Photography Thread

[HelenOster]

I wanted to take a moment to, not RETRACT things I said that got the Ador-ama rep in here, .....But a rep from the company signed up to the Asylum and asked me to please email her so that she could help me.
.....on a parallel track, I was also getting help
from another major C.S. rep.....

Thank you for clarifying....and BTW, the "major CS rep" (ie used department head) got involved b/c we IDd you from your Facebook page link, posted below your feedback......:)

[dave]

I don't know how I feel about all this....
on one hand, I admire Adorama's persistence in wanting to turn a frustrated customer into a happy one.
On the other hand, I find it a little creepy that they managed to hunt OLS down and practically hijack the 'OLS-Photo/Camera-Banter-Thread'.

I can imagine.....One of these days I'll be sitting in a local B&M, mention that I think RP sucks and Rocky himself will swoop in 15 minutes later offering me free cigars and promising to do better if only I promise to keep my negative thoughts about his cigars between me and him.

[stearns]

I don't know how I feel about all this....
on one hand, I admire Adorama's persistence in wanting to turn a frustrated customer into a happy one.
On the other hand, I find it a little creepy that they managed to hunt OLS down and practically hijack the 'OLS-Photo/Camera-Banter-Thread'.

I can imagine.....One of these days I'll be sitting in a local B&M, mention that I think RP sucks and Rocky himself will swoop in 15 minutes later offering me free cigars and promising to do better if only I promise to keep my negative thoughts about his cigars between me and him.

I agree, this is all very stange. Perhaps a picture of a dog with his head stuck in a soccer ball can get things on track again?

http://serious-internet.biz/resize/700/-/1360/dog-soccer-ball-head-strange-1360288102.jpg

[Steve]

I agree, this is all very stange. Perhaps a picture of a dog with his head stuck in a soccer ball can get things on track again?

http://serious-internet.biz/resize/700/-/1360/dog-soccer-ball-head-strange-1360288102.jpg

Boxer?

[stearns]

eh, just a random internet search. it was easier than uploading a strange dog picture of my own

[dave]

Ben, if you have a stash of pictures of strange dogs, don't hold out on us.

[Steve]

I don't know how I feel about all this....
on one hand, I admire Adorama's persistence in wanting to turn a frustrated customer into a happy one.
On the other hand, I find it a little creepy that they managed to hunt OLS down and practically hijack the 'OLS-Photo/Camera-Banter-Thread'.

I can imagine.....One of these days I'll be sitting in a local B&M, mention that I think RP sucks and Rocky himself will swoop in 15 minutes later offering me free cigars and promising to do better if only I promise to keep my negative thoughts about his cigars between me and him.

I have to say I feel the same way. While a certain part of me admires the tenacity of tracking someone down, joining a forum that is not specifically a photography forum, and then proceeding to post in that forum in an open thread seems a little creepy and actually, disrespectful. I would think that if the person has delt with their company, then said company would have contact information to privately contact the customer that is having issues with them, or at least possibly send the unhappy customer a private message after tracking them down. I think if I was to stalk an unhappy customer down, I would at least have looked over the forums FAQs and probably even have registered as a vender, as I would not be joining to participate in or add to the community as the forum was intended.

Personally, it would have impressed me more if Brad had been able to came back to the open thread and explain that customer service had tracked him down and thru private conversations (email or pm's) made things right. But to join and immediately start posting in a thread seems somewhat, again, disrespectful. But hey, that's just my two cents worth.

For what it's worth, I dealt with Adoroma quite a bit back in my days as a working photographer and was generally pleased by their support at that time. Knowing now that they may be out there stalking me, I'm not sure if I would give them much of my business or money now.

As I said, my :2 worth...YGWYPF, YMMV :)

[HelenOster]

.....One of these days I'll be sitting in a local B&M, mention that I think RP sucks and Rocky himself will swoop in 15 minutes later offering me free cigars and promising to do better if only I promise to keep my negative thoughts about his cigars between me and him.

We have NO problem with customers posting about their negative Adorama experiences if it helps us to improve for thefuture......:)

[stearns]

The only way I'd smoke a cigar Rocky gave me is if it didn't have RP on the label :hn

[HelenOster]

......

For what it's worth, I dealt with Adoroma quite a bit back in my days as a working photographer and was generally pleased by their support at that time. Knowing now that they may be out there stalking me, I'm not sure if I would give them much of my business or money now.


I'm sorry you feel that way; our policy is always to respond publically to posts in an open forum. When we mess up, we believe it's important to acknowledge that in public, and to show that we will always do everything possible to put right our mistakes - and learn from them.

[dave]

I'm sorry you feel that way; our policy is always to respond publically to posts in an open forum.

Thanks, Helen. You've done that.

Do you smoke cigars? If no, would you like to? If also no, could we please have our forum back?

[stearns]

Thanks, Helen. You've done that.

Do you smoke cigars? If no, would you like to? If also no, could we please have our forum back?

Amen brotha!

Now, in another attempt to change this thread back to the CA photography thread and away from the Adorama customer service thread, here's one of my favorite pictures

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z5YcmPPdCsk/S_F6hcEsZMI/AAAAAAAAA18/y0r51wTi9Js/w1092-h819-no/DSCI1117.JPG

[Steve]

I'm sorry you feel that way; our policy is always to respond publically to posts in an open forum. When we mess up, we believe it's important to acknowledge that in public, and to show that we will always do everything possible to put right our mistakes - and learn from them.

Again, this would have been better served as a pm, not in a forum that you neither participate in nor respect.

You have been a "member" (or I should say, you joined) 4 days ago and have a total of 6 posts, all in this thread. You have not posted an into, made a cigar themed post, or taken part in any community related activities. All of your posts so far have been to either promote or defend (for lack of a better word) your business, which is again, not cigar related.

It would seem that your one and only reason for coming to this place has been to promote your business. I believe that if you had taken the time to read the "stickies" in the new member area, you would see that there are certain areas for businesses to do this. Again, I can appreciate your tenacity in wanting to track down an unhappy customer, but once you did, I think it would have been better to contact him in private. And once the customer has made it clear that the transaction has been cleared up to his satisfaction, it would probably be better to sit back, fire up a nice cigar, and get to know our community instead of continuing to pop in and out of the thread, continuing to market and promote your product.

Thanks, Helen. You've done that.

Do you smoke cigars? If no, would you like to? If also no, could we please have our forum back?

Well said.

And now, not one of my best pics, but back on topic

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictures/2012-10-12_Anniversary%20Trip/2012-10-12_Anniversary%20Trip%20056.jpg

Taken on a small trout stream, next to a friends cabin in N.C. on our anniversary shortly before Holly discovered her last lump. Brings back a lot of great memories, even if it was taken with a CoolPix :D

[shark]

I see what you're saying, Brad. I cannot swallow that ridiculously high price tag for a brand new D-800 BODY. Just the BODY is pushing three GRAND? Is it really that good? I have no specific loyalty to camera brands either. Whatever gives me the best bang for the buck.

[shark]

Oh yeah, getting back on track:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7413/14137804262_ccda37d256_b.jpg

[OLS]

I want to make sure everyone knows that even though ALL your points are valid, especially the one wherein this is a cigar forum,
the reason this occurred in the first place is that I seem to always write 100 words where 5 will do, and when I feel like something
is not right, I say something. In the modern world we live in, technology has allowed this kind of pro-active customer service to
flourish, and your own gubmint is watching everything you say as well. So the fact that all this occurred the way it did is just
something we have to accept, and if we choose, ignore, ban, moderate, whatever works best. One other issue is the fact that
these pro-active customer service web searchers often do not realize that the asylum is NOT your average internet forum.
It is wholly financed and moderated by a benevolent group of cigar lovers who control everything that goes on and do expect
strict adherence to the rules. So my fellow forum members have very valid points, even though on the surface HelenOster may
not quite believe they are doing anything but ganging up on her. They're not, at least not in the way they do on forums
run like Lord of the Flies.

Almost all camera-serious people here have dealt with Adorama, and I have never heard a truly disparaging comment
against them here. No one denies how hard you try to serve your customers with excellent prices and fair policies.
For the record, a private message would have been the best way forward on this. So while I agree that we need to move
on and get back to plain old photography, I needed to say I agree with all sides. The technology involved in finding Adorama
posts on the internet to weigh in on cannot be viewed solely as stalking, because for every person that feels stalked, there
is another who feels like they have been saved from the wilderness by a guardian angel. Where this differs in my view is that
rather than a guardian angel swooping in, I would like the process I was involved in to work in a more efficient manner so
that I do not have to become upset enough to post that I have been let down. I understood the delays involved in
both a holiday and a return from a holiday. But I also know that in customer service, when you get back from a long time
away, you have to be doubly on your game, its the price of taking time off in the modern economy. So all that stuff happened.
I was taken care of and although the overall experience tingled the hairs on the back of my neck, I did not come out the other end
more upset than I went in. If I had sent the lens for a refund from the first, something I considered doing rather than trying to get
a markdown, you would not be hearing any of this. But these lenses are VERY SCARCE used, and not cheap even used.
I thought the only way to keep it and use it was to see if I could get some relief for the condition issue. No one would have
said a word if I had returned it from the outset. Good, fair policies are in place.

And now the real challenge begins. Last night my beloved Adorama Canon 5D threw off it's mirror during a shoot.
its a fairly common fault with the model. Another good/bad thing about the internet. Where people advise against
buying a second hand 5D unless it has had it's mirror mechanism replaced. They just come unglued. So as this is
under the Adorama 90 day used warranty, I guess I will end up testing two policies in one order. I hate how it looks,
but for a Nikon shooter with dozens of lenses and dozens of bodies, to go to CANON, even for one fabled camera just
to see what the other half sees....well it seems like I should have known better. If I had stayed in my own camp, none of
this would have happened. I will report on how this second half of Canon-gate goes. No need to have round two.
I am not going to broadcast the play by play here.
----
OOPS, and thanks for your support inmates.

[shade]

Our cat loves to sit out on our porch roof to survey her domain. The other day this fox came trotting by, and took notice. He stopped after seeing the cat, and started licking his chops, then decided to lay down and have a stare down contest.

[shark]

Unless your cat is one of those really big breeds, I'd put my money on the fox.

[CigarGuy88]

Thanks to Brad's camera sale I kinda caught the photography bug. Thanks to delays in funds I wasnt able to pick up one of his cameras but I think it was worth the wait being I grabbed a D7000 with a 50 f/1.8 for a little under $600 all said and done over the past month or so I've grabbed a 55-200, and an 18-55 to round out the kit.

Still pretty much have no idea what the h*ll i'm doing most of the time but I pulled some pretty decent shots IMO at my school's dance show (no thanks to the HORRIBLE lighting on stage).
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/Framtasmic-%20Spring%202014%20Show/DSC_1463_zps2347e53d.jpg
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/Framtasmic-%20Spring%202014%20Show/DSC_8554Cropped_zpsed64d28e.jpg

Anybody got tips on editing that won't give such a grainy final product?

[nutcracker]

The top pick is excellent!

[CigarGuy88]

Here's another one of my favorites http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/Framtasmic-%20Spring%202014%20Show/DSC_8270_zpsf86d3a3e.jpg

[CigarGuy88]

The one thing that was odd was the top shot was at ISO 1600 and the pic still had tons of noise.. I ran it through Neat Image and it got significantly better in the noise department but almost too soft in my mind...http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/Framtasmic-%20Spring%202014%20Show/DSC_1463take2_filtered_zps36869540.jpg

[OLS]

Out of your three shots, two are fine for the conditions you were in and one has too much grain to suit me.
You can try to fix noisy shots, and if you HAD to have the shot you might keep it or like it, but I know I never get over it, haha.
You can sometimes miracle a pic into visibility with Photoshop, but it will never suit you in terms of quality, so the best thing to
do is avoid noise and especially over-exposure. Over exposure is like leaving money on the table, in that you are wasting shutter
speed or aperture leeway and getting a crappy result you can't use. I say this like I shoot a lot of good pics, I don't. I get 10-15
crappy shots to every one people might see.

Removing grain is a trade-off every time. If you got the grain through letting the camera run the show completely on Auto,
you might find you can get better results through making all the decisions for yourself. Manual is fun, I love it. Read in
you paper manual or in a pdf you can get online about how to use manual mode, which features a little light meter
in the bottom of the viewfinder. You just manipulate the shutter speed or aperture or even ISO to move the needle
into the zone of proper exposure. Use the LCD to tell yourself if you are where you want to be.

On your camera you have two advantages. You can set your AUTO ISO to have a ceiling over which it will not allow
itself to go. That will keep you out of unwittingly taking maxxed out ISO shots and therein create ugly grain. You also
have a camera that will allow you to meter perfectly with old manual focus lenses through the menu item
"Non-CPU lens data." (AI and AIS lenses only). With a few months of research I whittled my choices down to a few
choice lenses for which I was willing to pay a premium. So far the results have been as expected, inline with the praise
they have gotten over the years. As far as what I use for the situation YOU were in, I have a 105mm f/2.5 lens,
a 200mm f/4 lens, and a 180mm f/2.8 ED. All of em were a little more than I wanted to pay, but these are very sweet
lenses that can hang in the conditions you were shooting in. You just have to work the aperture and the focus.
It doesn't take long to get good with it.

