AIC Photography

Back again

2011-10-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

I will be posting on my blog again starting today, sorry for the long hiatus.

Creative self portrait

2011-02-19T14:05:00.001-08:00

A photography forum for Pentax users at Steve's Digicams, had a topic for the February challenge of "Creative self portrait" here are a few of my ideas.

The first is a composite of my mirror shot and a Pingo sunset:

The second is a crop of the mirror shot:

This is me pointing an 18mm at myself while walking to the Northern store (temperature a balmy -21C, wind-chill -31C):

Here is a shadow self portrait:

A 10mm fisheye provided the original for this high contrast black and white:

Sunset Ride

2011-02-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

The picture above is a fine example of what a Pentax *istDL with an old FA 28-80mm f4 lens can do.

Scott Kelby has written that anything more than 6MP is unnecessary, I think this makes his point very clearly. Below is what this combination looks like.

Cats and dogs

2011-02-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

Just found this great quote by carl (?)

Here it is:
"Here's the thing about cats: cats used to be people and they know that they used to be people. Thus the reason for all the attitude. Dogs, on the other hand, are looking forward to being people and believe that by being our 'best friend' they increase their chances of getting there. Dogs have the enthusiastic naivete of the aspirational; cats have the reflexive ennui of the disappointed."

carl's quote was found at:
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2011/02/x100-update.html

Ready for the elements

2011-02-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

Although they are only slow "kit" zooms my new lenses have one very important feature, they are weather resistant. Now I can brave environmental conditions I had to avoid in the past thanks to weather resistant cameras (K10D and K20D) and the two weather resistant lenses, DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR and the DA 50-200mm f4-5.6 ED WR. The longer zoom has already proven itself at temperatures of -25C and the wide zoom shall soon find itself in similar conditions on my K10D. Pentax may be behind the big names (Canon and Nikon) in many ways but neither of these companies can offer an image stabilized, all-weather system for anything near the price of this Pentax kit. My two WR zooms have a combined price of less than $400.

Next post will be some new images from Tuk, stay tuned.

No HDR here.

2011-01-30T15:26:00.000-08:00

I have found HDR to be a bit of a "hit-or-miss" proposition so far so here is an image processed by the usual means, a little local contrast enhancement, levels adjustment and sharpening. I call it Pingo Sunset because it includes the setting sun to the right of Ibyuk Pingo.

More HDR

2011-01-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Two examples from today, this is what midday looks like North of the Arctic Circle:

And here is the look a couple of hours later, also HDR:

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T05:13:00.001-08:00

A Christmas Watercolour.

HDR First attempt

2010-12-11T16:41:00.001-08:00

Here is the best I could get with a single exposure:

This HDR was based on three different exposures and a colour adjustment in Photo Shop Elements 5:

Snow Day

2010-11-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

Thursday was a windy day with blowing snow so I relaxed at home playing with a wide angle lens. Here are a couple of ordinary items shot with a different slant.

Halloween in Tuk

2010-11-06T13:25:00.001-07:00

Just a couple of images from the Halloween celebrations at the school.

Cars, a short story

2010-10-27T20:56:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post something different tonight, a true story of my youth.

He goaded me every chance he got, not outright bullying but a constant nagging effort to find flaws, especially with my car. It sounds silly now, but for a 22 year old, a car can be an extension of your personality and insulting one’s car was personal. As the summer progressed the gibes continued. Sometimes I did get my own back, like the time he bragged about his car without truly noticing mine.

¨That’s a sway bar” he said, tapping the thin metal object bolted to his car’s suspension as it perched on the garage hoist in my uncle’s service station. ¨Bet you haven’t seen one of them before!¨

¨Not that small¨ I quipped, pointing to the 3/4¨ aftermarket sway bar I had installed that previous spring. It was a small victory but only temporarily interrupted the abuse.

He liked to show off, especially the tire shredding one-wheeled burnouts he did in front of the local beach hangout. I was more concerned about my car, and a little nervous about embarrassing myself, so I made no efforts to compete. My car was much smaller and got little respect but it was a bit of a ¨sleeper¨ the term used for a car that was much quicker than its appearance implied. It had a small v8, a manual transmission and a limited slip differential, a recipe for some serious two-wheeled burnouts. All it lacked was a driver with the nerve to try.

Then that day arrived, the day that ended this abuse once and for all. I sat in my car watching him do his usual burnout, waiting for the inevitable teasing to follow. My best friend Doug was with me that day, and after the usual ¨guess you can’t do that in your little car¨ comment Doug looked at me and said, ¨What have you got to lose, maybe he’ll lay off you if you at least give it a try.¨

Well, things couldn’t get much worse so I slowly backed out onto the pavement. That is where providence took over. At that time many people kept a couple of cattle, for milk, and a winter calf for slaughter. These cattle ran freely, eating from any roadside meadow and depositing their waste products with no restrictions. In backing up I had unknowingly run through a fresh, slippery, cow pie.

