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2018 Project - Focused picture a week (M38A1)

Are you guys shooting all your bug stuff/macro lens with crop bodies?

Almost exclusively if I am using the 105mm lens. However, if I use the 70-200mm with any of the extension tubes, it is usually on the D750, but that is mostly because Sarah is using the D7200 with the 105mm.

Both of my bodies are 24 Mp sensors. The the larger FF sensor on the D750 has a lower pixel density, which means you lose detail, especially if you start cropping the images. The advantage of the D750 is better low light performance, but that rarely matters since I shoot virtually all of my shots with the 105mm in combination with the flash. I don't use the flash the 70-200mm lens, so I guess there might be some advantage to going to the D750 in that case.

If you have a D800/850, then that 36 Mp sensor would likely be a real advantage, probably even over the 24 Mp crop sensors.
 
He has a D4S and a new D500 and another older body (D700?), so the D500 is the better choice.
 
Week #29/52
The elusive unicorn grasshopper...

I'm starting to see the attraction TM and WoodButcher have shooting these and why they capture them. Most people don't get to see bugs close-up and I find their looks to be fascinating when you really stop to 'look' at them. So here's a common little grasshopper. (it's really not a unicorn - it's just the angle) I was walking in the grass and saw something out of the corner of my eye fly then land. I spent a few minutes looking for it and finally did. Master of camouflage comes to mind. About 40 shots later I figured I had enough to choose from. That 40 quickly went to about five. That tells me I need to run the fine-tune adjustments on the 105macro and this D500 crop body to get the hit ratio up higher.

CAMERA Nikon NIKON D500
LENS AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO 1600
FOCAL LENGTH 105.0 mm (157.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/8
EXPOSURE TIME 0.01s (1/100)
i-ZtcTBH6-XL.jpg
 
Week #30/52
Prickly Pears for wine
Just another random iPhone snap. I was at the home-brew store to get some things for a batch of wine and I asked about the beautiful prickly pears out front. The salesman said "take what you want - do you need tongs and a bucket"? Well, I already had those with me. So about five gallons later and 20 minutes I had a bucket ready for juice extraction. Thinking this will be a wine base or a batch of mead.

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 0.00087s (1/1150)
i-sHGTqxT-XL.jpg
 
Week #31/52
The old gal...
If you've ever wondered what an M38A1 was, here's a good example. Last minute event came up and I was asked if I could participate in a short parade (three blocks) and possibly carry Sen. Ted Cruz. Sure, I can do that. The event was for a home given to a purple heart recipient. At the last minute before staging, the passenger list changed and I didn't get to carry Sen. Cruz after all. Still a fun event for a good cause. Nothing special about the pic. Just a snap taken prior to event staging.


CAMERA Nikon NIKON D4S
LENS AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 640
FOCAL LENGTH 50.0 mm (50.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/6.7
EXPOSURE TIME 0.01111s (1/90)
i-359w48k-XL.jpg
 
Week #32/52
Ring Lights
Tonight was a first for me in that I got to play around with a lighting system called "ring lighting". As the name implies, the light is circular by design and you shoot through the center of the light. The end result is pretty dramatic.

CAMERA Nikon NIKON D4S
LENS AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 640
FOCAL LENGTH 26.0 mm (26.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/5.6
EXPOSURE TIME 0.008s (1/125)
i-RMMhj2b-X2.jpg
 
Its a great picture of a beautiful woman but her eyes …. kind of demonic.
 
Its a great picture of a beautiful woman but her eyes …. kind of demonic.

I played with B&W a bit and if I'd have gone that route, more so I believe. She got lost in the background with the dark dress and eye liner without the red to make her pop, so color it was.
 
Week #33/52
Hot Stuff....
I've never really had a garden yet the Gardening and Homesteading thread got me thinking I could do this. Well, other than having to water it every day I think I've proven I can do it. Side benefit is I get to eat some fun colorful stuff I can say I grew. This is a mix of purple bell peppers, gypsy peppers, SantaFe Grande peppers and serranos.

i-5sK9N9v-XL.jpg
 
Week #31/52
The old gal...
If you've ever wondered what an M38A1 was, here's a good example. Last minute event came up and I was asked if I could participate in a short parade (three blocks) and possibly carry Sen. Ted Cruz. Sure, I can do that. The event was for a home given to a purple heart recipient. At the last minute before staging, the passenger list changed and I didn't get to carry Sen. Cruz after all. Still a fun event for a good cause. Nothing special about the pic. Just a snap taken prior to event staging.


CAMERANikon NIKON D4S
LENSAF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO640
FOCAL LENGTH50.0 mm (50.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTUREf/6.7
EXPOSURE TIME0.01111s (1/90)
i-359w48k-XL.jpg
I have to ask, because some people are extremely lucky. Does the mounted machine gun still function?

I had to work so I missed my chance to see Sen Cruz this year. Would have been a cool deal to get to take him for a ride.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
I have to ask, because some people are extremely lucky. Does the mounted machine gun still function?

I had to work so I missed my chance to see Sen Cruz this year. Would have been a cool deal to get to take him for a ride.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

That is a Browning 1919A4 from the Israeli Army. I purchased it about 1998 as a parts kit from SARCO for $300 and it included everything except the right side plate (the controlled BATF part). ATF indicated to me if I welded a steel block in the receiver they wouldn't consider it a controlled item at that point.

In retrospect I should have purchased 10 of those kits for $300 back then. I hear a lot of folks are making semi-autos out of them these days. Price of a new 'parts kit"? $1,495. Yikes.
 
