set on Auto-ISO and picked 1600. Aperture was f9.0, shutter speed 1/250th. I rather like shooting with the Auto-ISO on some days - I still can/do assume control over the shutter and aperture, but it seems to help make sure I end up don't end up with as many blurry, long shutter speed shots. And, thankfully, the 5dII is pretty good as far as sensor noise, even at higher ISO's.

Yes, I do still believe in knowing what all the settings do, and I believe any photographer should know the relationships between aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, etc - but I also believe that there are times when the computer brain can do things better and faster than I can. I have no qualms about using some of the "auto" settings, if it will help me get more consistent results.

May 12, 2012 - Looking a little lost

May 12, 2012 - Looking a little lost


This is one of my nephews. I grabbed this shot while we were all attending his half-brother's Bar Mitzvah. Everyone was dressed nicely, we were all there at temple a bit early, waiting while the photo pro shot pictures of the family. I look for these kind of pictures - the little guys always seem to get a bit overwhelmed at times, looking sorta lost in the sea or a forest of tall people.  Many of the adults, even if they're family, are basically strangers from out of town, seen only at times like these when extended families come together.

This was shot with my 5dII, using my now somewhat dated Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L zoom. The lens is big and heavy, but is pretty much perfect for shooting at gatherings like this. It covers a nice range, is bright enough to use inside, and is built like a tank.  Its is the first L lens I bought - and one I have no plans on giving up. This image was shot zoomed to 70mm, at ISO 200, f/3.5 and 1/125'th. The zoom compresses things some, the larger aperture gives us some good blur in the background. Did some quick retouching in Lightroom.

May 11, 2012 - New Old Lens

May 11, 2012 - New Old Lens


This is a fairly recent addition to my collection of older manual focus lenses. It is a Takumar 1:4 17mm Fish Eye. They're not too hard to find on eBay, but always seem to drive a premium price. After watching for a while, I found one at the lower end of the scale, bid, and won. It isn't a perfect example, but the flaws are minor enough for it to be perfectly serviceable. I'm less interested in spotless museum quality collectors items than I am functional, interesting bits of gear to enjoy actually using.

Haven't yet shot very many frames with this fish-eye. Haven't really had the time. It is VERY wide - 180deg FOV. Found it is very very easy to include fingers and such in the frame.

Am using these older lenses on the 5dII by way of various M42 to EOS adapters. Have tried a couple different ones. Have a "pro" Fotodiox right now which seems to be the best of the bunch - and even that one sometimes doesn't mate well enough for the focus chip to function. Most of these are made over seas. The chips work, but seem like a real hack. Mostly an after thought, they're typically just glued onto the adapter ring. However, since the 5dII doesn't have a split-prism focus screen available, unless you have really good eyes, the chip is a necessary evil. Of course, with a fish-eye, like this, it isn't quite as much of a worry as with other lenses.