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2018 Project - Focused picture a week (M38A1)

Week #9/52
Last weeks shot didn't seem to garner much comment so I figured I'd go a bit on the 'lighter' side this week. The 'carni' was in town and the night before I shot this I saw the full moon under light cloud cover thinking there might be something if those clouds were to break. So the next evening I wandered over with the camera/tripod to see what I could drum up. I looked at a lot of different things and angles, yet no matter how I tried I couldn't make that moon any bigger to stand as an obvious element in the shot. So I opted to take a shot of this ride in full extension with a couple other elements in place to set the tone or context. I tried a B&W version and as cool as it was, just didn't have the pop of the colors.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 100
Focal Length 35.0 mm (35.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/22
Exposure Time 1.5s (1.5)
i-qGx7mp2-XL.jpg
 
Week 7 and week 9 I liked the best so far, particularly the carnaval at night.
 
It is interesting how the colors on the outer diameter bands are not streaks, but individual dots of light even though they would have been moving faster than any other part of the wheel.

It's a neat shot!
 
It is interesting how the colors on the outer diameter bands are not streaks, but individual dots of light even though they would have been moving faster than any other part of the wheel.

It's a neat shot!

Might be LED lights. Depending on the setup, they actually cycle very fast and we might be seeing the pulse.
 
Might be LED lights. Depending on the setup, they actually cycle very fast and we might be seeing the pulse.

:tab I thought the same thing, blinking lights. However, they would have to be blinking at a rate that coincided with the spin rate such that a light went on/off in the same spot each time (or some multiple factor, meaning not the same light in each spot each time, but just any light in the right spot). It would be interesting to see shots with different shutter speeds to see if it is consistent across all shots or has something to do with the shutter speed.

:tab How about it Scott? Did you experiment with different shutter speeds to get this shot?
 
I hadn't noticed that special effect.... That does make me wonder what's going on with the lighting. Tonight let me go back to the original and see what it looks like. I have a theory that possibly the pervasive use of the clarity slider might have reduced the halo effect of the light but that doesn't explain how it can be a single point of light when the shutter speed was 1.5 seconds. I'd find it hard to believe the LED pulse could be timed so perfectly with the spinning ride.
 
Week #10/52
This week was a Drink&Click event up on the North side of Austin so attending was easy. Held at a local distillery, the whiskey was good as were the models and company. This was done with a single LED modeling light camera left and she was standing in between the heavy plastic hanging strips which separate one warehouse from another. Took quite a few shots to get this right as the lighting kept reflecting on the plastic and putting hotspots in the frame. I'm mostly pleased with the result, but there was definitely room to improve.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 640
Focal Length 32.0 mm (32.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/3.3
Exposure Time 0.01667s (1/60)
i-sWLgrxv-XL.jpg
 

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Week #11/52
I'm calling this one "93 Orbits of the Sun" as it was created on my Dad's 93rd birthday. Shot on their back deck with the setting Westerly sun, I used a smallish 30" or so white shoot-thru umbrella on a stand camera left with a SB700 speedlight and CactusIV triggers.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 100
Focal Length 38.0 mm (38.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/4
Exposure Time 0.004s (1/250)
i-7dTSmkv-XL.jpg
 

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...to go along with my last shot, my Dad is such a comedian. I get a thank-you card in the mail today which begins "Having another birthday at my age is not greeted with great anticipation, but by this time one is well rehearsed".

He's such a goofball... :-)
 
Week #12/52
GravelGuy, Woodbutcher and myself met the Saturday after John's (DayTrader) passing and enjoyed our time together telling stories about our interactions with him and how he impacted our lives. The mood was somber, yet light-hearted and there were a lot of smiles passed around. Not a great shot by any stretch of imagination, yet it will hold a special place in my heart about my gone-too-early riding buddy John as well as spending time with my good friends Mark and Rusty.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 1600
Focal Length 60.0 mm (60.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/4.8
Exposure Time 0.008s (1/125)
i-CJkHfTh-XL.jpg
 
Week #13/52
The rains earlier this year proved to be just what the bluebonnets needed to do their thing. I found this nice little rolling patch, so as much as I am indifferent to them I decided this was the time to create a shot before they start to wilt and dry up. I'm still in search of the pink ones (of which I 'think' I've found some). That might be an upcoming shot in the near future.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 100
Focal Length 70.0 mm (70.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/4.8
Exposure Time 0.004s (1/250)
i-ptFs5fq-XL.jpg
 
I wouldn’t say I’ve been out of the game, but I’m having difficulty staying motivated with the time constraints I have.
 
Lots of interesting colors in the week 12 shot, with some bright light and some shadows.

