***July 21, 2024 - July 27, 2024 Weekly Show, Tell, and Critique***

[Dak on cam]

Anything goes in this thread (as long as DPReview's general standards are not violated): any camera; any subject; any post-processing; etc. Recent images you have created in the past week or two are much preferred but not required. A little background on where, how and why you made the image(s) you posted would add interest. By posting here, you are inviting constructive criticism and general discussion of your images. Please share your expertise by providing constructive criticism on photos others have posted.

Before posting your own images, view and comment on at least one other image.

We look forward to seeing your recent photos and reading everyone's comments.

 

[Dak on cam]

I've been back to the canal, hunting cinnabar moth caterpillars with a 90mm macro lens (that can go up to 1:1) and a digital back (Nikon D610). Given how miuch time it took me to get speed and other stuff right, it is a reasonably safe bet that a similar session I took with the same lens and a film back will not deliver a lot of keepers.

Anyway, here is a sample





I got so annoyed at the backlight (I ended up doing shadow lifting and other stuff when processing) that I cranked up the built-in flash since I did not bring an external one to this session.

Gives better light:





But probably a bit overdone. Either way, I have hopes that a digital body will help me learn faster and cheaper to get along with my lens collection (no autofocus or auto-aperture here).

I have to get my camera game up to make good use of full-frame and comparatively high resolution...

--
Dak

 

[Birddogman]

I've been back to the canal, hunting cinnabar moth caterpillars with a 90mm macro lens (that can go up to 1:1) and a digital back (Nikon D610). Given how miuch time it took me to get speed and other stuff right, it is a reasonably safe bet that a similar session I took with the same lens and a film back will not deliver a lot of keepers.

Anyway, here is a sample



I got so annoyed at the backlight (I ended up doing shadow lifting and other stuff when processing) that I cranked up the built-in flash since I did not bring an external one to this session.

Gives better light:



But probably a bit overdone. Either way, I have hopes that a digital body will help me learn faster and cheaper to get along with my lens collection (no autofocus or auto-aperture here).

I have to get my camera game up to make good use of full-frame and comparatively high resolution...

You got a digital back to fit the old Nikon film camera you were given? Now you have a FF set-up? Pretty cool. I can see that a good bit of patient experimenting and learning will be needed, that that's the very kind of thing you seem to enjoy.

Nothing wrong with #2.

Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137747053@N07/

 

[Dak on cam]

I've been back to the canal, hunting cinnabar moth caterpillars with a 90mm macro lens (that can go up to 1:1) and a digital back (Nikon D610). Given how miuch time it took me to get speed and other stuff right, it is a reasonably safe bet that a similar session I took with the same lens and a film back will not deliver a lot of keepers.

Anyway, here is a sample



I got so annoyed at the backlight (I ended up doing shadow lifting and other stuff when processing) that I cranked up the built-in flash since I did not bring an external one to this session.

Gives better light:



But probably a bit overdone. Either way, I have hopes that a digital body will help me learn faster and cheaper to get along with my lens collection (no autofocus or auto-aperture here).

I have to get my camera game up to make good use of full-frame and comparatively high resolution...

You got a digital back to fit the old Nikon film camera you were given?

No. That would be expensive, lacklustre, and fiddly. I got a whole digital body to fit the old Nikkor lenses I got along with the old Nikon film camera body. The film body is shelved for now. By the way, I also got an F601 body (film, but electronics all over) but that is not a keeper: it misses the haptic coordination of a mechanical camera and the optical feedback of a digital. No wonder the previous owner did not upgrade from his FE. He probably planned to at one time: there is a TTL flash with autofocus illuminator in his collection that only makes sense with later film models.

Now you have a FF set-up? Pretty cool. I can see that a good bit of patient experimenting and learning will be needed, that that's the very kind of thing you seem to enjoy.

Nothing wrong with #2.

Yup. People go "you use flash?" all the time now that cameras do ISO6400 and more, but it's not just for low light but also for bad light. And when we are talking about bad daylight, the comparatively high color temperature of flash actually leaves some "shadow" character in place while bringing the details up to speed.

Problem is that my collection of external flashes does not communicate to any relevant degree with the digital body, so I need to pin the latter down (ISO/aperture/speed) to avoid it going all over the place without the flash noticing.

On the plus side, my flashes are workhorses. There are few situations where I cannot pin the camera down to base ISO.

--
Dak

 

[Birddogman]

Not much new here. The weather has been pretty bad - very hot and humid - big thunderstorms, etc. I like cold weather and tend to hide in hot weather. Not much photography lately.

