365.334 ghostwalker 2

Well, it looks like the light colored pants worked better for this than black pants did (see 365.224), so I guess I’ll have to try again, maybe Friday, or maybe whatever day I decide to wear the silver pants. Hopefully there will be some nice clouds being blown across the sky while the trees remain relatively still… the wind was pretty wild this morning.

D7000. Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 ai, with a .6ND filter attached. ISO100, 30 seconds, f/8. About 15 minutes of slider play, after which I undid most of it, and went with a fairly simple 2 or 3 minute job.

The Tokina AT-X 35-200mm f/3.5-4.5, a review

Introduction

In early March, 2012, I pushed away from the desk to go make dinner, bumped the tripod, and knocked the D7000 and reverse-mounted Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 E-Series face first into the wooden apartment floor.

This fall had two effects: 1) it loosened a wire or something in the MD-D11 battery grip such that the connection between the grip and camera is now intermittent at best, thus rendering it largely useless, and ; 2) it broke the focus mechanism on the E-Series, leaving me without a telephoto solution (but providing me with the brilliant 75-150mm Zomb-E).

I intended to buy another 75-150—and I still might, because I love that lens—but decided instead to go for something with a  bit more reach.

Continue reading “The Tokina AT-X 35-200mm f/3.5-4.5, a review”

365.331 Icarus

I’m tired today, and didn’t really want to shoot: work this morning, apartment hunting on the interwebs this afternoon, and quite a bit of random thoughts rushing through my head. So I’ll keep this short.

This looks excruciatingly digital to me, and I want to find some way of warming up my pictures without making them look trashy or over processed. <–something to work on.

Any ideas? Or is it just me?

D7000. Nikon 75-150mm Zomb-E Series, on 100mm extension. ISO800, 1/30th (AP mode), f/8, -1EV. About 3 minutes of slider play in Aperture to tighten up the white balance and give it a bit more of a soaring feel.

365.330 ohne titel

Happy Thanksgiving US, and Happy justanotherthursday to everyone else!

I spent much of the day with Momma, and ate too much yummy comfort foods, so I’ll be skipping dinner tonight.

Well, maybe just a piece of pecan pie: I can’t resist that stuff.

Since I’ll be skipping dinner, I could spend that time trying to make a better picture, but I’m a bit weary and like the light in this one.

This was a test shot to get an exposure value for an 11-shot panorama of this feather that stitched beautifully, but didn’t meet even my limited standards for sharing. It’s not a great shot, but the light quality is pleasing to me: an LED flashlight aimed down the shaft of the feather, and a mini maglite bounced off of a little round chrome thing I found some weeks ago. I love light that bounces off of shiny metals.

D7000. Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 (Cosina). ISO100, 1/3 second (AP mode), f/16, -1EV. Some cloning out of dust and stray feather bits in Aperture.

365.329 just in time

The leaves have finally really put on a show here in North Texas, and just in time for the major US autumnal holiday: Thanksgiving, with its historic images of pilgrims and turkeys and red/gold/brown leaves.

As I was leaving work and heading out to the car, I happened to look up just in time see some really fabulous light, filtering through the leaves. I didn’t manage to capture it, but it was there, and maybe there’s a hint of it here. I really needed the 50mm or the Zomb-E or even the Sigma 30 to get the light properly: the 24 is a bit too wide and the leaves were a bit too high to capture properly.

And I left out of the parking lot just in time to hit the heavy-ass holiday traffic, and it took over an hour to get home: hooray!

Happy (early) Thanksgiving, if you celebrate, and Happy Wednesday to everyone else!

D7000. Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 ai. ISO200, 1/160th (APmode), f/8, -1EV. About 5 minutes of processing in Aperture, including a crop-down by close to half, and the composition is still pretty meh.