Indoors like this you have to find a way to shoot close to the focal length in shutter speed, 200mm zoomed in you
need to be hitting that in shutter speed to keep blur in check. Try shooting in "S" mode and set your shutter speed high
enough to stop motion a bit without wasting it. Another thing that improves the more you shoot is the creeping feeling
that your camera is allowing way too high a shutter speed for conditions. When you think something is wrong, it usually is.
I was shooting in a bar last night and I was getting 800 shutter speed and thought WTH? Its dark as hell in here.
I had the ISO cranked up to HI-2 or something that looks like complete crap.

The reason I mention the manual focus lenses is that this seems to be the only way a cheap guy like me can BUY SPEED.
You can't shoot photos that impress you indoors like that with a slow lens. You have to be able to get down to 2.8 or 4 to
give yourself any kind of chance indoors like that. But fast MODERN lenses are WAY too expensive for me.

The 55-200, even if you have VR, is kinda stingy under adverse light conditions, butif you use extreme shot discipline,
you can get good shots. The 18-55 is a good lens to make sure you have SOMETHING wide, and its very sharp.
Its just slow. Indoors you will need the flash with both of those DX lenses. Both of them are SO SLOW as to be almost useless
indoors. But they still work very well and do their job. Before you buy another DX lens though, take a look at one of the 4-5 big
camera companies online that sell used gear and see of you can't pick up either a great classic portrait lens or a classic long lens
for theater or sports. If that's what you SHOOT. The only time I EVER use any of those DX lenses is when I want lightness and
worry-free focusing. When I want a special look, I use old lenses.

If I had any advice it would be to do some shopping around and read some reviews of some CLASSIC Nikkor
oldies where the SPEED you really need is a LOT cheaper. You just have to work harder to use them, but it seems like that
knob turning is why I shoot to begin with. And My blind butt has nerve using manual focus lenses, but the rewards are high.

Now that all the best modern Nikons have 'non-CPU lens data' ability, the prices are not as cheap as they used
to be when I got mine, but there are some awesome lenses out there that will work fine with your camera.

[CigarGuy88]

The one thing I always get antsy with on the manual focus end is simply having to focus :r All of these shots were not planned and based on the 4000 photos I took with maybe 5-7% of them being decent I think that would shrink to <1% especially with such a quick moving scene in front of me. I guess it comes down to changing technique.

I've noticed in even decently lit situations if I zoom in while editing I still have a noisy photo. I did a bit of searching and it seems that nobody knows exactly what causes it :sh

[OLS]

That is a head-scratcher with such an advanced camera. The D7000 is capable of relatively noise-free images through
at least 1600 ISO and not really bad at all through 3200 ISO. Your ratio of good to crap is not unheard of in that situation.
If you ever feel like you have time to experiment in that environment, you can switch to center-weighted or spot metering
and see how the camera evaluates the scene in that mode. You have this all-black background and these fairly light
subjects, it might give you a little more room to breathe. You are stopping motion fairly well, so you must have a decent
enough shutter speed, but there is some blur so I am guessing that your speed was around 1/80th or 1/100th.
Photobucket hides the EXIF data so I can't tell. I would say that next time a good strategy would be to use AUTO ISO in
menus (page 103 in the manual http://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/kie88335f7869dfuejdl=-cww2/D7000_EN.pdf)
you can set a max ISO sensitivity the camera will automatically select, as well as a minimum shutter speed to reach before
it decides to intervene and adjust the ISO. This is what I suggest when in the green AUTO mode.

If you end up in the "S" mode and set a shutter speed minimum of say 1/150th or 1/200th, intent on stopping motion,
then the camera will select it's own aperture setting, which in this light will likely be wide open. You can use the ISO to help
yourself crawl out of the wide open apertures which tend towards softness. Which is not bad in ballet shots, BUT it also
makes your depth of field a relative knife slice. Hard to get everyone in focus that way. The reason I suggest manual in this
environment is so you can nail down everything that has to be nailed down, then work your "luxury variables" to suit the
situation. If you want to stop motion, there is no way around a 'high' shutter speed. With that given, your next concern
in your head should be how much of this lovely stopped motion do you want to have in focus? That will determine your f/stop,
and once you look at your light meter in the VF, THAT will make your last decision for you, how much ISO to dial in to get that
meter pegged to the middle, or in my own shooting, a touch on the dark side of the meter. (keep in mind that if you have not
changed the setting in the menu to reverse it, the meter will seem backwards to you, the further the needle moves to the right,
the darker the exposure.) Once you get the general exposure set in a joint like this theater space, it will stay pretty much
the same from your vantage point. If you've dialed in too much ISO and grain is appearing, decide whether or not
you HAVE to stop motion or not and back off the shutter speed, or decide if you can live with a shallower depth of field and
dial in a lower F number with the front aperture control wheel. its fun and easy once you get good enough with your camera
that you can do these things on the fly without feeling like you are missing the show.

[OLS]

I've noticed in even decently lit situations if I zoom in while editing I still have a noisy photo. I did a bit of searching and it seems that nobody knows exactly what causes it :sh

If you ask me, just based on the info you are giving me, you must be shooting in AUTO.
When you say "decently-lit", that tells me that it is still dark in terms of the way cameras SEE, and especially
through a lens like the two extras you got, which I believe are both f/4-5.6 max aperture lenses.

You would not describe OUTSIDE as decently lit, you'd say it was sunny or shady. Indoors, decently lit sounds
like a room with some lamps on. To a camera, this is not decently lit unless you have a f/1.8 or faster on the camera.
A 1.8 lens lets in OVER 4 TIMES more light wide open than a f/4 lens. Bearing in mind too that the f/4 lens never really
looks that good wide open, so it might as well be a 5.6 lens if you are looking for a sharp photo. SO outside at the zoo,
in the park, etc, where there is rarely a lack of light, these lenses and cameras shine. They struggle as soon as
they come indoors. I take it that your 50mm f/1.8 does not give you the shot you need at the ballet gig? SO you are
likely shooting the 55-200 at this thing? When you are zoomed in to the stage, likely 200mm setting, the 'brain'
in the camera get's awfully upset at the lack of light it is getting out of the lens at 200mm. So even if it SNIFFS
low light, it sloshes ISO out of a bucket into a shot glass. It over-reacts because it CAN. Auto ISO is like the
US govt. It can get all the money it needs to fix problems without thinking about them or fixing the underlying rot
simply by throwing money at the issue. If it works for the people, what the hell, its the people's money anyway.

And just like the US govt approach is wasteful, so is the autoISO setting, and for that matter, the AUTO green
camera setting. It could care less what it takes from you to give you what it thinks you want. And it's masters
back at NIKON want you to get a well-exposed photo in any condition, and the most effective way to give it to
you is with ISO, crank up the gain and the masses won't complain. So while I believe you when you say that no one
on the web seems to know what is causing it, I KNOW what is causing it, lol.

When I got my first NIKON, I bought two or three of the cheapest lenses I could find that fit my needs.
We both have the same lenses, lol. And I use em all, make no mistake. But when I go to a club to shoot
Vanessa or the Midtown Violets, I KNOW not to even pack em. The only good they will do me in a bar is as
ammo when I run out of beer bottles to throw. They certainly won't get a SHOT. Indoors, the fast 50 can
save you. But it will always be 50mm (75mm on your D7000). I doubt that's enough to reach the stage.
Your decision to make is how much is it worth to you to be able to shoot these events? A 55-200mm 4-5.6 lens
is not going to get it. You can get a shot, which is what a kid will want, but to be proud of the result as a photographer,
you will not be satisfied until you get some faster lenses, or rather, a faster lens for that job. Here is a FINE LENS
for your camera and for that need.

http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20634298.html
This lens is f/4 at 200mm. Which means that it is gathering 4 times more light than your 55-200 at 200mm.
And in case you didn't catch it, it costs less, too. This lens is magnificent when used properly, and yes,
it IS MANUAL everything.

It is easy to spend 2-300 bucks on the wrong lenses when you really need to take that money and spend it
on one lens. Or two. Its like Cuban cigars. My cigar budget bought twice as much once I realized that the
best was usually cheaper. It took courage to make it work, I had to order something I shouldn't to get
the benefits I wanted. Same with Manual Focus lenses. It takes more work, but if you want to do the job right
AND SAVE MONEY, sometimes you have to compromise. That 200mm lens I linked you to costs half as much as
a new Nikkor lens that performs half as well or less.

I REALLY would like to see you at 180mm f/2.8 ED for two more times as much light. But as you will see,
that comes at a price.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801055885-USE/nikon_1464_telephoto_180mm_f_2_8_ed.html

Ouch. But I think I got mine for $180, so it pays to look. But make sure someone doesn't try to say its a ED
model but it DOESN'T say ED on the side of the lens. LOTS of people on Ebay have those kinds of deals up now.
Without the ED glass, you're better off with the 200 f/4. FOUR TIMES more light coming in than your 55-200 zoomed in.

[OLS]

Well this week was odd. There is no way to convince me that my Canon experiences this past week or so are not
entirely rooted in me straying from Nikon. I do not think one is better than the other, I started in Nikon and MANY
times avoided dabbling in Canon by dumping my Kart after shopping for fun and price in the Adorama used sections.
In the end I just told myself that it would be a really bad idea to dabble in Canon and end up spending another big
pile of money on another brand of lenses and accessories. Great for Canon and Ado, not so good for me, haha. SO for the
first time in a month or so, I did not have a Canon in the bag. And I hate to say it, but I did not perform that well. There was no
pressure on me, I was not being paid, just helping out a benefit for Tornado relief. But it was rough going.

Here is 80 year old Max Pickard, who walked down to The Green Beetle as a favor to the promoter to fill in for one
of the acts that had to pull out at the last hour. He just played a dozen old good-time, ole tyme songs and had the
crowd eating out of his hands. Gotta love him. I hope I look that good at 80. He looks better than me NOW and
I'm 50.....2

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_2976sigweb_zpsa02a7c4f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_2976sigweb_zpsa02a7c4f.jpg.html)

[dave]

Was some 'shilling' part of your settlement with Helen?....:)








;s

[OLS]

Sorry, I was wrong, you can get this lens cheaper in a grade I still find acceptable.....
http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20629563.html

At that price, its a STEAL!
I cannot recommend this lens more highly to you for what
you are trying to accomplish. I shot Bobby Rush in Memphis
one night almost exclusively with this lens, at least ON STAGE.
If you see a guitar in his hand, it was shot with this lens.

http://olsart.blogspot.com/2014/02/bobby-rush-at-center-for-southern.html

Suffice it to say it was MUCH darker in this room than in your
ballet stage. If you learn to work the aperture by hand and
focus by hand, get perfect exposure indications on your light
meter and STILL HATE manual focus, send it to me and I will
buy it from you for $50.

And no, Dave, I don't shill for anyone, and I know you were mostly joking.
But I do know where the best price is, and I try to make sure none of the
people I know from here ever pay more than they have to, no matter who
has the item. And Helen, since you brought her up, just helped me with
the second issue in a row on the same order, my mirror taking a flyer
during a shoot. I brought all that business here by using the wrong word
in a sentence. But again, she helps people while she guards their reputation.
Better that it didn't happen at all, but this was not a debacle in the end.
You see where that second link went, don't you? Not Ado, but B&H. I am fair.

[pnoon]

I have to say I feel the same way. While a certain part of me admires the tenacity of tracking someone down, joining a forum that is not specifically a photography forum, and then proceeding to post in that forum in an open thread seems a little creepy and actually, disrespectful. I would think that if the person has delt with their company, then said company would have contact information to privately contact the customer that is having issues with them, or at least possibly send the unhappy customer a private message after tracking them down. I think if I was to stalk an unhappy customer down, I would at least have looked over the forums FAQs and probably even have registered as a vender, as I would not be joining to participate in or add to the community as the forum was intended.



That was my reaction as well. I decided not to intervene unless Brad or others had an issue with it.

FWIW - Members cannot register as vendors. The ToE establish that.
FWIW II - I did PM Helen and it went unanswered.

[OLS]

Not to fan flames but as a way of combining pertinent data, when I tried to PM her and apologize for being such a Bradley,
her account info stated she has opted not to accept PMs. That was when I decided that I was just going to keep my Ado
business to myself for the most part. I called them Ado for years to keep that kind of thing from being a problem. The one
time I didn't, look out. I feel badly that y'all had to deal with it, and I also tried to apologize to her for getting ganged up
on here. It really IS a different sort of place than she is used to advocating in. But don't think I didn't ask her to help me
figure out how to get this Canon 5D replaced. Like I said it cuts both ways. And I DID notice how it did not get overly-
moderated. If she was not in the business of keeping her cool, it might have gone another way, I am sure. As for the
vendor issue, I think she is more of a paid advocate or Ombudsman kind of position, I do not REALLY classify her as a
vendor. And its over, I think a lot of people understand now how to avoid it in the future. I do. I have apologized to
everyone involved several times. After re-reading that, I DO NOT think I properly apologized to everyone here. That was
an oversight. I was mortified when it happened, embarrassed still, but mostly sorry to turn a thread that was full of
pics and slaps on the back and turn it into the People's Court. You guys deserve better and I am sorry.

