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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
10-31-2023, 05:00 AM
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Hi all,
I haven't been around much lately as I have had a lot on my plate and life really took its toll.
Things have quietened down this October so I have managed to venture out to some of my favorite spots and do some more capturing. In my last posting, I was struggling badly with my 24mm Samyang (I think it was my last posting as I can't really remember since it was so long ago)
I have now switched to the DFA 15-30mm which has proved to be far superior in every way.
These are some of what I have managed to get:
Full albums are here:
Turville_10_2023 - Google Photos
Warburg_Henley_10_14 - Google Photos
Leith Hill_Combe Gibbet_10_2023 - Google Photos
Just as a side note: some of the astro stuff has been posted into the Astrophotography portion of the forum already ;-)
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-30-2023, 06:50 AM
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Thanks so much :-)
No no, I didn't take your comment as a criticism at all. Rest assured I really appreciate yours and everyone's help and advice :-) :-)
I know I'm very different.... like I explained before I have ASD which is Autism spectrum so in general the strangest and most difficult ways seem to work for me while everything either mainstream or easier I have big difficulties with.
I'll have a look as to the screen and if there actually is a way to calibrate it... apparently I have no brightness control as the Nvidia driver for the RTX A2000 chip doesn't have this feature implemented for ACPI.
One step I can take I guess is to ask either on a RT mailing list or forum as to advice on how to process my images there.
Yes, I do use 'auto levels' for everything..... the problem is without it I have no idea what I'm doing. This is really difficult because I can't tell the difference either.... I mean for example you can raise the black point to extreme levels but who is to say that doing that is right or wrong? It becomes very subjective and a little ambiguous for me as I have no reference point.
Probably something I need to work on in myself and find the 'click' point where things make sense is really hard due to the mechanical and robotic nature of the condition I have.
I'm definitely going to keep working at it though and as @pschlute has just given some advice that I can quantify and actually try out in GIMP which can also do this, I have a template if you like to work from.....
Again I really am grateful and appreciate everyone's time and willingness to try to help get me to understand certain things!!
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-28-2023, 05:25 AM
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Thanks so much! Yes just like I said before, it is a combination of things but at least now I can learn and move forward rather then having to work out why certain basic elements are not coming together. :D
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-27-2023, 03:58 PM
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Hi guys, wow!! Thanks for all of this :-)
This week has been and is still especially busy so forgive me for not coming back till now... I am really exhausted though....
The exposure reduction or shooting with a -2EV bias, I do in order to not blow out highlights as things like the sky easily clip in camera before you even get it to software. RawTherapee usually automatically adjusts the exposures up by around ~1.7EV.
I bought the DFA 15-30mm in the meantime which arrived on Wednesday and today I took some sample images with it. The difference is unbelievable! Unfortunately the lighting was poor today as it was rainy and overcast but that shouldn't make a big difference. I really tried to challenge the lens as much as possible and in doing so I think I hit on @UncleVanya 's statement that my issues were a combination of things.
For today's testing what did come in to play was: lens, shutter speed (depending on wind or breeze), and focus point. I used manual focus for everything as it's how I am used to working with the K1 in general... K3 mkIII users are lucky with the rear joystick if it can position the AF point like my Nikon D500....
To start with this one is 1/60s, f/16, iso 100. It's exactly what I was looking for rendition wise, crisp and clear details throughout:
This one was shot at 1/500s, f/16, iso400. The focus point was on the brickwork in the foreground. I am so pleased that the grass and flowers at the rear haven't turned into mush!
For this I focused on the white flowers just above the gate. Similar settings to the above: 1/500s shutter, f/16 and iso560
I am also pretty impressed with this one as I love the detail in the field....1/500s, f/16 and iso 1600:
I did do some 3-way bracket shots to test also though I need to upload them to my GPhoto's first. They also look fine and just as I would expect things to look though some of the single shots taken at higher shutter speeds maybe a little sharper - but this could be down to wind/breeze moving the foliage and flora around.
