Random Photos

[Andy Resnick]

Backlit leaves:

 

[BillTre]

What's that in the ditch?

View attachment 361517

Looks like eggs, but why?

Where from?
Some look like coconuts to me.
What's with the one on the shore?
What's the local flora and fauna?

 

[gmax137]

What's that in the ditch

Horta?

 

[Andy Resnick]

What's that in the ditch?

Looks like eggs, but why?

Ducks and geese will lay eggs near (or even in) the water for various reasons, but the number of eggs in your image implies multiple birds must be involved, so it's unclear. Too bad for the embryos- if/when they hatch they will drown.

 

[BillTre]

Ducks and geese will lay eggs near (or even in) the water for various reasons, but the number of eggs in your image implies multiple birds must be involved, so it's unclear. Too bad for the embryos- if/when they hatch they will drown.

If that's what they are, they will drown before they hatch.
Bird eggs are made for doing gas exchange with an atmosphere, not with water (unlike fish or frog eggs). Developing embryos have a definite need for oxygen. Without it their development could fail or become disrupted in some way.

 

[jtbell]

After examining the situation again this morning, I'm inclined to think that those might really be duck eggs. The ditch runs along a street with houses on one side and a wooded strip of vacant land on the other.

The ditch makes a right-angle turn into the woods. On the other side of the woods is the college.

Around the block on the other side of the woods is the college pond where a family or two of ducks lives.

Maybe they make their nests in the woods for privacy, and a recent heavy rain washed the eggs into the ditch and downstream toward the other street. Somehow one egg was left high and dry.

 

[DennisN]

Two fun ones...

My cat lying strategically in front of the tablet; she does this sometimes to get maximum attention from me.
She's got other tricks; sometimes she straddles the tablet on the bed with the two front legs and half the body in front of the tablet, and the rest behind . She can also start biting on the USB-cable if she really wants my attention.

And here she is lying on my jeans:

 

[jtbell]

While driving along route I-85 through upstate South Carolina, it's hard to miss the Peachoid:

Some people say it's really a big sunburned butt with a figleaf.

 

[Ibix]

it's hard to miss the Peachoid

According to Wikipedia it's a water tower, and building it like that somehow got them federal funding for the construction?

 

[jtbell]

building it like that somehow got them federal funding for the construction?

I didn't know that! It must have been because of the tourism-promotion aspect.

Gaffney could use a bump in tourism right now. The local college closed this month because it ran out of money and couldn't raise enough to stay open. When I passed by, two weeks after graduation exercises, the entrances to the campus were already blocked off.

https://www.southcarolinapublicradi...ation-some-mixed-feelings-some-positive-vibes

 

[pinball1970]

Captured this sunrise one morning
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It's not until you zoom in you realise the Sun's power
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Beautiful

 

[pinball1970]

Oldham NW England.

This canal makes it's way to Manchester eventually.

These two followed us for the entire walk, land and water.

Yellow Iris and Bull rush.

A micro eco system under that tree.

 

[pinball1970]

This chap came up to me silently, no honking like the Canada geese.
Not a great picture but a superb little bird.
A tufted ... something. Duck? I'll have to check.

The roots.

This tree is alive, although it has moss all over the top.

Tailed.

 

[pinball1970]

Outro out of the Nook.

Something humbling about old trees.

A look to the side and it is wild. TT

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 361608

 

[BillTre]

Here are some Drosophila embryos cleared and labeled with florescent markers of a variety of anatomical features:

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

Glowfish, genetically transformed zebrafish expressing different fluorescent proteins.

 

[BillTre]

Nudebranchs, like snails without a shell. Colorful and toxic.

 

[DennisN]

Flowers in a cemetery

These five photos were taken by a fountain in a nearby cemetery.
Please note that I have not digitally adjusted any colors afterwards, this is what the photos looked like straight out of the camera. It was a sunny day with great light and I used my Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9 lens (from the 1960s-1970s (ca) which gives great natural colors, and a CPL filter.

