Random Photos

jtbell · Apr 26, 2025

We hadn't seen this guy on our front step for a while.

A large brown tabby cat with white paws and chest lies stretched out on a black ribbed doormat on a concrete step, head resting toward the lower left.

Looks like he's put on even more weight!

DennisN · Apr 28, 2025

Some shots taken today...

Flowering cherry tree #1:

Branch of pink double-flowered cherry blossoms with bronze-orange young leaves against a black background, backlit by sunlight.

Flowering cherry tree #2:

Branch of double-flowered pink cherry blossoms with reddish-bronze new leaves, set against a soft, blurred background of more pink blossoms.

Flowering bush (or small tree, I don't remember

):

Branch of pale pink and white blossoms with dark red-purple young leaves, lit against a dark blurred background.

(taken with Jupiter-37AM 135mm f/3.5)

DennisN · May 1, 2025

It looks like some crazy person has been out in the sun testing a lot of lenses...
...oh, wait... that must have been me.

A whole bunch of 50mm lenses were tested to see which actually are my favorites of all 50mm lenses I've got (and it's too many

, so I'm gonna sell those I don't use).

Two dark camera bags and several lenses and lens adapters on a wooden park bench, with three round white plastic containers with handwritten labels in front.

pinball1970 · May 2, 2025

Some nice clouds. We have had some fires on the moors, nowhere near as bad as you get in Oz, Greece, US but they do happen and can smoulder for a while and flare up again.
A few people have been asking if it will affect the sky, clouds.

Evening photo of a retail park car park under a blue sky with pink-lit cumulus clouds; a B&M store with a 'Welcome to bm' sign and a yellow-and-black police car in front.

Dusk sky with streaks of pink-orange clouds over a blue sky, street lamps and dark silhouetted buildings and trees below.

Dusk sky with pinkish-orange lit clouds and a thin crescent moon, a 20 zone speed sign at left, a building labelled Travis Perkins at centre and a silhouetted tree at right.

Dusk sky with streaked pinkish-orange clouds at right, bluer cloud bands at left, and a lit street lamp in the foreground above a fenced rail line and buildings.

Evening sky with pinkish-orange lit cloud banks and wispy streaks of cloud against a blue sky, with the sun low out of view.

DennisN · May 2, 2025

pinball1970 said:

Some nice clouds.

Is that a small slice of the moon I see in the upper center of photo #3, perhaps?

jrmichler · May 2, 2025

My favorite cloud photo. I was visiting friends, and those clouds looked a lot more impressive in person than in the photo.

Dark storm clouds over a lake with a dramatic, wind-swept shelf cloud rolling across the sky; trees on the left, a cabin and tree line on the shore, and a boat with a red canopy in the foreground.

pinball1970 · May 2, 2025

DennisN said:

Is that a small slice of the moon I see in the upper center of photo #3, perhaps?

Yeah when I looked up it was so precise and large against the sky. I made sure it was in there against all the pretty, cloudy, coloured, texture. This will make a lovely shot. I saw the image and it was tiny! It absolutely did not look like that right here, above me, with my eyes!
My camera lies!

pinball1970 · May 2, 2025

A

jrmichler said:

My favorite cloud photo. I was visiting friends, and those clouds looked a lot more impressive in person than in the photo.
View attachment 360613

Holy cow, that makes my cloud images look like Katy Perry, yours are Neil Armstrong.

nsaspook · May 3, 2025

Four women in dressy hats seated at a wooden table in a bar, three holding glasses of a pale yellow drink, with other patrons in the background.

Race day at the local bar and OTB.

Point Conception · May 4, 2025

Seafood soup, seafood salad, fried rice with shrimp. $16.

Wooden table at a waterside restaurant with fried rice with shrimp on a white plate, a bowl of red seafood soup, a seafood salad with shrimp and sliced chilli, and a plate of cucumber and lime wedges. Tidal flats are visible behind.

A woman in a white outfit sits on a wooden swing hung from a tree branch, overlooking a tidal flat with a beach umbrella and wooden tables beside her.

