Welcome to edition #213 of the Pentax Forums' Picture of the Week. Thanks to mecrox for hosting edition #212.
This edition covers photos from 28 April - 12 May 2012. That lets you show off any shots you took last week but haven't processed until now. In other words, you can post your shots from this week AND last week.

POTW is a great place to show what you've been shooting day-to-day. It gives us all a chance to see what other members are up to with their Pentax (and Samsung) cameras in the parts of the world in which they live or have visited. We can share ideas, learn from one another, and have a good time. So show us what you've seen in your little corner of the planet! Looking forward to seeing all of what's out there this week. A special welcome to all new members!

Again same rules as always:

No theme, just post your favorite pix.
Lets keep it to fewer than 6 images per post just so the thread doesn't get too big each week.
Any Pentax camera or Samsung SLR is fine, whether it's Film, P&S, Mirrorless, or DSLR.
Enter anything you shot last week or during this current week until the thread closes.
The current host will appoint the new host as an invitation via Private Message (PM). If possible, the new thread will be linked to the previous one and the new thread will start between Noon EDT and 5PM EDT on Sunday. If the thread doesn't start, please contact Peter Zack, Moderator via PM.

SpecialK's note: I've left off the links to previous POTW's as a) it's getting a bit long, b) the links weren't active on the last thread, c) I had no way to quote Oldschool to get the HTML, and d) you know where to find the old threads.

[pentaximus]

Well, I'm glad I stopped being lazy and went out for an evening walk.

We're glad, too. Lovely scene!

It was a family event and extra sidecar space for the kids.

What a great experience! Nice collection of bikes.


Tom--Looking forward to your Magee Marsh pics!


Billy--Love the woodpecker shots. What magnificent birds!

Some sort of dove, I think, in Panama City.

A Panamanian dove, eh? That's a first for me!


mecrox--Love the comp on #2! And that's a very nice effect on #4. Works very well.

For various reasons, I'm stuck close to home these days, but I managed to get a few shots.

You have some beautiful colors close to home. I hope Tino got his walk!

It was an experimental week for me.. Panning, motion blurs, and blended super moon shots, oh my...

The motion shots look really fun for everybody! Now, as for that last moon shot, I need some details...if you don't mind.


Nice work so far, everyone! We have plenty of room for more. Keep 'em coming!

[Paleo Pete]

pentaximus - Thanks a lot, I've really enjoyed watching them and taking pictures, especially since they never ever let people get this close. I can stand 15 feet from the tree, the nest is about 20 feet up, a lot lower than they usually build. And I can walk around and they just sit there and pretty much ignore me. Amazing, but I'm getting some very good shots, and shots of the young ones are not very common either so that's a big plus. I should have more ready to go in a few days, I got about 30 keepers yesterday evening.

[noelcmn]

What a lovely set of pics we have this week, especially like that opening Heron shot Pentaximus, and set from Mecrox. A selection from Down South- Africa South.
That Super Moon from the other night was preceded by some lovely half moons.


During the day as well.


This is a wattled Plover, a rather fearless bird which will attack anything that threatens its nest or chicks-even elephants.


Urban Rhino, which with the current wanton slaughter of our Rhino's may be the only place where they will be seen if the carnage does not stop. This taken in Rietvlei nature Reserve, Pretoria.


From the same reserve, the comical and wonderful Dabchick. Comical because if you see it under the water, itswebbed feet are flapped more to the side of its body than to the back.


One very nice feature of our mild winters here in the south, is that we have flowering plants and shrubs that bloom during this period. It does help one to cope with the dreariness and drabness that is advancing as we approcah winter proper.


Excuse me as I go on a social commentary- our unemployment rate here is SA has gone beyond the 25% mark. Here is the evidence-5 men doing nothing outside a bottle store. Hoping I suppose. I am very thankful I have a job.


And last but not least, for our American friends. Had to take our Church's Dodge Ram bus for a service in Pretoria, to a company that specialises in American Cars-aptly called American Workshop. As expected, he has a lot of American cars standing around. Here are just two of the few I managed to take. The envyable Cobra-iconic even here in South Africa


And this I believe the other iconic Studbaker


Oops- Ivé gone over the 6 or so images- does not happen often-but happening-more-and-more-these-days.
Have a great week ahead, end weekend too.