[OLS]

I read the same thing about ink usage. A lot of the info said it depends on what type of paper you're using, how often you print and a few other factors. Most of the 'pro' reviewers seemed to think it was in line with other quality printers as far as ink usage. The Pro-1 is better, but it's also $400 more and by 'better' I think it's because it has much larger ink tanks and you get a better price per ml. The Pro-10 has 14ml cartridges which works out to less than a $1 per ml. Which is less than half the cost of our HP Photostylus printer.

haha, Jeff you got lost in the shuffle. I was torn on those printers. In the end I could not calculate my way through
where the deal was. Pay way more for the privilege of using bigger and more expensive ink tanks? I have a feeling
that Canon has this calculated down to the last dollar and its about the same. The only likely difference is if you are
a environmentalist and you don't like replacing ink tanks made of plastic all the time. Personally I would love hoses
and 5 gallon buckets of ink. Then I would be satisfied. But one area where I AM REALLY SATISFIED IS ADORAMA!
No I am kidding, one area I am really satisfied in is the quality of the prints. When I bought my Pixma 6520, it was
listed as an office printer. They did not even take the glaring opportunity to work the word photo in there.
But it works well. I BET yours works BETTER, more types of ink usually combine for the better product.
But my printer was $139 and the ink is $40 for 4 tanks and one large text-type vat-o-ink that runs out slower
and costs a bit more. And still I holler. But I am glad we worked our way out of the era of the "all in one cartridge"
Talk about rape.

[Steve]

That was my reaction as well. I decided not to intervene unless Brad or others had an issue with it.

FWIW - Members cannot register as vendors. The ToE establish that.
FWIW II - I did PM Helen and it went unanswered.

P (Ever Vigilant) Noon :banger:banger

[MrClean]

Brad our HP home/office printer has 6 colors and costs $45 for the value pack. So $7.50 per color for 3.5 - 4ml of ink. The Pixma tanks are 14ml and cost $13-$15, not to mention it's pigment based ink. To me, it's worth it. I've printed just a handful of 8x10's and from what I've heard start up and print head alignment uses a 'significant' amount of ink, but all tanks still show full on the printer status. It'll be interesting to run through a few tanks and see just how many prints I can get.

[CigarGuy88]

I cant remember exactly what I was shooting in but it was either Shutter priority or Professional. I've played around with nearly every setting and i'm still getting noise.. I'm going to have to play around in full daylight and see if i come across the same problem.

My original intent for the lenses I got weren't for dark room pictures. I just happened to bring my camera to this show to see if I could grab any halfway decent pictures and the girls on the team really liked the good pics I grabbed. I think there's a good shot that if i can get some of them to chip in a bit the next two shows I'll rent some superfast glass (70-200 f/2.8) and get a chance to play around with some really nice stuff and grab some great pictures in the mean time. Then again if I do that I'll find myself wanting a $2000+ lens :gary

P.S. I think i'll be grabbing that 200 f/4 lens with my next paycheck to play around a bit :D

If you ask me, just based on the info you are giving me, you must be shooting in AUTO.
When you say "decently-lit", that tells me that it is still dark in terms of the way cameras SEE, and especially
through a lens like the two extras you got, which I believe are both f/4-5.6 max aperture lenses.

You would not describe OUTSIDE as decently lit, you'd say it was sunny or shady. Indoors, decently lit sounds
like a room with some lamps on. To a camera, this is not decently lit unless you have a f/1.8 or faster on the camera.
A 1.8 lens lets in OVER 4 TIMES more light wide open than a f/4 lens. Bearing in mind too that the f/4 lens never really
looks that good wide open, so it might as well be a 5.6 lens if you are looking for a sharp photo. SO outside at the zoo,
in the park, etc, where there is rarely a lack of light, these lenses and cameras shine. They struggle as soon as
they come indoors. I take it that your 50mm f/1.8 does not give you the shot you need at the ballet gig? SO you are
likely shooting the 55-200 at this thing? When you are zoomed in to the stage, likely 200mm setting, the 'brain'
in the camera get's awfully upset at the lack of light it is getting out of the lens at 200mm. So even if it SNIFFS
low light, it sloshes ISO out of a bucket into a shot glass. It over-reacts because it CAN. Auto ISO is like the
US govt. It can get all the money it needs to fix problems without thinking about them or fixing the underlying rot
simply by throwing money at the issue. If it works for the people, what the hell, its the people's money anyway.

And just like the US govt approach is wasteful, so is the autoISO setting, and for that matter, the AUTO green
camera setting. It could care less what it takes from you to give you what it thinks you want. And it's masters
back at NIKON want you to get a well-exposed photo in any condition, and the most effective way to give it to
you is with ISO, crank up the gain and the masses won't complain. So while I believe you when you say that no one
on the web seems to know what is causing it, I KNOW what is causing it, lol.

When I got my first NIKON, I bought two or three of the cheapest lenses I could find that fit my needs.
We both have the same lenses, lol. And I use em all, make no mistake. But when I go to a club to shoot
Vanessa or the Midtown Violets, I KNOW not to even pack em. The only good they will do me in a bar is as
ammo when I run out of beer bottles to throw. They certainly won't get a SHOT. Indoors, the fast 50 can
save you. But it will always be 50mm (75mm on your D7000). I doubt that's enough to reach the stage.
Your decision to make is how much is it worth to you to be able to shoot these events? A 55-200mm 4-5.6 lens
is not going to get it. You can get a shot, which is what a kid will want, but to be proud of the result as a photographer,
you will not be satisfied until you get some faster lenses, or rather, a faster lens for that job. Here is a FINE LENS
for your camera and for that need.

http://www.adorama.com/US%20%20%20%20634298.html
This lens is f/4 at 200mm. Which means that it is gathering 4 times more light than your 55-200 at 200mm.
And in case you didn't catch it, it costs less, too. This lens is magnificent when used properly, and yes,
it IS MANUAL everything.

It is easy to spend 2-300 bucks on the wrong lenses when you really need to take that money and spend it
on one lens. Or two. Its like Cuban cigars. My cigar budget bought twice as much once I realized that the
best was usually cheaper. It took courage to make it work, I had to order something I shouldn't to get
the benefits I wanted. Same with Manual Focus lenses. It takes more work, but if you want to do the job right
AND SAVE MONEY, sometimes you have to compromise. That 200mm lens I linked you to costs half as much as
a new Nikkor lens that performs half as well or less.

I REALLY would like to see you at 180mm f/2.8 ED for two more times as much light. But as you will see,
that comes at a price.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801055885-USE/nikon_1464_telephoto_180mm_f_2_8_ed.html

Ouch. But I think I got mine for $180, so it pays to look. But make sure someone doesn't try to say its a ED
model but it DOESN'T say ED on the side of the lens. LOTS of people on Ebay have those kinds of deals up now.
Without the ED glass, you're better off with the 200 f/4. FOUR TIMES more light coming in than your 55-200 zoomed in.

[MrClean]

Steve, I've rented a handful of lenses in the last couple of years. I bought the 24-105mm but specifically stayed away from the 70-200 f2.8, cause I'd definitely be wanting one of those :D.
The last one I rented was the 50mm 1.2, it is an amazing prime.

[Steve]

I used to have an 80-200 f2.8 lens and a 50 1.4, and they was awesome! Most of what I shot was available light and I shot primarily on chrome, so a fast lens was mandatory. If you think cigars are a slippery slope, fast lens' are a cliff! I still regret the day I sold my 600 f4...

[OLS]

That to me is the only thing that matters Steve (Cigar Guy)...when the people in the pics like the pics.
They do not SEE noise. They see themselves. That's why I say kids are never the issue, only self-critique.
And as you pointed out, the pics are GOOD. There is nothing about them that is below this or that standard.
Experimentation and bonding with your gear takes weeks or months. You'll get it figured out soon enough.
Everytime I have ever showed someone a pic that was of them or something they were interested in,
me being me, I have to say something about the image noise if it is in there, and people invariably say
"Why do you say that? You are always cutting yourself down. This is great, man." So you can take
what you will from that, lol.

[OLS]

It'll be interesting to run through a few tanks and see just how many prints I can get.

8x10s are like clowns coming out of a car, they just keep coming. You will be able to do 40+ on a set of
tanks, likely many more, not knowing the difference in your tanks and mine. One thing I like to do and I am
probably overly-paranoid, is to get ALL MY ducks in a row so that the moment I turn the printer ON, I like
to be able to click PRINT in photoshop....If you give my Pixma 10 seconds after turn on, it goes into this long,
gymnastic sequence of alignment and who knows what else it is doing. But I see dollar signs, lol.

[OLS]

I just happened to bring my camera to this show to see if I could grab any halfway decent pictures and the girls on the team really liked the good pics I grabbed.

This is what I did over Mardi Gras...I realized that I had not packed any of my fast AND long lenses, so I thought
"Well, this has to work" (55-200) and I cranked up the ISO and REALLY concentrated on my technique in being steady, used
lamp posts and such to steady myself and took a LOT of reasonably good shots. But I thought there was NO WAY
I was going to be able to shoot LONG shots at night in the French Quarter with that max aperture of 5.6. But I did.
Somehow, lol. The best thing to do with any lens, no matter the speed or quality, is to PUSH IT, make it do
things you think it can't do, find it's weak spots, exploit it's strong points. Get to know it well before you
write it off, because oftentimes we blame the gear for our bad technique, lol. ESPECIALLY with the move up
in resolution. I was a genius at 12 megapixels.....turns out at 24 megapixels, I am truly a MOOK. Still working
everyday, haha.

[CigarGuy88]

I'm just so anal with anything that I care about that if the picture doesnt look crystal clear I nitpick everything and need to know why it wasn't. :sh

[shark]

I'm just so anal with anything that I care about that if the picture doesnt look crystal clear I nitpick everything and need to know why it wasn't. :sh

Me too.

[OLS]

Well that's good, because it makes what I clumsily tried to do to address it seem less know-it-all-y,
although I am sure no less insulting, lol. I have/had no idea what level of photographic knowledge you
possess, whether or not you were rolling your eyes at me and thinking "DUH", or whether or not anything I said
helped you track down the grain-fairy. I would really like to see some improvement or resolution to your issue
so that we can get past the possibility that you bought a grainy camera cheap, lol. Grain basically comes from
just one place and that is off-the-chip signal gain noise. Underexposure and subsequent image manipulation can also
cause it, or as it is euphemistically known today, "shadow reclamation". I think. I also think I might have made it up.

Ron was REALLY upset before he got his D90. His D100 was not giving him the images he was looking for,
and I have not heard a peep out of him since he picked up his D90. SO I imagine he feels what you will feel
once you work this out. And he posts some of the sharpest pics in this thread, so I KNOW he is jazzed.

What I hope for you is that you end up finding a chunk of olde-tyme glass that gives you the ability to see in
the dark and comes in a lot cheaper than the alternative. You don't have to spend too much time looking at
2.8 lenses to grasp the economics. Pricey AND weighty. I know one thing I am guilty of is relating things that have
worked for me as the greatest things since sliced bread. Ask Ron what he thinks of my suggestion to buy a D100.
But while I would love to have a set of professional autofocus lenses, I don't make enough money on my shooting
to ever go that route. So I do tend to go on and on about the benefits of these old lenses. Canon digital folks can't even
use THEIR old MF lenses without an adapter for THEIR OWN BRAND. Nikon-ers are lucky, all we have to do is twist and click.

One thing I know I will never hear from someone who picks up a 200mm f/4 on my advice and that is "YOU A-HOLE!
You screwed me out of $60 with your crazy scheme."

[OLS]

Wow, I see that today, 'that camera place" has Canon 5Ds in three different condition grades up. ($499-$579)
Again, if I had to do it ALL OVER, I think I would skip Canon, I angered the gods by straying to the other
side, even a little. But now that Canon will reinforce your mirror free of charge, and after what I saw come OUT of
this little full frame a55-kicker, (I mean, other than the mirror, lol) I'd be hard pressed not to do it again.
If a person had NO affiliation with a brand yet, wow, its awfully tempting. But I like Nikon, I like the whole
legacy lens deal. But that 5D classic is a hell of a pitcher-takin' muchine.

[shark]

Steve, have you looked through the manual and the camera's menus to find the high iso noise reduction as well as the long exposure NR? That helps quite a bit. If you shoot longer exposures with a tripod, there's also a setting where the mirror locks in the up position, then the shutter opens a couple of seconds later. This prevents any mini vibration from blurring the shot.