I stopped the car and looked down the straight stretch of empty road. Selecting first gear I floored the gas and dropped the clutch. We just sat there, the engine screaming near the redline with the car edging forward out of a cloud of white smoke. Not knowing what to do I jumped on the clutch and jammed it into second gear. The screaming continued but the car finally got enough grip to shoot forward. At redline I shifted to third which was accompanied by a healthy scream from the tortured tires and as I crested the hill the shift to fourth brought an audible chirp. I slowed the car to socially acceptable speed and we cruised back to the hangout. When we arrived there were still a few people examining the twin black marks on the pavement, but he was nowhere to be seen.

He never bothered me again. He still did his showoff burnouts, but only when I wasn’t around. I didn’t set out to embarrass him, he managed that all by himself, and for the rest of that summer I never attempted to repeat my performance. He didn’t bother me so I was happy. And of course only Doug and I knew of the little extra lubrication courtesy of the local bovine population. That is one small secret that made my life much more pleasant, at least for the rest of that summer.

I often wish I still had that car.

Ice Fog Results

2010-10-24T14:46:00.001-07:00

The ice fog leaves a crystalline coating on all things:

Ice Fishing

2010-10-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

"Anybody down there?"

Lots of these little frog faces to throw away.

Out on the harbour.

You can now walk across instead of around.

Time to make a rink

2010-10-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

Two boys scrape off the snow to make a rink on the big pond. Ibyuk pingo forms the bsckdrop.

Overprocessing

2010-10-11T19:33:00.001-07:00

I took this image from about a month ago and started playing with sharpness and saturation, the sequence here takes you from a relatively unaltered image through stages of greater saturation and sharpening and finally a moderately high contrast black and white. You can choose accuracy or artistic flare, whichever suits your purpose at the time.

10:10 10/10/2010

2010-10-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Looked at the time, grabbed the camera and quickly shot out the window with the old M 100mm macro lens.

Please ignore the exif time stamp. It says 1:40pm because I hadn't reset the clock for my new location. 1:40pm Newfoundland time is 10:10am in Tuktoyaktuk. That means this image was shot at 10:10 10/10/2010.

Not a great image but when I saw the time I just grabbed the camera and shot out the window into a very dull wet day.

Frost and snow

2010-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

As you can see, the ponds are mostly frozen and even the Arctic Ocean is showing a little ice around the edges.

There were footprints and snowmobile tracks on the small pond where I had seen the muskrat.

This is near where the ice road will come ashore in a few weeks. Season 2 of Ice Road Truckers deals with the road from Inuvik to Tuk on the Mackenzie River and the Beaufort delta.

September 29th, the season has begun.

2010-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Tuktoyaktuk Road Hockey league seems to have started, this was early evening of Sept 29th and lasted for quite some time. Where streets are not paved frost and snow becomes a welcome necessity for street hockey.

Changes

2010-10-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I have been using this blog mainly to report about my new location, using snapshots to show what I have seen. From now on I will try harder to create images which take more advantage of this unique environment. It may be a few days before I have any new images but please check back regularly.

I'm in the paper

2010-09-30T16:30:00.001-07:00

Katie May from News North ran this article in this weeks paper:

Well, hopefully there will be some local interest and I can get some sort of local photography class or interest group going. am hoping to offer CTS classes in Visual arts and photography over this school year but I would like some community involvement as well.

Street names

2010-09-26T14:24:00.001-07:00

Before I start on Tuktoyaktuk street names, here is a typical house, notice that it is held up above the surface by posts. Since we are in permafrost here buildings have to be kept off the ground or the permafrost will start to melt, causing the building to sink. Even large buildings are held up like this.

As you can see, things are starting to freeze here.

Here are a few street names, Beaufort Drive is the main street, named for the Beaufort Sea that we are located on. Mangilaluk was an Inuvialuit leader and the term Inuvialuit literally means the real people, which are the people of this area. Other names I have yet to find the meaning or significance of.

Muskrat on ice

2010-09-25T14:40:00.001-07:00

Temperature here in Tuktoyaktuk is around zero Celsius today so this muskrat was on thin ice... literally.

The ice was so thin that it took him two attempts to get up. The edges were so brittle that they would break away beneath him. The closer images are cropped from the original files and, in my rush to get them on here, I used a simple auto contrast setting which may have exaggerated the flaws of the lens. Hopefully I will get some even better shots in future. (I will have to start using my monopod as a walking stick.)

What's in your camera bag

2010-09-20T20:29:00.001-07:00

Here is what I have available to me:

This as my "carry everywhere" lightweight tool. A six year old Fujifilm Finepix S7000. Still a great camera.

Sik-sik or Tsik-tsik

2010-09-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

The Arctic ground squirrel, a common sight here in Tuktoyaktuk.

2010-09-14T21:01:00.001-07:00

My new friend, Inuvik airport.

