The "Post a Picture You Took" thread

[DougO 5253]

12 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

I moved to Austin 12/20 from FW. Was in Houston prior to that, so just checking off all the major Texas metroplexes.

There was a lot of strange stuff around Lake Granger this year. I should get out there once in a while.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

I moved to Austin 12/20 from FW. Was in Houston prior to that, so just checking off all the major Texas metroplexes.

What are some good spots around FW? I have been wanting to check out the FW Nature Center & Refuge.

[hookem2010 2624]

FW nature center is a great place for birding and hiking in general. I'm sure you fan find a bunch of other critters there to photograph besides birds, but I've had barred owl, roadrunner and prothonotary warbler there (boardwalk in summer). One of the only spots in the area for pileated woodpecker too, although they're tough to find. Village creek drying beds in Arlington is the #1 spot in Tarrant County as far as # of species. Lots of waterfowl/wading birds depending on the water level, and in the summer you can see a ton of Mississippi kites that must breed there. It does not smell good, fyi. 

Other than those two, River Legacy Park (E. of Collins) is good for forest birds, particularly during migration, and North Holiday Park is good for waterfowl and wading birds.

[hookem2010 2624]

39 minutes ago, DougO said:

There was a lot of strange stuff around Lake Granger this year. I should get out there once in a while.

Yea, I went out and got northern shrike and fork-tailed flycatcher, as well as mountain plover, but those seem to be annual. Travis Co was super slow this winter.

[DougO 5253]

Just now, hookem2010 said:

Yea, I went out and got northern shrike and fork-tailed flycatcher, as well as mountain plover, but those seem to be annual. Travis Co was super slow this winter.

I went with a field trip group and saw the Shrike, but blew the photo op and pissed myself off.  That's where I got the burrowing owl, probably the most photographed one in Texas. The fork-tailed flycatcher had moved from its previous area and was not spotted for a while until later when it was seen again. 

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

FW nature center is a great place for birding and hiking in general. I'm sure you fan find a bunch of other critters there to photograph besides birds, but I've had barred owl, roadrunner and prothonotary warbler there (boardwalk in summer). One of the only spots in the area for pileated woodpecker too, although they're tough to find. Village creek drying beds in Arlington is the #1 spot in Tarrant County as far as # of species. Lots of waterfowl/wading birds depending on the water level, and in the summer you can see a ton of Mississippi kites that must breed there. It does not smell good, fyi. 
Other than those two, River Legacy Park (E. of Collins) is good for forest birds, particularly during migration, and North Holiday Park is good for waterfowl and wading birds.

Excellent, thank you!

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I love y'all bird nerds. 

So I took the new wide angle for a test drive.  So far so good.  But I won't really have a good feel for it until I do some interior urbex type shots and some landscapes in NM next month.

A few other shots from today...

 

[hookem2010 2624]

In order to contribute something relevant to the actual thread, here is sunset at Reimer's Ranch.

[LTbear 4171]

[Your Mom 4827]

A couple weeks ago I asked you guys about buying a camera. I ended up getting a used D810. I felt like naija’s advice to go mirrorless was sound but I couldn’t justify the cost. I got the D810 and a used 14-24 f/2.8 lens and a 50mm f/1.8 prime for walking around and getting used to the camera. Spent a few days around my neighborhood and local trails taking pics, playing with different depths of field and exposures, and getting humbled by it all. 

I have a very poor understanding of the light triangle. I understand how each part works but I’m usually unclear on where to start for a given shot. But I know where to read up on that and I’m not afraid to experiment and fail for a while. I’ve gotten into the habit of taking a pic in Auto mode and checking those settings and then switching to Manual mode to tweak things and see the differences. 

Anyway, I took it to Big Bend this weekend and was thrilled to catch some Milky Way shots the first night. I failed to get a proper focus on the stars the that night but figured out the process for that by the second night.  Still could be sharper but I know what to do to improve it next time. Here’s the best of what I took out there.
Pointers and critiques are welcome. 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Your Mom

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Well that was a damn successful first trip with it. Hell of a job! I think the processing on the very first MW shot is the best. Great job!!