[Davidw0815]

A lot of great images so far!
Thanks for hosting, pentaximus.

A few days ago my A 1:2.8 135 mm returned from the repair shop - after nearly six months. This evening I finally got out to enjoy the beautiful summer weather and check if they did their job well at the shop.


Konstanz harbor & Austrian Alps




The Imperia - the controversial landmark of Konstanz

[xjjohnno]

Pentaximus, thanks for hosting this week's POTW, heaps of decent pics coming in.
Some flower and bird pics from me.

[todd]

The motion shots look really fun for everybody! Now, as for that last moon shot, I need some details...if you don't mind.

Details!? I've got details.. :-)

The first long exposure:
Camera Maker PENTAX K100D
Aperture f/13
Exposure Program Manual
Exposure Time 5 sec
Focal Length 90 mm
ISO 200
Metering Mode Spot

Then the second shot was the correctly exposed moon with same settings as above but for 1/60s...

Loaded these two pics in the gimp then scaled up the correcly exposed moon and dropped it in on a duplicate layer of the overexposed moon shot.... Scissored that with a layer mask and got rid of the dark sky then merged those layers and brightened the moon in that layer (using the gimp auto white balance tool adjusted with opacity).. Lastly I desaturated the two remaining layers and then flattened and cropped.. ;-)

This is another experiment from almost the same time, perspective, camera settings and processing steps as above except that I didn't brighten the moon or scale it or desaturate:

[pentaximus]

Oops- Ivé gone over the 6 or so images- does not happen often-but happening-more-and-more-these-days.

Okay, that's it, Noel. Enough of your shenanigans! You are officially on double-secret probation!

A few days ago my A 1:2.8 135 mm returned from the repair shop - after nearly six months. This evening I finally got out to enjoy the beautiful summer weather and check if they did their job well at the shop.

Sorry it took that long, but wow they seem to have done an alright job! Super sharp looking pics!


xjjohnno--Lovely shots as usual! May I ask for id on the birds? I'm at a loss beyond robins and mockingbirds.


todd--Thanks so much for the details! I've not done any such layering of photos, so it's interesting to hear a bit about how you did these. I love the inclusion of the plane trails in a couple of them. I'll have to give this a try!

[xjjohnno]

Pentaximus, it's unlikely you'd see either bird near you, Aussie natives, the first a black tailed water hen and the second a purple swamp hen.

[ramseybuckeye]

Some really splendid work this week!

Here's a few from Magee Marsh:
Yellow Warbler:


Yellow Rumped Warbler:


Northern Parula:


Chestnut Sided Warbler:

[ramseybuckeye]

And a few more:
Magnolia Warbler:


Black Throated Green Warbler:


Ruby Crowned Kinglet


American Redstart (male)

[smf]

The iris was photographed with a Pentax 100mm lens. The T-6 airplane, built in 1949, was photographed with a Pentax 18-55mm lens. Processing was in Nik Software Color Efex Pro 4.0 and/or Viveza 2, and possibly also in iPhoto.

[Paleo Pete]

ramseybuckeye - I gotta disagree with you. The one you listed as American Redstart female, looks exactly like a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. Male and female are hard to ID, and the red stripe on the male's head is not always visible, so it's tricky, but that's what that bird looks like to me anyway. I only got a few shots of them this winter, and have been looking for the Parula, it winters here too but I've never been able to get any shots of them.

[xjjohnno]

The new POTW is over here.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/weekly-photo-challenges/185933-picture-we...ay-2012-a.html

[ramseybuckeye]

ramseybuckeye - I gotta disagree with you. The one you listed as American Redstart female, looks exactly like a Ruby Crowned Kinglet. Male and female are hard to ID, and the red stripe on the male's head is not always visible, so it's tricky, but that's what that bird looks like to me anyway. I only got a few shots of them this winter, and have been looking for the Parula, it winters here too but I've never been able to get any shots of them.

Thanks Pete, you are right, I'm not an expert on these little birds, I just like to photograph them.

[pentaximus]

Sorry to run out on everyone. I've been traveling the last few days.

Some lovely finishing shots from Tom (unusual collection of smaller birds) and Stuart (nice colors and metallic reflections!).

Thanks to xjjohnno for hosting the new POTW. I'll join in the fun as soon as I can.