The famous igloo church in Inuvik NT, if you look closely you notice that the lower walls are designed to look like the snow blocks of an actual igloo:

This is how we flew back to Tuktoyaktuk, in a DC-3 converted to turboprop engines. We sat on the left side of the cabin while supplies for the Northern Store took up all of the right side. They carry freight pallets on the right and passengers on the left, a new experience for sure, and a tight squeeze to get to your seat.

Aurora Borealis, first attempt

2010-09-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

I woke up about 4AM to this light show, not the most impressive aurora for here, but a first for me. The first group of pictures were shot through my bedroom window, sorry about the hanging cable.

I have no tripod yet (it is on the way) so I had to rest the camera on the windowsill for the 30 second exposures. The lens used was the 10-17mm fisheye at its 17mm end so there is still a great deal of distortion near the edges of the image.

I have never tried to shoot aurora before because I have only seen them very infrequently (not all that prominent in Newfoundland). Hopefully over the next month there will be some more impressive shows since this is the peak season of what has been forecast as a peak year due to increased solar activity.

These were shot through a screen I couldn't remove so you can see the pattern in the images. This was also looking East through my living room window.

This was out my kitchen window, looking to the west.

Enjoy

A reminder

2010-08-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

If you want to see more of my pictures please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/monza76/ and see my uploads on my new location at Tuktoyaktuk as well as my older pictures. I will post a commentary here and some pictures but many more will be posted to Flickr. Please leave comments, they are appreciated.

Artic sport 1

2010-08-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is an Arctic sport involving a one foot kick at a target well above your head. They approach the target and then jump and kick upward with one foot:

Kick the fur target:

And land on the foot you kicked with:

Today, a natural freezer and drum dancing.

2010-08-30T18:24:00.001-07:00

This unassuming little structure is the entrance to a natural freezer:

Our guide at the base of the ladder in Tuktoyaktuk's community freezer. 24 steps down a vertical ladder into a complex of three corridors and many rooms tunnelled out of permafrost. The temperature outside was about +10C while the temperature down here was closer to -8C. Here is a whirlwind tour. More tomorrow.

"Muktuk", you know the rules, look it up:

The contents of a room:

The crystal ceiling:

This room holds a wolf carcas, wolves are in abundance and are causing a decline in the caribou:

A room door clearly showing the strata in the permafrost, ice and silt:

24 steps down in the frozen earth:

The way out:

This ranks as a must see in Tuk.
_________________________________

Drum dancing is an intricate northern ballet with moves that immitate the animals and the actions of the people. Dances are short and very well coreographed with synchronized moves by the dancers. The women move gracefully staying in position while the men stomp and move to the rhythm, yelling apecific sounds at points in the dance. I even got to try it myself!

The Drummers / Singers

The Dancers:

The finale of the love song dance:

The original costumes would have been made from dark caribou hide but lighter materials are used so that the dancers can perform indoors. The precision of the moves and the detail of the dance conjure up vivid images of polar bears, geese, and hunters. Fantastic.

Tuk Reflections and the swans

2010-08-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

A typically calm evening makes for some great reflections, this is a view of the hanger at the airport from in front of my building.

This is just a small part of a huge flight of swans that flew over yesterday evening, by the time I got my camera they were flying over my roof and out of sight with only these few left. They keep to a very structured multiple-V formation.

PM visit and Ocean's Day in Tuk

2010-08-27T08:12:00.001-07:00

The Entrance

The speech

The Ocean's Day Feast, food for all from Muktuk to Tea made in a kettle over an flame out doors. Everything is free and the food was great.

Whitefish and dried Caribou.

What they called a doughtnut I would call a touton, except for the holes.

A very cooperative young golden eagle poses for a portrait.

The big pingo, Ibyuk (if you don't know what a pingo is, just look it up). There are about 1400 pingos in the Tuktoyaktuk area and this is the largest (a National Landmark).

He was too far away for a good shot but this swan made for a great sight.

Much more to come so please enjoy and leave comments.

Ira in Tuk

Tuktoyaktuk, a new adventure

2010-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well I have arrived at Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk from now on) and moved into my apartment and seen the school, It should be a fun year. Here are a few preliminary snaps.

Here is the school:

Here a Catholic church is being restored:

And here is a pingo (a mass of ice in the purmafrost pushes a hill upward):

Stay tuned for more.

Ira in Tuk NT

Glovertown Workshop

2010-03-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

My thanks to the House of Diamonds for the opportunity to present to an enthusiastic group of photographers. I hope this first session, a very technical one, has given everyone a better understanding of what is going on in the photographic process.

Things to carry with you:

1 - Remember, only erase images in the camera when it is necessary in order to get the shots you want, it is far more reliable to format the card in the camera after you have downloaded your pictures.

2 - Always keep your camera set to the highest resolution (largest image size) and best quality. You can make a large image small but you cannot enlarge a small image and keep the quality. If you need more space on your last memory card, reduce the quality setting but not the size, it will be less noticeable in your images.