Once I have everything up I'll post the link for you guys to take a look ;-)
---------- Post added 07-27-23 at 04:12 PM ----------
Ok so here we go, this is the full test album using the DFA 15-30:
Warburg_07_27 - Google Photos |
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-20-2023, 12:04 PM
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I hope this will go through as I tried to submit a reply but it claimed "Page not found"?
There are many photographers who are Neo Divergent as opposed to Neo Typical, that means that they either suffer from autism (ASD) or ADD/ADHD and their attention to detail is immaculate!
I am really not worried about doing things 'my way' because it works for me. Also my reserve loves my stuff which is why they want to use it and all the other volunteers look forward to seeing what I churn out as I 'portray' the hard work that they have all done and been a part of.
I actually do post process and use RawTherapee. What you are seeing is a preset that I have created in RT that uses the 'Auto Levels' feature and adds some other simple adjustments like 'Local Contrast' for a little bit more extra 'pop'. Though if the lens cannot render a good image with detail in the first place then it's pretty much useless. I always shoot in RAW format by the way ;-)
After this I use ImageMagick to sharpen things by using a factor of 3 generally. You can do this in GIMP too by duplicating the layer and adding a 'High Pass Filter' on to the duplicate with a value of around 2.5/3 and then using either 'Soft Light' or 'Hard Light' for very soft images before merging the layers.
---------- Post added 07-20-23 at 12:09 PM ----------
Yeah... and the lens looks clean. No moisture and no dust either.
As an FYI to everyone I have also done some testing today. I also ditched the Samyang in favor of the 28-105mm so let's see what that comes out with and of course I used my Nikon D500 and Tokina 12-28mm in addition just in case the images from the K1 didn't come out as I wanted.
Will post back with a few samples but have to go through my processing routine first, or to use a very 35mm film era saying: I have to develop the images ;-P
One thing that did bite me is that I forgot to set the Tokina to AF mode as it has a pullup/down clutch similar to my FA*300mm, so I'm not sure if the first batch of images will be in focus or not either.... sigh :-(
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-17-2023, 03:08 AM
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I'm glad you put things this way and yes panorama's are really interesting! They don't help with wide angle meadow or flora shots though which is what I'm trying to do....
This is one of my favorite images of all time, a 2-shot panorama taken with:: You guessed it, my 24mm :-P
It's an excellent night time lens when it doesn't flare up or go crazy with internal reflections.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
07-16-2023, 06:00 AM
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It looks a lot sharper or detailed then what I have??? Perhaps the lens is the key factor here?
The one with greatest similar that I have probably would be this:
The in woods shots would compare probably to this:
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-29-2023, 04:56 PM
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I just posted in the "other" section: Spring is here! With that we have chicks and erm rain :-) - PentaxForums.com
and this is kind of a continuation of that, since I found my Nikon struggling for photons and wasn't too happy with some of the results.
I went back last night as was dry and of course took my Samyang 24mm and K1 mkii along with me this time. The difference is substantial though I wasn't running the Samyang at f/4 like the Tokina but ran it at f/2.8 which is plenty decent enough and has the advantage of getting diffraction spikes over wide open at f/1.4 which is sharp but looses the spiky things so no good ;-)
Anyhow, I'll start with my favorite shot of all time for now, in my view it's the best landscape style shot that I have managed to pull off to date. In this case I got Hugin to stitch a 3 shot pano for me and here is the result:
Here's a single shot which I don't think was part of the stitch but regardless still illustrates mucho detail:
One area by the Ashridge Estate was completely fogged out so I decided to have a play. For me, I always associated fog with low level clouds or the industrial revolution because in the big city we rarely get this amazing phenomenon... little did I think about what happens to evaporated water vapor being cooled by the air:
Finally a rematch with the church:
I think this was a 60s AstroTraced sky shot? I'll post the pushed version in the Astro group where you can see the MilkyWay core start to appear:
This was taken inside the Ashridge Estate, the exposure was 8s as I didn't feel like calibrating AT but didn't want star trailing either lol (I'm too demanding I guess? LOL):
Ok this is something I seem to like doing for some reason... but here's a behind the scenes shot:
The whole album can be seen here: Pitstone 04/29 - Google Photos |
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
04-29-2023, 02:42 PM
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Heya, originally I wanted to post this up ages ago but after visiting the reserve last Friday and having a meeting in order to find a way for me better to support the place and everyone involved, I became completely burned out. As a result I have been trying to replenish my energy (what little there are) reserves and it's taking a long time.
