Dangerous Spouse Pics
- Thread starter Dangerspouse
- Start date
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Went out to shoot birds, ANY birds, for this week's Bird Challenge. But the weather conspired against me, and I didn't find any until I pulled into my driveway after I gave up and went home! I did manage a few shots of other things, though. These are a couple at a local (frozen) lake, where a young couple was playing frisbee with a very enthusiastic Doberman - who would not let go of one frisbee while chasing another! At one point I counted five in his mouth as he ran after a 6th. I noticed also the man was wearing a front-pack, and when I got closer I saw he was carrying a tiny little dog inside to keep warm. So cute!
I also got a few more farm animal shots, but these are the couple on the beach and two pics of the hawk I saw when I got home:
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I think I need to sell a kidney or two and get a longer lens....
I also got a few more farm animal shots, but these are the couple on the beach and two pics of the hawk I saw when I got home:
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I think I need to sell a kidney or two and get a longer lens....
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
A couple more from today. I didn't nail focus on some, but them's the breaks....
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Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I was surprised to discover, after 21 years of living here, that not 2 miles from my house there is a Revolutionary War-era burial ground. It's very small, perhaps 20 feet square, containing 6 headstones within a low stone border, and several other headstones just outside the border seemingly moved since first being erected.
I suspect I never saw this tiny gem because, even though it's just off the main road I drive almost every day and despite the fact that it is mere feet from the highway, there was up until recently a thick row of brush obscuring it. However a very large solar farm was just built immediately adjacent to it and that thicket was trimmed as part of the installation. And it's February, so there is no leaf cover on whatever is remaining. So it's finally visible.
This is just a snapshot, taken when I saw the medallion and realized what I was looking at:
These three headstones are just outside the rock border, obviously dug out and propped against the tree for some reason. A farmer clearing the land a hundred years ago? The installation of the solar panels? Who knows. The left and right headstones are a man and woman with the same surname, "Wood", so I assume they're husband and wife. I couldn't make out the date because of weathering. The center stone had no inscription - I think it may have been on the side facing the tree, but I didn't want to disturb it. I converted it to black and white for this week's photo challenge, and think it looks better for the conversion. But this is the original:
There's a larger cemetery in the town of Warwick, NY, just up the road. The plots here cover a wide range time and style-wise, from the late 18th century to...this very week. I haven't processed all my pics yet, and these aren't the best, but I do like them:
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"I Love You Forever":
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The Red family portrait:
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The '60's in a nutshell:
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"Welcome to the neighborhood."
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And finally, the perfect location:
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More to come....
I suspect I never saw this tiny gem because, even though it's just off the main road I drive almost every day and despite the fact that it is mere feet from the highway, there was up until recently a thick row of brush obscuring it. However a very large solar farm was just built immediately adjacent to it and that thicket was trimmed as part of the installation. And it's February, so there is no leaf cover on whatever is remaining. So it's finally visible.
This is just a snapshot, taken when I saw the medallion and realized what I was looking at:
These three headstones are just outside the rock border, obviously dug out and propped against the tree for some reason. A farmer clearing the land a hundred years ago? The installation of the solar panels? Who knows. The left and right headstones are a man and woman with the same surname, "Wood", so I assume they're husband and wife. I couldn't make out the date because of weathering. The center stone had no inscription - I think it may have been on the side facing the tree, but I didn't want to disturb it. I converted it to black and white for this week's photo challenge, and think it looks better for the conversion. But this is the original:
There's a larger cemetery in the town of Warwick, NY, just up the road. The plots here cover a wide range time and style-wise, from the late 18th century to...this very week. I haven't processed all my pics yet, and these aren't the best, but I do like them:
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"I Love You Forever":
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The Red family portrait:
.
The '60's in a nutshell:
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"Welcome to the neighborhood."
.
And finally, the perfect location:
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More to come....
compasiune
Senior Member
I think number 2 is the best 
)
)
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Just a couple more from my day at the historical cemeteries....
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These are the three headstones propped up against the base of the tree that I posted as a black and white earlier, but seen from a distance. I find it just as poignant for some reason....
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Finally, this is the same shot of the guardian angel as before, but I adjusted the color temp. The OOC shot was just too blue, and I should have addressed it the first time as I think I prefer it this way:
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These are the three headstones propped up against the base of the tree that I posted as a black and white earlier, but seen from a distance. I find it just as poignant for some reason....
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Finally, this is the same shot of the guardian angel as before, but I adjusted the color temp. The OOC shot was just too blue, and I should have addressed it the first time as I think I prefer it this way:
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I had a lot of fun with this week's challenge, "architecture". I'd never specifically tried that genre before, and it really forced me to contemplate how to compose shots from subjects I didn't think were inherently photogenic. I don't know that I managed anything noteworthy, but I had a good enough time that I'd like to try doing more of these.
These are all shots of the building and parking garage where I work. My shift starts at 4:30am, so I arrived a half hour early yesterday to try some low light shots (my poor D5500 was screaming at my choice of ISO, lol...). Then at 9am I had a break so I went out and took a few more in the sunlight.
