[w2ck]

Hi,

Ok. At it again today. I had to go to the screenprinting shop and do a little computer updating. So, why not mess some more with the lighthouse shots I have and spit some ink out of the old Direct To Garment printer.

First off, sorry for the cell phone shots. I wasn't intending on doing all this today, so I didn't bring any camera with me save the cell phone. Oh, well. They are really just shots of the printer doing its thing anyway.



Currituck



Bodie




Hatteras. To be redone later, but these are test shots. And, the wife will be working with them as far as prototyping the quilt block set.

I suppose I ought to say something about the process here.

First, the shot is processed in Photoshop with ACR. Very little processing. A little adjustment of the exposure and the highlights and the shadows in ACR. Then very little sharpening in PS proper and save as a PSD file.

Then, the shot heads to Illustrator, which is unusual for photos. Here a slight fade is applied to the edges. We do this for any image we print on fabric. Soften the hard edges. This is when anything else is added. Like the text at the bottom of the Hatteras print. In the end all the prints will have the house name and year put into service. Save as a PSD file once again.

The outline mark is added in Illustrator. This is the cut line for the fabric into the final quilt block. There is space between the cut line and the image as quilting needs a blank edge for the sewing of the blocks and the filler strips to produce the quilt top.

It goes into the specialty RIP after that. In this case, the image is larger than the max print area. So, the RIP is the best place to perform a downsample to the final print area at the max the printer can do, 300 PPI.

The fabric is pretreated with a special sealer so the waterbase ink won't sink into the fabric as that tends to soften the image. I do that with a separate piece of equipment. Then, the printer does its thing, in this case about eight minutes worth.

The fabric is Kona plain white cotton quilting fabric. About the best there is.

With fabrics other than white, the printer has had the four light colors replaced with titanium white ink. You can see the four white ink lines. The RIP then performs a two-pass print with the first pass being the white ink for an underbase. This way, colors come out properly on dyed fabric. In this case, I am using white fabric so the white print pass is skipped and the color pass is the only one performed.

This saves time on the printer, but also for the final step which is 90 seconds in a heat press (set at no real pressure) at 320 deg F to dry and set the ink. With a white underbase, it needs 180 seconds to cure.

There is a post with more info and links regarding the printer on the first page of this thread.

And, this is what it is all about in the end. There will be smaller print sizes as well, and all will be available individually or in sets. The prototype quilt top will have one large block in the center, then three smaller blocks to the left and right of the center one. The idea is all seven lighthouses with a favorite as the centerpiece. But, anyone can buy however many of whatever houses they like and arrange them as they wish.

Eventually, I will have MF shots of the large blocks and then the prototype quilt top to post in this thread.

Stan

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Last edited by w2ck; 07-25-2020 at 02:59 PM.

[w2ck]

Hi,

Hey! It just dawned on me. I am not exactly new to Pentax with the 645D. I am actually returning. Way back in the mid 1970s, I had a Pentax SLR. My first SLR. That came along between the 35mm Rangefinder in 73 and the Nikon FE in 79. Maybe 75 or 76.

My high school used Pentax SLRs for the yearbook club. They had one get damaged and decided to scrap it. I grabbed it and with the help of my toolmaker Dad, fixed it. Only had a 50mm lens for it, but it was way better than the older Rangefinder.

I only just recalled this yesterday.

Stan

[RICHARD L.]

Eat lots of blueberries ... it should help with your memory problems ! LOL ! (No offense intended).

Regards

[w2ck]

Hi,

Hey! I keep trying to spoon some of yours from out of the computer screen. No luck so far!

So, no offense taken.

On top of that, I looked around and figured out that the rangefinder I had prior to the Pentax 35mm was an Argus C3 Matchmatic. I think that and the Ansco Shur Flash box camera are still around here somewhere. The Argus came from an aunt and the Ansco was my Mom's. Ah, the beginning!

But, I had totally forgotten that I had that Pentax prior to the Nikon FE. I am pretty sure that the Pentax I gave away when I got the brandy new FE in 1979. To a younger friend still in school and the yearbook club.

Now I know I got either an FA or an F2 a couple years later. The FA was only just out and the F2 was a set with lots of lenses. But, which came first? I recall I was popping into the camera store eyeballing the FA for a couple months before buying it. And, I recall that F2 and lenses came at the same timeframe.

After that, I lose track. Another FE, and another FA, so I had black and silver for both. And, shutter issues with the FAs. And then an F4. Which came before which, I can't say except the F4 was the last of the group. I only recall that because of the timeframe the F4 came out was later on.

See? I need some of those blueberries!

Edit:

After doing a little looking, I am pretty sure it was an SP 1000.

Stan

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Last edited by w2ck; 08-09-2020 at 09:42 AM.

[RICHARD L.]

My doctor prescribed "Memory Enhancing Pills" (something like Prevagen) to help boost my cognitive functions, but I always forget to take them ...

Regards

[rdenney]

Is the objective to have better memories or more memories?

Rick “suspecting different medications for each” Denney

[RICHARD L.]

Better memory or better memories ? LOL !

Regards

[texandrews]

Is the objective to have better memories or more memories?

Rick “suspecting different medications for each” Denney

Well, I'm hoping I don't start inventing memories like my parents are. My dad actually stole one from me.

[w2ck]

Hi,

So, we got out for two more. Left Friday afternoon and stayed overnight. So, I got Oak Island in the morning and then we took a boat out to Bald Head Island. These are the only two lighthouses where one can see another one. This is because Oak Island replaced Old Baldy, which is the oldest one of them all.