Let's start off with some Lapwing chicks:
Here's mom shielding the little guys from the wind and weather:
By no means rare but it's the first one that I've seen, it's a duck and it's called a Teal:
These are rare little guys called Plovers... not sure if they're the common or mini type but they are definitely ringed:
They are right in the center to the right of the Tufted Ducks ;-)
Swan action shot:
I hear Cindi Lauper singing: "Gulls just wana have fun" LOL:
This is a cute little bird called a Red Shank:
Hidden drama with the Gadwall ducks:
Black headed gull bullying it's larger "common" counter part:
Macro style shot of what I originally thought was mint then found out it was something else and now I have forgotten completely :
Nice detail and color on this Graylag goose:
OMG!! The Canada's are at it again??!!?? :-P
Getting ready for takeoff:
The whole sequence is here: College Lake 04/21 - Google Photos
I could have culled or preened some of the shots but to be honest, I got a little bored with the whole ordeal. I've been doing so many birds lately that it just gets a little tiring of having the same subjects over and over.... I mean where are Wolves, Bears, Raptors, Cougars etc... what I would I give for a marmot or prairie dog right about now....
The night before last was pretty rainy and actually it was a great excuse to get out since I love this type of weather. Slight problem was that my Pentax lens - the 24mm Samyang does not as it's not weather sealed which really makes life hard for me!
Instead I did the best thing I could and used my D500 with Tokina 12-28mm f/4. It's an amazing lens but one that I have never really used since I have the Pentax for landscape and low light stuff. Though it was going to prove to be a great way to test and experiment with it.
So the first location I went to was a total bust but then the second place turned out to suite the setup pretty well. There was enough light to make things work and I actually ended up with the best results from the whole evening:
Yeah it was really raining heavily:
The body definitely struggled with these:
Here's a classic case of where the AF failed to lock on due to the scene being too dark:
The full album is here: Spade Oak Henley Pitstone 04/28 - Google Photos
There's also a little short video blog of me explaining things.
Because of the disappointment with the last section of shots, I decided to go back this morning/last night and redo them using my Pentax. Will post that over in the K1/ii section later this evening :-) Really there's no comparison as the K1 was in it's element
---------- Post added 04-29-23 at 02:46 PM ----------
Just a quick note for the first batch of bird shots.... Yes! 500mm came up a little short..... hopefully in time I will be able to get something longer for occasions like this. Basically I am playing with the idea of the 800mm f/5.6 with built in TC. It seems to happen frequently for me that 'standard' tele size lenses are just simply far too short and getting closer to the subject isn't an option
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
04-14-2023, 10:30 AM
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Hi guys,
first I just wana ask the question (I know probably the waaay wrong place) if anyone knows an easy way to embed Google Photo's here? I'm uploading the majority of my files to my albums and have found this site which I use as a 3rd party medium to get my images across: Digital Inspiration - Tech Tips, Tutorials & How-to Guides
but would love a more direct method. Perhaps there is a way to add Google Photos to the "Insert Image" routine?
