West End Photowalk & Scavenger Hunt

Yesterday morning found me, once again, wandering around Downtown Dallas, alone, ostensibly as part of a Photowalk: this time a Scavenger Hunt with the North Texas Photography Explorers MeetUp Group.

Good news: I didn’t have a full out panic attack and start frantically texting an old friend.

Bad news: I had a constant, general, and rather intense level of trepidation. It wasn’t bad enough to start texting old friends, but it did prevent me enjoying myself or really taking time to compose, focus, frame, and capture many of the things that I saw.

I suppose it’s a win that I didn’t have an all out attack, but I hoped to feel more in control of my emotional state, and even now, 24 hours after I arrived home from the walk, I’m still shaking internally and finding it excruciatingly difficult to even step outside.

I also didn’t really make any pictures that I’m happy with.

I put this down partly to the anxiety, and partly to my choice of gear: I knew I was going to want to shoot some macro close focus stuff, and initially planned to take along the Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 with its reversing set-up and swap between that and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, my favorite walkaround lens.

Alas, my step-down rings are stuck together in such a way as to prevent mounting the reversing ring, and I’ll likely need to invest in a filter wrench (or buy another set of step-down or step-up rings, or both) to get things operational again.

I then thought about carrying my bag, and bringing the Zomb-E, but I long ago decided to eschew carrying the bag, and try to be as nimble as possible. I suppose I could’ve carried the Zomb-E in a pocket or something, but that would’ve led to too much ‘is-that-a-1970s-zoom-lens-in-your-pocket-or-are-you-just-a-pervert’ potential for me to handle.

I thought about rocking the Zomb-E alone, and need to do that again in the future, but I knew I wanted flat focal planes and a wider angle.

I had just about decided to say “screw it” and just go with the Sigma, when my eyes fell upon the Tokina AT-X 35-200 f/3.5-4.5. Could it be the solution to my problems? It’s relatively fast, relatively wide (a mere 5mm narrower than the Sigma), and has a close focus function built in for those moments when macro-ish seems like fun.

So how did it fare? Well, I’m working on a review of the Tokina—as there are very few on the interwebs—but it’s only about half-done at present, so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. (Note: I had some focusing issues with the Tokina. I’m not sure if it was me or the lens or the D7000, but I saw the green dot, I fired, and I got some back-focusing in the 2-3 foot range.)

The Scavenger Hunt item list is as follows:

  1. Wooden
  2. Worn, Broken or Rusty
  3. This Makes Me Hungry
  4. Old & New
  5. Shadows
  6. Curved, Curves, Twisted, or Circular
  7. Window(s)
  8. Motion
  9. Alternate Exit or Entrance
  10. Working On It

How did I do?

Everything was shot with the D7000 and Tokina 35-200 f/3.5-4.5, ISO100, Aperture Priority mode, mostly wide open, and at a rather wide variety of focal lengths.

365.311 O&N

from the West End Photowalk and Scavenger Hunt with the North Texas Photography Explorers MeetUp Group.

I’ll have a longer discussion of today’s adventure in downtown Dallas—including a long-overdue review of the Tokina AT-X 35-200 f/3.5-4.5—later tonight (or more likely tomorrow sometime), for now, though, I’ll keep it short.

Should you find yourself wandering south-east-ish on Akard, between Munger & Ross, you might notice a long line of fancy-looking streetlights outside the Fairmont Hotel.

And should you, like me, be studiously avoiding looking anyone in the eye and happen to look up at a certain streetlight, you might notice something peculiar.

D7000. Tokina AT-X 35-200mm f/3.5-4.5, at 35mm. ISO100, 1/1600th (AP mode), f/3.5, -1EV. A slight crop and roughly 1 minute of slider play in Aperture.

365.310 almost

Well, I think I’ve reached the limits of what my macro gear can accomplish in the world of bug photography, and I’ve definitely hit a point where my fitness level has become an additional impediment.

I could’ve stopped down to f/8 and gotten a slightly sharper eye. In fact, I did stop down about 15 shots later, and got a slightly sharper eye, but there was an antenna crossing this fellow’s eye. I believe—but am not 100% positive—that the Kiron-made Vivitar from maybe 1980* can’t quite hold up to a proper macro lens on modern digital sensors.

This could merely be my GAS rearing its head, but I’m pretty sure this is it.

However, I am positive that I need to do some strength training. My arms are worn out from holding up the camera and this lens for the 20 or so minutes that I shot this guy. <—-disgusting

Anyway.

So this is almost sharp, and I’m almost fit enough to pull off a half hour of serious bug stalking, and I’m almost able to concentrate on composition whilst stooping over, rocking -back and forth- up and down to focus on a bug that stayed mostly still, even when the front of the lens was a mere 2″ from him.

Hence: almost.

D7000. Vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5 Series 1 (Kiron), in Macro mode. ISO400, 1/4000th, f/3.5, -1EV. About 5 minutes of slider play to bring out some color and detail, rotated 180 degrees, and cropped to 3×4 to remove a large expanse of nothing on the right edge.