Week 13, Bluebonnets are always a good subject.
My mom is upset, she lives just outside Navasota and usually has tons of bluebonnets in her acreage, but the guy that mows it for her (usually gets hay from it) cut it very late and left it on the ground for too long. Her normally green field with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes is a field of brown this year. You can count how many bluebonnets she has on her property this year (like less than 50), where normally it is tons of them.
 
Lots of interesting colors in the week 12 shot, with some bright light and some shadows.

Week 13, Bluebonnets are always a good subject.
My mom is upset, she lives just outside Navasota and usually has tons of bluebonnets in her acreage, but the guy that mows it for her (usually gets hay from it) cut it very late and left it on the ground for too long. Her normally green field with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes is a field of brown this year. You can count how many bluebonnets she has on her property this year (like less than 50), where normally it is tons of them.

Thanks for the comments. That's a shame about your mom's bluebonnets. I'm contemplating tossing out a whole bunch of sanded seeds Oct/Nov this year just to see what happens.
 
Week #14/52
This week was playing with food, er... drinks. An olive in a martini glass was the topic for this week. There's a lot of texture going on in that glass between the olive, lime juice, bubbles. My nit is no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that flash spot to disappear. I suppose shooting through a velum layer or two would have done it but I was fresh out of the stuff. :deal:

Camera on a tripod, CactusIV triggers, a single speedlight, white foamcore board for background and martini glass sitting on the counter top. Trying to eliminate those hotspots, I set the camera on Timer mode, then within the settings created a shot sequence to be five shots spaced two seconds apart. That allowed me time to push the shutter button, then hold in place a reflector (another foamcore board) along with the speedlight, let it pop, move the reflector/speedlight, let it pop, rinse and repeat. I played a bit with flashing the background to make it pure white, but just didn't like the results.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 160
Focal Length 70.0 mm (70.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/13
Exposure Time 0.004s (1/250)
i-Cj4Cqnr-XL.jpg
 
My favorite now, is your father's, followed by the Waco monkey.
 
Week #15/52
Camping. We've all done it and many of us enjoy the time outdoors. However, when work says "Hey Scott - do you have any camping gear and can you pull together a photobooth kind of thing in two days", well, I had to think for a moment. Do I say "nope, haven't got anything" or do I say "sure, I can do that"? I chose the latter. This "Married People" event had a theme of camping, so I pulled this little set together to run about 35 couples through. Simple pipe&drape (think tradeshow booths) with 8' tall posts/drapes and a host of camping stuff thrown in. The hardest part was lugging the 22lb each blocks for the fire pit and getting that setup. Lighting was two SB700 speedlights driven by CactusIV triggers. Camera left/key was one light in a 24x36 gridded softbox and camera right/fill was one light in a 30" shoot-thru white umbrella. My personal nit was the banner behind event staff placed behind them. I said the images would be stronger without that there, yet they chose to leave it.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 800
Focal Length 44.0 mm (44.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/6.7
Exposure Time 0.008s (1/125)
i-BbhrBCR-XL.jpg
 
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Week #16/62
This week I've been down for the count pretty hard and had zero motivation to do anything - fevers at my age suck. I managed to make it out to a small family thing where I was able to get the shy Jenna (a cousin's daughter) to pose with the horses. There was actually a bit of forethought on this one. I saw the horses staggered right/left and fore/aft so I dropped Jenna in as the background subject thinking the horses "V" framed her. Lighting was cloudy bright and on a good side as well.

Camera Apple iPhone SE
Lens iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO 25
Focal Length 4.2 mm (29.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/2.2
Exposure Time 0.00313s (1/320)
i-GPvzfqH-XL.jpg
 
Love the Jenna shot. I appreciate shy peeps.

Agree on the banner. Otherwise, nice staged setup.
 
Thanks, Gary.
That shot has the shy Jenna in the middle, flanked by Monkey on the right and Leo on the left.
 
Week #17/52
The late afternoon sun on this prickly pear bloom on the side of the road caught my eye enough to warrant an attempt at photographing. Walking carefully and surveying a few different angles, this is where I landed. For such a spiny thing, I find them to be quite attractive. Much more so than the purple pear to come.

Camera Nikon NIKON D4S
Lens AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 100
Focal Length 70.0 mm (70.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/8
Exposure Time 0.00286s (1/350)
i-Rj93snN-XL.jpg
 
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Week #18/52
Fruity Soldiers.... This week was an absolute blur. Between a new roof at the casa, then some wood repairs and the bbq, I just didn't think much about this week. So during our shopping trip through HEB with Rusty for the meats I said "whoa - that's cool". I certainly could have purchased the six-pack and done a proper job with a proper background but hey - that's work.

Camera Apple iPhone SE
Lens iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO 160
Focal Length 4.2 mm (29.0 mm in 35mm)
Aperture f/2.2
Exposure Time 0.03333s (1/30)
i-p5LCj4x-XL.jpg
 
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