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless. We are lucky to have the little mountain lakes and brooks by the house so that the dogs can stay wet and run hard even in the sickening heat.

Joy and Bliss swimming in the little brook that leads up the mountain to one of the lakes:







Joy cooling off in the lake:





Joy ad Bliss trying to catch frogs. Score so far: Frogs - 50; Dogs - 0.





Joy scampering through the woods along the lake shore:







When I bought the land where we live 30-odd years ago, the house was an unlivable dump. I had it totally redone - even had to replace the drywall and the floor underlayment. At the time I used (and could afford) the best possible materials, etc. with the idea that I would never, ever have to do this again!! Well, it looks like I outlived the house (a good thing) and everything needs redone again - but this time on a minimal retirement income :-( . One of the many things that needed replaced was the roof.

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.











My one and old great-grandson, Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :





Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137747053@N07/

 

[Birddogman]

Oh, you got a whole body to go with the "new" lenses. That makes sense and is no doubt less fiddly. Sounds like you will find plenty to enjoy fiddling with anyway, between the non-electronic lenses and the flashes.

 

[Ed B]

Not much new here. The weather has been pretty bad - very hot and humid - big thunderstorms, etc. I like cold weather and tend to hide in hot weather. Not much photography lately.

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless. We are lucky to have the little mountain lakes and brooks by the house so that the dogs can stay wet and run hard even in the sickening heat.

Joy and Bliss swimming in the little brook that leads up the mountain to one of the lakes:



Joy cooling off in the lake:



Joy ad Bliss trying to catch frogs. Score so far: Frogs - 50; Dogs - 0.



Joy scampering through the woods along the lake shore:



When I bought the land where we live 30-odd years ago, the house was an unlivable dump. I had it totally redone - even had to replace the drywall and the floor underlayment. At the time I used (and could afford) the best possible materials, etc. with the idea that I would never, ever have to do this again!! Well, it looks like I outlived the house (a good thing) and everything needs redone again - but this time on a minimal retirement income :-( . One of the many things that needed replaced was the roof.

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.



My one and old great-grandson, Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

Greg

I can't remember if I've commented, in the past, about the images you post but I think you do a great job. I especially like the pictures of your dogs.

 

[Ed B]

I've been back to the canal, hunting cinnabar moth caterpillars with a 90mm macro lens (that can go up to 1:1) and a digital back (Nikon D610). Given how miuch time it took me to get speed and other stuff right, it is a reasonably safe bet that a similar session I took with the same lens and a film back will not deliver a lot of keepers.

Anyway, here is a sample



I got so annoyed at the backlight (I ended up doing shadow lifting and other stuff when processing) that I cranked up the built-in flash since I did not bring an external one to this session.

Gives better light:



But probably a bit overdone. Either way, I have hopes that a digital body will help me learn faster and cheaper to get along with my lens collection (no autofocus or auto-aperture here).

I have to get my camera game up to make good use of full-frame and comparatively high resolution...

I think this is the first time I've seen pictures taken using a digital back. I really like these.

 

[Dak on cam]

Not much new here. The weather has been pretty bad - very hot and humid - big thunderstorms, etc.

Same here.

I like cold weather and tend to hide in hot weather. Not much photography lately.

I am not really fond of cold weather, but the hot and humid here is way overdone right now.

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless.

Uh yeah. I did some exploration run yesterday and there are way too many dead ends in promising paths. I ended up running about 10mi (that's miles, not minutes), way more than I had planned for.

Coming from the right (off-map), and planning to return along the Northern canal, but that stupid power plant (and some active construction sites) blocked every conceivable access path.



I should probably pre-check by bike but then I am so lazy...

We are lucky to have the little mountain lakes and brooks by the house so that the dogs can stay wet and run hard even in the sickening heat.

Yes, dogs don't sweat if I remember correctly, so external cooling is pretty important when panting alone does not suffice.

Joy and Bliss swimming in the little brook that leads up the mountain to one of the lakes:



Joy cooling off in the lake:



Joy ad Bliss trying to catch frogs. Score so far: Frogs - 50; Dogs - 0.

Kids do better than that...

Joy scampering through the woods along the lake shore:



When I bought the land where we live 30-odd years ago, the house was an unlivable dump. I had it totally redone - even had to replace the drywall and the floor underlayment. At the time I used (and could afford) the best possible materials, etc. with the idea that I would never, ever have to do this again!! Well, it looks like I outlived the house (a good thing) and everything needs redone again - but this time on a minimal retirement income :-( .

