APAC Submissions: April 2014:dltphoto

This months images weren't particularly thought through entries. Just something I slapped though the system quickly as the deadline caught me off-guard. I didn't even know who the Adjudicator was. Mr Razor Sharp, apparently. Fortunately my images happened to be "Razor Sharp". He is one of the more fussy adjudicators, actually almost annoying but brutally honest which we need sometimes. I only hope it doesn't put off some of our new club members who might take offense from it.
As for the Images, if it's something he has 'seen' before it's likely to not do well. Don't submit a sunset pic, unless it's an amazing shot that no one has ever done before, as he has 'seen' them all. Don't submit a blue heron pic, as he has seen a million of them. So what do you submit for an adjudicator that's seen it all??? We live in a beautiful area of Canada but its also got it's limitations of what we can shoot that hasn't been done and is still spectacular. I think his expectations are rather unmanageable. Take a look at some of his images. Have you seen them before? Actually a lot of his images I see quite regularly through through the club presentations. So are his spectacular? or more of the same?, as he did those images does that make them spectacular? My images aren't spectacular, but are they unique? Have you seen them before?

'Shades of Beige". Abstract, score 7.5

'Oil Painting'. Open, Score 8

There was a request on this one by my chum Gerry regarding cropping, I cropped it as shown but I also showed the Adjudicator the full image and also another different crop, and he suggested that all worked well.

Here is the original, uncropped 'as shot' version, you can decide.

I didn't have chance to submit an assigned topic image, which was "9 seconds". Maybe I'll do next months.

You don't always need the newest Camera, just learn what you have. : dltphoto

Just astonished by the performance from one of my "little" camera's. Where it is nice to have the latest and greatest, knowing how to use the camera to it's fullest should be all you need. Make sure when investing in a  camera you talk to a salesperson who listens to you and then asks questions about what photography you want to do, so that they can match the best camera for your needs. I researched this model and learned it's capabilities before I purchased. Although I know it is fairly quirky in some of it's functions overall it can do the same as it's bigger brother "DSLR's".

I love the "Circles of Confusion " in this one

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1 plus 60= 162: dltphoto

Nikon 1 plus 60mm Macro lens equals 162mm focal length. resulting in closeup!
Here is a simple shot with no effects just simple macro handheld and mildly edited in Lightroom. Really the Nikon 1 Camera is fantastic. No complaints so far.

Macro, Micro...ummm Darn Close: dltphoto

Recently acquired my super cool adapter for my super cool Nikon 1 V1. This is all way too much fun.

I am enjoying using my Nikkor AF-s 60mm 2.8G on this little camera. It's increases  this lens to a working focal length of 162mm (film equivalent) due to the 2.7x crop factor of the V1.
Spring has arrived and so has the colour.

Nikon 1 V1 pt 2: dltphoto

Just out and about experimenting with my new camera. Since I only have the 10mm 2.8 lens (27mm wide angle equivalent), I am kind of limited to my street shooting, but that is not an excuse. This lens is brilliant. When I can afford the adapter I will then be able to use my full Nikon lens lineup on it.

The Next Generation: dltphoto

At a recent program night at APAC we had the very well known Nick Didlick attend to give a quick presentation about his Photographic achievements with the Olympic's and a rather brief session regarding the "next generation" of camera technology.
WOW, never has the Kool-Aid tasted so good. I am pretty sure that Nick affected several, if not dozens of the club members, yours truly included!
What tasty camera liquor was he talking about???

Nikon F5 and Nikon 1 V1 with matching Prime Lenses

The Nikon 1 V1, pictured with my Nikon F5. As I recall I talked briefly about the emergence of the new Mirrorless camera's. Size, ability and image performance. They have it all, and now do I. Initially you will see the "size" that I was referring too. Super tiny but not hard to hold. Ergonomically well laid out. Not as efficient as an SLR or DSLR for quick navigation, being more menu driven, but still has key elements in some nice places. So don't all throw out your huge Nikon lenses as there is some other good news! This little V1 with the FT-1 adapter, I am yet to obtain, will allow me to utilize all my fancy new Nikon AF-S lenses with some range benefits. As it stands all my current lenses will be "magnified" by 2.7x.... so for example, my Nikkor AF-S 70-200 2.8VR will effectively become a 189-540mm 2.8. Cool. This is going to be an interesting element but since I am not really a huge distance shooter or am more interested in the Macro equivalent with my 60mm Macro (will be 162mm . sweet.)
Anyways. Needless to say I am fairly excited and now I am able to do a little 1080HD video... Something I have never ventured into. The moving image, yikes.
Here are a few started Images with my current 27mm 2.8 1 series Lens. Loving it. Just need some nicer weather!

