[Dartmoor Dave]

As with every other new year's resolution I've ever made, I dove right in and started ignoring my photography goals for the year pretty much straight away. The plan was to stop messing around with gear and just enjoy capturing moments that I want to remember with the simplest equipment possible, but instead I've done exactly the opposite. I've wasted ridiculous amounts of time trying out different lenses on different cameras with different processing techniques. And the end result is that most of the photos I've taken would have been much better if I'd just shot them with the gear I'm used to, instead of constantly experimenting.

The good thing is that I seem to have finally settled down now and I'm back to shooting with the stuff that I know just works. Now I just need some decent light.

[abruzzi]

I didn’t do this as a decision, but I started shooting film in February with the goal of slowing down the photography process and eventually removing computers from the process. Since February I haven’t touched a digital camera except to digitize negatives from the 35mm cameras.

I’m having so much fun with film again that I have very little desire to shoot digital, so I’ve expanded into medium format with a Pentax 67 and a half dozen lenses. I’m now developing all my black and white at home. I may develop color in the future, but probably not for a few years. The other half of this process is going slower. I bought a darkroom full of equipment for printing, but it’s sitting at the moment since I need to build a work surface in my spare bathroom to put the enlarger and trays. For that I need to wait for my father to visit since he has the tools to do stuff like that. His wife is going to help me by sewing up blackout curtains out of duvatyne. Then I’ll be able to print my images and take my computer out of the photography process entirely.

[BrianR]

Haven't paid a visit to your site until now.
Looks very interesting... I read the article on UV-light photography and it was very interesting (the glowing frass cracked me up! )

Thanks for looking and the kind words. More UVIFL to come, fungus, plants, more moths, etc, I have been busy photographing things

[D1N0]

Didn't have any, but I'm getting on with testing all my glass on the K-1

[ChristianRock]

Didn't have any, but I'm getting on with testing all my glass on the K-1

Make sure to share what you find!

Objectives update... I'm seriously considering doing a month or two of just black and white before the year ends, and maybe use a single lens for that.

[ZombieArmy]

Work when it's sunny out, rain when I'm off. Curse of a non WR camera.

[Wheatfield]

Did you make any photography objectives for 2018? How are progressing?

My plan was to spend a bunch of time shooting with a D-FA 50/1.4.
So far it's not going well.
Seriously though, my plan is always to get out of town and do more shooting, but somehow the spare time to do it never materializes.

[ChristianRock]

Work when it's sunny out, rain when I'm off. Curse of a non WR camera.

Well we did recommend you the K-S2 when you had a budget to get a WR camera a few weeks back... but you had to go and get yourself a new lens

Plus, there's always plastic bags, you know, that's how some of our Canon and Nikon friends do it all the time

---------- Post added 06-20-18 at 11:37 AM ----------

My plan was to spend a bunch of time shooting with a D-FA 50/1.4.
So far it's not going well.
Seriously though, my plan is always to get out of town and do more shooting, but somehow the spare time to do it never materializes.

I'd be very surprised if I can afford that lens anytime soon

Which is fine actually, since I don't think I outgrew any of my 50s...

[ZombieArmy]

Well we did recommend you the K-S2 when you had a budget to get a WR camera a few weeks back... but you had to go and get yourself a new lens

No ragrets!

[LensBeginner]

No ragrets!

What about Rugrats?

[Wheatfield]

I'd be very surprised if I can afford that lens anytime soon

Which is fine actually, since I don't think I outgrew any of my 50s...

I've got more 50s than I can shake a stick at. Probably a dozen of the things. It's my favourite focal length, and I'm something of a junkie for them. They've all got their good points, they've all got their quirks and weaknesses, just like any lens.
But, since it's my favourite focal length, I'm waiting with barely contained anticipation. I don't care if it will do wonderful things for my photography (I don't expect it will, actually), I just want one because it's new, it's shiny, and it has the name of my favourite brand on it.
It may not be the right reason, but it's my reason, and that's good enough for me.

---------- Post added 06-20-18 at 10:03 AM ----------

What about Rugrats?

My dog loves them. Rugrats with a side of eggs and toast seems to be her favourite.
Just kidding.
We just got some new neighbors a little while back, my girl adores their kid.
Thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread.

[ChristianRock]

I've got more 50s than I can shake a stick at. Probably a dozen of the things. It's my favourite focal length, and I'm something of a junkie for them. They've all got their good points, they've all got their quirks and weaknesses, just like any lens..

Do you use them on the K-1 or on APS-C? I love them on APS-C but I think I'd love them even more on the K-1...

[Wheatfield]

Do you use them on the K-1 or on APS-C? I love them on APS-C but I think I'd love them even more on the K-1...

On the K1. I found on APS-C that it was a somewhat unhandy focal length. For me it was too long for most of what I do, and too short for most of the rest. When it was the right lens, it was glorious, but it wasn’t the right lens very often.
By rights, I should have said I am a standard lens junkie. On APS-C my go to lenses were the 31mm and 35mm lenses.

[ChristianRock]

On the K1. I found on APS-C that it was a somewhat unhandy focal length. For me it was too long for most of what I do, and too short for most of the rest. When it was the right lens, it was glorious, but it wasn’t the right lens very often.
By rights, I should have said I am a standard lens junkie. On APS-C my go to lenses were the 31mm and 35mm lenses.

I'm with you. My go to lens is the Sigma 30 1.4, before that it was the Pentax 35 2.4.

[Doundounba]

Interesting thread!

For me, what´s going pretty well is that when I do go out, I like the shots I am getting! I got a damselfly portrait focus stack recently in a style I've been hoping to achieve for a long time!

What's going less well is that I'm not going out as much as I would like. The addition of cycling (& gym in winter) into my schedule (at least 4x/week) leaves less time than I'd like for photography. On the other hand, losing 25+ lbs is certainly a good thing.

Some things I'd like to accomplish but have yet to do this year are:

• Make a better/custom diffuser for my AD180 flash. I like the circular specular highlights of the standard diffuser, but I need a tad more frontal light, especially for critters with very bulbous eyes/heads, so I want a diffuser that will drop down a bit on both sides of the lens.
• Witness/photograph a dragonfly emergence. Unlikely to happen I guess, but I can hope...
• Try to shoot some near-macro natural light focus stacks of dragonflies and other large-ish insects. May or may not happen, as I tend to focus on higher magnification shots...
• Shoot new species - always great to see & photograph something you've never seen before, but it gets harder with time.

EDIT: forgot to say I was hoping to try my hand at vlogging this year (not with my Pentax), but the barrier-to-entry in terms of knowledge and time investment is considerable...