Hark 2018

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I haven't been out shooting for my own pleasure much. My pastor is retiring and am working on putting a book together covering the history of her time there. BUT I did have a chance to get out this afternoon to try out a new D7200. There is a hair or something visible in the viewfinder that doesn't show up in the images so I need to find out where it's located.

 

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Here's one more of kayakers on the same lake today.

By the way, I mentioned seeing a hair or something when looking through the viewfinder of my new D7200. I used a rocketblower on the mirror (without raising it), and whatever it was is gone. Even though I sure tried to be careful mounting a lens for the first time, it's possible to get something inside the camera body.

 

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I went back through the folder of images taken yesterday and edited this one. It is quite a heavy crop from the original image. There is something about the difference in this sensor vs. the sensor of the D7100 that makes me prefer this one. In a couple of reviews, people said the noise from the D7100 is crisp or coarser grained than the D7200's noise which is softer or finer grained. The noise from the D7100 was something I always noticed. This body seems to handle noise a little better.

The differences between the D7100 and D7200 reminds me of the differences between the D610 and the D750. They aren't huge, but what the D7200 offers is definitely an improvement--at least in my opinion.

 

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This was taken a couple of days ago. I posted it in a local group where one guy said I shouldn't take photos of people I don't know and post them online. Well...it was in a public park. Turns out the guy is the president of one of the kids' ball leagues and was getting the field ready for an upcoming game. He doesn't even get paid for doing this.

I took some flack over the photo, but I really liked the image. When I saw him, I knew it would be a good opportunity to try out AF-C without BBF. Worked great, too!

 

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Took this one yesterday. Thought the sign was hilarious--made me wonder what happens when dogs use it. Would that be considered an emergency?!! :shame:

And this one was taken just a short time ago. This bunny is new to our yard. It was out front when I got home from the store. It allowed me to unload my groceries while only wandering a few away. Then I saw it near my back door so decided to get this shot. I do need to pay more attention to my DOF when I'm this close. At f/10, it's still too shallow. I was only about 6' away. Live and learn. :beguiled:

 

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Today I went to the Bristol Waterfront Park in hopes of catching some speed for this month's contest. :encouragement:

First I came across this photographer taking long exposures. In his left hand is a cabled remote. We chatted for a few minutes--he's from Philly and likes to go to the river once in a while.

I had a lot of opportunities to work on panning. The last time I did any panning, it must have been 20 years ago. Let's just say it took some time to get into the groove of it. :beguiled:

Usually it is the norm for people to strike up conversations when I'm out shooting--probably more times than not. But today was the first time I was ever really uncomfortable when a guy stood near me and started asking a lot of questions. Initially they were the usual stuff, but he kept asking me where I lived. By the 3rd time, I finally decided it would be best to leave. There were quite a few people around so I wasn't concerned for my safety, but he seemed to be a player, if you know what I mean. Come on...I wasn't in a bar or some type of pick-up joint! :glee: Hopefully I will have another chance to go back another time and get a few photos of wave runners. Zoom, zoom! nthego:

 

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Went back out today to work more on speed. Most of what I did today was with a fast shutter speed. The flag says No Shoes Nation.

 

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Here is another one from yesterday's outing. Two jet skiers having fun on the Delaware River. I definitely prefer the background of the panned shots for some reason. They seem to be more pleasing to view.

 

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This one is out of order. Since I was working on a PCC brush issue today, I did a quick edit on this one.

 

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Here's another boat on the Delaware River. This image was shot with a fast shutter speed then I blurred the background following a Phlearn video. It definitely takes longer adding the blur in post, but it allows me to control exactly the amount of blur I want. If you compare this image with the earlier panning photos I posted, you should see a difference in the amount of background blur. It's not so easy nailing a fast moving subject when using a slow shutter speed as I did earlier. I think the two panning images posted earlier were shot around 1/30".

Here's the video if anyone is interested in trying to add motion blur.

 

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Just a few of the ones I shot this afternoon.

I started out with my 300mm and 1.4x teleconverter mounted on my D7200. Since there was an event going on that I didn't know about ahead of time, I hadn't realized how busy it would be at the town's docks. So I switched to my zoom, but even at its shortest length, it was too long to capture enough of this guy's boat. Wish I had been able to fit in his boat number.

These two guys had a blast zooming all over the river. There were a number of jet skis as well as boats out today.

I had to laugh when the guy did this:

 

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I was inspired by @RockyNH's sepia toned image in this week's challenge for old architecture that I went back to the log cabin to take additional photos. There isn't a vignette on this color image yet as I went from this into a sepia conversion. I like to add my vignette last.