All of these shots are hand held. Even this 2 second exposure, where I braced myself against a pillar and held my breath. I took 4 fuzzy shots before I managed this :
This is the walkway from the garage to the side door entrance that I use:
The pre-dawn parking garage interior looked interesting in real life, with intersecting angles and lighting, but I didn't capture it well in these photos. Still got a lot to learn....
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Lol...I had to take this quick snapshot. They got the parking level number incorrect on one of them. I still don't know which floor I was on:
And finally, the photo I entered in the challenge:
A few hours later in daylight....
This is the one I almost entered in the challenge. It was a tough choice: less noise and classic composition, or more noise but more interesting shot (to me)? I went with interesting, but I still like this:
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Somebody was having a bad day:
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I like this composition, but I had to shoot it through a dirty glass pane so it's kinda gunky. Not sure if I prefer the OOC framing, or the cropped version:
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Please don't tell my boss I was goofing off on the company dime....
:sneakiness:
These are all shots of the building and parking garage where I work. My shift starts at 4:30am, so I arrived a half hour early yesterday to try some low light shots (my poor D5500 was screaming at my choice of ISO, lol...). Then at 9am I had a break so I went out and took a few more in the sunlight.
All of these shots are hand held. Even this 2 second exposure, where I braced myself against a pillar and held my breath. I took 4 fuzzy shots before I managed this :
This is the walkway from the garage to the side door entrance that I use:
The pre-dawn parking garage interior looked interesting in real life, with intersecting angles and lighting, but I didn't capture it well in these photos. Still got a lot to learn....
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.
Lol...I had to take this quick snapshot. They got the parking level number incorrect on one of them. I still don't know which floor I was on:
And finally, the photo I entered in the challenge:
A few hours later in daylight....
This is the one I almost entered in the challenge. It was a tough choice: less noise and classic composition, or more noise but more interesting shot (to me)? I went with interesting, but I still like this:
.
.
Somebody was having a bad day:
.
I like this composition, but I had to shoot it through a dirty glass pane so it's kinda gunky. Not sure if I prefer the OOC framing, or the cropped version:
.
Please don't tell my boss I was goofing off on the company dime....
:sneakiness:
NestorStura
Senior Member
Hi Tom, it is a mistery to me why you have selected the one you did for the challenge.
Actually I like much more several of the rest...
Well, you're the artist!!! Lol
Enviado desde mi RMX1931 mediante Tapatalk
Actually I like much more several of the rest...
Well, you're the artist!!! Lol
Enviado desde mi RMX1931 mediante Tapatalk
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
To my surprise I discovered recently that there's a wolf preserve not too far from my house, so this past Sunday I stuck my 100-300mm on the D5500 and took a ride over.
The wolves were beautiful to look at, but because this was an "educational tour" and not one of their "photography tours", it was not really conducive to picture taking. For one thing each wolf area was surrounded by TWO chain link fences, and it was tough (for me, anyway) not having every damn shot ruined by diagonal bars of metal crossing the scene. Plus the wolves were either too far away for my 300mm lens to grab, they were obscured by all the ground brush, or they were right up against the fence where the metal latticework covered much of their body. I took just over 300 pictures, and less than ten are keepers. And they're only keepers because I managed to somehow wedge my lens between the links of the fence and grab an unobstructed shot for them, not because they are good pictures per se. They're more like glorified snapshots. But it was all I could do.
They also had an enclosure with a pair of really cute, fluffy foxes, and another with a lynx and a bobcat. But again, that damn fence. And a lot of people pushing up against it - I couldn't frame a shot for being wedged in between so many others.
They do, as I mentioned, offer photography tours. But they cost THREE HUNDRED FREAKIN' DOLLARS for two hours. For that money they let you walk between the two fences of the enclosure, and there are also windows where you can stick your lens through for a fence-free shot. Plus the wolves are pretty tame and come when called, so you're guaranteed to get good closeups and action shots of them jumping for Liv-a-Snaps. But did I mention - IT'S THREE HUNDRED FREAKIN' DOLLARS! That's a third of the D500 I want to buy! Jeez. (The educational tour was only $16, btw.)
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This is a small garden statue right at the entrance. I purposely under exposed it to make seem more ominous:
This was my test shot, to see what it looked like with normal exposure under bright sunshine:
The wolves were beautiful to look at, but because this was an "educational tour" and not one of their "photography tours", it was not really conducive to picture taking. For one thing each wolf area was surrounded by TWO chain link fences, and it was tough (for me, anyway) not having every damn shot ruined by diagonal bars of metal crossing the scene. Plus the wolves were either too far away for my 300mm lens to grab, they were obscured by all the ground brush, or they were right up against the fence where the metal latticework covered much of their body. I took just over 300 pictures, and less than ten are keepers. And they're only keepers because I managed to somehow wedge my lens between the links of the fence and grab an unobstructed shot for them, not because they are good pictures per se. They're more like glorified snapshots. But it was all I could do.
They also had an enclosure with a pair of really cute, fluffy foxes, and another with a lynx and a bobcat. But again, that damn fence. And a lot of people pushing up against it - I couldn't frame a shot for being wedged in between so many others.
