[NZ_Ross]

Nice shot Ross, good dof and nice background blur

Thanks Pete

[GUB]

Whilst I will be the first to admit my portrait photography needs a lot of work and practice, I am very happy with the DA 70 Limited that has recently arrived.

I got this image of my youngest this afternoon down at the Timaru Botanic Gardens (looking for a Fantail). Having an AF lens is making the job much easier than the MF ones, as she rarely stays still long enough for me to MF.

See the portrait is f2.4--- That is what primes are all about--Bokeh and super sharp subject. Nice one Ross.

---------- Post added 06-21-14 at 11:20 PM ----------

some shocking low prices on some m and A lens on TM tonight

Yeah I would have chased that 28mm along a bit if I had remembered.

[GUB]

Sumtimes ya just gotta test physics (and google)
Google earth reckoned that, on the winter solstice ,the sun would set exactly behind Egmont if I drove up to our new Waitahinga walk and viewed it from the lookout.
Exactly right. A bit of cloud but that is the shadow of Egmont projected on it. And the sun is about to set on its peak.

[NZ_Ross]

Sumtimes ya just gotta test physics (and google)
Google earth reckoned that, on the winter solstice ,the sun would set exactly behind Egmont if I drove up to our new Waitahinga walk and viewed it from the lookout.
Exactly right. A bit of cloud but that is the shadow of Egmont projected on it. And the sun is about to set on its peak.

You have to be very happy with that one GUB. What second round category are you going to submit it under?

It is quite ethereal and a very cool image

[bobD]

Sumtimes ya just gotta test physics (and google)
Google earth reckoned that, on the winter solstice ,the sun would set exactly behind Egmont if I drove up to our new Waitahinga walk and viewed it from the lookout.
Exactly right. A bit of cloud but that is the shadow of Egmont projected on it. And the sun is about to set on its peak.

Superb !

[GUB]

What second round category are you going to submit it under?

Na it doesnt have that extra bit needed and if ya didn't know egmont you wouldn't understand it.
Might go back up there tomorrow night if it is clearer though. I think I will have a few nights until it misses the cone.

[MarkJerling]

Last week I posted some photos of the NZ Scaup (thanks zkarj for the heads up) that I had taken using my M*300/4 and 1.7xAF. Comments included the CA that was apparent with this combo.

Today I have been back down at the Timaru Botanic gardens photographing the NZ Scaup again - this time with the HD DA55-300 to see what the difference was. There is still minor CA to be seen in the images, but I think it is better controlled with the HD DA55-300.

In both cases the images were made with a Pentax K-3, shooting RAW and converted/post processed using Apple Aperture and Nik Effects filters.

The three images below are todays taken with the HD DA55-300.

The female NZ Scaup is the one with the white above the beak - you learn something new every day

Really nice shots Ross. I especially like the second one.

---------- Post added 06-22-14 at 11:44 PM ----------

Sumtimes ya just gotta test physics (and google)
Google earth reckoned that, on the winter solstice ,the sun would set exactly behind Egmont if I drove up to our new Waitahinga walk and viewed it from the lookout.
Exactly right. A bit of cloud but that is the shadow of Egmont projected on it. And the sun is about to set on its peak.

Cool shot Gub!

---------- Post added 06-22-14 at 11:53 PM ----------

This week again, I'm reminded of the reason I like to call our chosen home country, "The Land of the long and wide rip-off".
By now, we all know that we're ripped off locally not only with the markup on Pentax gear, but also many other things. But this week's experience really takes the cake.

Wanted a 1500 lumen (minimum) bike light. Local pricing, around $200 with battery and charger. Around 40 pounds, ex UK. US$21.50 ebay, ex Hong Kong. This added to my experiences of a AU$29 door in Melbourne costing NZ$119 here, solid Oak kitchen from UK being cheaper than MDF kitchen here, NZ GIB being cheaper in Fiji than here, NZ Pinus Radiata cheaper in Bunnings in Aus, than my bloody trade price here. Why oh why!

[pixelsaurus]

Sumtimes ya just gotta test physics (and google)
Google earth reckoned that, on the winter solstice ,the sun would set exactly behind Egmont if I drove up to our new Waitahinga walk and viewed it from the lookout.
Exactly right. A bit of cloud but that is the shadow of Egmont projected on it. And the sun is about to set on its peak.

Very cool. If you download TPE you can figure out where you need to be on any day to have the sun set behind the Mountain. Works for sunrise, moonrise and set as well.