3 - Use the P (program) mode since it allows you to control more of the cameras features such as ISO and white balance.

4 - When you venture away from the P mode, try the Av mode next since it gives you control over depth of field.

5 - Use the exposure compensation feature to deal with difficult lighting, remember go to the plus side to deal with small dark objects with bright backgrounds (snow, sandy beaches) and to the negative side to deal with small bright subjects against a dark background (people on stage against a dark curtain).

6 - Read... Your camera manual, and any books you can get on Photography. Even older books that deal with film photography are valuable since the principals haven't changed, just the recording medium.

If the April workshop can be arranged it will deal with technique issues such as using natural light for portraits and basic flash equipment. Since we have covered the more technical topics already we can look at more practical solutions to photography questions.

Ira

Portrait lenses and lighting.

2010-03-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Lenses:

The typical portrait lens is a short telephoto from 80mm to 135mm in 35mm film format, roughly 55mm to 85mm in APS sized digital. These focal lengths give enough distance to avoid the distortion common with wider lens used up close. Most kit lenses sold with dSLR cameras have a longest focal length that just gets you into this range. It is interesting to note that the cheap 28-80mm zooms that were the usual kit lenses on film cameras are now excellent choices for portrait lenses since they now have an effective focal length of 42-120mm. Some comment that these lenses are not necessarily the sharpest and can be particularly soft at the corners but remember that the APS sensor actually doesn´t see those corners at all and sometimes a really sharp lens can be somewhat unflattering to those with a less than perfect complexion.

Lighting:

Portrait lighting is a very complex topic about which volumes have been written, so lets keep it very simple. Whenever possible, natural lighting should be used for portraits (this comment may cause some controversy) and the worst lighting is usually direct on camera flash.

On camera direct flash:

Comments, in print, regarding the little flash found on most cameras range from ¨only turn it on outdoors as a fill light¨ to ¨It is best used as a weapon to make people you don´t particularly like, look bad.¨ The point is that direct flash lighting has a very unflattering effect. it flattens features and gives the ¨deer (moose?) in the headlights¨ look to the image. There are devices which fit over the camera flash and spread the light more evenly (like a miniature soft box) but a flash that allows bounce capability is far more useful. Wedding photographers often use direct flash for things like the walk down the aisle because there is no time for anything else. Remember that the built in flash is an excellent tool for fill flash in harsh midday light or in backlit situations. Remember that the useful range of most of these built in flash units is only about 2m.

Hot shoe mounted advanced flash units:

The dedicated flash units with swivel and bounce capabilities, that are offered by all major dSLR manufacturers, are a giant leap up from the built in flash. (Note, Canon, Nikon and Sony do not build a flash into their top pro models since they believe typical users of these models will want/need more). These flash units can be quite expensive, usually over $250 for the lower level models, but if you plan on doing lots of event photography they are a must. Even wildlife photographers using long telephoto lenses find these flash units provide useful fill at extreme distances. These flash units use the camera´s meter to provide accurate exposures and are therefore easy to achieve good results. They can provide fill flash as well, and they can have effective ranges of 10m or more.

Off camera flash:

Here is where things get interesting and complex. The vast array of off-camera flash options all come down to one simple fact, getting the flash away from the camera location allows more creativity, and adding a second or third light makes things even more interesting by allowing differential lighting. When a photographer talks about lighting ratio they are referring to the relative amount of light from each of two or more sources. A simple two light setup is typical of mass-production photography such as the ubiquitous school picture. It is easy to set up and gives good results.

Portrait types:

There are endless possibilities for portraiture but again, it comes down to a few general categories.

The ¨formal¨ portrait is still a very popular type (millions of school pictures are a perfect example). This style involves carefully controlled lighting and backgrounds to emulate the formal painted portraits of the past. Yousuf Karsh was one of the greats in this style.

Modern portrait styles often include elements of high fashion photography. This means using more dynamic posing techniques and often location shooting. The key here is to create images with action.

Wedding photography is an area of portraiture which has helped to develop a photojournalist style. This involves candid images, usually in black and white.

Arnold Newman, a master of portraiture, was a major proponent of ¨environmental¨ portraits. In his images the subject was often quite small, since their normal environment was an important element. One of his best known examples was a portrait of Igor Stravinsky at this piano.

Ira Crummey

Local Contrast Enhancement

2010-03-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist a fish eye view of the Aviation Museum.

Used unsharp mask to boost contrast. Check out the technique at www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/contrast-enhancement.shtml

Gander, in Twelve Images.

2010-03-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

AN interesting project, define your town in a limited number of images. This set only represents three different subjects, but one has been studied in colour and black and white from different points of view.

moonrise on planet tiffany

2010-03-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

The edited image, "Moonrise on planet Tiffany"

The original image:

The "moon" is actually filter flare as I shot the 100W Tiffany style light fixture with a UV filter on my Fuji S7000. With Photoshop Elements I removed the chain from the lamp, cut the flare and the lamp to circles, used a watercolour effect on the lamp (which was out of focus) and turned the very dark background to the blackness of space (perhaps I should have added stars).