Anyway, not gona embed too many images here as have just been doing a lot for the K1 section and Astro group. These are Black Tailed Godwits and they have flown over from either Spain or Africa. They were at the reserve for a day before proceeding on to their migration route towards Iceland:
The migration pattern is below:
The other bird that for me is a first, is the Red Shank:
Here you can see the little guy just right of the Lapwing:
Full album is here: College Lake 04/08 - Google Photos
That was a difficult day to shoot as my D500 and 200-500mm lens would not focus at all to begin with. The lighting was pretty poor with intense sunlight shining directly toward the camera, but I had no other choice of position as I was sat in a bird hide and the only place close to the birds, tough still too far away. Even the top of the line 800mm with built in TC wouldn't be able to do much better reach wise. You would probably need something like a non-existent 2000mm or 3000mm lens. No, you wouldn't be able to use an Apochromatic Refractor telescope either for this though I'm sure someone out there has tried lol
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-14-2023, 09:49 AM
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Howdy folks,
long time no see..... I haven't been around lately and actually have been out side then in which is a good thing. Though recently my Nikon is getting more worked out then my Pentax which is a shame but then I have them for different purposes. Currently not much going on with astro, landscape, or macro which is why my K1mkII is sitting idling painfully.
Additionally my health has been a problem which has virtually contributed, essentially compounding the issues.
Here's some stuff I took before heading over to the College Lake reserve in Tring near Ayelsbury yesterday. I stopped by a village/town? called Ivinghoe where there is a windmill and watermill.
I don't have many lenses unfortunately so I can really only make use of my Samyang 24mm and Irix 150mm. I did attempt to use the 28-105mm but was really dissatisfied with the results, my FA*300mm is just too long for landscape work so I leave that for astro instead.
This was an HDR - 3 shot bracket taken using the 24mm:
The windmill called Pitstone Windmill is this:
Moving onto the water mill which is called Ford End Watermill:
this is also a 3 shot bracket taken using my standard settings of -2/0/+2 EV - for these I decided to use the 28-105mm
another 3 shot bracket HDR image
This is the first ever animal image ever gone right with my K1 lol
To be fair I was using manual focus. I tried AF, got it home had a look then deleted it as it wasn't nearly as sharp as this one which had the camera sitting on a tripod... yeah yeah my K1 AF issues continue hahah
This is a good example of why I don't like this lens or using AF. The whole thing is just smudgy:
If I get the chance on another nice day I'll have to redo it using my Irix to really bring the fine detail out.
Like I suggested in a recent comment, hopefully down the line I will be able to grab the DFA15-30mm, the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm which I feel and can see from samples are far sharper then the 28-105. Also the 15-30 has a big advantage over my Samyang which will probably end up being sharper - I have heard it's even sharper then the Irix 15mm which is the defacto astro/landscape lens for many people. It also shouldn't flare up like crazy in certain lighting situations and also I believe that there is no magenta corona effect either from certain angles of direct light.
Just now I posted some of my recent nightscape/astro work in the astro portion of the forum so check that out if you're interested... :-)
As I don't want things to overlap here are some other shots from that time - non astro but salvaged nightscapes:
One of my favorite places during the day or night. One day I'd love to bring a smoke generator and Godox LED Strip lighting set here to just encapsulate the eerie atmosphere of what it's like to be standing there alone at 3am in the morning:
This place next to Cobstone Windmill (not in the same area as the one above) has a lot of potential overlooking a valley. I somehow need to figure out how to unlock it! Yes a wider lens would help but also sky and weather conditions too need to be more dramatic:
This one is the same valley but taken during December with slight mist and below freezing outside:
It just looks so much better I feel.....