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Agreed. Great shots. I like the first two shots the most and also think the processing on the first one in particular is the best. Looking forward to more.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

One other note, the sensor looks dirty (can see dust specks). I’d recommend a rocket air blower to try and blow it off of there.

You can also wet clean it yourself if you’re comfortable doing that.

[Your Mom 4827]

Thanks guys.  I definitely have no idea how to clean the sensor.  I was thinking those had been on the lens as I had no lens wipes with me.  Will investigate.  There was a fair amount of processing in Lightroom on those star pics, but even prior to that it was interesting how different each shot was with different apertures and ISOs.  I'll probably sign up for some formal instruction soon.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Thanks guys.  I definitely have no idea how to clean the sensor.  I was thinking those had been on the lens as I had no lens wipes with me.  Will investigate.  There was a fair amount of processing in Lightroom on those star pics, but even prior to that it was interesting how different each shot was with different apertures and ISOs.  I'll probably sign up for some formal instruction soon.

You can find videos on YouTube to teach you how to properly clean the sensor without fucking it up.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Thanks guys.  I definitely have no idea how to clean the sensor.  I was thinking those had been on the lens as I had no lens wipes with me.  Will investigate.  There was a fair amount of processing in Lightroom on those star pics, but even prior to that it was interesting how different each shot was with different apertures and ISOs.  I'll probably sign up for some formal instruction soon.

One of these is good enough unless there’s some stuff really stuck to it. You’ll also notice dust more at higher number (smaller physically) apertures.

Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large - Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00017LSPI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_3W9GNYYJ4QBFQZPV64BQ

Wet cleaning a sensor isn’t that hard to do either if you need to. There are kits on Amazon, and plenty of YouTube videos.

[DougO 5253]

My old D500 sensor is dirty as hell and I haven't been able to blow it off with several tries of the huge rocket blaster. I've been to chicken to try sensor cleaning swabs or whatever, but now that I have another one I may give it a shot.

[naija 2869]

You can read up about Astrophotography and learn a lot online without signing up for anything. I say this as someone that has dropped quite a bit of money over the years on Photography learning stuff.

The Exposure Triangle is not very difficult to understand. By and large, the 2 parts you will want to master are Aperture and Shutter Speed. Simplify it by asking yourself 2 questions; what depth of field do you want, i.e, how much do you need to be infocus in your pictures (aperture) and how fast are the objects that you are photographing moving (shutter speed).

Instead of shooting Auto, start by shooting Aperture Priority instead, this way you get to focus on one of the variables and learn about it and let the camera decide on the other two.

As I mentioned before Astrophotography tends to be technical, and is one where eventually you will need to understand all 3 (aperture, shutter speed and ISO) very well.

[naija 2869]

oh and the pictures are a great start

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Two good Astro channels:

https://youtube.com/c/PhotogAdventures - He is very long winded but has good info of you can stand it/filter through it.

https://youtube.com/c/LonelySpeck - Also has some good tutorials on some good applications if you use a Mac (Starry Sky Stacker and Starry Landscape Stacker).

[Longhornstampede 3184]

[Longhornstampede 3184]

She always had this little smile on her face when she slept

[Longhornstampede 3184]

Oh hai...

[DougO 5253]

 

Soon...

 

 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Doug, I wish you could make it down towards Houston.  My dad and one of his friends could definitely show you around some great bird spots.  Bald Eagles, Ospreys, Mandarin Duck, etc.  I went with my dad to a spot near his house and got a few Doug-ish type shots (obviously not as good).  I feel like I don't have enough lens for this.  In between birding sessions I took my parents to Truth BBQ and a tour of the 5th Ward and train yard, so of course a train graffiti photo.  I just sent the order to the printer for my book.  130 copies.  I know those aren't NY Times best seller numbers, but I am always stoked when folks are interested in my work.

 

[tomahawk dunk 339]

Swayze, congrats on the book!

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

9 minutes ago, tomahawk dunk said:

Swayze, congrats on the book!

Thanks man.  I really enjoy making these short run books.  I won't lie, if thousands of people wanted to buy one, I would be stoked.  But the fact that even 100 are into it makes me so happy.

[LTbear 4171]

Congrats man, that's awesome 👍

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

8 minutes ago, LTbear said:

Congrats man, that's awesome 👍

Thank you.  Your wildlife photos are inspiring.