The result is this surreal "space scape". Sometimes an accident caused by nasty flare can be a playful piece of art.

Blue snow

2010-02-27T17:18:00.001-08:00

Note that the blue shadows here may look like a white balance error but in fact they are blue. The shaded areas do not get direct sun so, being white, the snow reflects the blue sky. When viewed with the naked eye our brains will tell us they should be gray. Without a brain to cloud the image, the camera shows the accurate blue sky reflected on white.

On a cloudy day the shadows will appear gray.

Teleconverters and Macro

2010-02-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

Just a little FYI, if you have a teleconverter it will extend the focal length of the lens by 1.4X or 1.7X or 2X or 3X depending on which you have. What some people don´t notice is that the converter does not change the minimum focus distance of the lens. This means that you now have a higher focal length at the same focus distance, therefore more magnification.

A 50mm which may normally give you a 1:4 macro ratio, can be combined with a 2X teleconverter to give you a 100mm lens that gets down to something approaching 1:2 (no, I haven´t bothered to check if the ratio is based on linear or square measure so it would be either 1:2 if the measure is linear or 1:2.8 if it is area). The image quality may not be up to true macro standard but it works.

The photographic eye - photographer vs painter

2010-02-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

Often photographers are also painters although the two have a very different path in achieving their images.

The painter starts with a blank canvass and adds the elements he/she feels are important, an additive process. The artists paint what they choose to see in the scene and ignore the extraneous flotsam of the unimportant. If it is not important to the artist, it is not included in the image. Although the initial shock of the blank canvass can make this a daunting process, the freedom of selectivity quickly makes it a pleasant challenge. The amount of detail in the image is the decision of the artist.

The photographer starts with the cluttered mess of everyday life and must work to eliminate the unimportant, a subtractive process. Through a complex process of changing point of view, manipulating depth of field, choosing focal length and waiting for the right lighting, the photographer can distill the image to the elements he/she originally wanted to see in the scene. “Murder your darlings” was a phrase first coined by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, and used by Galen Rowell to describe walking away from a potential image because you recognize that you cannot capture with your camera what you see with your brain. Remember that eyes are merely the tools of sight, the brain decides what is important and ignores the rest, a feature the camera cannot emulate.

Snapshots are easy, photographs are hard.

Enjoy

Our latest wedding shoot

2009-08-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Reid-Vienneau wedding from July, enjoy.

I got my toy BTW

2009-08-16T09:46:00.001-07:00

1999 V6 5-speed coupe. A basic canvass for future indulgences. This year it stays stock, next year the fun starts.

Nova Scotia farm country.

2009-08-16T09:39:00.001-07:00

Here we are in Antigonish area farm country. Pentax *istDL with FA 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 lens. Images edited in Picasa 3.

The year of automobile details

2009-08-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

I guess I could have called it "Scoops and Pins". The last three images were shot with the DA 10-17mm fisheye zoom.

Can you identify all of the car models?

Time to get back to this

2009-02-02T03:19:00.001-08:00

I will try to get more into the spirit of "blogging", but don't expect daily posts, I don't have that much to say.

Just playing

2008-11-05T17:41:00.001-08:00

Just imagining a little toy.

Original image courtesy of http://www.chicane23.com/chicane23/carbon.php

Manual focus

2008-09-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

Manual focus, originally uploaded by monza1976.

K10D with battery grip, Rikenon XR 28mm f2.8 (mounted), Pentax SMC-M 50mm f1.7, 100mm f4 macro, 200mm f4. Lowepro Orion Trekker II.

The K10D has a focus screen cut from a Minolta S700 part to give a split screen rangefinder. (This is the third camera that I have used this screen in and I must say it works better here than it did in the (otherwise) excellent *istDS)

This truly is a "hobby" kit. A seriously spec-ed camera with high quality lenses but at a very bargain basement price. If I am shooting pictures for "serious" reasons, such as the wedding we just shot, I use the AF lenses for their speed and accuracy. Also these lenses are so old they do not allow auto exposure either, they must be metered manually (shades of the K1000).

Wide angle fun

2008-09-13T08:01:00.001-07:00

Sara and Rod, originally uploaded by monza1976.

A 14mm lens allowed me to shoot this very low angle shot in a small space. I have seen this shot done with more normal focal lengths but it requires much more space than my makeshift studio allowed.

The V- formation

2008-09-13T07:57:00.001-07:00

Sara and Rod, originally uploaded by monza1976.

The bride came up with this idea from a picture she had seen, it worked very well I think. This would probably work best as a square crop.

Sara and Rod Cutting the cake

2008-09-13T07:55:00.001-07:00

Sara and Rod, originally uploaded by monza1976.

