Welcome to another round of Picture of the Week. This is edition #271 covering 16 June through 30 June 2013.

POTW is a great spot to show off any shots you take in the upcoming week, or last week that you haven't processed until now. In other words, you can post your shots from this week AND last week.

Same rules:

1) No theme, just post your favorite pix.
2) 5 or less images per post just so the thread doesn't get too big.
3) Any Pentax or Samsung camera, film or digital.

The current host will invite a new host 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 bluestringer, Moderator via PM.

Here are the records of previous POTW threads:

1 Peter Zack, 2 Eaglerapids, 3 rmtagg, 4 Peter Zack, 5 daacon, 6 Bramela, 7 mtnbearhug, 8 dantuyhoa, 9 gawan,10 roentarre, 11 daacon, 12 Kris, 13 mtnbearhug, 14 SCGushue, 15 daacon, 16 maxwell1295, 17 dantuyhoa, 18 daacon, 19 maxwell1295, 19(2) daacon, 20 Bramela, 21 Syb, 22 maxwell1295, 23 maxwell1295, 24 dantuyhoa, 25 Gawan, 26 Peter Zack, 27 borno, 28 daacon, 29 gawan, 30 Damn Brit, 31 maxwell1295, 32 maxwell1295, 33 dantuyhoa, 34 daacon, 35 Peter Zack, 36 Damn Brit, 37 Borno, 38 Kevint, 39 Peter Zack, 40 Timbo13, 41 daacon, 42 daacon, 43 gawan, 44 dantuyhoa, 45 daacon, 46 Rense, 47 daacon, 48 Rense, 49 borno, 50 Rense, 51 daacon, 52 Peter Zack, 53 Peter Zack, 54 dadipentax, 55 David Whiteley, 56 planedriver, 57 daacon,58 Bramela, 59 daacon, 60 gawan, 61 virgilr, 62 daacon, 63 RickL, 64 Peter Zack, 65 Peter Zack, 66 Causey, 67 daacon, 68 Bramela, 69 georgeweb, 70 daacon,71 seacapt, 72 daacon, 73 AOski, 74 Rense, 75 eccs19, 76 daacon, 77 xs400, 78 daacon, 79 Bramela, 80 Borno, 81 legacyb4, 82 daacon, 83 gawan, 84 Rense, 85 Peter Zack, 86 davef, 87 davef, 88 xjjohnno, 89 Bramela, 90 Peter Zack, 91 daacon, 92 stevebrot, 93 reeftool, 94 jezza323, 95 oldschool, 96 Iris, 97 Rense, 98 planedriver, 99 xs400, 100 Peter Zack, 101 Netuser, 102 Photolady, 103 Tamia, 104 Irishwhite, 105 Ramseybuckeye, 106 xjjohnno, 107 Bumbibop, 108 JeffJS, 109 Tpeace, 110 Nomad, 111 Photolady, 112 rparmar, 113 Peter Zack, 114 casil403, 115 Tamia , 116 JeffJS, 117 bbluesman, 118 Clou, 119 ruggiex, 120 Jimbow007, 121 jmschrie, 122 VaughnA , 123 pop4, 124 casil403, 125 woof, 126 twitch, 127 stevebrot, 128 ohce, 129 jmschrei, 130 photolady, 131 photolady, 132 bbluesman, 133 rparmar, 134 reeftool, 135 reeftool, 136 Oldschool, 137 xjjohonno, 138 KarenH , 139 Rense, 140 daacon, 141 Tamia, 142 JeffJS, 143 bbluesman, 144 fotaki, 145 fotaki, 146 Woof, 147 Bramela, 148 Bramela, 149 Tamia, 150 Nomad, 151 Clou, 152 drugal, 153 rparmar, 154 Nomad, 155 jmschrei, 156 noelcmn, 157 noelcmn, 158 rwfarnell, 159 ramseybuckeye, 160 christophleipzig, 161 JeremytheIndian, 162 SpecialK, 163 emetcalf, 164 emetcalf, 165 stevebrot, 166 rparmar, 167 Mattt, 168 JeffJS, 169 jmschrei, 170 fotaki, 171 xs400, 172 TOUGEFC, 173 TOUGEFC, 174 Warped, 175 MaryAD, 176 Davidw0815, 177 baro-nite, 178 baro-nite, 179 pentaximus, 180 lukulele, 181 lukulele, 182 rob 1234, 183 lukulele, 184 lukulele, 185 pentaximus, 186 ramseybuckeye, 187 ramseybuckeye, 188 StDevious, 189 Free Soul, 190 Clou, 191 brvnara, 192 pentaximus, 193 Noelcmn, 194 Noelcmn 195 GmcarsMAN, 196 jmschreii,197 wolfiegirl, 198 xjjohnno, 199 Arn , 200 Peter Zack, 201 bluestringer, 202 cif, 203 Rollsup, 204 noelcm, 205 Davidw0815, 206 Davidw0815, 207 cif, 208 ramseybuckeye, 209 paulh, 210 Oldschool, 211 SpecialK, 212 mecrox, 213 pentaximus, 215 bramela, 216 jmschrei, 217 Exandr, 218 Noelcmn, 219 Noelcmn, 220 sergiu, 221 sergiu, 222 sergiu, 223 sergiu, 224 sergiu, 225 sergiu, 226 sergiu, 227 sergiu, 228 Davidw08, 229 reeftool, 230 reeftool, 231 cif, 232 mecrox, 233 mecrox, 234 glennbp, 235 glennbp, 236 pentaximus, 237 pentaximus, 238 pentaximus,239 Paul, 240 Nick Nero, 241 Arnold, 242 Arnold, 243 Arnold, 244 Arnold, 245 Nick Nero, 246 ramseybuckeye, 247 ramseybuckeye, 248 Douge, 249 Douge 250 Douge, 251 Dr Orloff, 252 lukulele, 253 lukulele, 254 nosliwmit, 255 nosliwmit, 256 nosliwmit, 257 casil403, 258 casil403, 259 Davidw0815, 260 Davidw0815, 261 ruggiex, 262 ruggiex, 263 mecrox, 264 pentaximus, 265 pentaximus, 266 SpecialK, 267 SpecialK, 268 filoxophy, 269 mecrox, 270 mecrox