[CigarGuy88]

I dont have any major problems with blurring, I was just trying to freeze the action. This is a perfect example, look at her hand coming across and its a blur because the shutter speed wasn't high enough. Everything else is perfect
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_8554Cropped_filtered_zpse59c840c.jpg

I rarely have issues running low shutter speed being my hands are fairly steady and if they aren't I find a way to anchor myself to steady my arms/hands. I'm just trying to narrow down the problem so if it isnt a camera problem and its settings or whatever I won't have to send it off to Nikon and pay for nothing to get fixed

[MrClean]

Steve, to me that is a great pic for the available lighting. I'm certainly no expert, but to me that is very acceptable, the focus and clarity on her face is great.

[CigarGuy88]

Out of all of the pictures I took that is probably my favorite. Might be slightly bias being she's one of my best friends at school but her face conveys so much emotion in the picture. It gets me every time!

[OLS]

As you know, you are sort of hamstrung by the conditions. Its a thin line between an acceptable
photo and a blur when you are under indoor lights. The flash is likely OUT, so you are left with
cranking up the ISO, really. I imagine your aperture was wide open or close to it. Your only option
then is to let in more light, so we are back to a faster lens.

HOWEVER, there is one other choice. You can let the camera meter and tell you what
to use for settings and you can turn to manual and bump the shutter speed up one
more notch. It will result in a darker photo, but if you have photoshop, lightroom, any of the
popular editing programs, you can fix that. it might lead to a bit of grain itself, but when
I absolutely HAVE to have one more notch of shutter speed, I am not above doing the work
later and getting the shot NOW.

[OLS]

I will say another thing about that blur to add to what Jeff said. The pic is GOOD. The blurred hand is NOT bad.
To me it evokes the feeling of motion in a shot with no real motion defined in itself. If you stop the action completely,
there may not be enough dynamism in the photo to show that she wasn't just Shao Lin ninja poppin. When people
see the photo, there is a 90% chance they are drawn to the face or other body parts based on particular preferences.
The HAND is only really relevant when people start to pick a photo apart for critical purposes. There is a GOOD chance
that the photo would be LESS effective if caught in perfect frozen action. All that said, I KNOW why people in your position
focus on the hand....its because you think we will and you may hope to deflect that. I do it all the time. People say
"wow, nice shot" and immediately I launch into "well, yeah, but..." Human nature. I have read the banter of enough
pros over the past two years to know, to most of them, if the eyes are in perfect focus, they don't seem to care about
much else, lol.

[shark]

That was exactly what I was trying to capture with those shots that I posted this past winter at the skating rink.

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2872/11657032736_5d84df8553_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/97465131@N04/11657032736/)

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/14233772653_e88e600015_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nFMNHk)

[shark]

Downtown Detroit, from Belle Isle:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2912/14210316381_3e88fea879_b.jpg

[OLS]

I crossed over the bridge in the background RIGHT after 9/11.....can you IMAGINE!

[OLS]

last night I found the second-darkest venue in Memphis, TN. NOTHING can top Earnestine & Hazel's,
but The Cove is right up there. Shame is it might be the most ambiance-dripping place in town. A 5hit-ton of
wicked wooden ship-related swag. But what made it worse is the fact that I do not like to block people's view of things
and NEVER use a flash of any kind. So I got what I got. But some of it was great. Don't stare too long at the
lips. 70's **** come to mind?

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/BlffCityBksldrs-189sig-fb_zps679c9d72.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/BlffCityBksldrs-189sig-fb_zps679c9d72.jpg.html)

[0002S]

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Web%20Link%20Images/Genewatercolumn_zpsfb76f35b.jpg

[OLS]

This is a crap photo focus-wise, but I liked it so much I wanted to post it. I was reading a blog post from a guy that
shoots a lot of club photos for some doofus club somewhere, and he was talking about how to avoid the common pitfalls
of posting photos. One has always made sense to me, NEVER DUMP PHOTOS, pick one or two or a few that speak to the
event or occasion and leave it at that. His second one is also food for thought, but you will see me break it right here.
He said never post a photo of a great idea that you had for a shot that failed, no matter how you might feel that 'People
will understand what you were going for and let their brain make up for the shortcomings." Something like that.


Well screw the rules, I just like the background in this photo, and although my subject was not in focus as he should
have been, ehhh, there are so few photos left in my bucket that I posted to use here and never did, and I am so bored
sitting here that I will break any rule to kill the boredom, lol. My friend Mark taking a break outside his recent Tornado
Relief benefit, Tunes for Tupelo....
Manual focus only lenses are tough in the dark on a digital camera, exacerbated by alcohol intake. But at least I got his
shoulder in focus.

Suffer bit(he5. ;)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_2917sigweb_zps811dd005.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_2917sigweb_zps811dd005.jpg.html)

[emopunker2004]

Kingsley Plantation on Monday

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5279/14225493574_4f691fdd77_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nF4nCA)Kingsley Plantation (https://flic.kr/p/nF4nCA) by emopunker2004 (https://www.flickr.com/people/52968548@N05/), on Flickr

[OLS]

Leading lines.........neat shot.

[shark]

Some high shutter speed shots, in full auto mode where you just hold down the shutter button:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5080/14082520898_0b4a536c60_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/14082848257_a07b971b35_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nssh9z)

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/14265822861_a30b986051_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nJC588)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/14246114756_083d6efef2_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nGT4Ad)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/14246110326_1200135e7e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nGT3gQ)

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2902/14082560549_252638ec66_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nsqNC6)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3790/14265873421_3465b31664_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nJCk9R)

[OLS]

Them Rebs just LOOK like they needs killin'. Looka that devil's expression!
Also, I am confident now in the cavalry, that if we ever take on a army of midgets, we are in good hands, lol.
but seriously, nice shot by the rider, and nicer shots by the photographer.

[OLS]

A couple of shots from my recent trip back down to NOLA to shoot pics will soon follow.
Here is Oak Alley Plantation from a different perspective.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600896sigWEB_zps16e4227e.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600896sigWEB_zps16e4227e.jpg.html)

[stearns]

Love that picture with the baloon popping :tu

[OLS]

Here is Ormond Plantation across the river, but much closer to my own home area downriver from the bulk of the other
plantation homes you see. This one is MUCH less famous than the others. This was an economy tour of sorts that
my mother and sisters and I took over the weekend, just like we used to as kids, no money, just fence gawking.
But we walked around the grounds a bit here. This is a 15mm-30mm lens at 15. You can see the levee on the right
side of the photo. I SEE the distortion of these lenses, but it really doesn't bother me. I photoshop "skewed" the
structure and left the right side not just normally distorted, but maybe a little extra distorted from transforming the
other side.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600863sigweb_zps461c9def.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600863sigweb_zps461c9def.jpg.html)

[shark]

I love the live oaks with the Spanish moss draped on the boughs. The first time I saw Spanish moss, I was wondering "WTF is that?" It just looked weird to this Yankee. :D

[shark]

Them Rebs just LOOK like they needs killin'. Looka that devil's expression!
Also, I am confident now in the cavalry, that if we ever take on a army of midgets, we are in good hands, lol.
but seriously, nice shot by the rider, and nicer shots by the photographer.

It was pretty hot that day, and I know for sure that the Union uniforms are wool...Wool Jacket, wool trousers, long sleeves, those guys were sweating and thinking of doing something else most likely, especially with that annoying photographer running along snapping shots. :r

[shark]

From the Memorial day parade in Dearborn. He was representing the paratroopers from WWII. He actually resembles the actor who portrayed "Wild Bill" Guarniere from Band of Brothers:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5546/14305893991_c47794d63f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nNarSF)

[shark]

An almost time for sunset shot. I took this with a tripod. 50mm lens, f7.1, 1/15 second
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3703/14122794757_ce3e00c57b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nvZ1Rk)

[OLS]

A great weekend of shooting, and some of the stuff I shot was soft but I liked it so much it didn't matter.
I know that is a bad thing to do, but we all know I am no pro. So sue me, haha.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4526_zpsed6a820b.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4526_zpsed6a820b.jpg.html)

[OLS]

I thought this girl with the yellow boots on was so sexy, and she came out soft because my eye focused on the girl to
the left, and my actual subject came out soft....I was manual focusing most of this night. As I was snap shooting this
to keep from getting overly busted, I lived with what I got.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4512_zpsf4f15140.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4512_zpsf4f15140.jpg.html)

[OLS]

I like to shoot people photos, but I rarely DO because it is the most awkward kind of thing to shoot people who
invariably do not want to be shot. AS anyone here knows, it is far from my preferred form of photography.
But when I SEE something great, I will often focus on something at a similar distance and exposure level,
then turn on my heels and fire away, manually focusing as I shoot to get it right before the person becomes
aware of what is happening. This is the story here, the girl in the glasses figured it out and buried her face
in her friend's shoulder to escape me. But those 4 frames of 'hang time' before she reacted are perfect,
because you can see the brain working and still have the scene the way you wanted it. The picture above
was so different, in that I just pulled the camera up, focused (badly) and shot 2 frames and respectfully
left them alone. It works better this other way, I think.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4411_zps633c350f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4411_zps633c350f.jpg.html)

[stearns]

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4411_zps633c350f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4411_zps633c350f.jpg.html)

Love this picture, the reflection off the glass adds to the image as well :tu

[OLS]

yep, I am a sexy reflexy...oh, you mean the CARS and stuff. ;)

[stearns]

here's one from Monday night, looked up while having a smoke out on my balcony and the sun was just about set. I have three hundred of these on my phone, take em most nights when it's nice out, but this one I thought was particularly cool. I see now that it's not quite framed right, oh well.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7nKdMDJAX74/U40VloSJaJI/AAAAAAAABaM/a-PR_k8gDbc/w1358-h764-no/20140602_202232.jpg

[OLS]

Nice sun disc, that's for sure. Damn jets....love the waves of clouds!

[OLS]

Here is another shot from the recent Trolley Night for May......

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4437_zpsa3d3c5c3.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4437_zpsa3d3c5c3.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Here is just a kind of throw-away shot from Wednesday Night, and yet it is so good.
My friend teaches a Ukulele class for 5 weeks and then they had their recital this week.
In Memphis, since I have a job for now and I have this photo thing as a hobby, I use my
hobby to help promote things and people who need it. No musicians ever have any MONEY,
to there is no sense in trying to get blood out of a turnip. If I can help them with what I do
for FUN, why not. This is another such case. They were pleased to have their event
shared with others....only 8-9 people showed up to watch, and they were likely all loved
ones. But the Facebuuk post that night shared it with many hundreds more, so it works
out for the size of the next class, I guess. And it helps people to share their deal with family
and friends and gives them proof that it happened. Here are a few of the students trading licks
before the show. I thought it was a great "people shot".

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4812web_zps4b6d5a83.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4812web_zps4b6d5a83.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Here is another shot I like, I was forced to hang out a LOT LONGER than I wanted to last Friday night,
I had shot all the haps of Trolley Night and was headed to my car when I realized that Pete Wood from
The Pistol & The Queen had asked me if I was doing anything Friday night, which is his code for "Hey man,
I would really like it if you came down to our gig and shot." He's from London and his band mate is a
Creole angel from New Orleans. They are a great team. But the house band was feeling their oats and
played far too long, and had basically taken P&TQ's slot at 9pm. SO it was 10:45 before they started
to even set up. And what made it worse for Pete, they had been playing all these Beatles and
Stones songs in 'party band' form and it was like driving a corkscrew into his eardrums. SO when it was
time to play, he was wound up tight. The light in Earnestine & Hazels is unique in the world for it's terribleness.
But in this shot it kinda works. And here is a video that I shot elsewhere, too. http://youtu.be/nNPXFr2nzCU

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4686sigweb_zps23bdf891.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4686sigweb_zps23bdf891.jpg.html)

[baust55]

cool pics I need to get an online album updated

austin

[OLS]

That's sort of how its done here, we store elsewhere to present full size here through html code kinda stuff.
But you can upload files directly to your posts here, they just show up as thumbnails that must be clicked on.
Either way. As this is kind of a artsy fartsy subject for a thread, it looks better full size. But in the
"What's in your smoker" thread, I often go with thumbnails.

[OLS]

One of the most iconic, yet little known places in Memphis is Earnestine & Hazels Sundry Store. Tourists rarely make it this far
down South Main street. Used to be a drugstore, but the original owner made it big with hair tonic, then later Coppertone suntan
lotion, and basically gave the store to some ladies upstairs. In the 1980s it became a bar, and they might have the best jukebox
in the world. Depends on what you like I guess. It is HARD to shoot in, because of that DAMNED NEON SIGN. But its SHO GOT SOUL.
I spotted this lady one night under the old light fixtures.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4599_zps3de17155.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4599_zps3de17155.jpg.html)

[dman4505]

Went to the zoo yesterday and saw these new sculptures at the bear exhibit, there's a dozen of them.