Shot with a Vivitar 285 flash, remote sensor, bounced from a very high ceiling. The flash was mounted on a Stroboframe camera flip bracket with a Pentax *istDS digitalSLR.

A lovely couple eh?

24 Hours in St. Johnś

2008-07-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Signal Hill in the morning fog.

Cabot Tower Sky above, Land below, Fog in the middle.The Johnson GeocentreA pleasant morning on Signal Hill.

Black and white wedding pictures

2008-07-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

Checking the time!Just married, the walk down the aisle.
The happy couple, using a 50mm f1.4 to limit the depth of field. Harbour Grace gives an opportunity to watch the sea and relax.

Northern Bay sands supplies an informal backdrop.

Things I have learned from this wedding!

1 - I really don't like using zooms which do not give the degree of sharpness I need, a 35mm prime and a 50mm prime give me the "look" I want.

2 - Zooming with my feet works best for me anyway.

Cobb's Pond Reflection

2008-06-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

Piper Cub, Deadman's Pond

2008-06-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

A great little aircraft. Pentax DS FA 35mm f2.0 lens.

Love this portrait

2008-06-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

Pentax *istDS FA 35mm f2.0 lens.

Water

2008-06-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

A small patio fountain, a Pentax K10D and the built in flash.

Another milestone last Friday.

2008-06-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Correcting the last exam of my 31 year career. This certainly puts it all in perspective.

Retirement warning.

2008-06-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

My wife says that now that I am retiring I need to get one of these.

My new toy

2008-04-18T18:04:00.001-07:00

Fun with a K10D

2008-04-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

Just a few samples from my new toy, and a special thanks to the one who made it possible.

March Hare, Eric's Time. Gander March 6

2008-03-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Just some of the musical acts of the March Hare, Gander edition, also now known as Eric's Time. The background painting of Eric Norman and Al Pittman is the work of Rex Kean. On the technical points, these images were shot with a Pentax dslr at ISO 1600 using a 50mm f1.4 lens (most shot at f2.0 to preserve some DOF) Anita Best
Mike Aucoin and the boys
Pat, Byrne, his nephews and Baxter Wareham
Daniel Payne

If you would like to see pictures of some of the other presenters just leave a comment.

More Drama Festival shots.

2008-02-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

This is a publicity shot of some of the cast of the Avion Players' upcoming production of "Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie. This is our entry to the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival at the Gander Arts and Culture Centre on March 25th.

Here is the original colour image. This appeared on the cover of the March 8-14th local television guide, "TV preview" included in the local Transcontinental Media newspaper, the Beacon.

Lunar eclipse

2008-02-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

Lunar eclipse of Feb 21, 2008. SMC-P F 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 at 300mm and full aperture.

More 50mm shots

2008-02-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

I guess every day is expecting too much. Here are three images from Saturday Feb 16th using a Pentax *istDL and an SMC-FA 50mm f1.4 lens.

Wet window

2008-02-12T17:30:00.001-08:00

A view through my back window from last month. Each of those water droplets has a little upside-down image of the back yard.

Time to get into the spirit of "blogging"

2008-02-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

This is my first effort to post a picture a day. Here are two from this morning.

Sometimes I am left wondering if anyone actually sees any of this, please leave a comment to let me know this little self indulgence is not in vain.

Ira

2008 NL Drama Festival Poster

2008-02-10T11:47:00.001-08:00

Here is a mockup for the poster design for the upcoming annual Drama Festival which will be held in Gander this year. Below is the image I used for the background. It was shot using a single theatre follow-spot to light the foreground subjects and produce the shadow. The colour was then removed from the subjects but saturation was increased on the curtain. Finally the contrast of the image was increased and the projection was stretched vertically for more visual impact on the final poster.

Bokeh Test 35mm f 2 Aspherical

2007-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

OKay, time to look at the bokeh of the 35mm f2 in the same circumstances:

Wide open at f2, again, round highlights.

At f2.8 the six blade aperture gives big hexagons:
At f4 smaller hexagons:

And at f5.6, even smaller.

This pointless exercise has proven nothing of any consequence, but the pictures are pretty, now pass the Gibsons and lets have a party.

Bokeh Test 50mm f1.4, and Happy New Year

2007-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just looking at the out-of-focus highlights (bokeh) produced by the 50mm f1.4 lens:

Here is f1.4, the parked aperture blades leave a round aperture:

Here is f2, the eight blades now leave an octagon:
Here ar f2.8 the highlights are noticably smaller:

By f4 the highlights are now small octagons:

Bokeh is a much discussed topic, how does the out of focus background impact on the image. The typical large aperture, non-aspherical 50mm lens has the most "pleasing" bokeh (at least that seems to be the concensus). Perhaps I will do a similar test with the Aspherical 35mm f2 lens I have, just to see if there is a noticable difference.

A Happy New Year to you and yours.

Ira and Annette

Christmas Spirit(s)

2007-12-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

The first image was created using a Cokin star filter and a flashlight.