That is a Browning 1919A4 from the Israeli Army. I purchased it about 1998 as a parts kit from SARCO for $300 and it included everything except the right side plate (the controlled BATF part). ATF indicated to me if I welded a steel block in the receiver they wouldn't consider it a controlled item at that point.

In retrospect I should have purchased 10 of those kits for $300 back then. I hear a lot of folks are making semi-autos out of them these days. Price of a new 'parts kit"? $1,495. Yikes.
Darn, because I get a good bit of hogs on the ranch

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Interesting colors in the Week 33 pic, looks good.

I have never cared for the LED light rings when you can see them in the eyes. I see lots of videos shot with them and it is just distracting.
Overall though the light looks good in Week 32, and the black dress, red background (is that a piece of carpet??) is a good contrast, as well as getting some real good skin tone in that one.

Week 31, nice Jeep. Is that yours? Who did the restoration?
 
Interesting colors in the Week 33 pic, looks good.

I have never cared for the LED light rings when you can see them in the eyes. I see lots of videos shot with them and it is just distracting.
Overall though the light looks good in Week 32, and the black dress, red background (is that a piece of carpet??) is a good contrast, as well as getting some real good skin tone in that one.

Week 31, nice Jeep. Is that yours? Who did the restoration?


Thanks.... That's what caught my eye was all the colors when sitting on the table after picking them.

The LED lights were cool but I have to agree, distracting as others and yourself have indicated. Yet it was kind of fun to try them out. That's actually a red velvet backdrop, not carpet.

Yes, the M38A1 is mine. Had that old girl since 1997. Dad and I did the resto on it over about 18 months '97-'98. This is what it looked like when I bought it
J2.jpg



.
 
Figured it was yours (with the username and all...). Looks like it was an old Civil Defense vehicle.

I had a family friend that had an old Jeep (late 60's M151) that as in partial restoration status when he passed away, never found out what happened to it.

I have found as I have gotten older (and fatter) I don't fit into those things well anymore.
 
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Week #34/52
Grain
Not of the photographic film variety, yet of this old saw cut on a tree in my yard. I'm trying to figure out what artwork I want on my walls and I was thinking a B&W nature series. (but this isn't a B&W conversion....) Nothing fancy about the subject or how I shot it. Just had to get on my tip toes to frame it. Just thought the pattern and crack was interesting.

CAMERA Nikon NIKON D500
LENS AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
ISO 100
FOCAL LENGTH 105.0 mm (157.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/4.5
EXPOSURE TIME 0.005s (1/200)
i-RfNtxqw-X2.jpg
 

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Thanks.... That's what caught my eye was all the colors when sitting on the table after picking them.

The LED lights were cool but I have to agree, distracting as others and yourself have indicated. Yet it was kind of fun to try them out. That's actually a red velvet backdrop, not carpet.

Yes, the M38A1 is mine. Had that old girl since 1997. Dad and I did the resto on it over about 18 months '97-'98. This is what it looked like when I bought it
J2.jpg



.
That circle and triangle looks familiar

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

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Week #35/52
Coffee
Good coffee with good friends on a Saturday morning is a wonderful thing. I was able to get together with Rusty and Kyle at a local dive coffee shop by Rusty's place where we made our plans for the upcoming Bosque DelApache photo trip later this year. The barista was delightful as was her artwork.

CAMERA Apple iPhone SE
LENS iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO 200
FOCAL LENGTH 4.2 mm (29.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/2.2
EXPOSURE TIME 0.04s (1/25)
i-mwDcb8T-X2.jpg
 
Week #36/52
Go ahead - drink the Kool-Aid...
This was done on a "I dare 'ya" kind of conversation. I was at the local home-brew/winemaking store not long ago talking with one of the sales staff. We got talking about what kind of wines people had made with oddball items - like the time they did a Dum-Dum-Wine. That got me thinking about Kool-Aid and she issued me a 'throw-down' to make a batch as would she and we would swap bottles. Well, this batch of Cherry Kool-Aid started July 31st and I bottled 10 750ml bottles today. (if you're doing the math, that's exactly 46 days) It's actually not bad at all and it's got a nice 13.9% kick to go with it. :party:

CAMERA Nikon NIKON D4S
LENS AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
ISO 2500
FOCAL LENGTH 48.0 mm (48.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/4
EXPOSURE TIME 0.01111s (1/90)
i-Zzd5Z3T-X2.jpg
 
I think your white balance is off on your camera Scott, the wine looks orange! I've heard of White/Blanca, Rosé and Red/Rossa wine.. Never Orange??? You might want to check your camera brother. :chug:
 
Crap, Duke. I see what you mean now. Maybe I should put my camera on "P" for "Professional"? Or was that "A" for "Automatic". :ponder:

I forgot to add, I had a quarter stick of toasted oak in the secondary during 'aging'. lol
 
#37/52
Fire pit
What's that adage about the best camera is the one you have with you? I was visiting friends and they decided to fire up the chimnea. Yeah, end of September and we fired it up, drank some wine and had some great conversation. I didn't plan on shooting anything so all I had was the iPhone. I just liked how the top and bottom are individual components and you really can't see what's in the middle.

CAMERA Apple iPhone SE
LENS iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
ISO 25
FOCAL LENGTH 4.2 mm (36.0 mm in 35mm)
APERTURE f/2.2
EXPOSURE TIME 0.025s (1/40)
i-65BkCMT-X2.jpg
 
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