Some of the things I see you doing are suggesting that "minimal retirement income" might mean different things to different folks. I'll grant that luxurious hotel stays are not making it to your stack of bills.

One of the many things that needed replaced was the roof.

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.



My one and old great-grandson,

Autocorrect for "one and only"?

Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

You have more than your pics. They may not make for a vaudeville show, but seeing the life of someone you feel you know still is worth the while.

--
Dak

 

[Dak on cam]

I've been back to the canal, hunting cinnabar moth caterpillars with a 90mm macro lens (that can go up to 1:1) and a digital back (Nikon D610). Given how miuch time it took me to get speed and other stuff right, it is a reasonably safe bet that a similar session I took with the same lens and a film back will not deliver a lot of keepers.

Anyway, here is a sample



I got so annoyed at the backlight (I ended up doing shadow lifting and other stuff when processing) that I cranked up the built-in flash since I did not bring an external one to this session.

Gives better light:



But probably a bit overdone. Either way, I have hopes that a digital body will help me learn faster and cheaper to get along with my lens collection (no autofocus or auto-aperture here).

I have to get my camera game up to make good use of full-frame and comparatively high resolution...

I think this is the first time I've seen pictures taken using a digital back. I really like these.

Sorry, I used the wrong word. It is a digital body. The Nikon FE stayed at home; its lens collection came along. The digital back options are not really compelling in price/result. There is even a "digital film cartridge" that requires no modifications but that just uses a micro 4/3 sensor (crop factor 2). I think the only things where I'd let myself be convinced of actual value start at medium format cameras. There is a "digital scanning back" for medium or even large format (info is not easy to come by) that does a full scan without Bayer mosaicing.

But for mere "full-frame", there seems little point in not just swapping out the whole body.

--
Dak

 

[Ed B]

Thanks, Dak

 

[Pi lover]

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.

We had some siding replaced on the house this summer. It was interesting in that when the siding in the attic area was down the roof was 1x4 boards instead of chipboard or plywood.

My neighbor is working on his place and the roof trusses are actually made out of small tree trunks.

Things change for sure ! Now, you'd need HDVLQRSTV (totally made up product but using lots of letters is impressive) which is expensive but "it's standard". The glue that holds it together will likely be dust in 30 years.

My one and old great-grandson, Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

Greg

Cute guy ! Minutes can be long but years fly by. Explain that one ;-).

Grant.

 

[Birddogman]

Thanks, Ed. I have a LOT of practice at doing dog pics.

 

[Birddogman]

Not much new here. The weather has been pretty bad - very hot and humid - big thunderstorms, etc.

Same here.

I like cold weather and tend to hide in hot weather. Not much photography lately.

I am not really fond of cold weather, but the hot and humid here is way overdone right now.

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless.

Uh yeah. I did some exploration run yesterday and there are way too many dead ends in promising paths. I ended up running about 10mi (that's miles, not minutes), way more than I had planned for.

Coming from the right (off-map), and planning to return along the Northern canal, but that stupid power plant (and some active construction sites) blocked every conceivable access path.



I should probably pre-check by bike but then I am so lazy...

I don't understand. There is a bike trail where you like to run and you can't get access?

We are lucky to have the little mountain lakes and brooks by the house so that the dogs can stay wet and run hard even in the sickening heat.

Yes, dogs don't sweat if I remember correctly, so external cooling is pretty important when panting alone does not suffice.

Yes, they can easily get heat stroke. The symptoms of that are often hard to see until it it too late and it becomes fatal. They will run until they drop, so it's up to us to exercise judgement for them. It can be VERY hot out west (and smoky) and there is no water or shade, so extra care is needed there.

Joy and Bliss swimming in the little brook that leads up the mountain to one of the lakes:



Joy cooling off in the lake:



Joy ad Bliss trying to catch frogs. Score so far: Frogs - 50; Dogs - 0.

Kids do better than that...

Joy scampering through the woods along the lake shore:



When I bought the land where we live 30-odd years ago, the house was an unlivable dump. I had it totally redone - even had to replace the drywall and the floor underlayment. At the time I used (and could afford) the best possible materials, etc. with the idea that I would never, ever have to do this again!! Well, it looks like I outlived the house (a good thing) and everything needs redone again - but this time on a minimal retirement income :-( .

Some of the things I see you doing are suggesting that "minimal retirement income" might mean different things to different folks. I'll grant that luxurious hotel stays are not making it to your stack of bills.

Point taken.

One of the many things that needed replaced was the roof.

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.



My one and old great-grandson,

Autocorrect for "one and only"?

Yep.

Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

You have more than your pics. They may not make for a vaudeville show, but seeing the life of someone you feel you know still is worth the while.

Thanks!

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137747053@N07/

 

[Birddogman]

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.

We had some siding replaced on the house this summer. It was interesting in that when the siding in the attic area was down the roof was 1x4 boards instead of chipboard or plywood.

That's a good thing!

My neighbor is working on his place and the roof trusses are actually made out of small tree trunks.

Must be very old.

Things change for sure ! Now, you'd need HDVLQRSTV (totally made up product but using lots of letters is impressive) which is expensive but "it's standard". The glue that holds it together will likely be dust in 30 years.

It is true that nothing lasts forever. Dunno how I've lasted so long.

My one and old great-grandson, Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

Greg

Cute guy ! Minutes can be long but years fly by. Explain that one ;-).

Ha! Very true!

Greg

.

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137747053@N07/

 

[Dak on cam]

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless.

Uh yeah. I did some exploration run yesterday and there are way too many dead ends in promising paths. I ended up running about 10mi (that's miles, not minutes), way more than I had planned for.

Coming from the right (off-map), and planning to return along the Northern canal, but that stupid power plant (and some active construction sites) blocked every conceivable access path.



I should probably pre-check by bike but then I am so lazy...

I don't understand. There is a bike trail where you like to run and you can't get access?

There is a canal where I want to run. The canal has access pathways that typically can be used for biking or walking or whatever. It is anybody's guess whether those pathways are dead ends. There is construction happening and signs aren't changed if there were any to start with.

You just need to hope that the continuous waterways are accompanied by continuous and accessible access pathways. Sometimes it takes crossing a bridge timely. Sometimes there is no bridge, or the bridge is not accessible.

If you check out things by bike, you are done faster and with less exertion. But with exertion being kind of the point, that feels like wasting time. The problem is that if you don't check out things in advance, the amount of exertion may be different from what you expected.

Of course you can always run half the distance you were planning to run (or more nitpickingly, until the distance you ran and the distance you'd run back make up together for what you wanted to run: no point in reexploring dead ends so the return trip may be shorter than the first leg) and then return in your tracks regardless of where it got you. It's just that I don't really like that. It feels arbitrary and senseless, even if exercise (or rather the location of it) is arbitrary and senseless. I like it best if I don't cross my tracks.

--
Dak

 

[Birddogman]

Unfortunately, virtually all of the plywood sheeting needs to be replaced. Think lots of $$$.













I do, however enjoy the rare (these days) opportunity to speak PA Dutch with the young Amish roofers.

Greg

--
Check out my photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137747053@N07/

 

[Hope1943]

Not much new here. The weather has been pretty bad - very hot and humid - big thunderstorms, etc. I like cold weather and tend to hide in hot weather. Not much photography lately.

The dogs and old folks still need to be exercised, nonetheless. We are lucky to have the little mountain lakes and brooks by the house so that the dogs can stay wet and run hard even in the sickening heat.

Joy and Bliss swimming in the little brook that leads up the mountain to one of the lakes:



Joy cooling off in the lake:



Joy ad Bliss trying to catch frogs. Score so far: Frogs - 50; Dogs - 0.



Joy scampering through the woods along the lake shore:



When I bought the land where we live 30-odd years ago, the house was an unlivable dump. I had it totally redone - even had to replace the drywall and the floor underlayment. At the time I used (and could afford) the best possible materials, etc. with the idea that I would never, ever have to do this again!! Well, it looks like I outlived the house (a good thing) and everything needs redone again - but this time on a minimal retirement income :-( . One of the many things that needed replaced was the roof.

Amish roofer up on the roof this morning (hopefully the rain will hold off or we are going to get very wet.



My one and old great-grandson, Noah, is nearly one year old - time goes quickly. Here he is in a kiddie recliner :



Apologies for the boring pics - they are all I have.

Greg

Not boring at all. I'm rather drawn to them. Your pictures are always well done - nicely exposed, well saturated, well composed and INTERESTiNG! I quite like them. I quite like them, and the little boy is a winner.

John

 

[Birddogman]

Thanks, John!

 

[Dak on cam]

The scanners at the development centers just do 1.5MP, but getting even that for an extra €5 for a whole film is kind of ok.

The color resulting from Kodak Gold 200 in this process does not exactly convince me. It turns out that the hit ratio was not exactly brilliant because I was worried too much about depth of field, but the resulting shutter speed was more problematic without using flash or tripod.

A few shots:













Pretty sure that those shirts were not as saturated as the process depicts them:



I don't really have the hang of convincingly using graduated filters:







--
Dak