This one is self explanatory (my title image).

Created with this:

Happy Holidays

2007-12-28T07:52:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from us to you.

"Horses for Courses"

2007-12-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

"Horses for courses", I just read an item on an internet forum about owning multiple camera systems. In my Film days I owned Pentax 35mm cameras and a Yashica TLR for some medium format work. Later I expanded to include a fairly extensive Minolta Maxxum system right alongside of the Pentax gear. This did not seem strange to me at the time. Along came digital and dSLR prices were astronomical compared to the film cameras, the idea of owning more than one was a financial pipe-dream, but now that has changed due to the drastic cut in dSLR prices over the last year. Now we can consider owning different camera systems to perform different roles, for instance a Fujifilm Finepix S5 with some nice Nikon lenses for portrait or wedding work, a Nikon D40 for p&s duty, a Pentax K10d with a new DA* zoom for hostile environments (or alternately an Olympus E3 system) (note I am not looking to the top end Canon or Nikon because these are still very expensive), a Nikon D300 with a long lens for BIF shots, a Canon 5D with some wide glass for landscapes, a SONY for all of those old Maxxum lenses...

As you can see, "Horses for courses". This list just touches on some of the more obvious choices.Brand loyalty??!! I am "loyal" to Pentax because they have met my needs (and given me a free lens ). That loyalty does not mean that I will not consider, or purchase, another brand of dSLR. If my needs demand it I will buy into another system, Olympus, SONY and Nikon have always been on my short lists and Canon isn't out of the question either ( OK Sigma is a very long shot).

I am currently an amateur photographer, an appellation that I am quite proud of, meaning that I do this because I like it. Sometimes I make a few bucks from it (I have covered most of my expenses in the past three years), but I am far from a professional. If photography were to become a greater part of my actual income I would definitely be looking at other camera systems to fulfill specific needs, which means that I would not necessarily replace my Pentax system, just fill in the gaps in my needs. Since this is not likely to happen (and later model Pentaxes such as Annette's new K100D Super have much better image processing and SDM compatibility) I will probably not expand into another system. However, if the price is right...

Ira

Annette's Autumn Colour

2007-10-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

The season of colour:

Autumn Brook

Light through Autumn Leaves Hanging On!
Fall through a Bridge

Almost Gone

Soft Autumn Water.

F 100-300mm f4.5-5.6 details

2007-10-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Annette

Annette and I were experimenting with soft moving water effects this past weekend in Western Bay. Here are a couple of my attempts, note that these are not great compositions, I was concentrating on getting the actual effect (a 100-300mm lens is not often suitable for this type of composition). It does do a nice moon though!!

At 1/3rd of a second, very nice:

At 1/500th, none at all: At 1/25th it shows the effect.
Couldn't resist a 300mm moon on a clear night.

Some more of our shots will be posted later, a beautiful autumn day is certainly a joy.

My Favourite Shed, DA 18-55mm f3.5-5.6

2007-10-08T17:57:00.001-07:00

It probably won't be there much longer!

FA 50mm f1.4 details

2007-10-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Just playing around with the late afternoon light in my own back yard. FA 50mm f1.4

FA 35mm f2.0 details

2007-10-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

Moreton's Harbour details from the FA35mm f2.0 lens.

First a little hang up: A nice glass doorknob

Stairway to heaven A quiet rest

New Gear

2007-09-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Time for a little upgrade, the FA 100-300mm f4.7-5.8 is now Annette's long lens as I now have the more robust F 100-300mm f4.5-5.6. This lens does not extend while zooming and has more metal parts. My trip to Cape St. Mary's showed me that the FA100-300 was not really up to that type of field work so when an opportunity to get this lens arose I took it. My current lenses also have a common design style which appeals to me as well. My second new toy is an FA 35mm f2 prime lens. This is a fast, super sharp, lens with the same field of view as the 50mm normal lenses I was so fond of in my film days. It may be my most used lens if the past is any indication. My third new lens (not shown here) is courtesy of Pentax Imaging Company. Through http://www.pentaxian.com/ I was informed that I had won an FA 50mm f1.4, the reality didn't sink in until it had arrived.

Godfrey DiGiorgi, one of the major contributors to The Pentaxian site, stressed the use of lens hoods. On his advice I have nice metal lens hoods of good quality for all of the lenses I will be using normally, and the protective UV filters are coming off (the 100-300mm is already filter free). Filters usually do not have the multicoating that lenses have and can cause filter flare in high contrast situations. I may even replace the plastic petal hood on this FA35 with a deeper metal hood since the lens will only be used on a reduced sensor size DSLR.

Ira

September in Moreton's Harbour, F 100-300mm f4.5-5.6

2007-09-29T14:31:00.000-07:00

Shot with the Pentax F 100-300mm f4.5-5.6

Targa Newfoundland

2007-09-29T13:46:00.000-07:00

Just a few snaps to get the feel of the event. Not your typical afternoon traffic.

