Post Your Tabletop photography, pack shot and still life

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
LOL ! Sorry, I deleted my earlier message when I realized I hap uploaded a photo larger than 1,200 pixels. I do not know how to simply change photos, if that is at all possible, so I deleted the entire message and re-posted it afterwards with the right-size photo... but now your message responding to mine is above and not below it! :rolleyes:
You can edit your post, then delete the photo and attach another one. Just remember to save.
 

Blue439

New member
Exotics (2021)

Yes, this is (supposedly) food, but not the kind that makes you put on weight just by looking at it...

I see from my notes that this one took no less than 60 exposures! Some people definitely do have too much time on their hands. :rolleyes:

It looks like the processing of the stack stripped off the EXIF of this one, but it was as usual the Z7 with some prime lens, looks like the Nikkor Z 85mm, ƒ/1.8 S, on the tripod with the Arca-Swiss head and flash lighting. Sorry I can’t be more definite.

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Blue439

New member
Recent lens, old hood

Even though it looks (on purpose!) a lot like an old Nikkor lens, this is a modern-day Voigtländer Nokton 58mm ƒ/1.4 lens, manufactured in Japan by Cosina, with the full approval of Nikon Corp.

It is an amazing and wonderful little lens designed for Nikon’s F-mount, which I used on DSLRs, more rarely since I moved to mirrorless. Its optical quality is splendid.

I shot it next to an old metal Nikon HS–6 lens hood, designed in the mid–1970s for the Nikkor 50mm ƒ/1.4 that came with my F2 body. It also fits the ƒ/2 version of the nifty fifty, which I had on my very first Nikon F from the early 1970s, when I was in high school, because in those days, Nikon engineers were clever enough to design many lenses (not just a few) with standardized hood and filter diameters, and 52mm was the most widely used. The Voigtländer and Cosina people were also clever enough to keep that filter and hood dimension when they designed this recent Nokton...

Nikon D850, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR macro lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Single exposure.

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Blue439

New member
A Navajo horse

A Navajo mustang sculpted in a block of turquoise. Bought in Arizona during the 1980s.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 105mm ƒ/2.8 macro lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Composite shot made of 25 focus-stacked exposures, set automatically using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

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Blue439

New member
My current PC tower

The major advantage when you assemble your own computer is that you can individually pick and choose the components that will make it up. When I chose those components back in the Fall of 2020, this is the box I selected: a “Define R6” model by Fractal Design. I chose it for its technical features and excellent construction, but the fact that it’s very nice-looking wasn’t lost on me. It’s a shame it is always out of the way, more or less hidden under my desk! At least I had some fun photographing it before I began to stuff its innards with various gizmos...

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 35mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting, single exposure.

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Blue439

New member
Ouch...! Don’t look, Needa!

(Told you food would be back)

Wanna know their names? The white one is called a Saint-Honoré, the other one a Paris-Brest. I could explain why but I don’t want you to keep looking at them for too long. They’re from the Pâtisserie Bouillet, one of the best in Lyon, which is the gastronomic capital of France... See here it you have the guts.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 85mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Most certainly focus-stacked as the lens was stopped down to ƒ/5.6 only but I haven’t retained any more info.

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Blue439

New member
A trawler on high seas, overtaken by a Deux Chevaux (June 2020)

This was for another theme-based Flickr group. The theme was “At sea” or “Riding the waves”, or something like that...

Nikon D850, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Single exposure.

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Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
A trawler on high seas, overtaken by a Deux Chevaux (June 2020)

This was for another theme-based Flickr group. The theme was “At sea” or “Riding the waves”, or something like that...

Nikon D850, Micro-Nikkor 105mm, ƒ/2.8 G VR lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting? Single exposure.

View attachment 412760
Didn't realize those cars were seagoing. :eek:
 

Blue439

New member
Didn't realize those cars were seagoing. :eek:
Hé hé... Course they are.


Homage to an old friend (2020)

Shooting black on black and retaining an atmosphere of mystery while showing the details that need to be seen is a classic exercise in lighting. Here I chose my old and trusty D3s as the subject, intentionally shooting it from below and with converging verticals to emphasize how “mighty” that camera is.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z “Nifty Fifty” 50mm, ƒ/1.8 S. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting, single exposure.

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Blue439

New member
Double décilitre (2020)

High key studio shot. Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 50mm ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Composite shot made of 9 focus-stacked exposures, set automatically using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

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Blue439

New member
Deck shoes (2020)

Sebago’s Dockside shoes have accompanied not only my sailing activities since the 1970s, but also most of my off-work daily life. I do not think I have ever worn sneakers or tennis shoes, except of course when playing tennis or practicing a field-and-track sport. That’s what they are for, aren’t they? :cool: Sadly, over the years, I have seen that exceptional brand’s quality decrease as manufacturing was transferred out of the US to various Far East countries, and finally to China like so many others with an avid taste for more profit. Prices didn’t go down, mind.