So far this is where I'm at with the image. I need to research more info on sepia toning because I don't care for how it turned out after using Silver Exef Pro 2. So back to the drawing board to learn more about the process. There just isn't enough with the whites (I *think* that's what I mean). I lowered the contrast to allow more detail in the shadows, but overall it looks too mundane. Suggestions on sepia toning are certainly welcome!

 

[RockyNH_RIP]

I was inspired by @RockyNH's sepia toned image in this week's challenge for old architecture that I went back to the log cabin to take additional photos. There isn't a vignette on this color image yet as I went from this into a sepia conversion. I like to add my vignette last.



So far this is where I'm at with the image. I need to research more info on sepia toning because I don't care for how it turned out after using Silver Exef Pro 2. So back to the drawing board to learn more about the process. There just isn't enough with the whites (I *think* that's what I mean). I lowered the contrast to allow more detail in the shadows, but overall it looks too mundane. Suggestions on sepia toning are certainly welcome!

Hi Cindy, just for the record... I really like the Color image... Very nice...

Sepia Tone... two things I would do...
a tad more brown (sepia) I think is needed.. I sometimes use the "Yellowed" template in Silver Efex and more important...

Before going to Silver Efex, I convert to B&W in Lightroom... then I "adjust" the various color sliders so that it brings out the different colors as different tones. For example, the red/brown trim POPS in the color version and is lost somewhat in the sepia version...

I will also often increase the structure slider in silver efex..

Pat

 

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Hi Cindy, just for the record... I really like the Color image... Very nice...

Sepia Tone... two things I would do...
a tad more brown (sepia) I think is needed.. I sometimes use the "Yellowed" template in Silver Efex and more important...

Before going to Silver Efex, I convert to B&W in Lightroom... then I "adjust" the various color sliders so that it brings out the different colors as different tones. For example, the red/brown trim POPS in the color version and is lost somewhat in the sepia version...

I will also often increase the structure slider in silver efex..

Pat

Thanks, Pat. I will give your suggestions a try.

 

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I watched a number of video tutorials on sepia conversion and found one that allows me to convert my image to a Smart Object. Then I was able to apply the changes in ACR.

This is where I'm at for now. Most likely I will go in and tweak the settings. The nice thing is since it's saved as a Smart Object, I can continue to make changes in ACR.

 

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Here are a couple more from the Moon-Williamson Log House. The three chimneys caught my eye. I decided to try out a couple of effects from Color Efex Pro 4. This one uses Tonal Contrast.

When I applied a vignette option from within Color Efex Pro 4 to the image below, I couldn't help but be reminded of how some of Jake's photos looked from the past. Not sure if he used this rectangular vignette option, but it's definitely one I will use again. I also applied a little Tonal Contrast from CEP4.

 

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Here is the image from my post above. That image had a slight vignette added in Camera RAW.

Then I went back and added a rectangular vignette. I definitely like this one better.

And here is another image from the Moon-Williamson Log House--also used some effects from Color Efex Pro 4. For the most part, I've always been complacent sticking with Camera RAW for editing. It's time for me to grow in my knowledge so I will be looking for additional ways of editing. This has really piqued my interest!

 

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Passed by a school and decided to stop. This statue is William Penn who lived in the area and who obviously had a great deal of influence on it.

This next image is cross posted. I had to turn around and go back after reading the street's name.

 

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This is from the same school where the statue of William Penn resides. I was told clocks used to be housed in the cupola.

 

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This afternoon while I was photographing this for the doorway/entryway challenge, I was approached by a police officer. With my camera in hand, he asked what I was doing. :eyetwitch: When I told him I was taking photos of the entryway for a photo challenge, he said, 'This is private property.' Of course I became confused wondering what was going on and simply said, 'This is an historic building. The grounds are usually accessible during the day.' Then he replied, 'It's closed for construction.'

There weren't any signs anywhere. There was one section roped off with yellow tape to the left of the arches (no signs to stay back), but I wasn't anywhere near that anyway. He was very nice and said what I was doing was fine. And I certainly didn't give him a hard time. But wouldn't you think a sign indicating the area is off limits would be appropriate? How is anyone supposed to know? It's not a high traffic area since the building itself isn't open, but the grounds are accessible especially during daytime hours. Once in a while I will see a car or two in the parking lot. At least I was happy with what I shot and left right away; however, I REALLY wanted to photograph something else on the back of the building but wasn't going to push it.