Hark 2018
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Michael J.
Senior Member
Wonderful photos
Three from yesterday. I pulled out my 300mm f/4 PF after not having used it for a while. I thought perhaps I'd miss my Hoya HD CP filter (it was the one that broke and sent to Hoya for warranty repair), but thankfully I didn't need the CP filter. The colors still came out amazing. 
Last month I was surprised to see robins at the local park. According to people who walk there regularly, the robins live there year-round. We usually see them in our neighborhood from right before New Year's (or sometimes they don't show up until into February) through August. The last one I remember seeing in our yard was either late September or early October this year--and for them, that's pretty late. But I had no idea they lived in the area all year. Tonight we are supposed to get down to 13 degrees F. :eyetwitch: I hope they will find a sheltered place for the night.
According to someone on Facebook, this plant is called Phragmite or Common Reed. I'll just call it a weed.
And below is a leaf from an Autumn Glory Maple tree. It's a sapling that grew through our chain link fence so unfortunately it will have to be cut down. My tri-color Australian Shepherd happened to walk behind the leaf as I was photographing it. The background looks immensely better with her dark fur than the light-colored blah background without her there. We still have another Autumn Glory Maple tree in our backyard where the colors haven't yet fully changed. They are just starting to turn, but since the temps have been so cold, I'm wondering if the leaves will just fall off without completely turning their fall colors.
Last month I was surprised to see robins at the local park. According to people who walk there regularly, the robins live there year-round. We usually see them in our neighborhood from right before New Year's (or sometimes they don't show up until into February) through August. The last one I remember seeing in our yard was either late September or early October this year--and for them, that's pretty late. But I had no idea they lived in the area all year. Tonight we are supposed to get down to 13 degrees F. :eyetwitch: I hope they will find a sheltered place for the night.
According to someone on Facebook, this plant is called Phragmite or Common Reed. I'll just call it a weed.
And below is a leaf from an Autumn Glory Maple tree. It's a sapling that grew through our chain link fence so unfortunately it will have to be cut down.
My tri-color Australian Shepherd happened to walk behind the leaf as I was photographing it. The background looks immensely better with her dark fur than the light-colored blah background without her there. We still have another Autumn Glory Maple tree in our backyard where the colors haven't yet fully changed. They are just starting to turn, but since the temps have been so cold, I'm wondering if the leaves will just fall off without completely turning their fall colors.
Oops...somehow I missed posting these here. Both are from a local park. I really wanted a reflection photo with the fishing pier. I can't remember how many times I went to the park to try and get this shot. Many times it was way too windy causing the water to be too choppy. And when I used an ND filter, my shutter speed was too slow. That made the trees blurred from the high winds. Fortunately there was still some color left with the leaves on this day.
Michael J.
Senior Member
Sometimes I wish there were just more smiles than only one like button. I love those photos. So amazingly refreshing even in fall colors.
Earlier today @Marcel posted some B&W images that he took yesterday while waiting for an oil change. Coincidentally my mother and I were at our dealership yesterday waiting for an oil change and inspection. Since my mom was with me (she's in a wheelchair), I didn't take my camera as I hadn't planned on wandering around.
At some point, I had to get up and stretch my legs. When I saw this, I couldn't help but be amused and used my iPhone. I posted it on Facebook with the caption:
At some point, I had to get up and stretch my legs. When I saw this, I couldn't help but be amused and used my iPhone. I posted it on Facebook with the caption:
A Reindeer got run over by a Grandma... ♫♪
After my mom and I got home from the dealership, I took my camera over to the park looking for memorial benches. There is a local woman who created a Facebook group called Bench Stories. Our township allows people to purchase a memorial bench with a plaque to commemorate a loved one.
The memorial bench for her son was recently installed. She bought a small, artificial Christmas tree and decorated it with battery operated lights. Well...someone stole the tree within a day or two. :cower: Of course, it really upset her as well as many of us. She went to Home Depot explaining what happened, and they gave her the 2 sprigs which she attached to the back of the bench.
When I arrived yesterday afternoon, I was thrilled to see she replaced the Christmas tree. However, 10 of the balls had blown off and were lying in the grass. I picked them up and carefully laid them in the planter before taking this pic. Then I sent her a Facebook message letting her know the balls had come off and suggested she get some secure hooks.
I didn't hear anything back from her, so I sent her a pic of the balls scattered on the ground. I still didn't hear back from her so eventually I posted the following pic in her Bench Stories group.
That prompted a reply via FB messenger. She didn't put the tree there and didn't know anything about it! ::what:: When she was last at the park (on Tuesday), there wasn't any tree. In her message, she said she was en-route to the park to go see it! :victorious: An anonymous donor left it for her. :heart: She posted her own pic in the group as well as letting everyone know her surprise which generated a great deal of support from the community. Although there may be Grinches out there who want to spoil holiday cheer, there are some incredibly wonderful people as well.
Since this is a live tree, she said she will take it home and plant it to remember her son as well as the kindness shown to her and can decorate it in his memory every year.
This was a different bench not too far from the above bench. I don't know why it's missing the middle plank.
The memorial bench for her son was recently installed. She bought a small, artificial Christmas tree and decorated it with battery operated lights. Well...someone stole the tree within a day or two. :cower: Of course, it really upset her as well as many of us. She went to Home Depot explaining what happened, and they gave her the 2 sprigs which she attached to the back of the bench.
When I arrived yesterday afternoon, I was thrilled to see she replaced the Christmas tree. However, 10 of the balls had blown off and were lying in the grass. I picked them up and carefully laid them in the planter before taking this pic. Then I sent her a Facebook message letting her know the balls had come off and suggested she get some secure hooks.