[richandfleur]

Very cool. If you download TPE you can figure out where you need to be on any day to have the sun set behind the Mountain. Works for sunrise, moonrise and set as well.

It's good aye. I use that when I'm travelling somewhere I don't know/am not familiar with, to get the lay of the land in advance.

[Transit]

Na it doesnt have that extra bit needed and if ya didn't know egmont you wouldn't understand it.
Might go back up there tomorrow night if it is clearer though. I think I will have a few nights until it misses the cone.

definitely some potential there, good luck with the conditions for next attempt !
can you bracket to avoid the blown highlights ?

---------- Post added 06-23-14 at 08:48 AM ----------

....This week again, I'm reminded of the reason I like to call our chosen home country, "The Land of the long and wide rip-off".
By now, we all know that we're ripped off locally not only with the markup on Pentax gear, but also many other things. But this week's experience really takes the cake.

Wanted a 1500 lumen (minimum) bike light. Local pricing, around $200 with battery and charger. Around 40 pounds, ex UK. US$21.50 ebay, ex Hong Kong. This added to my experiences of a AU$29 door in Melbourne costing NZ$119 here, solid Oak kitchen from UK being cheaper than MDF kitchen here, NZ GIB being cheaper in Fiji than here, NZ Pinus Radiata cheaper in Bunnings in Aus, than my bloody trade price here. Why oh why!

it's bloody disgusting, no will from this pathetic govt to address it

[GUB]

can you bracket to avoid the blown highlights ?

I have tried to HDR the image but I am a beginner and the results are shite. Too little time to try and get the hang of HDR.
Rich-- you do some HDR -- I did a 3 image bracket with a 2 stop gap. Would that be ball park for this type of image?
I am having no luck with a sensible colour output with it-- mostly a totally different cast.
The program is Luminance HDR on linux.

[MarkJerling]

it's bloody disgusting, no will from this pathetic govt to address it

Will or not, I don't think there's anything they can do. Ultimately, we're a small country with hardly any competition for the importers / wholesalers. And don't get me started on how the Building Code is manipulated to suit specific manufacturers.

[richandfleur]

I have tried to HDR the image but I am a beginner and the results are shite. Too little time to try and get the hang of HDR.
Rich-- you do some HDR -- I did a 3 image bracket with a 2 stop gap. Would that be ball park for this type of image?
I am having no luck with a sensible colour output with it-- mostly a totally different cast.
The program is Luminance HDR on linux.

Hi, assume Rich is me?

In that particular photo I think the power is in the soft feel of it overall. HDR is primarily to capture detail in areas that are wildly different in lighting levels, resulting in an exposure range greater than a camera sensor (but not the necessarily the human eye...) can distinguish. In your case, do you really want to expose the details in the mountain shadow for instance?

I suspect simply pulling down the highlights would be sufficient, or manually exposing a little 'darker' to start with, to protect all the highlights at point of capture. This may introduce some noise in the dark bits however...

Yes, the + and - 2 stops is a pretty standard approach, and the exact required settings are determined by your subject matter. If there is a massive discrepency between light and dark in the scene, then you may have to space these wider apart to capture sufficient detail in each area.

Not sure what the weather was like last night over your way, but it was stunning (though rather cold) in Palmerston North. I'm planning a night mission to capture the sky with the kit lens tonight, for use on a rainy day as a sky background if required. Maybe you could retake your shot with clearer skies to show the mountain more defined? By all means bracket away, if nothing else the middle one is likely to be useable right away, but you've got the option to HDR it at a later date also if you want.

HDR can easily be 'over baked', but fundamentally it's actually no different to using a graduated filter on the sky for instance... (just a gibe to agitate the purists there )
Couldn't resist a play, no offence intended ...

Attachment 227362

[richandfleur]

Argh, foiled again. Some low cloud cover has just crept over Palmerston North and I can't see a single star tonight

[GUB]

Argh, foiled again. Some low cloud cover has just crept over Palmerston North and I can't see a single star tonight

Yeah went back up to Waitahinga for another attempt tonight and it suddenly was more clagged in than last nite. Got some track work done tho so 45 min drive not wasted.
Had a look at my raw settings for that image and i had 5 EVs of graduated filter on the sky and 2.5 EVs of lightening on the foreground. So if I understand that right I darkened the sky 2.5 stops and lifted the foreground 2.5 stops. That is really beyond the limit of even a raw I think. And I agree I have just lost it in the sky but the foreground handled 2.5 stops quite well .