One shot forward, Three years backward: dltphoto

Here, in the dead or winter, I find myself going back through endless folders of images from loaned camera's and random shoots.I came across this image from my brief experience with the Nikon D3x during August, 2009. At one point Nikon's flagship Camera, with both Mega-Pixels and Build performance. Paired with my excellent Nikkor AF-S 60mm macro they were a match made in heaven. Anyways, this image I have chosen I can't really decide on.

320th sec, F5.6. 400 iso

I like the idea of it visually, it's pleasing and easy to look at. Howeve it doesn't inspire me since I am not a avid flower photographer.  When I  look at it as though it isn't a flower I go back to liking even more. I am very drawn the the shallow depth of field behind the centre of the flower, a sense of explosion of both colour and movement.

Christmas is coming....:dltphoto

This year I am going to inform you that all the camera's are great. All of them, really. Every manufacturer has caught up and everybody is producing a decent product with wonderful image quality.

This year I believe is the year that the Mirrorless Camera will emerge as the dominant product people are after. Since they are so small and so capable, plus we are seeing some nice price reductions due to some newer models being announced. This is the best time to pickup some great deals and still get a camera that is very new in the world of technology. First the Nikon 1 series of camera's are being switched to a new model which has had a very soft upgrade to the new version (series 2). Olympus Pen E-PL3 is one of my fav's in the Olympus lineup.

As for the Compacts.. again, they are all good. A feature that I have enjoyed is the Sweeping Panoramic system. Available in most of Nikon's upper end models with the 16MP Sensor.
As for the styles that seem to be most popular are the Shockproof, Waterproof models. These  models are fantastic for butter fingers, too many times have I seen camera's with "impact" damage. The same applies to how many times I have watched a Cell Phone hitting the ground and dispersing into 20 glorious pieces. The need for these camera's is evident! Nikon AW100 or Pentax WG-2 and both excellent for under $249.

Then we hit the serious enthusiast Pocket Camera's. Canon has an impressive lineup at this time, includes the Powershot S110 ( now with WiFi and Raw capable). Sweet little 5 X Zoom and sweet customizable Ring Feature. We can kind of slip the Fuji X10 and the New, but not yet available Fuji XF1 in this category also. All very well made camera's with a whole bundle of capability and great for creativity.

Lastly, the DSLR's. All looking very impressive. Best value for a DSLR designed for our dreary weather system is Pentax's K-30. Soooo weather sealed. It's insane. None of the other sub $900 DSLR's have any kind of weather sealing like this. So give it a thought! All offer HD video, some now offer WiFi capability such as Nikon D3200 (WiFi adapter required for $70), Canon EOS 6D (built in WiFi)

Probably some of the best-est bets this year will be accessories. Bags, tripods, filters..... FLASH'S, Yes. As a wise man once said " Flash is your friend"... oh, that was me! Without light you are powerless, unless you have F1.2 lenses, but who really can afford them! If your current camera can take an additional flash then get one that can change the light direction. Starting at $100 the Metz 24 AF-1 (available for all manufacturers in TTL), simple, powerful. Makes indoor shots nicer.

Then wrap up all the Christmas presents with a One on One Lesson with yours truly  Then they can have a nice camera and I can start to teach them how to use it.

P7K (Nikon Coolpix P7000): dltphoto

Big Thanks to Mr Koopmans for babysitting the "snail-like" slow Sigma DP1s whilst I get to play with his "F1" performance Coolpix P7000. I have had this camera before, at least I had the Nikon reps model. It has since had a pretty wicked firmware update which has brought it up to the speed of its younger brother the P7100. Now the youngest sibling is the Nikon P7700 which is yet to arrive on the shelf. It should be 'oh' so much improved, but will it really be improved? The P7100 in all its glory has only some minor upgrades to it over the newly updated P7000, features such as Zoom burst and artistic mode and other than the tilt-able screen it isn't much improved from what I can tell. We will see the vanishing act of the optical viewfinder on the P7700, which I see as no big loss, since I never used it on the P7000 anyways.
 The best option for me on this camera is the RAW file, it's not the normal Nikon NEF file I have been accustomed too. Sadly, I couldn't open them on my Lightroom Version so thank goodness for Nikon's View NX2 free software. It's not pretty, but it gets it done.
Here are a few shots, the original in jpeg form and the edited version through ViewNX2

Edited Raw

Original

Now having seen these two images at a relatively low resolution on this blog, check out what I spotted accidentally when zooming into the file to check for sharpness.....

Spiders are always lurking!

The Murky Underside of the Stunning Upperside: dltphoto

Many moons ago I acquired a wonderfully different camera to add to my Nikon collection. The Nikonos V film camera, as posted previously somewhere, sometime ago, on a blog post far, far away.
I resurrected it for some fun underwater antic's. Our kids hesitance to swim in the gorgeous green lake this year, without life jacket, was mildly frustrating. All of them now are very capable swimmers but I guess the massive lake must be a tad intimidating. Until of course I splashed out the Nikonos V and then off came the life jackets and on came the diving underwater with reckless abandon. It was quite the turnaround. I created monsters.