Point Conception · May 4, 2025

Along CA hwy 395 , Eastern Sierras

Three stacked photographs: top shows eroded reddish rock outcrops above dry scrub; middle shows a calm lake with dark volcanic cliffs on the right and shrubs in the foreground; bottom shows a dirt road leading toward tan, ridged mountains under a blue sky.

jtbell · May 6, 2025

A brown and white hawk with a pale chest perched on a bare branch among green leaves in a wooded area under a blue sky.

A brown hawk with a streaked chest perched on a bare branch among green leaves, with a tangle of vines on a tree trunk to the left.

nsaspook · May 6, 2025

Dancers in long red, pink and white folkloric dresses perform on a paved plaza outside a low building with a dark metal roof, under a clear blue sky.

Several dancers in colorful ruffled folkloric dresses performing on a sidewalk on a sunny day, with a red food truck and green trees in the background.

nsaspook · May 6, 2025

Backyard view of a flat-roofed wooden carport with a satellite dish, a small antenna mast and a dark wire mesh on its roof, surrounded by trees, shrubs and neighbouring houses under a clear blue sky.

jtbell · May 8, 2025

An orange tabby cat sitting on a concrete path beside a low green shrub, looking toward the camera.

jtbell · May 8, 2025

Florida isn't the only place with flamingos... but why are some of them wearing socks over their heads?

Garden bed of mulch with several pink metal lawn ornaments shaped like flamingos, a blue metal flower, a purple flower stake, and a green metal porch swing behind a tree.

jtbell · May 9, 2025

“Fatty” is back in front of our door.

A brown tabby and white cat lying stretched out on its side on a grey concrete path, with one front paw extended and its striped tail curled behind it, grass visible at the top edge.

DennisN · May 9, 2025

I walked by a photographer studio and saw a beautiful old Yashica LM TLR camera in the shop window:

Yashica LM twin-lens reflex camera placed beside a sepia-toned photo of a toddler in a white dress sitting on a white wrought-iron bed.

And here's my shadow on the street at night:

Dark shadow of a person falling diagonally across a warm-lit brick paved street at night, with the paving grid of rectangular stones visible.

(both shot with my smartphone)

gmax137 · May 9, 2025

Does anyone make a digital camera with a waist-level viewfinder? I might buy one. I hate the screen on the back finders.

DennisN · May 9, 2025

Mountain clematis

Close-up of a pale purple clematis flower with four broad, slightly wavy petals and a green centre of yellow-tipped stamens, against a black background.

(Lens: Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 MC) (focus stacked)

Mountain clematis - leaves

Close-up of young compound leaves on a thin branch, with bronze-green leaflets and a blurred reddish-brown brick wall and dark window behind.

(Lens: 7artisans 35mm f/0.95)

Viburnum plicatum

Close-up of white flower clusters on a shrub with serrated green leaves, set against a blurred green background.

(Lens: 7artisans 35mm f/0.95)

collinsmark · May 9, 2025

gmax137 said:

Does anyone make a digital camera with a waist-level viewfinder? I might buy one. I hate the screen on the back finders.

Many modern mirrorless cameras these days allow their back LCD to flip up, such that you can use it as a waist-level viewfinder in live-view mode ("live-view mode" means you use the LCD as a viewfinder -- it shows what the camera presently sees).

Here's an example showing the Leica SL3. There are many other modern mirrorless cameras (most all different brands) that can do this.

Black mirrorless camera with a large telephoto zoom lens showing the number 50 in yellow, lying on a wood-grain surface, with its rear LCD flipped out and tilted upward.

collinsmark · May 9, 2025

DennisN said:

A whole bunch of 50mm lenses were tested [...]

Speaking of 50 mm lenses (and viewfinders),

Mr. Mittens (my neighbor's kitty) stopped in yesterday [edit: day before yesterday] after a multiple week hiatus ("hiatus," that is, of not stopping over at my place -- not necessarily a hiatus in general). He's fine.

He decided to take a short nap on my open stairwell. I said hello, and gave him some affection, then got the camera out.

Continuing with my rangefinder focus practice, I decided to shoot my 50 mm lens wide open at f/1.4 (or thereabouts). A 50 mm isn't a "long" lens by any means, but it's on the longer side for a rangefiner, and at f/1.4 it's still a good challenge since the depth of field is so thin.

Close-up of a brown tabby cat lying down, looking directly at the camera with greenish-yellow eyes, shallow depth of field blurring the background.