Hi folks, I hope you have a great week wherever you live and are able to share with us the world through your eyes.

Just a couple from earlier in the week:


Big old college buildings in the centre of town:

untitled-2211-Edit


I spent yesterday at Harcourt Arboretum a few miles away helping to hang a photo exhibition which a local group of us are
putting on to chime with the Arboretum's 50th anniversary of becoming part of the university:

oxford-1-220613


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[paulh]

WOW, some really great images already this week! - Cheers to ALL!

I agree...wow! Including those amazing shots of yours, tricktech! Good stuff from everyone this week.

My K10D was having some backfocusing issues, so I went into debug mode and made some adjustments. Most of these shots were taken for testing purposes during a dogwalk, and some of them were fairly interesting (to me). Taken with my everyday workhorse Quantaray (Sigma) 28-90.

Mimosa blooms along the path...


vine-covered oak tree


trying to adjust focus using Tino's rear end as a target


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

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Last edited by paulh; 06-24-2013 at 08:08 PM. Reason: added note

[pentaximus]

Fantastic week going here! I haven't much to contribute, but since my youngest son commissioned me to take this photo I'll use it to keep an eye on what's happening here at POTW.

[Papa Lazarou]

Picked up a used D-FA 100 Macro last week, this was one of my first shots with it.

[xjjohnno]

Mecrox, that last bird pic is of a New Holland honey eater.

[Paleo Pete]

Took my M 50 f 1.7 out for a walk yesterday, haven't done that in a while.

First stop was the garden. Backlit shot of some San Marzano tomato blooms



then down the rod on the bicycle for some Mexican Hats



And back up my street for some backlit grass seeds

[mecrox]

Those are "Wow" pictures to me, Tricktech. I've no idea how they are done but I'm sure it is very skilled and the results are fab.

I love ramseybuckeye's picture of the skydiver with the colours, with the sun just catching the flag. Lovely one. Good to see that you'll soon all be supporting Arsenal and Spurs over there

Soft tones and delicate textures in that first one, paulh, and the last one with the little dog and the damp paving stones and then bright sun beyond has a wonderful sense of freshness to it.

Pentaximus can see us, in superb detail by the look of it.

I hope you get a lot of pleasure from the D-FA 100 Macro, Papa Lazarou. It's amazing that pollen grains, normally so small one cannot see them, can be seen "just like that" with it. I have one and use it for all sorts of things, including street portraits. I've found it very versatile and great results.

Your M 50 f 1.7 looks to be a corker, Paleo Pete. The definition in all the shots is amazing, particularly the first and the last with the light showing the smallest filaments. I really like the first shot with the backlighting. I didn't even know that tomato plants had flowers like that. I have an "A" series 50mm which must be fairly comparable and it can stay on the camera for days on end. It focuses close enough for some really nice flower shots and the like. I love the bokeh and its adaptability for more general stuff. The build quality on some of these old lenses is just amazing.

[Papa Lazarou]

Took a walk at Willen Lake last night.

