Dec 6, 2020 | 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, 7 Image Stories, AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, B&W Shapes, Black & White, IMHO, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x, Nikon P7000
B&W Shapes | a 7 Image Story In black and white photographs, shapes and contrasts make all the difference. It’s all about the lines, the curves, and the contours along with how they contrast and/or blend. A strong photograph without color will generally also be strong photograph with color. B&W wildlife images rarely work for me. This bull elk bugling during the rut shows such an iconic elk shape, it needs no color.
Long Exposure A long exposure not only flattens and smooths the water, it also can create interesting shapes. In this case, the trees made nice curved shapes on the water. A Little Ice Pugs love the snow; ice, not so much. It’s slipping and sliding, even on the icy grass, put a new meaning to “do your duty.” Milkweed Sometimes, even weeds with sharp angles and smooth end points look good in black & white. Western Texture The old west had some pretty rough buildings. Still, horses liked this small open barn instead of the snow outside. Icy Leaves Texture, symmetry, and depth of field draw the eye into the image. Early winter must be upon us.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category B&W Shapes.
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Apr 26, 2020 | 7 Image Stories, AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR, AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, IMHO, IMHO, Nikon D200, Nikon D200 Potpourri
Nikon D200 Potpourri | a 7 Image Story The D200 was my first digital SLR camera. As you can see, it’s a fine camera capable of rendering nice photographs. Of course, my learning course was steep at first, but eventually I began to capture some decent images. These seven images represent some of my better images from aviation, landscapes, wildlife, and an occasional family portrait.
Badlands Landscape Spring in the Badlands can make for beautiful landscapes. It’s only green a for a few weeks during the last of May and beginning of June. The D200’s exposure in bright sun still kept enough detail to make a nice image.
Yellowstone Panoramic Is this image a landscape or wildlife? To me, it’s more landscape accented with wildlife. The fall’s brown grasses studded with Elk provide contrast to the new forest growing through an old burned forest. The D200 picked up the stunning detail in the panoramic.
Portrait Of course, the D200 makes a nice family images. This image uses natural early morning light from eastern exposure windows with translucent shades.
Pugs Spring brings warmer temperatures making it easier on the paws on a long walk. The D200 with a super zoom lens captured the moment.
Black & White The countryside in Montana contains numerous gravel roads running along old fence lines. These gravel roads look much like they did a hundred years ago.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Nikon D200 Potpourri.
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Nov 24, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, Hawk Poses, IMHO, Nature, Nikon 1 V3, Red-tailed Hawk, Walkabout
Hawk Poses | a 7 Image Story It’s all about a single hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, that posed for me at several locations along my walkabout today through the forest. While walking along the trail, I spotted the hawk in a tree about twenty yards off the trail. It must be accustomed to people walking the trail. It did not move as I walked by and stopped to capture images with different poses from different angles. It was obviously hunting. Then suddenly, it would take off after its prey. After a miss, it would then land on the branch of another tree along the path. As I approached again, it would let me captive several poses before moving to another tree along the trail. It did not seem to care about me. Rather, its attention was focused sharply on hunting.
Red-tailed Hawks blend into the the background forest so well it’s hard to get a nice image. Even after several locations and several angles at each location, the backgrounds are still distracting. Perhaps, another walkabout through the woods after a snowfall will yield better images. Most Red-tailed Hawks around here stay all winter.
Photog Note: The Nikon 1 V3 is still my preferred carry camera for capturing daily walkabout images. It shoots much like a DSLR, but is much lighter to carry. Although a bit noisy at higher ISOs, the image quality is quite good, particularly for posting. The 2.7 crop factor helps improve images where the subject is very small like birds. Even very large birds, like the red-tailed hawk, get pretty small in the frame at even a short distance. A Nikon AFS 70-300mm lens on a Nikon 1 V3 with its 2.7 crop factor, becomes a 189-810mm lens. Of course, the image quality will not be nearly as good as with the expensive lens, but it’s still possible to capture very nice bird images. For more information on bird photography with a Nikon 1 V3, see Nikon 1 V3 for Birds | a 7 Image Story.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Hawk Poses.
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Nov 10, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, AF-S 50mm f1.4G, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Faces, IMHO, Nikon D200, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x, People, People Portraits
People Portraits | a 7 Image Story Although my photography does not capture people portraits often, occasionally a nice people image gets in front of my camera. These people images represent some of my better portraits. Notice they are mostly captured with natural light and/or a little fill flash. Someday my flash photography will improve. Also, none of these images were captured in a studio or even posed. They’re mostly impromptu images of people doing something else like attending weddings or parties. Hopefully in the future, my photog skills capturing portraits will improve as well. See more fine art in my People Portfolio.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category People Portraits.
