The Backdoorhippie Six Sets of Sixty-One for '16

BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Whiskeyman said:
If you ever get the opportunity, visit the Dakotas, along the central flyway, during the fall migration. A field like that would possibly be completely covered with geese. When you go, however, the timing has to be just right.

WM
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This is where they settle for the winter. This is just a small sample of what was there that day. 1000 feet to the right, across a set of railroad tracks, was that white field - I just couldn't get over the fence to that field. I'll drive along the road and they'll look like a massive cloud against the hills as they move from one field to the other. It's an impressive sight. I suspect they'll all wind up in the local reservoir today with all the snow.
 
Whiskeyman

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
This is where they settle for the winter. This is just a small sample of what was there that day. 1000 feet to the right, across a set of railroad tracks, was that white field - I just couldn't get over the fence to that field. I'll drive along the road and they'll look like a massive cloud against the hills as they move from one field to the other. It's an impressive sight. I suspect they'll all wind up in the local reservoir today with all the snow.
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Is there a way for you to get closer? I'm assuming that there isn't or you would have already. I'd want to be much closer, with a 300mm - 500 mm telephoto lens, waiting for an event that causes a massed fly-off of the resting/feeding area. I wouldn't want to have to wait in that cold, though; I left my snoveralls in North Dakota when I left.

WM
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Whiskeyman said:
Is there a way for you to get closer? I'm assuming that there isn't or you would have already. I'd want to be much closer, with a 300mm - 500 mm telephoto lens, waiting for an event that causes a massed fly-off of the resting/feeding area. I wouldn't want to have to wait in that cold, though; I left my snoveralls in North Dakota when I left.

WM
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You mean for something like this? (SOOC w/ 24-120mm on D750 - have a few of these I need to process)

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I can certainly get closer in cases, but I can't always guarantee they'll be there. I have some shots with the 70-200mm but they're on a D610 - if I had thought they'd be there I would have shot with the D7100. If they're close enough to the edge of the road and it's cold enough that the border with the fields is frozen and not mud then I can get closer. I generally don't keep the 150-500mm with me on trips and I was out shooting landscapes for something, so I wasn't going for them specifically. There's a 3 mile stretch where they tend to overnight and it's along railroad tracks, so if I packed up, found 'em and parked along the railroad tracks the only thing I'd risk would be getting shot by hunters in the woods on the edge of the tracks - a serious threat at one spot along the path. One of these mornings I might, but with the 2 feet of snow we just got I suspect they're in the water.
 
Whiskeyman

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
You mean for something like this? (SOOC w/ 24-120mm on D750 - have a few of these I need to process)

View attachment 195950

I can certainly get closer in cases, but I can't always guarantee they'll be there. I have some shots with the 70-200mm but they're on a D610 - if I had thought they'd be there I would have shot with the D7100. If they're close enough to the edge of the road and it's cold enough that the border with the fields is frozen and not mud then I can get closer. I generally don't keep the 150-500mm with me on trips and I was out shooting landscapes for something, so I wasn't going for them specifically. There's a 3 mile stretch where they tend to overnight and it's along railroad tracks, so if I packed up, found 'em and parked along the railroad tracks the only thing I'd risk would be getting shot by hunters in the woods on the edge of the tracks - a serious threat at one spot along the path. One of these mornings I might, but with the 2 feet of snow we just got I suspect they're in the water.
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Actually, I was thinking of getting even closer, where the eyes of the individual birds are recognizable. But a photograph like this isn't worth risking getting shot over. I'm now thing that it would be better to find a wildlife preserve that doesn't allow hunting to try to get that photograph.

WM
 
hark

hark

Administrator
Staff member
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Contributor
BackdoorHippie said:
...but with the 2 feet of snow we just got I suspect they're in the water.
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I wondered how you weathered the storm as we had at least 20" of snow. Northern NJ and northern PA (Bethlehem area) had even more than us.

Love the geese photo. I can't recall ever having seen white geese before. Take care, and stay safe, Jake.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Whiskeyman said:
Actually, I was thinking of getting even closer, where the eyes of the individual birds are recognizable. But a photograph like this isn't worth risking getting shot over. I'm now thing that it would be better to find a wildlife preserve that doesn't allow hunting to try to get that photograph.

WM
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Eyes get tough as more times than not a flight like this is away from you. The only way to truly get it done would be to have an accomplice that spook them from the side you're not on and in a way that drives them towards you and not out the side. I can't even get folks to pose for me so I'm down to setting remote detonations or something. ;)
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
January 22

Some outtakes from an "Abstract Landscape" challenge.

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All motion and blurring shot in camera with long shutter speeds and a 9 stop ND. First handheld, second handheld out the window at 40mph.
 
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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
January 24

Shoveling out. I could show you boring photos of just how deep the snow was (22") but instead I'll just show you this one, my lovely wife helping clear a path on the deck so we could get to all the feeders.