Should have used those heavier axle housings!!

Another view of the Austin Healey 100, an early car before they "gained weight" in the 1960s

Porsche Drivers Wanted. This is the Hotseat!

I started with a modern Lotus, let's end with the modern interpretation of one of the first (anyone remember "The Prisoner" on TV). Colin Chapman had a simple philosophy, don't put anything on a car that doesn't make it go faster.

Glovertown Paper Mill

2007-08-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

Little known to most Newfoundlanders, Glovertown had one of several early paper mills around the Island (Campbellton had another). The mill was proposed in 1919 (as the plaque shows), the Town of Glovertown website has the story here http://www.glovertown.net/oldmill.php . Like many Newfoundland "mega projects" this one was never completed.

There is some "quality" graffiti among the many talentless scrawls (some graffiti can elevate itself above mere vandalism, but most is just inexcusable).

Some scenes, such as old buildings, cry out for black and white.

Ira

A "Photo shoot" at the Bird Sanctuary

2007-08-21T09:14:00.001-07:00

More Gannet pictures.

Gannets at Cape St. Mary's

2007-08-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

The Sea Stack

The Nursery

Greeting
Another Greeting

Elegant landings?!
Very graceful?!

A morning at the Bird Sanctuary. More to come, stay tuned.

Ira

Cleaning Fish

2007-07-28T17:22:00.001-07:00

Cleaning fish on a splitting table on a small wharf much like this one:

2007-07-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Perry's Cove Church, Newfoundland Perry's Cove Iceberg
Perry's Cove

Ochre Pit Cove, (with an iceberg in the background)

Same scene in colour

Ice Berg in Adam's Cove

Western Bay Point

Green's Pond - Black and White conversions

2007-06-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting with various methods of Black and White conversions, this last batch with Adobe PhotoShop CS2. I have been using the Channels control to selectively remove the colour from different areas of the image using different colour channels, such as using the red channel to darken skies while using the blue channel to give depth to foreground rocks. I did not use layers in working with these images but in future this will be the plan. The good thing is that there are innumerable tutorials on this process from many sources including Adobe's own website.

More of Green's Pond June 26

2007-06-27T07:07:00.001-07:00

Green's Pond June 26 from above

2007-06-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Moreton's Harbour June 9th Colour

2007-06-27T06:56:00.001-07:00

Moreton's Harbour June 9th Black and White

2007-06-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

Portraits

2007-06-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

I recently did some child portraits, here is a sample of the results.
Mother and Daughter

Sisters

One more pose.

Big Foot

2007-06-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Comments would be superflous.

Available light

2007-06-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Fujifilm Finepix S7000 set at ISO 800 (3MP) in B&W mode. I like the classic look.

Downy Woodpeckers

2007-06-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Male Downy

Female

Icebergs in Twillingate

2007-06-03T10:33:00.001-07:00

My son Justin was in Twillingate yesterday with his Kodak EasyShare C330 and got some very nice shots of some smaller icebergs near shore. As you can see there is a small piece of one in the foreground and a much larger on of in the distance. Should be a good year for icebergs, I hope I can get out and see some soon, meanwhile thanks to Justin for bringing these shots home.

Just liked this perspective.

2007-06-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Shot with a Fuji S7000 (digicam)

Shot with a Pentax *istDL (DSLR)
Now you know what I mean about image quality for DSLR cameras.

Ira

Fuji S7000 Macro

2007-06-03T10:31:00.001-07:00

Just a little shot from today, a surprisingly nice day I might add.

Joy with a Digicam!!

2007-06-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

As an owner and user of a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) I am often reminded of the compromises we have to live with in the cameras we use. Like my old film SLRs, the DSLR is fairly large, somewhat heavy, and of course lens choice becomes an issue (especially since the prospect of sensor dust means that lenses must be changed with more care than on my old film cameras). Then there is the big advantage of the live LCD view of a digicam, missing from all DSLRs but for a few Olympus models and the latest high end Canon. When the compromises become a little too much I reach for my old Fujifilm Finepix S7000.

DSLRs are all about image quality, in which they excel. Digicams like the Fuji give decent image quality but truly excel at convenience. Need the LCD view, no problem, need to travel light... no problem, need a quick video clip... no problem, need a super close macro shot... no problem, and (in the case of this Fuji at least) have an old flash unit you still like to use... no problem. These are the Swiss Army Knives of digital cameras, they aren't the best tool for anything but they are often a more than adequate tool at a vast array of jobs. The flexibility of these so-called "pro-sumer" or "bridge cameras" make them excellent photographic tools which can make you leave the DSLR at home.

I'll definitely keep mine handy.

Here is a sample of an ISO 800 shot from a retirement party last night.

Ira

Playing with lens flare

2007-05-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

A killer of many great photo opportunities, sometimes lens flare actually enhances an image, like this one from today's walk.