Figure 1. Mr. Mittens saying hello.

Close-up photo of a brown tabby cat with yellow-green eyes and whiskers, looking off to the side, with a blurred background.

Figure 2. Mr. Mittens sporting his regal look.

In the latter picture (see Fig. 2) I switched over to the electronic viewfinder (EVF). My camera's rangefinder mechanism only works down to 0.7 meters. So as I got closer, I switched over to the EVF, where the camera operates quite similarly to a modern mirror-less. Of course I still have to manually focus. The rangefinder camera does not support autofocus in any form.

(I've got nothing against autofocus, btw. I just need to practice on the rangefinder which doesn't support it.)

DennisN · May 10, 2025

I'm not really sure where to put this post, but I hope it's ok I put it here...
I got this clip from a friend about a really cool microscope invention; getting dronelike shots in microscopes using a mirror rotating around the subject.

(@Andy Resnick may be interested, but anyone interested in "weird" optics and inventions may be interested too

)

This microscope spins - and the shots are insane (Steve Mould)

DennisN · May 10, 2025

And some more macro shots taken lately... three flies and a ladybug...
..the light was not that good (partly cloudy), but anyway...

Fly #1

Close-up macro photo of a dark bluish-black fly with large brown compound eyes and clear wings, resting on gray gravelly soil.

Fly #1, again:

Close-up macro photo of a dark grey fly with brown compound eyes and clear wings, standing on gravelly grey soil, facing the camera.

Fly #2:

Close-up macro photo of a dark blue-black blowfly with reddish eyes and transparent wings resting on a pinkish-green leaf.

Fly #3:

Close-up macro photo of a dark grey fly with red compound eyes and striped abdomen resting on gritty brown soil.

And a ladybug taking a rest:

Close-up of a red ladybug with black spots resting on dirt and small pebbles.

(all shot with Canon nFD 100mm Macro)

nsaspook · May 10, 2025

Wall of black plastic storage bins with handwritten resistance labels such as 10 ohm, 50 ohm, 200 ohm, 1 kohm and 10 kohm, holding yellow and metal-cased resistors sorted by value.

Open drawer of small plastic bins labelled with capacitor values in pF and nF, such as 10 nF, 100 pF, 1000 pF and 4700 pF, holding blue and yellow disc capacitors with long leads; a drawer label reads TRIM POTS.

Open drawer of a green metal parts cabinet labelled CAPACITORS, with many black compartments holding loose electrolytic capacitors, mostly blue and some maroon, with wire leads.

Always missing the one you need.

berkeman · May 10, 2025

nsaspook said:

Always missing the one you need.

After getting burned a couple of times, I made it a habit to always check the code on caps and the color code on resistors that I pulled out of the supply bins like that. Don't ask me why...

(although I guess it's pretty obvious...)

DennisN · May 10, 2025

berkeman said:

After getting burned a couple of times

Have you ever got burned by a soldering iron?
It's brutal

. The pain just keeps coming and coming...
The only good thing about it is it teaches you humility.
And respect for soldering irons.

berkeman · May 10, 2025

DennisN said:

Have you ever got burned by a soldering iron?

Oh yeah. Once when I was a 10y/o kid who was learning to solder wires with my Dad's Weller iron and I wondered if the big silver things also got hot like the heating element...

Black Weller industrial soldering gun with a pistol grip, a trigger switch, a vented heating housing, and two chrome-plated metal tips extending from the front, with a power cord at the back.

https://www.weller-tools.com/us/en/...g-guns/d650-industrial-soldering-gun-200w300w

Or the multiple times that I dropped a Metcal iron in my lap at my EE work (probably trying to work too fast, or the cord caught on my lab chair...)

https://www.productionequipment.com/mcsp200.html

DaveC426913 · May 10, 2025

DennisN said:

Have you ever got burned by a soldering iron?

Not me. But I'm not everyone.

A woman with dark hair wearing yellow safety glasses and a lilac button-up shirt solders components onto a circuit board on a white table in a laboratory.

gmax137 · May 10, 2025

berkeman said:

Once when I was a 10y/o kid who was learning to solder wires with my Dad's Weller iron and I wondered if the big silver things also got hot like the heating element...

I have the same memory, with the same Weller iron.

Random Photos

Similar threads