Random Photos

[Rive]

The Morning Face... A shot so bad it's good

Basking in the sun

 

[DaveC426913]

I am super chuffed to be able to say I have my photos hanging in - not one, but two (2) - installations this month.

One is an adjudicated exhibit in my local Civic Hall, the other is simply the Great Room at my yacht club. (Still counts tho.)

Here's just a couple. These are photographs; not paintings or CGI.

 

[Point Conception]

@DaveC426913 are these all applied acrylic or oil paint and how did you get the waves ?

 

[DaveC426913]

@DaveC426913 are these all applied acrylic or oil paint and how did you get the waves ?

These are photographs; not paintings or CGI.

They've been enhanced, cleaned up and cropped, but they're actual photos.

Here are a couple of the raw photos.

 

[Point Conception]

Ok but photographs of what ? Then computer generated

 

[DaveC426913]

Ok but photographs of what ? Then computer generated

Oh. The collection is called Waterscapes. (Or maybe Lagoonscapes, haven't decided.)
These are all pics of the reflections of boats at my yacht club.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Oh. The collection is called Waterscapes. (Or maybe Lagoonscapes, haven't decided.)
These are all pics of the reflections of boats at my yacht club.

Heh... should we refer to you as Lil' Yachty? (great photos, btw!)

 

[DaveC426913]

Then computer generated

Noooooo.
Post 784 contains several of the raw photos - taken right off my camera - to show you the final pics are taken right from the originals.

 

[berkeman]

These are all pics of the reflections of boats at my yacht club.

Very nice and creative, Dave.

 

[DaveC426913]

Very nice and creative, Dave.

I'm finding it very interesting how much difficulty I'm having convincing people that they're not manipulated. I've got several hanging in an art show, and I think I may have to provide a (what's the opposite of a caveat? ).

 

[berkeman]

I think I may have to provide a (what's the opposite of a caveat? ).

Do the hanging ones have titles? Unless the viewers know that they involve reflections of colorful boats on the ripples, they could assume that the colors were artificially introduced.

 

[Point Conception]

 

[jtbell]

While I was out walking yesterday, I came across the high school's homecoming parade all lined up, ready to start. I stopped and watched as it passed through the college on its way to the high school about a mile away.

The college has its own homecoming next weekend.

 

[Point Conception]

From the Northerly side

 

[Point Conception]

Some phone photos of film prints: Catalina Island , Similan Islands and Cha-am beach, Thailand

 

[Andy Resnick]

Some recent fall photos from a couple of walks:

(you can just barely see the reflected stars)

 

[BadgerBadger92]

Some recent fall photos from a couple of walks:

View attachment 315785

View attachment 315789
(you can just barely see the reflected stars)

View attachment 315787

View attachment 315788

I like the first one! A great usage of the Fibonacci Spiral

 

[DennisN]

These are photographs; not paintings or CGI.

Gorgeous photos with lovely colors! And very creative!

This reminded me of something similar I did by chance maybe a year ago. I was filming a pond and decided to lower the camera to film the small waves in the pond, and it suddenly made me quite excited. It felt a bit like I looked at an impressionist painting which was in motion instead of static.

I'll see if I can find the clip, and if so I will post it here later.

 

[Swamp Thing]

I like the first one! A great usage of the Fibonacci Spiral

https://www.science.org/content/art...ase, the telltale,large sunflowers—89 and 144.

Over the past 4 years, members of the public have been growing their own sunflowers and submitting photographs and counts of the spiral patterns. After verifying the counts from 657 flowers, a more realistic picture of sunflowers is emerging. A study published today in Royal Society Open Science reports that nearly one in five of the flowers had either non-Fibonacci spiraling patterns or patterns more complicated than has ever been reported, including near-Fibonacci sequences and other mathematical patterns that compete and clash across the flower's face.

 

[DennisN]

Autumn color palette (taken a couple of days ago):

Lens used: Canon nFD 50mm f/1.4 (which can give heart-meltingly warm colors )

 

[DennisN]

I’m sorry if I posted these before, I don’t remember if I did. What do you think of these shots? Click on the photos to see them better.

Very nice shots with loads of character and atmosphere, I like them a lot!

They feel "old school" I think, and I mean it in a good way.
Which gear did/do you use? (i.e. camera and lens/lenses?)

 

[BadgerBadger92]

Very nice shots with loads of character and atmosphere, I like them a lot!

They feel "old school" I think, and I mean it in a good way.
Which gear did/do you use? (i.e. camera and lens/lenses?)

Thank you! I hope some other members can tell me what they think too

I used a Nikon D750 with a 24-120mm F2 lens, and a tripod of course lol

 

[DennisN]

Ok, here's something for lovers of vintage gear and "lensoholics" like me...