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/IMG_0161_zpse516b13e.jpg (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/dman4505/media/IMG_0161_zpse516b13e.jpg.html)

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/IMG_0153_zps543f8ff4.jpg (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/dman4505/media/IMG_0153_zps543f8ff4.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Louisiana Road Kill........for a fast little critter, they sure can't seem to avoid cars.
Maybe this is my attempt to get this thread moving, if enough people post,
this photo will be on another page and lost to time.
Maybe its just a disgusting sight.
I can say that the aroma surrounding this critter was bad enough to make me shoot one and done.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_3365_zps8328db5d.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_3365_zps8328db5d.jpg.html)

[OLS]

I am debating a purchase of a lens I don't think I need, and I wish there was someone in the thread that can help me
confirm or refute my feelings on it. But sadly, there is very little participation around the forums these days, and I am
as guilty as anyone.

I have a 50mm 1.8 Nikkor lens, and I love it because it is sharp and fast. I never REALLY needed it to be faster,
because I had cameras that can shoot at high ISOs without too much image degredation. So when
there is a chance to get a 50mm 1.4, I don't see the cost of the lens as being worthwhile, because I am
ALMOST that fast now, and I don't see .4 difference in aperture as being worth the money. But I know that
aperture is "logarithmic", so there may be a REAL difference in 1.4 and 1.8. In fact, in researching the issue, I see
that 1.8 is actually kind of a halfway house between 1.4 and 2. So maybe I DO need the 1.4 lens. I have always believed
that bumping the gain will easily make up for this lack of 'night vision' in my lenses. And I still do, I guess. But if I intend
to continue buttering my bread with low light, natural light shooting, I guess I need to accept some facts.

I sure would like to hear some other thoughts from people who know and understand.

[Steve]

All I can say is the Nikkor 50/1.2 is a sweet lens...

[The Poet]

Brad, my first Nikkor 40 years ago was a 50/1.4, and it is a great lens. But I see no need for one to "step up" from a 1.8, or even a 2.0, as one stop rarely makes the difference between getting the shot and NOT getting the shot. That opinion is based more on my past work history. I worked for 8 1/2 years in a photo shop, before high-speed digital sensors, and my go-to films were Kodachrome 64 and Tri-X 400.

[hwgoesit]

THe 1.4 and 1.8 have 7 blade diaphrams, the 1.2 has 9 blade and will provide better "sunstars" when stopped down. Not sure there is much of an advantage from the 1.4 over the 1.8

[hwgoesit]

BTW, I ahve the 1.8 and think it is a great lens

[OLS]

All I can say is the Nikkor 50/1.2 is a sweet lens...
yes, but you have your own river-view hot tub, I am talking about for schlubs like ME. :D

[Steve]

yes, but you have your own river-view hot tub, I am talking about for schlubs like ME. :D

:r:r

I WISH that was my hot tub with a river view. It's actually my MIL's, and it's currently up for sale (much to my daughters chagrin). Buy the hot tub and the view and you get the 5000 sq. ft. house for free :)

I may still have my 1.2 lens; I just put a lot of my old 35mm stuff away. I got a really great deal on it when I bought it, and since I used a 55mm macro for most of my work, I needed something that would be a little faster for candid and such when I wasn't doing nature stuff.

Boy, I wish I still had some of my big glass stuff though!

[OLS]

That is what we all want to hear, affirmation that we are right, lol. What pushed me over the top on NOT getting it
was a very interesting article I read that added a tidbit near the end that KIND OF shocked me. You don't have to read
all of it if you want to read the part that kind of surprised me...just scroll down to "A Surprising Result". It was not the
thing that made up my mind, that was helped along by you guys repeating what I thought I knew, that while the lens
I was looking at IS AWESOME, the difference when one has one lens is somewhat lost when you pick up the other. Add to that
the fact that I am not really a portraitist but someone who struggles to get things in focus in night clubs, losing even more
DOF might actually be a tragedy, lol. Thanks, y'all. And way to get that dad armadillo banished to a non-current page!

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0012817/article/50mm-lens-shoot-out-f18-or-f14

[OLS]

I may still have my 1.2 lens; I just put a lot of my old 35mm stuff away. I got a really great deal on it when I bought it, and since I used a 55mm macro for most of my work, I needed something that would be a little faster for candid and such when I wasn't doing nature stuff.

Would that lens have been a "modern spec"? AI or above? I am always tempted to pick up a pre-AI lens
because they are the REAL red-headed stepchildren now, since they will damage most popular Nikon digitals.
I even bought a D40, because they can accept those old Nippon Kogaku lenses. but then I realized it might be
a bad idea to pick up a blazing fast Pre-AI lens and mount it to a camera as consumer-grade as a D40 when
I have perfectly decent 'fast' lenses and great bodies....just to pick up .4 . Also it mostly seemed dumb to
pick up ANY GEAR AT ALL when I am set and content.

[Steve]

Almost all of my stuff was AI'd. I used F3's mostly, but I had a few older FMs and a couple of the original Fs that I used at various times, so I was able to use all of my lenses on most of my bodies.

[OLS]

Thanks, Steve. I may end up picking it up, as half of us think its worth it and half don't.
And I will continue to ponder whether or not the narrower DOF actually HURTS me or can add something.

[Steve]

DOF wasn't really an issue for me back then, but again, I was younger and had better eyes at the time. For me the real deciding factor of getting the 1.2 was that there really wasn't that much of a difference between the 1.4 and the 1.8 (I actually had a 1.4 as well) but I needed something that would perform better than the 2.5 of the macro lens.

One of the benefits I had to hanging around a local old school B&M camera shop was I had access to a lot of deals on quality used glass. Unfortunately these days, most of those old school shops have gone the way of the dodo bird :mad:

[OLS]

most of those old school shops have gone the way of the dodo bird :mad:

that and the fact that most of the shops long ago realized that people were back on those old lenses.
They went from 'can't hardly give em away' to 'back in stride again' overnight. I think I got in before the
second wave when the prices went up again. And I think if film was still big, the old shops could have
made it. They lose a lot of new sales to online, but service on an item like that is still important, and I mean
both kinds, camera and customer.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my first D200 so I could use the oldies, frankly the only ones I could afford.
I ended up buying 4 D200s and except for the 5th one I just bought, lol, they are ALL GONE. They might suck at night,
but that is one versatile camera. Nowadays there are at least 5 enthusiast Nikons that will mount and meter with
the old glass. But without those lenses in 24, 50, 85 and 105, I am shot. Boy do I love my old primes.

[OLS]

The Pistol & The Queen, Earnestine & Hazel's, Memphis, TN

She's a talented guitarist from New Orleans, he handles the rhythm and sings the songs
and he's from around London. I know that's a re-hashed bit of info, but I always say it
when I post a photo of them, because its SHOW BIZ after all, every eyeball on em might
be an ear hole one day. And its my night job, lol. One day I might even make a whole
dollar for the work. Spending a little time before they played to shoot some posterity pics.

And what's that they do on the red carpet, "Mr. Wood is smoking a borrowed H. Upmann
Coronas Major Tubo....." This is the same thing I try to do when I know I am going to be
around Marc Gasol from the Grizzlies. Have havanas on hand. Those guys are used to
having access to havanas, shame they have to toil away in the USA without em.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC4555sigweb_zps9d9ff87a.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC4555sigweb_zps9d9ff87a.jpg.html)

[Steve]

that and the fact that most of the shops long ago realized that people were back on those old lenses.
They went from 'can't hardly give em away' to 'back in stride again' overnight. I think I got in before the
second wave when the prices went up again. And I think if film was still big, the old shops could have
made it. They lose a lot of new sales to online, but service on an item like that is still important, and I mean
both kinds, camera and customer.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my first D200 so I could use the oldies, frankly the only ones I could afford.
I ended up buying 4 D200s and except for the 5th one I just bought, lol, they are ALL GONE. They might suck at night,
but that is one versatile camera. Nowadays there are at least 5 enthusiast Nikons that will mount and meter with
the old glass. But without those lenses in 24, 50, 85 and 105, I am shot. Boy do I love my old primes.

Of all the lenses I had, I think the 105 was my favorite. Beautiful depth of field for cadids.

[OLS]

I also find that to be true. Mine was the "slow" 105 f/2.5, but WOWIE ZOWIE does it create a great photo.
I am so happy its Friday, I am just going to fill up this page today. Here is a test shot from a lens that
I bought that was shipped to me, refused at delivery, shipped BACK to NY, then I asked them to RE-ship it. They asked
me if I was sure, and I said of course I am sure. Should have declined. Won't focus at infinity from the 75mm position.
This is an old Nikkor 75-300mm AF lens. And it will focus anywhere at the long end, which is the only reason I have it
to begin with, so ehh, I like it fine enough. This was shot on a D70. I had no electricity in the house, and I did not
want ANYTHING to happen to the shots I had gathered over the weekend, so I took out my 2nd oldest body for this test.

Looks like the -.07 Exposure Comp was too much....looks a bit dark.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_1161s_zpsd2fba781.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_1161s_zpsd2fba781.jpg.html)

[OLS]

My favorite thing in photography is an ultra-wide shot. In most cases this might be considered a no-no with
this lens, simply showing how wide you can go, with no thought to compositional interest or anything like that. But to
tell you the truth, I wish I had been even WIDER here. This is the landing at Oak Alley in Vacherie, LA, and this is
the area that Brad Pitt rides through on his horse in the opening of Interview with the Vampire. He rides through
his 'vast sugar cane plantation", up and over the levee, whereupon you see Oak Alley, his plantation home. As you can
see here, there is no room for a vast cane plantation, just a tiny river bank, then the levee. But Hollywood is not
interested in what isn't there, they have a story to tell, and they use any means necessary. But when I drove up
and saw the American Queen tied up here, my nipples got hard knowing I had the perfect lens for this shot.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600870_zps6a222178.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600870_zps6a222178.jpg.html)

[The Poet]

Looks like the -.07 Exposure Comp was too much....looks a bit dark.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_1161s_zpsd2fba781.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_1161s_zpsd2fba781.jpg.html)

Don't put yourself down, brother. Instead, call it "saturated". :D

[OLS]

Don't put yourself down, brother. Instead, call it "saturated". :D
I agree with you of course, because when I DO get the exposure 'right' I don't like em nearly as much, haha.

[OLS]

Night time across the river.
This is from Algiers Point where you can catch a ferry across to New Orleans. I've shot here in the daytime,
but that is a poor substitute for the night view. In this one you can see the Algiers Ferry about 3 hours or so
from going to work for the day. I know one day I am going to be beaten to death and thrown into the river for
5 dollars, but until then, man, what a wonderful way to take pictures. I highly recommend ANYONE who
loves photography to spend one night a month shooting only at night.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600394_zpsd3663838.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600394_zpsd3663838.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Not the oldest, but surely the most beautiful cemetery in NOLA, Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District Uptown.
Right next to Commander's Palace restaurant. On this trip though, I entered from the upriver end closer to the
condo I was visiting where my mother was staying for a week. Neat place, well worth a visit. One thing is for sure,
if you are at THIS CEMETERY, you are exploring New Orleans the right way. You gots to get off Bourbon Street to
get the best feel for the town.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600692_zpsc2ea0470.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600692_zpsc2ea0470.jpg.html)

[shark]

Tight little body...

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3898/14415267144_0893502fea_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nXQ1GG)

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/14229763789_863042932c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nFrg1Z)

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/14229816780_45fe41bd54_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nFrwLC)

[shark]

that and the fact that most of the shops long ago realized that people were back on those old lenses.
They went from 'can't hardly give em away' to 'back in stride again' overnight. I think I got in before the
second wave when the prices went up again. And I think if film was still big, the old shops could have
made it. They lose a lot of new sales to online, but service on an item like that is still important, and I mean
both kinds, camera and customer.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on my first D200 so I could use the oldies, frankly the only ones I could afford.
I ended up buying 4 D200s and except for the 5th one I just bought, lol, they are ALL GONE. They might suck at night,
but that is one versatile camera. Nowadays there are at least 5 enthusiast Nikons that will mount and meter with
the old glass. But without those lenses in 24, 50, 85 and 105, I am shot. Boy do I love my old primes.


I just noticed a hole in the wall place within walking distance of my house! AND, they buy used gear, so it stands to reason that they sell used gear, too...I have to go check them out.

[shark]

Not the oldest, but surely the most beautiful cemetery in NOLA, Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District Uptown.
Right next to Commander's Palace restaurant. On this trip though, I entered from the upriver end closer to the
condo I was visiting where my mother was staying for a week. Neat place, well worth a visit. One thing is for sure,
if you are at THIS CEMETERY, you are exploring New Orleans the right way. You gots to get off Bourbon Street to
get the best feel for the town.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600692_zpsc2ea0470.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600692_zpsc2ea0470.jpg.html)



The lighting on this one was perfect.

[OLS]

Wow, thanks, Ron.....I also have to thank you for shooting my favorite thing in the world, Hot Women.

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/14236368128_6b84a20e7f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nG27fU)


Late 1940's vintage Cadillac convertible

[shark]

1963 Mustang concept:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/14421686002_c833ef992a_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14429287465_82c47c93ef_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3910/14425960881_15f9c1d531_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nYLPzt)

[OLS]

Where's Mitch Ryder, Ron??

