Week four

Fun with a creepy shed in the snow and the cold. Long exposure and my SB-900 flash hand held on 1/64 power flashed a bunch of times to get the effect I wanted. Only thing that would have made it better would be a little fog. 

ISO400 14mm f/8 30sec

Progress

Quickie post today. My Nikomat, my D70s, and my D600. The Nikomat isn't what I learned to shoot with, but near enough to my F3 to count for this. :)

52 week photo challenge

SO, I've actually been doing this for three weeks, but, I give you my first three weeks of my 52 Week Photo challenge. The goal is to plan and execute one shot per week. The key with it is to plan the shot instead of just winging it and selecting something. What I have so far is almost planned, but not quite. I have been planning the third shot though. So, getting there?

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

For the images in full lovely glory, check them out on my Flickr. Enjoy!

When it's cold outside

Play with Tokidokis inside! The way to do toy photography is to make sure you either have the perspective set up so that you keep them forward in the frame against the backdrop for the size perspective. OR use a macro lens so you can bring them in nice and tight to the lens and make them dominate the frame. Another way to keep the photos interesting is to make sure you have your background carefully selected so you don't have distractions in the image. A poorly placed cup behind your shot could completely ruin the size perspectives that you want.

ISO100 55mm f/9 1/100sec

ISO100 55mm f/8 1/100sec

ISO100 55mm f/9 1/100sec

All of these shot with my SB900 off camera and connected via a calumet flash sync cable with no diffusion. Flash was set at Manual 1/128th in order to not overwhelm the scene with too much flash. By being careful with your flash angle, you can create dramatic light and shadows instead of the boring straight on flash that you get by shooting with the flash immediately above the camera facing the subject. Take the flash off! Expirement! You'll like it!

My Review of Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED MC Super Wide Angle Lens with Automatic Chip for Nikon

Originally submitted at Adorama

Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED MC Super Wide Angle Lens with Automatic Chip for Nikon

Good for fun

By CaffeinatedPix from Washington DC on 1/17/2013

 

3out of 5

Pros: Consistent Output, Durable, Easily Interchangeable, Nice Bokeh

Cons: Lens Hood Casts Shadow, Slow Focus, Long Focus Ring

Best Uses: Landscape/Scenery

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

Was this a gift?: No

I'm really enjoying the ridiculous wide angle that you get in this lens. However, at the same time as it tires to maintain itself as an ultra wide that keeps lines straight, there is some definite distortion in the center and outside edges of the lens. If you keep your horizon to the center and have no straight lines running parallel towards the top or bottom of your image the center weight distortion isn't that bad. The through the lens metering that you get is accurate and my Nikon deals with that lens very nicely thanks to the chip in the lens.

The only downside I'm finding is that because the focus ring is so very long it is hard to adjust focus on the go as you are working with it. Good news though is that the focus ring is nice and smooth as you turn it. I took it to the dog park with me when taking my lab/pit for a walk and I found the easiest way to get good results was to just set a focal distance at about one meter and try and maintain that range to the dogs and keep my aperture midrange to get a wide enough focal plane.

Final aside, if you pop up the built in flash for some fill light, the built in lens hood will cast a shadow on the lower portion of your image if your subject is up close. Generally this isn't a problem, but, if you're in a bind and don't have a strobe with you, it could be problematic.

Overall a good lens and very enjoyable though. Definitely happy with the purchase.

In this you can see the distortion on the steps.

Tags: Distortion, Made with Product, Using Product

(legalese)

Doctor Who

I'm working on those fog images from the weekend, but for now I'll give you a glimpse into some ideas I have that I'd like to execute. Namely, this idea involves these little guys.

The Dalek Paradigm Action Figure set. Image from the above vendor.

I'm going to eventually convince myself to buy the set of the (mostly because they're just plain awesome!) and then get them and a suitably nerdy friend for a model and have some fun shooting some dalek invasion photos.

Mostly, it will involve a lot of perspective shooting to get the Daleks to be the appropriate intimidating size in relation to the model. Also, some good lighting to make sure things are quite nice and dramatic enough. In theory it will definitely be a fun and epic shoot. Just need to get things lined up for it. (I'm totally open to donations of Daleks though if you're feeling charitable and want to see an epic story told in photographs! LOL)

Sorry for the minorly Whovian aside, but, sometimes you need to let out your inner nerd. Here is something from the weekend to tide you over though. I give you adorable critters from the National Zoo!

Adorable Red Panda sleeping in a tree with his tongue hanging out.

Tiny teaser

Sometimes when the weather is right, you just have to bundle up and head out. I had a great night where everyone else in DC was watching the ravens game and a great fog bank rolled in. So here is a teaser pic for you guys since I haven't posted anything recently.