*My 70-210 Series 1 has a serial number of 22059482. Its design matches exactly the versions made by Kiron, and is specific to the one and only version 1 of this lens. However, given that there are only 52 weeks in a year, this serial number does not conform to the pattern I’ve seen, so I wonder if it’s maybe a counterfeit model or something.

365.309 late bloomer

I picked up a really tasty loaf of bread in Arkansas, and I’ve been having a couple of pieces of toast for an afternoon snack this week.

I haven’t eaten much bread of late, and I think the sudden addition of these sorts of carbs to my diet has had an effect on my mood, creative thinking, ability to communicate, and a host of other issues.

This explains, partly (I think), my inability to come up with interesting titles the past couple of days, and also why I didn’t think to shoot the Halloween 365 picture with the Zomb-E lens… Ich bin ein dummkopf.

It could also be the return to work and usual life.

It could be a combination of both.

It could also be the continued unspecified craving that continues to linger, though far less intensely than previous days.

Bad news: I don’t think I’ll be able to keep myself from enjoying the yummy toast again tomorrow.

Good news: there’s only enough left for one more snack.

What has this to do with today’s picture? I’m not sure.

D7000. Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 Zomb-E Series. ISO800, 1/80th (APmode), f/3.5, -1EV. About 3 minutes of slider play, plus a bit of straightening in Aperture.

365.308 Ohne Titel (something appropriately spooky)

I made an HDR version of this, tweaked it heavily in Photoshop, and titled it “HDRifying,” but this one looked better to me: everything lines up better and more graphically.

I tweaked this a bunch, but ended up going with a rather simple cocktail: reduce saturation by 30% or so and pump vibrancy to bring the color back, plus some increased contrast and whatnot.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with a decent title. “HDRifying” is witty and silly and just right. But this isn’t HDRified, didn’t even see the inside of Photoshop, and only got maybe 4 minutes of slider play, so it needs something else.

I thought about maybe continuing on with another part of the mystery story that I made one frame for some weeks ago (365.270), but couldn’t really come up with anything.

Anyways, I like the way the light bounces around the courtyard in the afternoon. I actually went out to shoot some spooky shadows on a neighbor’s window. The picture turned out ok, but I couldn’t get it processed properly, and ended up liking this one better.

Anyway: enough rambling.

D7000. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (deliberately defocused). ISO100, 1/2000th (AP mode), f/1.4. About 4 minutes of slider play in Aperture.

365.307 wantwantwantwant needneedneedneed

Almost as soon as I pulled out of the driveway to start the 7 hour drive back to TX yesterday, I began to crave cigarettes something.

In Atoka, OK, I bummed a cigarette from a nice lady at a gas station where I stopped to get a bottle of water.

It was nasty, and I stubbed it out after only 2 drags. I thought maybe it was the brand, so I started looking for tobacconists.

Thankfully, I didn’t find any on the drive home, but the craving persisted through the rest of the drive and all evening yesterday. It seemed to lessen after dinner, and I was able to sleep reasonably well, but it was back with a vengeance today.

I have no idea what it is. I took a cigarette from one of the floor installers at the apartments just a little bit ago, and it was also incredibly nasty and only made the craving worse.

I’ve eaten chocolate, cheese, potato chips, and breads; drank water, coffee, and tea; gnawed fingernails; tried to nap; taken a cold shower; danced about the apartment like a fool; all to no avail.

I have no idea what I’m craving, but whatever it is, I wantwantwantwant needneedneedneed it.

Also: built a new macro rig today: found a 55-52 step up tube and used it and some step-down and coupler rings to reverse my Grandfather’s Montgomery Ward-branded 28mm f/2.8 on the end of the Vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5. I’m not sure what the reproduction ratio is, but it’s pretty high, probably close to 4:1.

D7000. Montgomery Ward 28mm f/2.8 (unknown manufacturer), reversed on the Vivitar 70-210mm f/3.5 Series 1 (Kiron). About 8 minutes of slider play to bring out some definition without destroying the softness.

365.306 Golden Hour on an Arkansas Farm (with Bonus Outtake!!!1!)

Well, today was the last day to wake up in the Arkansas mountains for awhile. I woke up early, finished packing, sipped coffee for awhile, said goodbye to Momma, and headed back home just as the sun crested the horizon.

The first hour or so of the drive was beautiful, and I snapped about 150 pictures—out the window, mostly while speeding through the winding mountain roads at largely reckless rates of speed—between Eureka Springs and Clifty.

If I was a different sort of person, I would’ve stopped to shoot the fog burning off of the valleys, or the mist rising off of the rivers.

But I’m James, and once I get started on a drive, I’m loathe to stop.

I thought about it a few times, though.

These two were shot within minutes of one another. The outtake is maybe 1/4 mile west of the 365 picture, and actually came first.

On the one hand, it’s good to be ‘home’ again. On the other hand, I’m back here again, with all that entails.

Rather than go into all that, let’s just enjoy these pictures, shall we?

D7000. Sigma 30mm f/1.4. ISO100, 1/3200th (365 pic)/1/500th (outtake) (both in AP mode), f/1.4, -1EV. Both received about 6 minutes of slider play in Aperture, and the outtake got an extra 10 minutes of cloning out power lines (btw: my favorite thing ever).