1. Flowers by the fountain
- my own favorite of these. Sadly the version here on PF does not quite do it justice, but anyway .

2. Colorful flowers
- Google says chrysanthemums.

3. More flowers by the fountain

4. Roses and some more flowers
- sadly a little bit overexposed, but you live and learn.
I quite often shoot a bit underexposed to avoid this.

5. Red roses by the fountain

And here's the star of the day, the Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9 which is about 60 years old:
(the text on the nameplate is sadly a bit worn off after I cleaned the nameplate with some alcohol-based solution; you live and learn )

 

[Andy Resnick]

Aphid. This is a 1:1 crop of the original image, shot with 55mm MicroNikkor set to 1:1 reproduction ratio, f/11, 1/800 s, auto ISO (ISO 9000 IIRC). Handheld and windy conditions :(

 

[jtbell]

At the U. S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville AL on Saturday:

The onboard Launch Vehicle Digital Computer of a Saturn V rocket:

A single ferrite-core memory plane (8192 bits) from an LVDC:

 

[jtbell]

The Apollo 16 command module, which flew to lunar orbit and back in April 1972:

Instructions on the inside of the hatch:

The heat shield is a bit worse for wear from re-entry.

 

[jtbell]

The Mobile Quarantine Facility where the Apollo 12 astronauts lived after splashdown, while doctors observed them for signs of "moon germs".

After NASA no longer needed it, it went to the Center for Disease Control, which used it for doctors who had been working with rare diseases in Africa. Then it went to the U.S. Geological Survey, which used it as a research station at a fish hatchery.

 

[jtbell]

Remember the Skylab space station? I had forgotten that it was occupied for only 24 weeks, during 1973-74. I do remember the nervous excitement when it was about to de-orbit in 1979. Where? Where? Look out below!

Some fragments did end up in Australia. Here's what's left of an oxygen tank.

 

[DennisN]

Remember the Skylab space station? ... I do remember the nervous excitement when it was about to de-orbit in 1979. Where? Where? Look out below!

I remember!

 

[DennisN]

Old camera(s) 2/2:

Here are two more old cameras I recently aquired .

Wirgin Auta

Year: 1930s-1940s (ca; I couldn't find any serial number)
Type: foldable
Format: Medium format

This is a foldable "pocket" camera (I guess), though it is quite heavy with a weight of 660 g.
The dimensions are 35 mm (depth, folded), 135 mm (depth, unfolded), 77 mm (height) and 160mm (width).
I did try to date it, but it proved difficult since it seems there are quite many variants of this camera with different lenses, shutters and general appearance.

Here is what the camera looks like when it is folded:
(and I would personally not have thought this was a camera if I only saw it like this)

And here the camera is unfolded. It's actually a bit tricky to fold it, I had to try quite a few times.

The shutter is a Prontor shutter, and if you look at the photos at the bottom of the Prontor page on Camera-wiki, it is fascinating to see how complex the internal mechanisms are.

The lens is a Wirgin Gewironar 10.5 cm f/4.5.

Links:

Camera-wiki: https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Wirgin_Auta
J. Noir: https://www.jnoir.eu/en/cameras/wirgin/auta/

Next up we've got a real beauty, at least in my opinion .

I bought this camera because I have a personal, historical attachment to Yashica. The first "professional" camera I ever used was a Yashica Electro 35 which belonged to my father (regretfully I don't have it, but I have a Yashica Electro 35 in mint condition at home). I also have three vintage Yashica lenses that I really like; they all give remarkably natural colors.

The camera below is something different though.
It's one of Yashica's twin lens reflex cameras (TLR), which were as I understand it the cheaper options compared to the famous and iconic Rolleiflex TLRs which are collectables and can cost quite a bit.

Yashica-C

Year: 1968 (dated with the serial number 808287)
Type: Twin lens reflex (TLR)
Format: Medium format

Here is the Yashica-C along with the original leather case:

The shutter is a Copal-MX shutter and the lens is a Yashikor 80mm f/3.5.
Well, actually, there are two identical lenses on the camera, since on TLRs the top lens is for the viewfinder and the bottom lens is the one used for taking the photo.