Lastly this one is from Friday morning over at the Warburg reserve:
the true star of the show is on display in the astro portion of the forums which is a milkyway shot under totally un-ideal conditions with the moon blaring down
Anyway, the album links for the last few K1 sessions are these:
Warburg Cobstone 04/05 - Google Photos
Warburg 04/07 - Google Photos
College Lake 04/13 - Google Photos
if anyone wants to see more..... the animal shots are all done using the Nikon D500 and Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens which I can't fault outside of saying that AF can be slow and in tricky lighting can sometimes not get a lock, but unlike the Nikon 18-300mm which is a total dud of a lens the 200-500 does perform flawlessly and is sharp at all parts of the zoom range and no need to stop down. Only better lens I can think of and want would be the 800mm with built in TC :-P
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
04-14-2023, 12:20 PM
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Thank you so much for the praise! Though I've had my Pentax for nearly 2 years I haven't managed to take it out much. It's unfortunately due to a health condition that has kept me home bound for the last 10 years. It's great having a camera as it's a fantastic tool and excuse to leave the house and the big city behind.
What has actually kept me inside is having ASD (Autism spectrum) and just getting so stressed by even looking out of the window and seeing houses and hearing traffic noise or even worse neighbor noise (loud music or parties etc...). With stress levels so high that I actually get physically ill, maneuvering within a large city is difficult to say the least; virtually stop-go traffic is just a recipe for a panic attack severe enough to cause hyperventilation.
Finally, I found ways to overcome some of this and am now spending as much time outside in natural surroundings as I can....
Over at the coast you get Bar Tailed Godwits don't you? Bar Tailed Godwit Facts | Limosa lapponica - The RSPB
I would love to explore more of the island as well as mainland Europe and beyond. With current circumstances it will be difficult but I am working hard to somehow pull things together.
I bet you can get closer to the birds on the Norfolk coast then you can at the reserves over down south my way. There are so many people who you see with long telephoto lenses (around the 500mm range) standing so far away that you wonder what they are doing, as the subject will definitely be smaller then the focus point itself.
How many times have I had that happen to me with birds such as Kites, Buzzards or even smaller birds but at a distance of say 10-20m away.
As an example, this Willow Warbler (shot using my Nikon). It wasn't too far away but boy did it come out small in frame:
But then getting closer and all of a sudden the detail just gets so much greater:
different tree and bird, this one's a Chaffchaff I believe (spitting image of the Willow Warbler but dark legs and feet and of course completely different call)
Or even better still this Bluetit (thrush):
But it definitely would be an amazing experience to actually see different scenery as there are so many different regions within the British Isles that are so picturesque
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
03-14-2023, 12:45 PM
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So glad to see this post is still really popular!
Here are some more from me... now with a better and more suited wildlife setup: being the Nikon D500 and 200-500mm
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
03-20-2023, 01:07 PM
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Hi everyone,
these were all taken with the K1 mkII and the Samyang 24mm lens:
The above are all 3 frame brackets.... though I can't remember if I biased the initial shot with -2EV or not as I took one batch the regular way of using 0EV and some using -2EV. The brackets are -2 and +2EV apart from the base image
Non bracketed shots are these:
Really I went there as I wanted to chase Red Kites (it's a type of Raptor similar to hawks and buzzards), in order to figure out the camera settings to expose them properly. Currently I am having the issue where they are just look like they have been painted using matte paint. A lot of it is most likely due to the size in frame is quite small so hopefully hanging around longer will allow them to get closer
I actually caught better ones of the Common Buzzard though I did get some really funny "Air Raid" shots of the Kites which left in me in stitches all night.
They were not shot with my Pentax but my other Nikon D500 and 200-500 f/5.6 lens... full album is here:
Warburg 03/16 - Google Photos
I'll have to pop that particular sequence on the other "Other Brand Camera" portion of the forum later.