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Aug 25, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, Action, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Automobiles, IMHO, Nikon D200, Spinning Wheels
Spinning Wheels | a 7 Image Story Photographing racing cars in a race! How hard can it be? Set the shutter speed real high on a sunny race day and bang away. But wait, the wheels are frozen in time and the background is in focus. Looks like the car is standing still. Time to practice those panning skills. It’s one of those skills that degrade unless you practice often.
On this day I attended a meeting across the street from the race track. After the meeting I decided to practice my panning skills and try to capture a few decent images. Notice these images have a shutter speeds varying from 1/40 to 1/80 second and the backgrounds are all blurred due to panning. It took a while but finally I was able to make my panning smooth enough to keep most the car in focus while allowing the wheels to blur. These same panning skills come in handy when photographing airplanes as well.
The Ferrari 360 Type F131 is a two-seat, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car manufactured by Ferrari 1999 to 2005. The black wheels and tires seem to hide the spinning wheel blur a bit. The Lotus Exige is an agile lightweight two-seat British sports car. It performs nicely on both the road and track. Again, it’s hard to see the blur in those black wheels and tires. The Porsche 911, pronounced nine eleven, is a rear engine, air-cooled German sports car. It’s famous and distinctive design was manufactured from 1963 through1989. The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a lightweight two-seat, front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car made by Mazda. Launched in 1999, the Porsche 911 GT3 is a high performance version of the Porsche 911 sports car. It’s has been a successful racer. Over 14,000 cars have been made in several variations designed for road and track. The BMW M5 is a high performance sports sedan from the BMW 5 Series.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Spinning Wheels.
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Aug 18, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, Action, AF 80-400mm f4.5-5.6D ED VR, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VR II, AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR, AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED, Bike Illinois, Illinois, IMHO, Nikon D200, Nikon D300, Nikon D3x
Bike Illinois | a 7 Image Story Illinois has many picturesque biking trails; long and short. These cyclists are riding a charity event in the relatively flat land of northern Illinois. Biking can be a family affair for younger and older cyclists alike. And while biking, you can add extemporaneous fun activities.
You can sing loudly while riding passed pedestrians to watch their surprise. You can cut cross country across a cornfield (with permission of course) or follow a power line. Fill a small cooler with cheese, cured meats, and drinks then stop half way for a picnic. Stop to read those roadside historical markers you passed in the car. Don’t forget a nice sunrise or sunset ride.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Bike Illinois.
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Aug 4, 2019 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, 7 Image Stories, AF-S DX 12-24mm f4G IF ED, AF-S PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED, Clouds, IMHO, Nature, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D200, Nikon D3x, Storm Clouds
Storm Clouds | a 7 Image Story Storm clouds fascinate many people including me. Most of us can not just go out and find a nice storm to photograph. Good storm images tend to be captured on the fly while photographing something else. The photographer happens to be at the right place at the right time. These 7 images were all captured while I was doing something else. All of the sudden I looked up and there was the scene right in front of me. In these moments, it really pays off to have a decent camera nearby. So, what was I doing before capturing these images?
- While conducting a pre-flight inspection on the airplane, I looked over the cowling only to see a storm out to the west.
- While driving into the Badlands NP near the front gate, a thunderstorm became visible from the road.
- While watching a polo match, I turned around to see a storm coming toward an Illinois farm behind me.
- While hiking through the high desert countryside, the storm grew over the Absaroka Range.
- While having a picnic lunch during a drive through Yellowstone, a storm blew up.
- While looking for a place to park at a restaurant on Lake Mitchell, this storm was looming over the western horizon.
- While taking a walk to see the sunset over the lake before thunderstorms arrive from the north, I noticed this lone chair and the lone thunderstorm south of the lake.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Storm Clouds.
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Jul 28, 2019 | 7 Image Stories, IMHO, Kodachrome, Minolta AF 75-300 f4.5-5.6, Minolta XTsi Maxxum, Minolta XTsi to Yellowstone, Nature, Places, Yellowstone
Minolta XTsi to Yellowstone | a 7 Image Story This trip to Yellowstone was my first. My newest camera at the time was the Minolta XTsi Maxxum. It had several new electronic features, but the basic camera was more consumer than the more professional Minolta XG-9. Still, as you can see, it produced some nice images. These images were scanned into digital by the film processing provider and burned onto a CD. They are only 1.6MP, but they came along with the slides or prints and negatives.
Although I’ve been back to Yellowstone many times since this first trip, I’ve only seen and photographed a grizzly one other time. I’m still looking for my first really good grizzly image. Also, several images show burnt forest. Yellowstone has had some major fires in the past. The biggest was in 1988 when over a third of the park burned. The forests have, of course, regenerated themselves since then.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Minolta XTsi to Yellowstone.
Click any image below for a slide show!