You open the viewfinder on the top, and as usually with TLRs you hold the camera at waist level and look straight down through the viewfinder when composing the photo. The viewfinder has also got a small magnifier which can be folded out to help you nail focus by looking at small details in the composition.

And here's the view though the viewfinder, showing a notebook on my desk:

And last, here is the camera opened:

The weight of the camera is 992 g, so almost 1 kg. The dimensions are 76 mm (width), 100 mm (depth) and 140 mm (height).

Links:
Yashica-C on Camerapedia: https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Yashica-C
FIlm Still Photography: https://www.filmstillphotography.com/yashica-c.html

 

[DennisN]

Some more random photos...

White roses...

A colorful glass vase in the cemetery...

Three red tulips in the cemetery...

A heart made of stone in the cemetery...
...the text "Wir vermissen dich" is German and means "we miss you"...

And last, a very colorful pinwheel...

(Lens used: Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9)

 

[morrobay]

Seafood restaurant on Naklua mud flats, low tide. This cat is waiting intensely for shrimp. My Thai girlfriend said no water(the bay). I asked her why , She : "Hot too much - no water"

 

[morrobay]

Night Moves

 

[DennisN]

Fantastic photos of the insides of instruments:

Probe lenses and focus stacking: the secrets to incredible photos taken inside instruments
(DPReview)

Example:

The inside of a double bass. Photo: Charles Brooks

 

[Andy Resnick]

Fantastic photos of the insides of instruments:

Probe lenses and focus stacking: the secrets to incredible photos taken inside instruments
(DPReview)

That's cool! I have tried to use/adapt a cystoscope with my camera with not much success- thanks for the info.

 

[jtbell]

Fantastic photos of the insides of instruments:

Probe lenses and focus stacking: the secrets to incredible photos taken inside instruments
(DPReview)

Example:

View attachment 361892
The inside of a double bass. Photo: Charles Brooks

I wonder if anyone has built a performance venue shaped like that, on a much larger scale of course!

 

[jtbell]

More from the U. S. Space and Rocket Center: Space Camp students doing a microgravity training experience.

No, I wasn't in the tank with them. See the porthole windows?

 

[nsaspook]

 

[nsaspook]

Repairing the car AC air mixer motor.

The HVAC system is all analog.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Another attempt at an aphid:

Better lighting and improved technique holding and steadying the camera.

 

[Andy Resnick]

And a nice shot showing cornicles and cauda:

 

[jtbell]

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But where's Vanna?

 

[jtbell]

 

[Andy Resnick]

 

[DennisN]

My cat doing what she does best... being cute .

 

[morrobay]

My cat doing what she does best... being cute .


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Well this is the first time I can question your photos: There is not very good image resolution regarding the cat fur/whiskers

 

[DennisN]

Well this is the first time I can question your photos: There is not very good image resolution regarding the cat fur/whiskers

The photos were taken with different lenses, and one was taken with a smartphone.
They were also taken indoors, so the lighting is not optimal, I just used what I had .

Photo 1 was taken with the Soviet Industar 61 lens, which is far from optical perfection .
Though it can give a quite special, grainy, "analog photo" vintage look, which I sometimes like.

Photo 2: I don't remember which lens I used.

Photo 3 was taken with a smartphone.

Photo 4 was taken with the Chinese 7Artisans 35mm f/0.95.

 

[DennisN]

Experimental photography, part 1

Some more recent ventures into experimental photography... and this time I will also report on a thing I have tried which I actually haven't seen anyone else do (but I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done it before, though):

1. Round aperture modification

This was an idea I had been toying around with, and now I've tried it. The idea was to modify a lens by inserting a fixed round aperture covering the original aperture blades. Why?

Well, the reason was to make a "better" stopped down bokeh quality (background blur) on a lens that may not have that quality originally.