Working with the Nikonos is kind of odd, apparently water has some defraction non-sense that means when I focus a certain distance its actually not that distance blah blah blah... I found a technique of my own. GUESS IT.
Along with the "GUESS IT" technique, I applied the "hold the camera underwater and GUESS that they are in the shot!" technique. With the 28mm lens its fairly safe that I will get most of them in the shot as for hands and feet etc... well, that's part of the fun for me. So featured below are some of the better "GUESS IT'S" that I ended up with.

David & Goliath: dltphoto

At the time of composure I had absolutely NO idea that  "David" (as he is now known), was wondering out of my frame toward the bottom. The little guy was soooooo miniscule I didn't notice him until editing this shot. Goliath, sadly, was supposed to be my main point of focus!
Who do you look at more?

Android meets Real Camera, Nikon Coolpix: dltphoto

Well, this looks very interesting! A Nikon camera with Android operating system. Could this be a dream? The ability to use ones Apps, directly on the camera after image conception. This is possibly something that all mytubo'ers and instagram'ers will be lining up for. More camera capability than ever before to be shared instantly. Cool!
Where do I sign up?

Nikon Canada

"The Highlander": dltphoto

One of the questions people always ask me "whats your favourite lens?". ( favourite, yes I am British!)

So it may not happen to be the smallest lens in the world, or even the lightest. Actually its quite cumbersome, expensive and jolly heavy after an entire day of shooting.

Camping 2012, Digital, Part 2: dltphoto

Here are some shots from my DSLR, Nikon D200.

APAC: Photoclub Submissions, May 2012: dltphoto

SO... May's submissions were very, very  interesting.
We had been informed that the usual CAPA judge would again be replaced by somebody not trained with the "rules", this Judge was an Artist (painter) and a teacher I believe. Something different!

My first Image up was for the Assigned Category, this months topic was "Junk".

"where beds are laid to rest" (score 20)

It was a junk store I came across last summer on one of our camping trips, Shot with the Nikon D200 and 70-200 2.8VR, I thought it had decent colour and detail.I hoped the bed frame would look obvious and people could distinguish it, it scored ok compared to all the others, it wasnt scored the worst!

Next Up... A shocker!

"skies that surprise" ( score 10)

So, I have shown this image before on my other blogs for Lens and Shutter etc.... So, I am sure other APAC club members had seen it before, but the Judge has not.... SOOOO she gave it a 10... blimey, a 10. The only 10 of the night!
So I had to give a quick spiel about it, Shot with the Olympus Pen E-PL2 with the stock 14-42 lens, right out of the camera using one of the ART Filters called "Dramatic Tone". Basically it then offers the operator , regardless of photo knowledge, the power of well edited images without any of the after shooting non-sense ( a kind of in-camera photoshop).

Then, to top it off I had this image. A little more on the creative edge. I thought since its a Non-Capa judge I might get lucky and I scored an 8... very pleased she recognised it as an interesting composition. She even selected it to critique at the end. Of which she offered it sparked and emotion from her, she was mad at it as she wanted to move the leaf off centre for some reason, but she enjoyed the image.
As for the title I don't think anyone quite understood which is fine, it sparked a reaction... Titled 50/50 due to the fact the leaf was sitting mostly  50% over the blue paint and the road... not 50% of the blue and road which most people assumed what I was suggesting. Also this one was shot with my Phone, this is my highest scoring phone pic...

"50/50" score 8

APAC: Photoclub submissions, March 2012:dltphoto

Working with the categories  is quite restricting sometimes, at least trying to put them into the correct categories I find challenging. Fortunately being a Level 1, I have the ability to chuck them all under the "open" category which is an easy way out.
So this month I have tried the "Nature" category,
 "Nature: images of untamed animals and uncultivated plants in their natural habitat. (CAPA rules and ethics apply!) Evidence of man, manipulation of the environment in any part of the image and human elements must not be present, except on the rare occasion where those human elements are part of the nature story; e.g. for birds – sitting on a thin wire or the top of a post. However, if at all possible, these must be avoided. The presence of scientific bands or collars on wild animals is acceptable where it adds to the story, but should be minimal and avoided. After satisfying the above requirements, every effort should be made to use the highest level of artistic skill in all nature photographs."

Not easy to fully abide by these rules. I assume I have!!

Frozen and leaning

A wintery winters day, the Film Chronicles: dltphoto

After our dump of snow a short while ago I broke out my amazing Nikon F5 for the harsh cold temperatures. Why the F5 I hear all of you asking... since its weather sealed to death and robust as heck and its my favourite film camera.

Anyways, the girls and I built "turner mountain" in the front garden and the girls revelled in sledding on their boogie sleds.