A couple of months ago I acquired another optic toy, a so-called "bokeh monster", which is a nickname for lenses that can deliver (1) a small depth of field and (2) a very smooth bokeh (i.e. background blur).
I got it for ca $30 on an online auction, which I consider a bargain.

Here is the Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 (zebra style version)...

...which was made in G.D.R. (East Germany):

One small thing that caught me by surprise was that the lens has a detachable metal hood
which I haven't seen on any of my other lenses:

But here's what makes the lens extra cool and a so-called "bokeh monster"; it's got 15 aperture blades (!):

I really admire the workmanship.
The lens is very, very finely made with smooth but robust controls, and it is a pleasure to use.
Well, partially . There is one downside in my opinion: it's heavy (ca 500 g):

The weight makes it a bit tricky to use handheld. Together with camera and M42 adapter the total weight of the gear approaches 1 kg. So, handheld, you don't do exactly casual point-and-shoot stuff with this setup, but rather a bit of physical workout . And this little beast truly deserves to be called "built like a tank". I don't know if it would withstand a nuclear explosion, a major asteroid hit or hitting the singularity of a black hole, but when I hold it, it feels like there is a chance of survival .

But boy... it can really blur out backgrounds in photos:
(note how the backgrounds have been "disintegrated" in the photos, which I took earlier in July)

More info for anyone who may be interested:

• Pentacon / MeyerOptik Gorlitz Orestogor Preset 135mm F2.8 (PentaxForums)
• Pentacon 135mm F2.8, a gem from the cold war (vintage-photo.nl)

(by the way, I notify @Andy Resnick who I think also likes vintage optics )

 

[pinball1970]

Ok, here's something for lovers of vintage gear and "lensoholics" like me...

A couple of months ago I acquired another optic toy, a so-called "bokeh monster", which is a nickname for lenses that can deliver (1) a small depth of field and (2) a very smooth bokeh (i.e. background blur).
I got it for ca $30 on an online auction, which I consider a bargain.

Here is the Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 (zebra style version)...

View attachment 315871

...which was made in G.D.R. (East Germany):

View attachment 315872

One small thing that caught me by surprise was that the lens has a detachable metal hood
which I haven't seen on any of my other lenses:

View attachment 315873

But here's what makes the lens extra cool and a so-called "bokeh monster"; it's got 15 aperture blades (!):

View attachment 315874

I really admire the workmanship.
The lens is very, very finely made with smooth but robust controls, and it is a pleasure to use.
Well, partially . There is one downside in my opinion: it's heavy (ca 500 g):

View attachment 315875

The weight makes it a bit tricky to use handheld. Together with camera and M42 adapter the total weight of the gear approaches 1 kg. So, handheld, you don't do exactly casual point-and-shoot stuff with this setup, but rather a bit of physical workout . And this little beast truly deserves to be called "built like a tank". I don't know if it would withstand a nuclear explosion, a major asteroid hit or hitting the singularity of a black hole, but when I hold it, it feels like there is a chance of survival .

But boy... it can really blur out backgrounds in photos:
(note how the backgrounds have been "disintegrated" in the photos, which I took earlier in July)

View attachment 315876

View attachment 315877

More info for anyone who may be interested:

• Pentacon / MeyerOptik Gorlitz Orestogor Preset 135mm F2.8 (PentaxForums)
• Pentacon 135mm F2.8, a gem from the cold war (vintage-photo.nl)

(by the way, I notify @Andy Resnick who I think also likes vintage optics )

The GDR is a nice touch. Not seen that in a while.

 

[DennisN]

The GDR is a nice touch.

Some East German vintage lenses are highly appreciated by some vintage camera gear users.

Two years ago I would never have guessed it.

Likewise, there are quite a few highly appreciated lenses from the Soviet Union/Russia, which also was a surprise to me.

Since I started looking for vintage gear on online auction sites I've come across some really weird gear.

For instance, right now there is a Soviet KGB counterespionage camera kit available at the moment on a popular Swedish online site (here). Current price is $90 (80 British pound). No bids yet. A cool kit, but I'm not going to bid on it.

A quote in the ad translated to English:

"USSR-era camera prototype designed by Khrushchev, manufactured by Zenith on behalf of the KGB, intended for counter-espionage above all in the GDR."

 

[BadgerBadger92]

Ok, here's something for lovers of vintage gear and "lensoholics" like me...

A couple of months ago I acquired another optic toy, a so-called "bokeh monster", which is a nickname for lenses that can deliver (1) a small depth of field and (2) a very smooth bokeh (i.e. background blur).
I got it for ca $30 on an online auction, which I consider a bargain.

Here is the Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 (zebra style version)...