 

By the way Longhornstampede, I love that shot of the church.

[DougO 5253]

Awesome birds! I especially like the storks. I'll get out that way one of these days when I convince myself to get out of the county more often.

It's funny, I used to get nice shots of cardinals and blue jays all the time when I first started getting interested in bird photography. But I sit in the same spot now and they don't seem to provide the same opportunities as they did years ago. 

[Longhornstampede 3184]

11 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

By the way Longhornstampede, I love that shot of the church.

Thank you. And congrats on the book!

[DougO 5253]

11 hours ago, DougO said:

Awesome birds! I especially like the storks.

Oops, actually Ibis, not storks. I'm slipping.

[leaf 691]

From my hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City

[leaf 691]

Same view now at night.  

 

[LTbear 4171]

[hookem2010 2624]

You're photos make me really wish that my wife got sent out to Alaska for a year in grad school. It nearly happened, but alas, the city pulled out of the hat was Decatur, TX. The LBJ Grasslands were cool and all, but millions of acres of wilderness to explore seems slightly cooler. Could have added some sick birds and mammals to the life list too.

[LTbear 4171]

1 hour ago, hookem2010 said:

You're photos make me really wish that my wife got sent out to Alaska for a year in grad school. It nearly happened, but alas, the city pulled out of the hat was Decatur, TX. The LBJ Grasslands were cool and all, but millions of acres of wilderness to explore seems slightly cooler. Could have added some sick birds and mammals to the life list too.

Alaska is absolutely like no place else. The sheer amount of true wilderness remaining there is just indescribable. Even for someone like me, who absolutely relishes time in wilderness, the scale of the wilderness before you was almost unsettling. Like you could briefly imagine being an early explorer/ settler staring into the unknown. 

[LTbear 4171]

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

What's my dudes?  I shot a roll of Cinestill 800T recently and just got the scans back.  I only really liked a few of the shots.  The point of the roll was to experiment with shooting it during the day (some hits, some misses) and of course some night shots.  Here are the three I liked the most:

I shot this scene on that roll, but I missed focus and underexposed.  I also shot it on my Canon EOS R, which I mostly like.  I am going to be doing a gallery show in June and might print this as it will likely fit in with other artists' works.

Heading to NM next month with my Pops.  Hopefully will get a few shots that don't suck.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Where in NM you goin?

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

20 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:

Where in NM you goin?

All over to be honest. 4 days and a lot of driving.  El Paso and areas for a day, then the next day over to SW NM, then up to ABQ.  One day out to some rock formations called King of Wings.  One day out along and around route 66 (signs, abandoned stuff, etc).

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

All over to be honest. 4 days and a lot of driving.  El Paso and areas for a day, then the next day over to SW NM, then up to ABQ.  One day out to some rock formations called King of Wings.  One day out along and around route 66 (signs, abandoned stuff, etc).

Awesome. I always want to stop a bunch there, but I am always just in a hurry to get to my destination.

I do have a rocky relationship with the state, though. It’s cost me one windshield and 3 windshield chips.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

We will be in a rental, so...

But yeah, there is so much in that state to check out.  Then all the things you see on the way to said points of interest.  I am also considering buying another drone before the trip.  I have some serious issues.

[DougO 5253]

The first scissor-tail of the season arrived yesterday. 

 

[LTbear 4171]

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

From Niece 

Bachelor Gulch, CO

 

[nycHorn 3038]

RIP Patrick Demarchelier. Probably not a fashion crowd in here but he was a legend and I would have loved to see the photo world coming up in the mid 70s. I’m sure it was abusive and tough.

I actually met Patrick once on a beach in St Barths with a crazy Frenchman I worked for back in the day. He looked really bad back then.

https://www.vogue.com/article/patrick-demarchelier-fashion-and-portrait-photographer-has-died/amp

[DougO 5253]

Went on my first long nature walk in a good while out at the lake the other day, and one more short one the previous day. Trying to get my ass back in gear.

 

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Damn, nice Peregrine.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Fantastic shots Doug.

Went down to Fulton to fish with one of my brothers and our dad.  Fishing was awful (probably 50 hardheads).  But, on the other hand, got out for some photography.