Thanks, Wade. I had actually shot quite a few frames of varying subjects for the 16th. When the couple walked into this frame, I new I had the shot I wanted.
Critique 2019 Octoberfest – acnomad (Andy) – Hardcore - 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor - Day 31 - A New Day + Epilogue
- Thread starter acnomad
- Start date
Very kind, David. Many years ago, the 55 Micro was a fixture on my FM2. Over time, I came to use this lens only for work that can be described as "recording" rather than using it for the art of "seeing." Octoberfest has been the first time in decades that I have dedicated myself to shooting this lens, and it is quite satisfying to remind myself how versatile it is. And unlike the FM2, now I don't even need to agonize about how much time to add in the developing tank after being forced to underexpose the second half of a roll of Tri-X.
Thanks, Paul. This is one of my favorite locations near home to photograph.
Love the tranquility of this scene, the composition (excellent), and the sunstart. Well done.
This one should be titled "Having More Fun with Sunstars".
In the first few seconds, I thought "another gourd" before realizing this was an apple (my old brain was helped eventually by a subtle hint given by the title of the photo.) Very creative approach to the traditional "fruit on a tree" shot. Well done.
Thanks, Paul. This year, the apples from our tree actually are!Sweet!
Hey Andy, reading your title, I googled 'eclipse' just to make sure I hadn't missed anything today!
Apples are everywhere these days, and nothing says October like a crisp sweet/tart apple! Wonderful contre jour* photography.
Literally "into the day", but I think it has been co-opted by photographers to mean backlit. Sounds more esoteric though. Either way, I like this pic!
Apples are everywhere these days, and nothing says October like a crisp sweet/tart apple! Wonderful contre jour* photography.
Literally "into the day", but I think it has been co-opted by photographers to mean backlit. Sounds more esoteric though. Either way, I like this pic!
Wonderfully lit image. The scene could well have been overexposed in some, and under- in other areas. Blow out the path and lose the rest in black. Camera/lens/photographer handled the scene well (the last beinh the most important).
This rings a bell. You were in our garden?
18. Rotation
I was up well before dawn this morning, so I thought I'd make another night sky image. No special location - just my backyard, placing the North Star in the upper right hand corner and capturing frames continuously for 45 minutes. Discarded frames from the beginning of the session due to tripod movement and the end due to increasing twilight. Final result is a stack of 44 frames taken during a 23-minute period, each one a 30-second exposure at ISO 1600. The first 20 frames were at f/16, while the other 24 frames were at f/2.8 due to (sigh) a careless error on my part. Postprocess workflow was as follows:
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I was up well before dawn this morning, so I thought I'd make another night sky image. No special location - just my backyard, placing the North Star in the upper right hand corner and capturing frames continuously for 45 minutes. Discarded frames from the beginning of the session due to tripod movement and the end due to increasing twilight. Final result is a stack of 44 frames taken during a 23-minute period, each one a 30-second exposure at ISO 1600. The first 20 frames were at f/16, while the other 24 frames were at f/2.8 due to (sigh) a careless error on my part. Postprocess workflow was as follows:
- Lightroom
- Equalized exposure between the f/16 and the f/2.8 frames
- Corrected vignetting in the f/2.8 frames
- Reduced noise and increased contrast for all frames
- Cloned out unwanted streaks from aircraft in 4 of the frames
- StarStax
- Gap Filling Mode
- Tweaked threshold and amount sliders to taste
- Lightroom
- Global adjustments of contrast and white balance
- Local adjustments to remove previously unnoticed aircraft streaks within the tree
- Local adjustments to bring out some detail in the leaves of the tree
Great shot Andy! I've never tried it, but it sounds like a lot of PP work. Plus my favorite constellation is Orion, so I'd end up pointing at Betelgeuse, instead of over at the North star and big Dipper.
Wonderful.
You should try it sometime! When you get the captures right, the PP is pretty easy for star trails.Great shot Andy! I've never tried it, but it sounds like a lot of PP work. Plus my favorite constellation is Orion, so I'd end up pointing at Betelgeuse, instead of over at the North star and big Dipper.
Thanks! Turns out the Micro-Nikkor can reasonably be tasked for astrophotography, too.
I thought the same thing! But the NEF files seem to show it in every frame. Scrolling through them in a "time lapse" fashion, it doesn't appear to move. So I reviewed some of my star trail shots from over the years, and it's difficult to say from a wide angle image, but perhaps Polaris is not precisely at the center of those either. I'll put an image in the bucket with the arrow pointing to what I think is Polaris. Let me know what you think...
A lot of work for sure, and technically beyond me. But a superb photo as the result cannot be argued with. Wonderful work.
Thanks, Harry. I find astrophotography to be both challenging and rewarding.
I have NOT DONE star trails myself, I APPRECIATE all the work in that, I LOVE looking at the output and I KNOW polaris is not exactly at the rotational axis and therefor leaves a trail itself.
Thanks, Roland. After @skidoo pointed it out, I did a little digging on the internet, and learned that Polaris is not precisely at the North Celestial Pole. It's within 1 degree of it, and relatively bright (48th brightest), thus earning its moniker. Something else I learned: the elevation of Polaris is your latitude, so if you're at the North Pole, it's directly overhead, if you're at 42 degrees North latitude like I am, it's 42 degrees above the horizon. If you're at the equator, it's sitting on the horizon. If you're down under, you can't see it at all.
That is exactly why it is called down under
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