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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
January 25

A day consisting of massive amounts of snow removal followed by a good dinner and a bottle of wine resulted in my falling asleep on the couch some time around the middle of the first quarter of the NFC Championship game. This precipitated me being wide awake at 3:30AM, so I went downstairs to wait out the evening. A near full moon after a snow is one of my favorite things. Being able to shoot the results is another, though this time complicated by the fact that any attempt to gather a tripod and move outdoors would have prevented me from being the only creature stirring, if you know what I mean. Thankfully the D750 and my backpack with the 15mm in it were both downstairs, with the camera pressed against the window and my body pressed against the back of the camera I was able to shoot these two frames through the glass (it's what accounts for some of the fuzziness in the corners). And if you're curious, that's the moon in the second shot.

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About 4 hours later the sunrise decided to be worth capturing, so I lowered my office window and, with fisheye still attached, stuck my arms out as far as they'd go so I could avoid capturing the edge of the roof.

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Visible here are the paths that were cleared all in the name of feeding things that live outside.
 
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N

nidding

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
For me it goes beyond the shadows thing, it's a near complete inability to think through an exposure when using flashes. I've watched videos and had amazing "Aha!!" moments, but while the theory sticks (I know what everything does and how it's supposed to work) the practical methodology doesn't. I know that has more to do with an utter lack of practice than anything else. Unless you're savant-like nothing is going to stick until you drill it in, and that's what I'm aiming to do this winter. So, I hope y'all will excuse me if I splash my naivete all over this thread for a while. If I'm going to have to shoot something once a day it might as well serve some practical use as well, right?! LOL
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I'm sure you know him already, but I can only recommend Neil van Niekerk's blog Tangents - photography by Neil van Niekerk. There's a couple of videos with him from B&H (for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mivhtzg7P4s), which has really helped me using flash. I am pretty far from being an expert, but with some practice I'm now able to guess the exposure most of the time (at least within a manageable margin) and most of the time I think it looks fairly natural.
As an example (I don't hope you mind) here is a very quick shot I took of my daughters' hamster. So I bounced the flash off of a wall to the left and just put my hand in between the flash and the animal to block direct light. I think it gives a very nice and neutral effect.
DSC_5609 by jonas_sandager, on Flickr

 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Thanks, Jonas. I have a set of videos from Lynda.com with Ben Long that I watched a while back that really made sense to me, I just didn't spend the time practicing with it. As a musician and a former music instructor I know that regardless of how long it takes someone to learn something the one common thread is the need to put in the time to practice it. With some, you need to do the prep work again and again because you don't do it enough to retain the muscle memory, and that's where I'm at now. I know what I'm supposed to do, and can pull of certain situations with a little planning, but to grab a flash and go is not in my muscles yet.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
January 26

I was hoping to give you something a little different today but I wasn't able to get it going thanks to a severe case of after work malaise. Good thing I got these in the AM.

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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
I could seriously live in that room! Those speakers you have on the shelf to the right. Studio monitors? Now you have me wishing that I would have kept my LP collection.
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I seriously do live in this room - about 50-60 hours a week. Five steps from the bedroom, a flight of stairs and 30 feet to the coffee pot.

Yes, those are an old set of Alesis powered studio monitors I've had for about 15 years now. They're connected to a little 6 channel mixer that has inputs for my 30+ year old Technics direct drive turntable (mixer acts as a preamp) and iPod. The vinyl has been sitting in that shelf since we moved in 22 years ago, but I only got a turntable hooked up again last year.

What you're not seeing to the right of the frame is my Husky rollaway tool chest that has all the camera stuff. It used to be much more organized and I need to do it again this weekend so I can get a new desk in here.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
I seriously do live in this room - about 50-60 hours a week. Five steps from the bedroom, a flight of stairs and 30 feet to the coffee pot.

Yes, those are an old set of Alesis powered studio monitors I've had for about 15 years now. They're connected to a little 6 channel mixer that has inputs for my 30+ year old Technics direct drive turntable (mixer acts as a preamp) and iPod. The vinyl has been sitting in that shelf since we moved in 22 years ago, but I only got a turntable hooked up again last year.

What you're not seeing to the right of the frame is my Husky rollaway tool chest that has all the camera stuff. It used to be much more organized and I need to do it again this weekend so I can get a new desk in here.
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Sweet. I was going to say Alesis but it's been a long time since I've been into home recording. I had a pair of Yamaha monitors. I was pretty much a Mackie guy ,but never tried their monitors.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
January 28 & 29

I hate to have to do this, but the only shooting I did these days had to do with answering questions here, so I'm reposting the pair of images since it technically keeps me alive. I promise to shoot something worthwhile this morning.

An iPhone shot showing my improvised pano setup...

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My homemade, <$5 DIY camera strap Quick Release system...

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