GIANT weekend of shooting for me, and on Sunday I rested. I am never out as late as I was Friday,
and I did the same thing Saturday. In olden tymes I could GO til 2-3 in the morning, but now midnight
is like "WHAT?" But I just kept having things pop up that I felt I needed to shoot. First was a tribute
show for Memphis Minnie's birthday, and here are two from that show. My friend and fellow New Orleanian
Tracey Cayolle playing with Memphis Bluesman Zeke Johnson and one of Zeke playing as a solo shot.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/CFSF-minnie181_zpsc1ed2de5.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/CFSF-minnie181_zpsc1ed2de5.jpg.html)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/CFSF-minnie156_zps2fed4542.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/CFSF-minnie156_zps2fed4542.jpg.html)

[OLS]

My friend Pete Wood likes him some Havanas.....

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/PQ-EC016xxx_zps30c642ba.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/PQ-EC016xxx_zps30c642ba.jpg.html)

[Dave128]

1963 Mustang concept:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3852/14421686002_c833ef992a_b.jpg


:tu :dr :tu

[OLS]

My buddies up in NYC doing me another solid and shipping me a used 50mm f/1.8 lens in a padded envelope!

Classy!

I will admit, I should have sensed something when shipping was 50 cents. This is the second time in
a month they have done this. When you order several lenses, you get a box. Maybe they are trying
to tell me something. I mean the USPS would never crush a LENS, right? They know its really important
to me. And besides...its a TUFFGARD 2 envelope....it makes TUFFGARD 1 look like TUFFGUARD!

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/lens_zps0c577164.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/lens_zps0c577164.jpg.html)

[Steve]

I wonder if Helen will rediscover her love of cigars... :noon




















;s

[OLS]

I am guessing not. I will never use the word in here again. It is like a silent dog whistle.
But I would not be a bit surprised. There doesn't appear to be any discernible "worse for
wear and tear"-ness in either one that came like that. But GEEZ. I like having a spare
50mm f/1.8...gives me comfort. Anytime I get a decent price waved in front of me, I seem
to pick em up so that I have one or two in case a person buying a camera needs something
with a bit more balls. But now I am down to a D70s and a D200. THERE IS a D90 there that
has a burnt flash. But I never use the flash, so the price was pretty tempting...($150).
But no sense in getting all that started again with all my spares nearly sold.

[OLS]

A few trips ago, I saw the Superdome was lit for Mardi Gras in purple, green and gold. But when I went to shoot, it was
PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness. The last trip I made, I was about to cross the river to Algiers to shoot the city from
a new angle and I saw it was alternating between 5-6 different patterns. So I whipped it across 5 lanes of traffic,
not such a bad deal at 2:30 am, and got down off I-10 to shoot it. This was my favorite pattern....

SHould be better focus, but it was hot as a bi+(h as you might expect, and my eyes were kind of salted over
for pulling the critical focus on this new (to me) Sigma 15-30mm Full frame wide angle lens.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600244sig_zps4753d49f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600244sig_zps4753d49f.jpg.html)

[OLS]

I went up to the Madison Hotel Rooftop to shoot a party last Thursday, went too early,
got too hot, took pictures for a group of people that could have cared less that I was
publicizing their fun, left accordingly. Got a shot or two up there, though.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC5272x_zps9738d264.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC5272x_zps9738d264.jpg.html)

[stearns]

Awesome pictures Brad, didn't know the superdome could do all that fancy light stuff, I've only seen it during the day and it didn't have any cool designs..

love the second picture, enough going on that if you get tired of it you can just look to a different part of the shot :tu

[OLS]

Yeah, Ben, this was Memorial Day's display...

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/nola8-D600262web_zps894c0fd9.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/nola8-D600262web_zps894c0fd9.jpg.html)

[stearns]

Very cool

[OLS]

OK...........now we're gonna take it down.

Way down. Intellectual potential at ZERO. But this will also be a test.

Sure, we ALL like to watch Gazelles F&%#. I've been a Gazellophile for more years than
I can count. But now its out of hand. Before you, behold, a gazelle sex photo.
ONLY, and I MEAN ONLY, it you want to see a Gazelle's sex organs, should you EVER CLICK THE PHOTO,
then click the RIGHT-facing arrow on the resultant page.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC9727xxxx_zps2db51ac3.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC9727xxxx_zps2db51ac3.jpg.html)

[emopunker2004]

Here's my new Glock 22. Added an 8lb connector, Extended slide stop and mag release, Ameriglo Idot Pro night sights, and a Grip Force Adapater.


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3909/14486195976_7e2b8c17b1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/o56xnA)2014-06-25_09-44-46 (https://flic.kr/p/o56xnA) by emopunker2004 (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr

[shark]

More animal pics. Sandhill crane:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5233/14555603945_6ea4b0417d_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/obegWH)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3841/14369158377_c5efeed8b3_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nTKGaX)

[shark]

Red winged blackbird:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3900/14555620095_e7b33291f0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/obemKa)

[OLS]

Man Ron, you have all our Southern birds at YOUR place! I mean we ALL like Michigan in the summer, but COME ON!
I haven't been out much, but have shot a lot indoors lately. Here is one of my friends 3 turtles I shot during a concert
at his house. Testing a 1.4 lens that is broken, so I have to focus it manually.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/turt1_zpsd454bee3.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/turt1_zpsd454bee3.jpg.html)

[GWN]

Our Canada Day celebration was yesterday. Shot the city's fireworks display and happy with the results.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/GWNJeff/DSC_0628_zps5098b92e.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/GWNJeff/media/DSC_0628_zps5098b92e.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/GWNJeff/DSC_0618_zpsbe55d7a1.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/GWNJeff/media/DSC_0618_zpsbe55d7a1.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/GWNJeff/DSC_0602_zps3087dd03.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/GWNJeff/media/DSC_0602_zps3087dd03.jpg.html)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w149/GWNJeff/DSC_0585_zps80af2c9e.jpg (http://s175.photobucket.com/user/GWNJeff/media/DSC_0585_zps80af2c9e.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Really nice.

[OLS]

4th of July in the High Country of Western North Carolina was a laid the F back time in my life.
I loafed, ate, slept and familized for 5 days. It was freaking great. SO relaxing, so cool and breezy,
I am so jealous of my sister 6 months out of the year.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/House-D7000-4th-2014137_zpsef87b8db.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/House-D7000-4th-2014137_zpsef87b8db.jpg.html)

Some dude on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Beacon Heights, flying his drone. I had to be careful not to reveal
how cool I thought it was or how jealous I was of him when it hopped up and zoomed out over the Blue Ridge.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/House-D7000-4th-2014502_zpsc8bafb68.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/House-D7000-4th-2014502_zpsc8bafb68.jpg.html)

[shark]

Poitu donkey

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5471/14459370497_1026b60537_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5571/14645340252_977310b1a4_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/14459413947_a9582a63e3_b.jpg

[azar]

Flowers
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e46/mecleor/DSC_0420_zpsa17fc9cf.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e46/mecleor/DSC_0017_zpsfa21e4c7.jpg


These are some of our yard flowers
Enjoy Mack

[azar]

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e46/mecleor/DSC_0360_zpse4621309.jpg

Waves on drift wood

[OLS]

Those cameras are a bi+ch to control, huh, Mack? IT DOES get easier.

[OLS]

4th of July again, this girl threw too hard with her candy and lost her crown, almost....

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/House-D7000-4th-2014281_zps579e46b1.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/House-D7000-4th-2014281_zps579e46b1.jpg.html)

All the way....

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/House-D7000-4th-2014282_zps2252264b.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/House-D7000-4th-2014282_zps2252264b.jpg.html)

[azar]

Those cameras are a bi+ch to control, huh, Mack? IT DOES get easier.

They do

[OLS]

Well, I guess I really DO need to stop messing with that PLACE, you know the one, the one that sends spies to
straighten us up? I ordered 4 52mm lens caps and one used 50mm f/1.8D lens on Thursday of last week. They
blew off shipping it Friday and sent me an email today telling me they:

"Shipped my order...4 Pro-Optic 52mm pinch front lens caps and one Pro Optic 52mm Pinch Front lens cap."

Ohh goody, now I can shoot in the dark with my new 52mm lens cap instead of that old USED 50mm lens.
Seriously A________a, suck it! You have no more excuses. You just suck a55 now.

[Steve]

They definitely seem to have gone down hill when they moved into the "digital" age. Back in the day they were to tops. Wow...how the might fall.

[shark]

Well, I guess I really DO need to stop messing with that PLACE, you know the one, the one that sends spies to
straighten us up? I ordered 4 52mm lens caps and one used 50mm f/1.8D lens on Thursday of last week. They
blew off shipping it Friday and sent me an email today telling me they:

"Shipped my order...4 Pro-Optic 52mm pinch front lens caps and one Pro Optic 52mm Pinch Front lens cap."

Ohh goody, now I can shoot in the dark with my new 52mm lens cap instead of that old USED 50mm lens.
Seriously A________a, suck it! You have no more excuses. You just suck a55 now.

Now you've done it! You're going to get scolded by someone from there.... :tf

[shark]

Anyways, Brad, you have a real talent for capturing people in photos, and make the photos interesting.

[azar]

Brad if you think you offended me (or others) NO NO you know as well as me I am learning! No offense taken I am learning! (I think) some pictures come out and others don't! I just posted to show I am using it! I know national geographic won't be calling anytime soon! Just having fun....
Mack

[OLS]

It was not you that I thought I offended, Mack, but its a long story.
To you I simply meant what I said, those things are SO 'complicated', you can run all day in the 'little green camera'
AUTO mode, and come out fine. But to really work a SLR or a DSLR takes a ton of practice. And when you get
good, there's just another layer of onion there left to peel. That's why I love em so much. Every time I go out
I am humbled by another stupid mistake or brain fart, slow trigger finger, the horrifying fact that it ALL looks good
in the viewfinder, and come home after shooting in manual to see I forgot to look at my light meter in the viewfinder
and all my pics are white. It just never stops. What I am glad about is that there is another Asylum member out
shooting and then posting pics. Cliche' time, you miss 100% of the great pics you see when you leave your camera
at home. Shoot the hell out of that thing, I can't wait to see what you come up with!

[Steve]

I think it was Galen Rowell who said "...F22 and be there."

[OLS]

I think it was ME that told my sister, "80% of taking good photographs is pointing your camera at good stuff." lol.
Let em flow, boys, let em flow.

I am going to be popping up a few more photos of this now-boring building since
I happened to catch it in REALLY GOOD LIGHT over the weekend. Bear with me,
I know it seems like the only thing I shoot these days.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC6155sig_zps1649c402.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC6155sig_zps1649c402.jpg.html)

I made the mistake of inviting a Flickr Friend to hang out with me and shoot....I got NOTHING done.
I was there to test a 50mm 1.4, and I didn't get ONE single night shot in the quarter. This woman
talked about background extra work in movies all night, LONG stories. I would tell her "Look, I am
headed across the river, you can pack up and come with me or stay here by yourself in Gretna by
the river where they dispose of bodies. (lol) But even when she pulled it out and got moving,
it was 10 minutes chatting by my car window with it RUNNING, and I'm like, "Let's GO, motherfu(&er"
Never again. I am a LONE WOLF.

She kept saying, "the quarter is really dangerous right now, you HEARD about the shootings right?" I had.
But I told her that I did not become the "world-famous photographer" (haha) I am today by giving a 5hi+
if I get my a55 shot while shooting pics or not. 12 hour frickin round trip to listen to her run her mouth all night
and drag a55. Pfft. But she was nice, and had great +i+s, so I just played nice. I had invited her after all.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Nola-JL-14-D600-167webb_zpsaf569937.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Nola-JL-14-D600-167webb_zpsaf569937.jpg.html)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC6055websml_zpsc300cd5b.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC6055websml_zpsc300cd5b.jpg.html)

I think this is the photo that tells you why I just shut up and did my thing and gave her a break.
But still, she is using her phone as a mirror and primping. Didn't have the heart to tell her that
this was not an internet date, we were just there to shoot the 5hi+ out of some pics, and if she
wanted to pose nude with the city in the BG, I would certainly shoot it. It was actually a much more
successful internet date than it was a shoot, lol.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC6060websml_zpse3e18e3c.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC6060websml_zpse3e18e3c.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Anyways, Brad, you have a real talent for capturing people in photos, and make the photos interesting.
Thanks, Ron. Its a never-ending train of highs and lows, screw-ups and masterpieces, lol.

[mmblz]

Simon pearce is having a photo contest ... Vote for my entry if you want (under my wife's name)

http://woobox.com/9mp4on/vote/for/4298974?fb_action_ids=10202924132798342&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B822081171143225%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.comments%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

[OLS]

I think it was Galen Rowell who said "...F22 and be there."

And it was ME who said "F35 ain't never gonna fly."

[OLS]

Speaking of that shoot....
I am sure you are bored stiff of that view.
Can we get the ti+s back into the scene, please?

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC5959-overcurve_zps33476aed.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC5959-overcurve_zps33476aed.jpg.html)

[shade]

Simon pearce is having a photo contest ... Vote for my entry if you want (under my wife's name)

http://woobox.com/9mp4on/vote/for/4298974?fb_action_ids=10202924132798342&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B822081171143225%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.comments%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D


Nice shot.