I didn't hear anything back from her, so I sent her a pic of the balls scattered on the ground. I still didn't hear back from her so eventually I posted the following pic in her Bench Stories group.
That prompted a reply via FB messenger. She didn't put the tree there and didn't know anything about it! ::what:: When she was last at the park (on Tuesday), there wasn't any tree. In her message, she said she was en-route to the park to go see it! :victorious: An anonymous donor left it for her. :heart: She posted her own pic in the group as well as letting everyone know her surprise which generated a great deal of support from the community. Although there may be Grinches out there who want to spoil holiday cheer, there are some incredibly wonderful people as well.
Since this is a live tree, she said she will take it home and plant it to remember her son as well as the kindness shown to her and can decorate it in his memory every year.
This was a different bench not too far from the above bench. I don't know why it's missing the middle plank.
After not finding any hawks or eagles to photograph, I headed over to the park. It's rare for me to see such a spectacular sky when I have my camera with me. These types of underexposed, almost silhouette images are popular in a local Facebook group.
In the past, I've mentioned the memorial benches people can purchase to dedicate to loved ones who are no longer with us. These first two images are both memorial benches. Their families definitely chose great locations.
Seagulls were flying above the water which made for a nice backlit scene.
The Mackerel Sky was simply gorgeous.
In the past, I've mentioned the memorial benches people can purchase to dedicate to loved ones who are no longer with us. These first two images are both memorial benches. Their families definitely chose great locations.
Seagulls were flying above the water which made for a nice backlit scene.
The Mackerel Sky was simply gorgeous.
Since we have a bird feeder, these birds of prey come far too often for my preference. About 4-feet to the left of this hawk sat a motionless squirrel. Either the hawk didn't see it or simply wasn't paying any attention to it. The hawk was definitely looking for food though. I took a couple hawk pics before shooing it out of the yard.
Here are a couple more from yesterday's outing. In the Facebook group for memorial benches, one woman told about her son for whom her bench was dedicated. When I came across his bench yesterday, in addition to taking some pics of it, I decided to sit on it and photograph its view. These were taken from her son's bench.
Yesterday I stopped by my church scoping out different perspectives than I normally shoot. I am hoping to retake this Advent Wreath on Sunday with the candles lit. No doubt the lit candles would adversely affect the metering so I put this on my phone for quick access.
Here are a couple from yesterday. I was able to take the Advent Wreath photo with the candles lit.
Decades ago there was a Men's Steel Choir that performed at a variety of places. It is now called the Men of Harmony. One of the choir members asked if I could take some pics when they performed at a Catholic Church yesterday afternoon.
Decades ago there was a Men's Steel Choir that performed at a variety of places. It is now called the Men of Harmony. One of the choir members asked if I could take some pics when they performed at a Catholic Church yesterday afternoon.
Here are a couple from last night's Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. My D750 with my 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom was mounted on a tripod so I put my 24-120mm f/4 VR on my D610. I haven't used the D610 for quite a while but was pleasantly surprised to be able to handhold this combo in such low light. And there weren't any problems when autofocusing. I always tried to focus on the candles so there was enough contrast to lock AF.
This was taken yesterday afternoon--he is a 92-year old WWII Veteran (Marines). What an amazing gentleman. I asked permission to photograph him from behind and let him know he'd appear as a silhouette against the water.
I wanted to enhance the sun's rays a little. This is a screen shot of the NEF (before any editing).
Phlearn's directions for the scatter brush were easy enough to follow and allowed me to add some subtle rays to what was already there. I only added one layer for the rays--not the two that he shows in the video. I also added some saturation to the existing lens flare to make it more noticeable. Following the video is the edit.
Since I stopped down trying to create the light rays in camera, this is probably something I will add to future images that contain some subtle sun rays (providing the effect will look natural). If the aperture isn't stopped down, I don't think this effect would look as realistic.
I wanted to enhance the sun's rays a little. This is a screen shot of the NEF (before any editing).
Phlearn's directions for the scatter brush were easy enough to follow and allowed me to add some subtle rays to what was already there. I only added one layer for the rays--not the two that he shows in the video. I also added some saturation to the existing lens flare to make it more noticeable. Following the video is the edit.
Since I stopped down trying to create the light rays in camera, this is probably something I will add to future images that contain some subtle sun rays (providing the effect will look natural). If the aperture isn't stopped down, I don't think this effect would look as realistic.
Here are a few more memorial bench photos taken the other afternoon. I was hoping to get photos of other benches, but the light wasn't reflecting in the right place. So I wound up taking additional photos of the same benches I photographed earlier this month.
I didn't add any sunbursts to these as was mentioned in a previous post because all were captured in camera. When the sun shines between leaves or between planks of benches or fences, that's when a sunburst might be captured in camera. If the sun is high above in the sky with nothing partially blocking it, it's harder to get the rays to show up.
These first two images look almost identical, but they are different benches that sit close to one another. One has a bow. The other doesn't.
I am amazed there are still leaves hanging even though they are dried up.
I didn't add any sunbursts to these as was mentioned in a previous post because all were captured in camera. When the sun shines between leaves or between planks of benches or fences, that's when a sunburst might be captured in camera. If the sun is high above in the sky with nothing partially blocking it, it's harder to get the rays to show up.
These first two images look almost identical, but they are different benches that sit close to one another. One has a bow. The other doesn't.
I am amazed there are still leaves hanging even though they are dried up.