First, when it comes to sharpness, most/all lenses have their sweet spot at f-stops a couple of notches above completely open aperture. Let's say we have a lens that goes from f/1.9 (open aperture) to f/16 (max stopped down); the lens will likely be a bit softer at completely open aperture and then increase in sharpness as you stop it down to, let's say, f/2.8 or f/4.

So stopping down a lens generally gives sharper photos, but there's another effect you get by stopping down: the bokeh (background blur) starts to get more in focus, i.e. less "creamy", which may be something you don't want if you are doing close-ups or portraits and want good subject isolation.

Furthermore, the background blur may get distracting if the aperture blades do not form a reasonably round aperture stopped down. That's why lenses with more aperture blades and/or rounded aperture blades generally give more pleasing bokeh stopped down; though some photographers sometimes like the bokeh that e.g. hexagonal apertures generate.

Example: A photo I've taken that has hexagonal bokeh balls.


The round aperture modification is an attempt to provide a "perfectly" round aperture close to the sweet spot of the f-stop that also gives better sharpness than shooting with the lens wide open. The downside with this modification is that you lose aperture control, i.e. you will not be able to shoot wide open anymore without reverting the modification.

The lens I selected for this modification was the Chinon 50mm f/1.9 which has got six aperture blades, and the lens was manufactured in Japan during the 1970s/1980s.



Here we've got the lens disassembled. You can see in the photo that the six aperture blades form a hexagon (bottom left). Above the lens are three metal washers I picked out as possible contenders for providing a round aperture.

Chinon 50mm f/1.9 disassembled.

After a suitable washer was selected I painted it black so there would be less internal reflections from it when it is inside the lens. When the paint had dried I put a couple of small pieces of blu tack on it so I could fix the washer inside the lens.

Left: The washer painted black. Right: The washer with some pieces of blu tack.


And then I inserted the washer inside the lens, placing it on top of the original aperture blades:

Left: Original hexagonal aperture. Right: Round aperture modification.


And here is the lens out in the sunny weather, showing the round aperture modification:

Well, does it work?
Yes, it does .

The effect is not obvious in every photo you take, but here are two photos taken with the modified lens:

Close-up of a forget-me-not (scorpion grass) with a very blurry background.


On the next photo we can clearly see that the bokeh balls in the background are "perfectly" round:

Close-up of a forget-me-not (scorpion grass) with "perfectly" round bokeh balls.


So, all in all it was a successful modification and maybe it can be an inspiration for others to try more experimental photography .

 

[BillTre]

Very nice write-up @DennisN!

 

[Andy Resnick]

Experimental photography, part 1

Some more recent ventures into experimental photography... and this time I will also report on a thing I have tried which I actually haven't seen anyone else do (but I wouldn't be surprised if someone has done it before, though):

1. Round aperture modification

Nicely done! I'm not so bold as to disassemble my lenses like that :) I have put apertures on the front of the lens, but no results worth sharing.

 

[DennisN]

Nicely done!

Thanks!

I'm not so bold as to disassemble my lenses like that :)

I understand!
The advice I got in the beginning was to start with a lens that's simple and comparatively easy to disassemble/reassemble, and I followed it. Another advice is to allow yourself the possibility of failure, and think that the lens can be replaced with another one if you fail. But, of course, if the lens is rare and/or expensive, the stakes get much higher.

 

[DennisN]

Crow stuff...

Two crows engaging in some unknown behavior (at least to me).
I don't know what they were doing, it didn't seem as if one was feeding the other.
Maybe the left one expected some food from the right one, perhaps? I don't know .

This barren top of a tree seemed to be a favorite spot for them.
At one point there were three of them hanging around there.

Original photo:

Converted to black and white (grayscale):

A photo version with extreme contrast, making it into "pure" black and white (no grayscales):

Lens used: Canon nFD 50mm f/1.8.
Shot in the early morning with pretty bad lighting, which means less good photo quality.

This barren tree top is close to where I live, so I'll go there today with my zoom lens
and see if I can get closer to this group of crows .

 

[BillTre]

@DennisN it might be parent offspring behavior after leaving the nest.