[OLS]

I just posted this shot in the non-retailer sales forum as a photographic print for sale (http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1974665#post1974665),
but you guys get to look at it fer free. PROBABLY going to try and paint out that jet contrail near
the moon.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC6003_zps58d9fa6b.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC6003_zps58d9fa6b.jpg.html)

[jkim05]

I think it was Galen Rowell who said "...F22 and be there."

I think you mean f/8 and be there, which is a quote attributed to Weegee, but I think there is a Rowell variation out there.

[Steve]

I think you mean f/8 and be there, which is a quote attributed to Weegee, but I think there is a Rowell variation out there.

Could be, It's been a while ;)

[dman4505]

A few I took at the Defenders of Freedom Air Show at Offutt Air Force Base Bellevue, NE

1.) Past and Present: P-38 Lightning and F-22 Raptor

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/IMG_0466_zps24823ff9.jpg (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/dman4505/media/IMG_0466_zps24823ff9.jpg.html)

2.) F-22 with weapons bay open

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/IMG_0404_zps4c09e8d1.jpg (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/dman4505/media/IMG_0404_zps4c09e8d1.jpg.html)

3.) The stars of the show: U.S. Navy Blue Angels

http://i329.photobucket.com/albums/l398/dman4505/IMG_0678_zps592e90f5.jpg (http://s329.photobucket.com/user/dman4505/media/IMG_0678_zps592e90f5.jpg.html)

[OLS]

Love plane pics.

[nutcracker]

So I snapped this one with a smartphone. Not even close to being "photography". I just thought the cigar looked pretty!
Bolivar Liberator 2013 (LCDH release).

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag202/neil_berrington/boli2_zps24ccf1f7.jpg (http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/neil_berrington/media/boli2_zps24ccf1f7.jpg.html)

[Steve]

I'm not sure that I would call it "true" photography, but I have been having a blast with my trail camera. I will also say it beats the heck out of sitting in a blind for day's at a time waiting for something to come by while getting eaten up by bugs :ss

[jpb437]

That F-22 is a mean plane. It is one of my favorites by far! Nice shot.

[dman4505]

That F-22 is a mean plane. It is one of my favorites by far! Nice shot.

Thanks
Always love the air shows

Don

[OLS]

My sister's tree in NC.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/House-D7000-4th-2014010x_zpsd3332b1c.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/House-D7000-4th-2014010x_zpsd3332b1c.jpg.html)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3867/14841124343_184f9d91d1_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oBsDdc)

Bridge over the Ohio River.

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5570/14841006523_4236bdee81_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oBs3bP)

[OLS]

I CERTAINLY DON'T have a fetish for the equine, but after almost a dozen trips to NOLA for shooting, I had YET
to produce a decent horse and buggy or mule and buggy shot. So I KILLED it and me this past weekend, went
to Nashville for a few hours of shooting, "to keep me from driving to New Orleans".....the trip is only half as far.
Instead I did both. Ugh. Nashville and back, 6 hours, plus another three shooting. New Orleans and back?
12 hours, plus 4 hours shooting. So yeah, I am a dumba55.

Nonetheless, enjoy the white mule.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC7846-web_zps37ff8558.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC7846-web_zps37ff8558.jpg.html)

[357]

Clearly you're mistaken Brad. That's a unicorn.

[OLS]

Must be a baby.

[OLS]

Going to post this shot despite it's drawbacks....I was trying to preserve the sun and flare in it, and it didn't turn out
so well. This car is known to me from the area, I see it several times a year parked SOMEWHERE in the French Quarter,
but on this day, it was parked WAY down to the back of the Quarter off Rampart Street, owing to a "Satchmo-Fest"
Happening down by the river where it is usually parked. Guess he didn't want it scratched or barfed on or stolen.
I have others I like more, but this one is cool.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Nola10-700-020-web_zpsb3782153.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Nola10-700-020-web_zpsb3782153.jpg.html)

[nutcracker]

Provencher Bridge Winnipeg. Museum of Human Rights behind. (This is the view form Promenade Bistro - worth a visit). 2 minutes earlier the pylons were all glowing gold - I missed it.

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag202/neil_berrington/provencherbridge_zps1553b9d3.jpg (http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/neil_berrington/media/provencherbridge_zps1553b9d3.jpg.html)

[nutcracker]

and form the other bank...

http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag202/neil_berrington/provnecherbridge2_zps03872f55.jpg (http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/neil_berrington/media/provnecherbridge2_zps03872f55.jpg.html)

[OLS]

It really is usually a matter of minutes or seconds, Neil, getting the right light. Only bothers me when I miss it.
I think of the things I did before that that were a waste of time and scold myself. Plus its HARD to be in
place for the best light. Especially in the morning. But that's how you become better at taking photos, you make
ALL these mistakes and you hope to only make each one once. Well, except for me. I prefer to make them all
half a dozen times.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/_DSC7834-web_zps71e1ad01.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/_DSC7834-web_zps71e1ad01.jpg.html)

[shark]

B-17 that just happened to fly over.


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/14690900499_6067bde381_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oobGTV)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/14877205802_c8b5fd9545_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oEDyYj)

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5555/14690911379_84cb92c014_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oobL8v)

[dman4505]

Going to post this shot despite it's drawbacks....I was trying to preserve the sun and flare in it, and it didn't turn out
so well. This car is known to me from the area, I see it several times a year parked SOMEWHERE in the French Quarter,
but on this day, it was parked WAY down to the back of the Quarter off Rampart Street, owing to a "Satchmo-Fest"
Happening down by the river where it is usually parked. Guess he didn't want it scratched or barfed on or stolen.
I have others I like more, but this one is cool.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Nola10-700-020-web_zpsb3782153.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Nola10-700-020-web_zpsb3782153.jpg.html)

Brad

I like this shot, to me you caught the sun just about right. My only critique would be the left side of the shot is a little dark but overall it's a good pic.
But what do I know I'm an amateur and my tastes differ from yours.

Don

[OLS]

Its more just a sad twist of fate when snap-shooting into the sun. I was just walking
around and happened upon it....Without a reflector (or fill flash I guess) there is no real way
to GET this shot in perfect exposure, and manipulation in Photoshop only goes so far when you
try to recover information in a dark area. I guess I should have used the low-powered burst of
flash, but I really don't use it much. Once I re-exposed the shot for the CAR and not the sun disc,
it was a little better.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Nola10-700-022-web_zps92cfc285.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Nola10-700-022-web_zps92cfc285.jpg.html)

[cricky101]

Here are a couple recent ones I pulled off my camera. First is my daughter from July 4, 2014. The other is from the same day - just a shot of some grasses planted along the back of our house that I liked. Both were shot with a cheap gray market Canon f1.8 50mm prime lens.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/14558187106_032585916d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/obsvPY)mack_grass (https://flic.kr/p/obsvPY) by cricky101 (https://www.flickr.com/people/53093074@N02/), on Flickr



https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5478/14577949881_70d5206ec5.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/odcNBt)grass (https://flic.kr/p/odcNBt) by cricky101 (https://www.flickr.com/people/53093074@N02/), on Flickr

[OLS]

Love those lenses. SO MUCH to give, asks so little

[stearns]

Got home from vacation last night, I have 2766 pictures to sift through (taken between two people). I'll post some up when I find the time to go through those :tu

[coffeemonkey]

Here are a couple recent ones I pulled off my camera. First is my daughter from July 4, 2014. The other is from the same day - just a shot of some grasses planted along the back of our house that I liked. Both were shot with a cheap gray market Canon f1.8 50mm prime lens.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/14558187106_032585916d.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/obsvPY)mack_grass (https://flic.kr/p/obsvPY) by cricky101 (https://www.flickr.com/people/53093074@N02/), on Flickr



https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5478/14577949881_70d5206ec5.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/odcNBt)grass (https://flic.kr/p/odcNBt) by cricky101 (https://www.flickr.com/people/53093074@N02/), on Flickr

The one of your daughter is great! The emphasis (rule of thirds is helping you here) is on the main subject and there isn't any clutter in the background, it is well exposed and focused. Good photos are made with these simple rules, nice work.

[cricky101]

The one of your daughter is great! The emphasis (rule of thirds is helping you here) is on the main subject and there isn't any clutter in the background, it is well exposed and focused. Good photos are made with these simple rules, nice work.

Thanks! It was a great overcast day for outdoor photos. I have to admit that the framing in the open area of the tree branches in the background was a happy accident, but I'll take credit for it anyway :D

[0002S]

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/Peacock1_zps63387ca4.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/DevilsEar1_zps2446eba3.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/DevilsEye1_zpsaa9c0e68.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/DevilsEar4_zps4657dd5e.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/Genewatercolumn_zpsfb76f35b.jpg

[0002S]

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/HermitCrab1_zps34f0661d.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/ShoppingCart1_zps0109add3.jpg

[shark]

It's a crying shame to see how far litter and junk go, and where it ends up. And yet, it still becomes home to marine life just the same.

[0002S]

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/DuaneFlag_zpsd57cd5f8.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/Bibblionfish_zps72c7abf0.jpg

http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff339/000002s/Diving%20Photos/SnoopSpiegleGrove_zpsd244263d.jpg

[shark]

Beautiful shots!

[shark]

Great Blue Heron that amazingly let me get fairly close:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/15014232966_a09a2a0382_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oSKSnC)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3863/15036855682_a950974a4b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oUKPjs)

[shark]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oUMDug]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/15037212835_5a045c3204_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3925/14850478589_77065f2280_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oChzUi)

[OLS]

70-210?
Amazing shots, Ron...You made the most of the sitting and the flying away.

[shark]

Yep, getting better at making sure the shutter speed is up there, and getting zoomed and focused as quickly as possible.

[hotreds]

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv7478%3Dot%3E 2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3A9%3A8623%3 Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv7583%3Dot%3E 2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3A%3A45523%3 Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv763%3C%3Dot% 3E2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3A%3A45423 %3Aot1lsi

[hotreds]

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv7676%3Dot%3E 2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3B29%3B523%3 Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv%3B43%3A%3Do t%3E2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3B29%3B7 23%3Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv873%3B%3Dot% 3E2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3B2%3A2423 %3Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv6%3B9%3B%3Do t%3E2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3B2%3A37 23%3Aot1lsi

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv6%3B5%3Enu%3 D3292%3E%3B78%3E732%3EWSNRCG%3D3%3A4299%3A9%3A332% 3Bnu0mrj

[357]

Hugh, the Grand Canyon is not a tool used for ridding yourself of your better half. :r

[hotreds]

She managed to climb back up!

[357]

She managed to climb back up!

That's good news. I hope you haven't filed the insurance claim already. :D

Great pictures BTW.

[hotreds]

Actually, I'm lucky she managed to get back up!

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv9%3C%3A5%3Do t%3E2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3A9%3A9% 3A23%3Aot1lsi

[OLS]

Picking up my jaw off the floor. AMAZING work, Hugh, much more advanced than your usual output.
New camera maybe??

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv7676%3Dot%3E 2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B338%3B29%3B523%3 Aot1lsi

[OLS]

Man these are great shots out west, Hugh and Mama. Glad to see you guys are out relaxatin'.

HEY kids, down to my last for sale DSLR, a D70s with a 50mm f/1.8D on the front.
See my WTS thread on Nikon Cameras. I'd love to get this old but capable camera into someone's hands.

[CigarGuy88]

Some of my favorite shots from a couple months ago at one of the oldest races in the country.
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_7602_zps8e8d69c8.jpg
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_7569_zps25e8174a.jpg
This girl was on absolute fire all weekend winning all 3 of the women's pro races.

[CigarGuy88]

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_7215_zps85b47d3d.jpg
The winning break of 2 riders at the pro race in my hometown. On the last lap the guy on the front attacked up the small climb and distanced the rider behind who was a far better sprinter. He has continued on to have by far the best season of his career.

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_8976_zpscc7743f5.jpg
http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_9041_zpsab463dd8.jpg

These two pictures are probably my favorite of the thousands and thousands of pictures I took over the weekend. I may be a little bias being the rider in this picture is on my team but everything seemed to come together especially for the last picture. This was a hundred feet or so after the final sprint where he finished comfortably in the top 10 after losing 15 places in the last half lap due to some questionable riding by one rider from another team

[OLS]

I like this one best because of the wicked color shift in the background on that railing or fence or whatever it is.
It gives the picture even more of a '3D effect' in a loose sense....like it might be designed to be viewed in 3D.

What kind of camera, lens setup did you end up going with?

These two pictures are probably my favorite of the thousands and thousands of pictures I took over the weekend.