View attachment 315871

...which was made in G.D.R. (East Germany):

View attachment 315872

One small thing that caught me by surprise was that the lens has a detachable metal hood
which I haven't seen on any of my other lenses:

View attachment 315873

But here's what makes the lens extra cool and a so-called "bokeh monster"; it's got 15 aperture blades (!):

View attachment 315874

I really admire the workmanship.
The lens is very, very finely made with smooth but robust controls, and it is a pleasure to use.
Well, partially . There is one downside in my opinion: it's heavy (ca 500 g):

View attachment 315875

The weight makes it a bit tricky to use handheld. Together with camera and M42 adapter the total weight of the gear approaches 1 kg. So, handheld, you don't do exactly casual point-and-shoot stuff with this setup, but rather a bit of physical workout . And this little beast truly deserves to be called "built like a tank". I don't know if it would withstand a nuclear explosion, a major asteroid hit or hitting the singularity of a black hole, but when I hold it, it feels like there is a chance of survival .

But boy... it can really blur out backgrounds in photos:
(note how the backgrounds have been "disintegrated" in the photos, which I took earlier in July)

View attachment 315876

View attachment 315877

More info for anyone who may be interested:

• Pentacon / MeyerOptik Gorlitz Orestogor Preset 135mm F2.8 (PentaxForums)
• Pentacon 135mm F2.8, a gem from the cold war (vintage-photo.nl)

(by the way, I notify @Andy Resnick who I think also likes vintage optics )

I’m thinking about buying a Sigma 85mm F1.2 ART lens. It’s perfect for portraits and getting good lens compression and is very sharp with excellent bokeh. Too bad it’s nearly a thousand dollars, so I’m saving up

 

[DennisN]

Sigma 85mm F1.2 ART lens

I think I've read about it somewhere.

Too bad it’s nearly a thousand dollars

Gosh, that's a lot for one lens, but I know very well that some lenses can be really expensive.

I've mostly got vintage lenses, and I've spent around 2000 dollars on all my photography gear (incl. camera, filters, tripods and various accessories).

I hadn't really planned to spend that much, but photography is a hobby I realized I really enjoy. And life is short so one may enjoy life as much as possible. :)

I consider my money well spent. For that amount I have acquired ca 30 various lenses, of which I consider ca 22 of them to be keepers. I'll likely sell the other 8.

It is a bit ridiculous to have so many lenses, but one benefit is that I have gotten the opportunity to try out the stuff thoroughly, so now I know which my favorites are ( the different lenses have different strengths and different rendering characteristics).

With my range of lenses I also have the opportunity to do practically everything between superwide focal lengths up to supertele (and also macro photography). I've got 12, 28, 35, 40, 50, 55, 58, 135, 200, 300 and 400 mm prime lenses. It's a bit crazy, I know :).

It fits my character, I have to admit. I love to experiment. :)
And it's been very fun to look for and try all the vintage gear.

 

[epenguin]

Oh well, this time of year we always used to have the theme of autumn in a competition. I'm not getting around so much so dug this up from 2007. No spectacular colours, no special lens or technique, and I wonder if it hasn't even faded sitting in a disk, but I still like it. Our hemisphere going towards its winter repose as it does every year... well used to.

 

[DennisN]

No spectacular colours, no special lens or technique, and I wonder if it hasn't even faded sitting in a disk, but I still like it.

I like it too! To me it looks a bit like a landscape painting of a nice scenery (and if the colors were boosted I think it might lose the feeling of "painting").

 

[BadgerBadger92]

I think I've read about it somewhere.

Gosh, that's a lot for one lens, but I know very well that some lenses can be really expensive.

I've mostly got vintage lenses, and I've spent around 2000 dollars on all my photography gear (incl. camera, filters, tripods and various accessories).

I hadn't really planned to spend that much, but photography is a hobby I realized I really enjoy. And life is short so one may enjoy life as much as possible. :)

I consider my money well spent. For that amount I have acquired ca 30 various lenses, of which I consider ca 22 of them to be keepers. I'll likely sell the other 8.

It is a bit ridiculous to have so many lenses, but one benefit is that I have gotten the opportunity to try out the stuff thoroughly, so now I know which my favorites are ( the different lenses have different strengths and different rendering characteristics).

With my range of lenses I also have the opportunity to do practically everything between superwide focal lengths up to supertele (and also macro photography). I've got 12, 28, 35, 40, 50, 55, 58, 135, 200, 300 and 400 mm prime lenses. It's a bit crazy, I know :).

It fits my character, I have to admit. I love to experiment. :)
And it's been very fun to look for and try all the vintage gear.

I also forgot to tell you I love your floral photography work! Nice colors!