[Paleo Pete]

Your M 50 f 1.7 looks to be a corker, Paleo Pete. The definition in all the shots is amazing, particularly the first and the last with the light showing the smallest filaments. I really like the first shot with the backlighting. I didn't even know that tomato plants had flowers like that.

mecrox - All my nifty fifties will get shots that good, the A series f1.4 will probably get better than that. The older K series can just about match it. This f1.7 does a really good job, I just don't pull it out often. Backlit shots can be amazing, I just wish I could get the last hour or so of daylight, but around here it's already behind the trees, I have to go further than I want to by bicycle to get that time of day...Yes, tomato plants do have blooms like that. About dime size, and the hairs all over make great backlit shots. You should see those on the computer before the website softens them...virtually all my nifty fifties are tack sharp at f8...slightly different character and bokeh, but all sharp as can be. This f1.7 tends to look slightly pastel in some cases while if I take a shot of a flower with the A series f1.4 it looks like you can reach out and touch it. I'll have to see if I can get another mexican hat with it for comparison...I have some older ones, but past the acceptable dates for this thread...

Wait, just realized, I have a couple of Mexican Hats on the Flickr page, both at top right when I look. Top one taken with A series f1.4, (filename IMGP23861) second one (filename IMGP23125) with K series f1.4. I can tell because the A series will have the aperture in EXIF, while the K series won't. I've started to always use the A series in A mode these days mainly so I can identify it...the K30 does not ID lenses as far as I can tell, just focal length, one of the few things I don't like about it.

By the way, anybody know if EXIF is available on the new Flickr format at all? I can't find it.

[mecrox]

mecrox - All my nifty fifties will get shots that good, the A series f1.4 will probably get better than that. The older K series can just about match it. This f1.7 does a really good job, I just don't pull it out often. Backlit shots can be amazing, I just wish I could get the last hour or so of daylight, but around here it's already behind the trees, I have to go further than I want to by bicycle to get that time of day...Yes, tomato plants do have blooms like that. About dime size, and the hairs all over make great backlit shots. You should see those on the computer before the website softens them...virtually all my nifty fifties are tack sharp at f8...slightly different character and bokeh, but all sharp as can be. This f1.7 tends to look slightly pastel in some cases while if I take a shot of a flower with the A series f1.4 it looks like you can reach out and touch it. I'll have to see if I can get another mexican hat with it for comparison...I have some older ones, but past the acceptable dates for this thread...

Wait, just realized, I have a couple of Mexican Hats on the Flickr page, both at top right when I look. Top one taken with A series f1.4, (filename IMGP23861) second one (filename IMGP23125) with K series f1.4. I can tell because the A series will have the aperture in EXIF, while the K series won't. I've started to always use the A series in A mode these days mainly so I can identify it...the K30 does not ID lenses as far as I can tell, just focal length, one of the few things I don't like about it.

By the way, anybody know if EXIF is available on the new Flickr format at all? I can't find it.

Very interesting, thanks for that. This is a flower shot I took last week using my A series 50mm f1.4 at, I think, f4 or 5.6. I think I prefer using my 50mm lens for shots like this over the 35mm limited or similar. It's sharp but I just like the bokeh and rendering. I did pay to have the lens serviced and the focusing mechanism regreased which has made a big difference: it's now silky smooth but firm and makes using the lens that much more of a pleasure. I think I might do this with any other classic MF lens I feel is a real keeper. The other one I'm really loving at the mo is an M-series 120mm f2.8, very sharp and pretty small with it. For less than a hundred bucks, I've got a quality "180mm" basically, a nice focal length.


oxford-2-180613

On Flickr, exif info appears to be towards the tail end of the pop-up menu on the right-hand side - click on the the three white dots at the bottom of the black area around the picture.

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[Davidw0815]

Two more images from my night photo session:

My friend's camera at work


Konstanz at night


Sunday afternoon I took my kids to the butterfly house on Mainau Island. Great opportunity for some macro shots:

[pentaximus]

@Davidw0815 - Love the clear wing! And both butterflies have patterned eyes. Very nice.

On Flickr, exif info appears to be towards the tail end of the pop-up menu on the right-hand side - click on the the three white dots at the bottom of the black area around the picture.
--

Billy, mecrox is correct.

[Paleo Pete]

Thanks guys, I had looked all over and never was able to find where they hid the EXIF info. Why do they keep changing things around? Did nobody ever hear the phrase "If it works don't fix it"????

I just found and looked at the EXIF for one of those Mexican Hat shots...it was right there all the time...

David those are some pretty cool butterfly shots.

[mecrox]

Nice ones, Papa Lazarou, I love the first one with the open gate and the lush promise of summer down a shady garden path - tells a story. And the pagoda at dusk is so atmospheric.

Those are lovely shots, David. Such a peaceful night-time view of Konstanz with a full or nearly full moon and soft colours on the water. I've never tried night photography, I bet it needs a lot more skill than might appear. And I love the butterfly shots, I had no idea that some species have nearly transparent wings. That's fascinating and it looks pretty distinguished, imho.

[alamo5000]

The one and only Willie Robertson from the TV show Duck Dynasty greeting a small fan on the Duck Commander loading dock...

Taken by me with a K-5 and a DA 15mm Limited.

[mecrox]

Lol, said fan looks rooted to the spot, lovely shot alamo5000.