So, after shooting one, I put the 2x TC onto the 300/4 and turned around.

Oak Island

Edit: I forgot to mention, this was with the 45-85 zoom.



Old Baldy

Edit: I forgot to mention that this was with the 200mm prime. I finally got to shoot with the lens I bought with the intent of shooting the lighthouses with it.



The long shots

Edit: 645 A* 300/4 plus 2x TC.




We originally wanted to go to Hatteras and then Ocracoke but there was no room in the inn at Ocracoke. So, we did this trip instead. Next up is probably Cape Lookout, which is a single trip. And, then the other two.

Stan

[RICHARD L.]

Personally, I have both the 1.4X and the 2X 645 converters. The 1.4X does a magnificent job, keeping intact contrast and sharpness with my FA 200 mm f/4. But the 2X is another story. Its performance is dismal as it destroys contrast to a point where pictures are unusable and thus, apparent sharpness suffers a lot. Maybe I have a poor copy but I stopped using it many years ago and I would give it for free to anybody who might want it. I also have the two 67 converters (latest gray editions) and these are marvelous performers with 67 lenses.


Regards

[w2ck]

Hi,

Yes, the, 2x TC isn't all that good. And, I bought it to go with the 300/4 with these two shots in mind. I also have the 1.4x, and that one is a different story. But, even as it is, these two shots still illustrate what I wanted them to. That being we can see those lighthouses from each other.

As I sit here thinking 67 300 and it's two TCs, I also think about how heavy the backpack is with the 645D, 45-85, 80-160, 200, 300 lenses and the two TCs....and how much heavier it would be with the 67 300 in there instead....

Stan

[barondla]

Personally, I have both the 1.4X and the 2X 645 converters. The 1.4X does a magnificent job, keeping intact contrast and sharpness with my FA 200 mm f/4. But the 2X is another story. Its performance is dismal as it destroys contrast to a point pictures are unusable and thus, apparent sharpness suffers a lot. Maybe I have a poor copy but I stopped using it many years ago and I would give it free to anybody who might want it. I also have the two 67 converters (latest gray editions) and these are marvelous performers with 67 lenses.


Regards

Is it possible to use two 1.4X Rear Converters together to get ~2X? Will they even fit together?
If so, and the image quality goes down to match the 2X, it may tell us the lenses can't handle 2X magnification.

Thanks,
barondla

[RICHARD L.]

The 67 M* 300 mm f/4 is a terrific lens. Nothing comes close to its imaging quality. But it is heavy as hell and difficult to mount on a tripod (I'm getting some arthritis in my hands and it is becoming difficult to handle the weight AND the size, as the diameter is quite large at 82 mm filter size). I got mine new more than 10 years ago for 1500 $ and it may still be quite expensive when purchased used on eBay. The M* 300 mm is usable with the 67 1.4X TC as well as with the 2X TC and both newer (light gray) 67 TCs are extremely good, though focusing is critical and may be hard to adjust perfectly on a 645D or Z. I used the M* 300 + 2X TC on my 645N film camera to shoot migrating snow geese with good results. As to fitting 2 teleconverters together, I saw a guy who took only pictures of BIG SUNS with stacked converters but I think this is not a very good idea if you wish to keep some resolution ...

Regards


Below, M* 300 mm f/4 straight on a 645Z.


---------- Post added 08-24-20 at 05:42 PM ----------

[w2ck]

Hi,

I printed the test shots of Oak and Bald Head Island today. Looking good. I gotta bring one home and hang it up and illuminate it and then shoot the print with the 645D. These cell phone shots on the printer don't do the print justice....

There was another quilter in the screenprinting shop today watching it all. Color her impressed. She took home a Currituck. We're not selling just yet as we don't have the set, but this will help get the word out. I suppose we'll begin sales of what we have should anyone want such.

She was asking what in heck kind of camera makes images like that.... The best part is she just popped out with 'That's No Cell Phone'. Nope. Not a cell phone. Only the briefcase phones from the IMTS (predates AMPS) era were larger and heavier than a MF camera and lens.


Stan

[w2ck]

Hi,

Last week I *finally* got out to Ocracoke Island and, of course, reshot the Hatteras Island lighthouse as I pass it on the way. I had wanted to get out sooner, but the weather didn't cooperate. There was aborted trip two weeks ago. Oh, I got to the Outer Banks all right, but Hurricane Teddy had the Atlantic riled up to the point where the ocean pushed all this sand onto NC Route 12. It took the road crews longer than they thought to clear it. So, that trip saw me shoot Bodie Island and Currituck Beach lighthouses again. Not that they look a lot different than the ones already posted.

The Hatteras shot is much better than before.



And, here is Ocracoke



And, just to complete the set, here is Cape Lookout. And, this is from a Nikon Df from Summer 2019. I have not gotten out there with the 645D yet. Lookout requires a small boat trip and not the passenger ferry of Bald Head or the vehicle ferry of Ocracoke. I will get out there yet this fall before the Atlantic weather turns and get this same view with the 645D. But, this will do to show y'all the seventh of the NC lighthouses.



And, even with the downsizing for the site album, there is quite a difference between the two camera systems.

Edit:

Ok. Got back out. More to come later, but here is a 645D shot from the same spot as the Df. Also downsized for the album, but let's see the difference. I have more to come, as this view isn't the one I want to use for the quilt block project. But, this view is needed for comparison.


Stan