They do, as I mentioned, offer photography tours. But they cost THREE HUNDRED FREAKIN' DOLLARS for two hours. For that money they let you walk between the two fences of the enclosure, and there are also windows where you can stick your lens through for a fence-free shot. Plus the wolves are pretty tame and come when called, so you're guaranteed to get good closeups and action shots of them jumping for Liv-a-Snaps. But did I mention - IT'S THREE HUNDRED FREAKIN' DOLLARS! That's a third of the D500 I want to buy! Jeez. (The educational tour was only $16, btw.)
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This is a small garden statue right at the entrance. I purposely under exposed it to make seem more ominous:
This was my test shot, to see what it looked like with normal exposure under bright sunshine:
DS, make sure you use a lens hood. If you are able to stand right next to the fence, carefully place your lens hood against the chain link. Shoot with a somewhat shallow depth of field.
Here are two I shot doing just that. Granted my TC was mounted on my 300mm lens making my DoF even shallower. If the image appears to be hazy from the fence, then try adding a little dehaze. I'm making these a large size so you can zoom in to try looking for evidence of the chain link fencing. It's there but doesn't specifically stand out.
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I hadn't thought of that. What great advice, thanks so much Cindy!
And your pictures look terrific. I never would have believed you were dealing with the same issue. I may have to go back again now and try with the lens hood.
Thank you!
:encouragement:
Just make sure to use a shallow enough DoF. If your subject is far enough away, you might be able to get away with f/5.6. But take a few images using f/5.6, f/6.3, and f/7.1 to be sure enough of your subject is in focus. If your subject is closer, you will automatically have a shallower DoF and can stop down slightly.
But you need to keep your lens as close to the chain link as possible. Like I said, I pressed my hood against the fence. Plus that helped steady the lens even more. $15 doesn't sound bad for a tour! I hope you have the opportunity to return some time. :cheerful:
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I will certainly put all that advice into use next time. That lens only opens to f/6.3 at 300mm, so I'll work with what I have there. Should be fun trying this out again!
Thanks Cindy :encouragement:
Thanks Cindy :encouragement:
Be sure to also take some at f/7.1. A lens tends not to be the sharpest when it's wide open. I don't know if you've ever tried Photoshop, but you have the option to add a Gaussian Blur to the background. However, that involves layers and masking.
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Ah, great idea. I'll do that - perhaps even play around by bracketing my shots with different apertures to see where that lens looks best at varying distances. You're just a font of great advice, lol!
I do have PhotoShop, but other than figuring out how to use the lasso tool to erase things I can't make heads nor tails of it. Yet. I've been spending the last few months becoming more comfortable with Lightroom - in large part thanks to you! - and intend to start digging into PS perhaps sometime in the future. Because I only have a limited amount of time each day to play (you notice I don't post an awful lot of pictures here - it's not for lack of interest, but time) I've only been able to concentrate on one program at a time in my off hours. But I'll get there!
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Woof. It's been a while. Been working nonstop covering the coronavirus wildfire for the past several weeks, and when not working I've been either too tired or too dispirited to engage in hobbies. Other than eating apparently - my clothes have all shrunk somehow!
I haven't really taken any pictures of my own, but my wife snuck downstairs in the middle of one of my broadcasts a couple of weeks ago and snapped a shot of me with her iPad. The network set all us on-air personalities up with home studios so we can keep the ball rolling. If you ever wondered how radio network announcers dress when the program director isn't around....
Anyway, I hope to start shooting pics again soon. My workload is still pretty hellacious, but I'm handling it a little better now. And because of company belt tightening (less revenue coming in as fewer business are buying commercials...since they're closed) we all have to take mandated 2-week unpaid "vacations". During my own upcoming time off in June and September I'll probably be able to decompress a bit, and hopefully I'll be able to get the ol' D5500 back in action as well. I may try to pop off a few beforehand also, we'll see. I miss it terribly. I miss the folks here about as much, and the weekly challenges also. I've learned a lot from y'all.
I certainly hope everyone here is well, and this scourge has not touched anyone you know or love. My best to all of you.
I haven't really taken any pictures of my own, but my wife snuck downstairs in the middle of one of my broadcasts a couple of weeks ago and snapped a shot of me with her iPad. The network set all us on-air personalities up with home studios so we can keep the ball rolling. If you ever wondered how radio network announcers dress when the program director isn't around....
Anyway, I hope to start shooting pics again soon. My workload is still pretty hellacious, but I'm handling it a little better now. And because of company belt tightening (less revenue coming in as fewer business are buying commercials...since they're closed) we all have to take mandated 2-week unpaid "vacations". During my own upcoming time off in June and September I'll probably be able to decompress a bit, and hopefully I'll be able to get the ol' D5500 back in action as well. I may try to pop off a few beforehand also, we'll see. I miss it terribly. I miss the folks here about as much, and the weekly challenges also. I've learned a lot from y'all.
I certainly hope everyone here is well, and this scourge has not touched anyone you know or love. My best to all of you.