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh357/CigarGuy88/DSC_8976_zpscc7743f5.jpg

[CigarGuy88]

Used a D7000 with a 50mm 1.8 lens.I was playing around with settings the night before shooting f/11 at a 1/60th shutter speed and it seemed to work out. That's what I ended up doing here basically panning the camera at the same speed as the riders which gave a nice even blur effect to the background while freezing the subject. Timing was a b*tch tho

[hotreds]

Gotta love blur!

http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3465%3Dot%3E 2383%3D%3C69%3D823%3DXROQDF%3E2%3B33%3B%3A%3B58%3A 23%3Aot1lsi

[OLS]

Used a D7000 with a 50mm 1.8 lens.I was playing around with settings
the night before shooting f/11 at a 1/60th shutter speed and it seemed to work out. That's what I ended
up doing here basically panning the camera at the same speed as the riders which gave a nice even blur
effect to the background while freezing the subject. Timing was a b*tch tho

Timing ought to be less of a ***** if you get that shutter speed up around 250.
You still have to pan, but you get a different shot. But at 60, if that's the only
spot you get that wicked color band, ehh, trade-offs abound. Plus I like that thin
line between the non-moving part of your subject being in focus, and the legs are
shown in a blur....nice combo.
I am glad you got a D7000. A D90 is a great camera, but for your usage plan,
the D7000 is better all around, and only about $150 more used.

[OLS]

I think I out-thunk myself, which ain't hard given my capacity. I bought my nephew a 75 dollar Olympus E-330 a few years back,
not the least bit capable for the kind of shooting that I DO, but for him, it suits his needs and his college kid need to be different.
Or hip, or to go against the grain. But the lenses for it are fairly slow, and so I bought a Nippon Kogaku 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor S lens.
I then picked up an adapter ring for it to mount to his Olympus. But in the end, I might have been thinking a little too Nikon.

The Olympus DSLRs are created to a "Four Thirds" system spec, a small sensor even compared to a APS-C sensor.
So while on a Nikon, it would throw a massive circle of light onto the sensor in Full frame, and a little spillover on a crop
sensor, on a 4/3 spec sensor, there is going to be fully half of that big glass light hitting interior parts and NOT the sensor.
I imagine it will perform better in low light than the 4/3 system lenses, and NEVER, EVER vignette, lol, but I don't think I turned
him into a cavern shooter in one fell swoop or anything. But he will enjoy the precision, the bokeh, the reduced DOF zone,
and whatever other benefits he gets. And it was free to him, so if he complains, I'll smack him.

[OLS]

The more I think about it, though, the sweetest spot on the lens is going to be feeding that sensor photons,
so it won't be bad at all. Wish the RINGS had come with the cameras, but the rings were new, the cameras used.

[shark]

Another festival with some live music this weekend, but the hot weather and large crowds made it a PITA to be there. I did see Night Ranger last night, but they were strict about the no professional type camera policy. Too bad, because I was right in front of the stage... In any case, these youngsters did put on a great show:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5579/15084745931_6abae1646c_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oYZgqp)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3877/14901059919_6ac003161f_b.jpg

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3902/14901175487_c596ed718b_b.jpg

[OLS]

Got to meet a nice gentleman this morning, Roy Harper, who was playing old Jimmie Rodgers type tunes.
And he was a true singing brakeman, besides. Wonderfully smooth and talented. 50 years in music and railroading.
Honey-smooth voice of a gracious, Tennessee gentleman. Couldn't have been more pleased by the 15 minutes
I spent listening to him. Shot a few in tough light, but it came out OK, enough to please me. He IS yodeling here
for a typical Jimmie Rodgers chorus, by the way. He is not kissing at someone.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/-D700-057-wash-FB_zpsc5d3fbe1.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/-D700-057-wash-FB_zpsc5d3fbe1.jpg.html)

[OLS]

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/096sig-FB_zpsdf02232e.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/096sig-FB_zpsdf02232e.jpg.html)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/-D700-056-FB_zpsc36f9409.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/-D700-056-FB_zpsc36f9409.jpg.html)

[shark]

Hats Off to Roy Harper! Wasn't that a Led Zeppelin song? :banger

[shark]

And since were blurring things:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5578/14901196548_4a6684baa2_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oGLwzS)

[OLS]

I am a Nikon person, but I have been known to buy almost anything that makes an image electronically
and I can buy for a low enough price. I bought my nephew an Olympus E-330 which is a pretty old,
low-spec'ed model from the early 2000s. I wanted to upgrade him to something at least twice as capable
in low light. I picked up a cheap Olympus E-510, which niftily includes in-body image stabilization as an
even larger upgrade to his lower light capabilities. And you'd be pleasantly surprised at the image quality
out of ANY Olympus digital SLR. They create a very pleasing image. blablabla.

Out of the corner of my mind crept a thought. I spotted a Nikkor P 50mm f/1.4 lens for $33 that was pre-AI and
I can't use it on any of my good bodies. Although I do have a D40 that it will not damage in mounting.
But I picked up an adapter ring to mount any Nikkor F-mount lens to a Olympus Four Thirds body. Not Micro,
but the original 4/3 spec. This combination of upgraded model, in body IS, and this blazing fast lens is
really an upgrade! I got carried away in my morning walk in pushing the depth of field to ridiculous limits, but
it was still a little overcast and I got away with f/1.4. Its dreamy there, but the separation is good and
for portraits I am sure it is dazzling. I did not try to stop it down much on this trip because there were
flowers about, but I am sure it is biting. Anyway, blablabla, here will be a series of pics from that walk.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010535w_zpsf105b98e.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010535w_zpsf105b98e.jpg.html)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010281w_zpsef2625fe.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010281w_zpsef2625fe.jpg.html)

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010414w_zpsda38d53f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Olympus%20-%20Nikkor%20P%2050mm%201-4/P1010414w_zpsda38d53f.jpg.html)

[pegger]

Taken a couple of weeks ago in Chicago..... I usually use a Nikon D600, picked up a little Sony a5000 for this trip......

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/14824177127_6cbc41b18c_b.jpg

[pegger]

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7305/11028784835_4c3926e165_c.jpg

[OLS]

Nice....

[OLS]

Sorry to mess up the vibe of the page with my glaring "this image no longer exists...."
I Uploaded two folders, on hi-res and one low, and deleted the wrong
one, I guess. Ehh who cares, tomorrow it will be a new page to look at.

Here I am testing out that self-same mix and match Camerastein, this time a little different.
I bought the nephew a Olympus E-510 and myself a E-420. I don't GET stuff for people unless
I also get something for me. Like I NEED anything, sheesh. But I really don't OWN any
cameras, I am just using them all prior to sale, haha. Half-funny, half-true. I just mean that
sooner or later, that Olympus is gonna get sold. Maybe.

But I put the adapter on it and snapped on a Series E Nikon 50mm f/1.8. And it worked
REALLY well, owing to the small size of the camera. Its a lethal combination of small and heavy.
(I think the adapter is what makes it feel heavy, neither the camera or lens really ARE.
The adapter is solid stainless steel. And the lil 5hi+ is so fast. Its such a peppy little camera,
and its not too bad an imager.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/P9020157WEB_zps40636fc6.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/P9020157WEB_zps40636fc6.jpg.html)


You can see how small the thing is, that chapstick ain't no size queen.
Its TOO small to hold comfortably for ME, a strap is what I need, but a person with
small hands would love this model. The E-510 is much more normally sized and shaped.
Both are great little cameras. I was surprised when my nephew basically ignored a free
Nikon D50 and a couple of lenses in order to keep on using his Olympus. And his E-330s
are NOT great models at all for the way kids shoot today. blabla.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/Oly420b_zps93a7e226.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/Oly420b_zps93a7e226.jpg.html)

[shark]

Back in the saddle again! I like those really old cars:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/15160194725_c29d9a717a_b.jpg

[shark]

Stanley Steamer. A steam powered car, being driven no less. How cool is that?

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5578/15159793412_7456c2f0de_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/p6BUqu)

[shark]

Even people dressed for the time period:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/14973585037_390a280045_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oPaxag)

[shark]

How many people still know the old hand/arm signals for right turn, left turn, and slow down/stop? He does!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5557/15137121646_b565f83374_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/p4BGTY)

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/14973470160_804cb083b9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oP9X1C)

[shark]

One of my favorites. I really like Auburns, they had unique styling unlike any others from the time, especially the boat-tailed speedsters:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/14973387909_cc58624124_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oP9wyv)

[shark]

Now this looks like fun! Some old Ford hot rod:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3921/15157130731_73573c1d75_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/p6ofUc)

[shark]

Another of my favorites. A LaSalle, which was made by Cadillac. They were a lower priced car than the flagship Caddies:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3893/15137032176_46f365b7bf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/p4Bfio)

[cricky101]

Some storms last week rolling in over Lake Michigan

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5570/15150067222_e8027b3be1_z.jpg

[OLS]

WOW, you guys are on FIY-AH!

This is Jimbo Mathus last night at The Hi-Tone in Memphis, TN.
If you ever liked the Squirrel Nut Zippers, this is the man that formed them.
He was lead guitar and vocals at times. Now there is a distinctively more
catfishy bent to his music, and man can he play. You might have a chance
to see him soon, in fact I know he is in Birmingham next weekend. Good guy,
take the time to talk with him if you can.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/PQ-Jimkbo-700-109_zps47eae39e.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/PQ-Jimkbo-700-109_zps47eae39e.jpg.html)

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3835/14986116027_7acfb972b6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/oQgLbP)

[shark]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5552/14986097097_0118b6a722_b.jpg

[hotreds]

The best!

[shark]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3854/14986116299_bf134c575d_b.jpg

[nutcracker]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3854/14986116299_bf134c575d_b.jpg

A little scary to see that sod that close. (Even at an airshow)

[OLS]

COOL MIG shot, Ron!

Here is another one from the Jimbo Mathus show this past weekend, this time after one of his two special guests
came up. I understand there are very few of you who know or care much about the current state of Delta Blues
and Mississippi Music in general, that's Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi AllStars playing with Jimbo, his brother
Luther was supposed to come by as well but his wife stepped in and put an end to his Saturday Night of music. NMAs
had just played a free show at the Band Shell in town, and I guess she had plans for his a55 that did not involve another
late night playing. I know it's soft, but it was a throwaway shot that I felt like not throwing away.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/PQ-Jimkbo-700-362_zps27972974.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/PQ-Jimkbo-700-362_zps27972974.jpg.html)

[OLS]

And one more with just Jimbo Mathus.......

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/PQ-Jimkbo-700-233_zps5bf21f7a.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/PQ-Jimkbo-700-233_zps5bf21f7a.jpg.html)

[jeepster]

I mostly photograph my personal vehicle, and vehicles of my friends.

My friends E36 325i
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse350159b.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse350159b.jpg.html)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps90ff31b6.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps90ff31b6.jpg.html)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps62c3805f.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps62c3805f.jpg.html)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps23836969.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps23836969.jpg.html)

My personal vehicle:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps3c13ca9f.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps3c13ca9f.jpg.html)
[URL=http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps9ca08c46.jpg.html]

[stearns]

My friends E36 325i
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff177/i_maperson/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse350159b.jpg (http://s243.photobucket.com/user/i_maperson/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpse350159b.jpg.html)

Love this one :tu

[OLS]

Had to FAKE this one, I am sorry to do this to you guys, the SHOT is real, but I got kicked off this spot
SECONDS before the moon rose. I got here a good 45 minutes before moonrise, shot a lot of waiting
around shots, then I could sense that the moon was hiding behind some atmospheric 'noise' on the horizon.
Then some buttwipes came up and asked me if I had permission from the landowner to be there, and I told
them plainly "nope". I had been packing up before they got there, but dragging a55 a little waiting for the moon.
Once they came down, I moved a little faster and was packed fully before they got to me. I walked up the bank
to my car, NO MOON visible, and I 5hit you not, as I am driving AWAY, I see the moon in my rearview mirror.
This is exactly how it looked, I had to fake (badly) the reflections on the river. I was going to turn around and
shoot it, but the buttwipes had told me that they had texted the landowner to say there was a strange vehicle
behind the wire in his field. So I thought "F it, I can fake that easy enough." But the reflections were VERY
difficult to do BADLY. I can't imagine how hard it would be to do it RIGHT. I just did not need the drama of
an Arkansas farmer with an attractive nuisance property to deal with, lecturing me or shooting me.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/longshotnight-moon-web_zps938db9e4.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/longshotnight-moon-web_zps938db9e4.jpg.html)

[OLS]

I went to my other spot last night to do a little photography coaching
for the guy that bought my last Nikon D200. So I will share those in
th days to come, but here are a few more from the previous night, when
the moon was still gloriously full.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_9444-S-W_zpsdc56bf5f.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_9444-S-W_zpsdc56bf5f.jpg.html)

The next shot is a bit of a pre-cursor to last night's shooting, something of a deja vu
for me, but the night I got this shot, I was strictly getting the heck out of dodge for
the evening, and I only stopped here because it was mostly on the way.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b611/CameraTestsPage/DSC_9449-S-W_zpscbafd4d0.jpg (http://s1294.photobucket.com/user/CameraTestsPage/media/DSC_9449-S-W_zpscbafd4d0.jpg.html)

[shark]

Next time that happens, take some photos of the guys in question. THAT'LL teach 'em!!!