Therefore, reluctantly but unavoidably, I got fed up with buying expensive shoes that looked good but repeatedly hurt my feet here or there, and I switched to the French brand TBS, which manufactures in Portugal many excellent and very comfortable shoes, including deck shoes (see here for example) that are slightly less expensive that Docksides and feel like slippers.

The red and blue ones in this photo were the last pair of Docksides I ever bought.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z “Nifty Fifty” 50mm ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting. Composite shot made up of 6 focus-stacked exposures, set automatically using the built-in function on the camera. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

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Blue439

New member
Up to a good start (2020)

After I once suffered a car refusing to start in the morning because of a weak battery (I was still working back then, and of course expected at the office!), I decided it would not ever happen again, and I acquired two “Noco Genius” devices: one battery charger that you periodically plug into the mains to recharge your car battery to full capacity, and this “kickstarter” that remains in the car, and will provide the juice required for the battery to start the car, should it ever be too weak to do it on its own. Belt and suspenders, I know, because if I periodically recharge the car battery when at home, how can it fail?

Well, the answer is, according to the Breton proverb, Trop fort n’a jamais manqué, which is the rough equivalent of “Better safe than sorry”...

Anyway, it made a fun studio photo subject. Of course, I had to composite two exposures, one with the subject lit, and another with no lighting at all so as to be able to register those cute little lights on the device.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 7 “Nifty Fifty” 50mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting, two exposures.

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Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Up to a good start (2020)

After I once suffered a car refusing to start in the morning because of a weak battery (I was still working back then, and of course expected at the office!), I decided it would not ever happen again, and I acquired two “Noco Genius” devices: one battery charger that you periodically plug into the mains to recharge your car battery to full capacity, and this “kickstarter” that remains in the car, and will provide the juice required for the battery to start the car, should it ever be too weak to do it on its own. Belt and suspenders, I know, because if I periodically recharge the car battery when at home, how can it fail?

Well, the answer is, according to the Breton proverb, Trop fort n’a jamais manqué, which is the rough equivalent of “Better safe than sorry”...

Anyway, it made a fun studio photo subject. Of course, I had to composite two exposures, one with the subject lit, and another with no lighting at all so as to be able to register those cute little lights on the device.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 7 “Nifty Fifty” 50mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Flash lighting, two exposures.

View attachment 412968
Since we don't use the truck much, we have a little solar panel that sits on the dashboard and plugs into the cigarette lighter (it's an old truck so it still has one of those). Works pretty good.
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
After I once suffered a car refusing to start in the morning because of a weak battery (I was still working back then, and of course expected at the office!), I decided it would not ever happen again, and I acquired two “Noco Genius” devices: one battery charger that you periodically plug into the mains to recharge your car battery to full capacity, and this “kickstarter” that remains in the car, and will provide the juice required for the battery to start the car, should it ever be too weak to do it on its own. Belt and suspenders, I know, because if I periodically recharge the car battery when at home, how can it fail?
Does it have a USB port so you can charge the camera battery for a real emergency? 😆
 

Clovishound

Senior Member
I miss the days (only about 5 years ago, actually) when a dead battery was no real problem. Just turn the key on, put it in neutral, give it a bit of a push, hop in and dump the clutch after putting it in gear. I remember driving my VW bug for a week or more with the starter sitting in my college dorm room. I didn't have money for a replacement, so I just always parked it on a little bit of an incline, and didn't even have to push it. I finally found the source for the bushings , rebuilt it and got back to electric start for just a few dollars. That was back when I still had hair.
 

Blue439

New member
Ceux de 14 (“Those of 14”)

Ceux de 14 is a book by French writer Maurice Genevoix about the fate of those men who were drafted in 1914 as World War I began. The medals (the Croix de guerre [War Cross] and the Legion of Honor) are those awarded to my great-grandfather for his service during that war.

The little cornflower pin is the French symbol for the veterans of The Great War, the equivalent of the British poppy.

The rusty, rounded thing to the right is the rim of the of my great-grandfather’s steel helmet which he brought back from the war.

Photo taken in memoriam on November 11, 2020.

Nikon Z7, Laowa 100mm ƒ/2.8 2× APO macro lens, manual focus (I just resold that lens a few days ago). Composite shot made up of 7 focus-stacked exposures, set manually using a NiSi NM-180 focusing rail. Stack processed with Helicon Focus.

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