As a side note from myself, one thing that I am finding is that I don't always have the focal length I want or need. For my own purposes I would love to expand my Pentax system with the DFA15-30, DFA24-70, and DFA70-200; if I could chuck the Venus 12mm and Irix lineup in their also I will probably be completely set for my personal needs, maybe outside of the Venus macro specialty lenses like the 24 and 25mm
The widest lens I have currently for my K1 is the 24mm which isn't that wide.... and I can't say that I like the rendering of the DFA28-105mm very much. It doesn't do diffraction spikes well which makes it useless for astro photography where you want pin point star images (I tried a few times to use it but found it totally unsuitable). Another thing probably due to the optical design and possibly the design of the blades on the diaphragm is that it isn't very contrasty and doesn't have the type of pop (local or micro contrast detail) which I'm looking for. From what I have seen the DFA trilogy lenses all seem to have very good rendition for imaging and also astro ability.
I know many people look for different things in lenses and some people just want a really high quality light weight lens like the DFA28-105 or the crop sensor lenses, but for me weight really is not a problem at all. I'm usually carrying around my D500 with 200-500mm all day which is far heavier then the K1 with any of the aforementioned lenses. I really need something to cut through the frame like a Japanese Katana and be ultra sharp and crispy to the point of almost being over sharp....
Also I shoot the K1 on a tripod always since I always manual focus. One of my quirks is that I can't stand AF for static subjects and really enjoy the process of going into LV on the K1 and zooming in to x16 then using focus peaking/highlighting to show the edge contrast. It's a much slower method of working but for myself it's more fun and gives me more time to think about what I'm doing. This and the fact that I have only had miserable experiences with the K1's AF..... the FA*300mm f/4.5 and the K1 for wildlife is definitely a combination to make anyone go crazy in wondering why all shots are coming blurred :-( - though I would be tempted to see what the K3 mkIII and 150-450mm can produce because the body is at least on par if not superior to my Nikon D500... the only thing that the Pentax system lacks is long (and expensive) prime lenses which are the GoTo for pro's or serious hobbyists
Possibly in the near future I'll upgrade to the 15-30mm which should give me a lot more options then being limited and fixed to 24mm. I can always use it together with Kase filters down the line for sun rise/set scapes by the sea where it's more likely to use something like a GND filter or so.... or near bodies of water where you may want to use a CPL.
Also as another side note, as spring is slowly coming to the Northern Hemisphere, the region above will soon be covered in flowers so on a nice day coupled with a sunrise sequence should offer a far better scene then the very overcast day from last week ;-)
The biggest challenge for landscape when one's interests are vast wilderness scenes, is overcrowding due to surplus population. On one side it means one needs to go travelling more but on the other side it makes it difficult to easily be in reach of somewhere
Oopsy... forgot to add these Scarlet Elf Cup Mushrooms too... again K1-2 with Irix 150mm:
That was from Wednesday.... and they are tiny!
Nikon D500 post is here for anyone interested in wildlife: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/76-canon-nikon-sony-other-camera-brands/...ml#post5717820 |
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
03-20-2023, 01:41 PM
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Hiya,
I started a thread over in the K1 section with my Pentax images here: Some bracketed HDR captures from Thursday over at the Warburg reserve - PentaxForums.com
I'm going to combine the images from Wednesday over at the College Lake reserve and Thursday from the Warburg reserve here:
Starting from Wednesday at the College Lake reserve, I caught some cows, pheasant, Eurasian robin, and swan shots:
From Thursday over at Warburg, I wanted to chase Red Kites but ended up with a whole lota sheep:
Here's the Red Kite "Air Raid" sequence that made me go into stitches all night:
Finally a Common Buzzard, it's similar to a Kite but has different feather color and is a little shorter and more stocky then the Kite:
Full albums in both cases can be seen here:
Wednesday - College Lake 03/15 - Google Photos
Thursday - Warburg 03/16 - Google Photos
Behind the scenes by the field containing the sheep:
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
03-14-2023, 05:19 PM
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Thank you so much! At the moment things are difficult but at least I am able to overcome things enough to not be stuck at home and not be able to go anywhere.
The biggest hurdle I have if you are not familiar with ASD (Autism/Asperger's Spectral Disorder) is virtually social and communication issues. Thinking differently from the masses isn't easy when everyone expects you to conform to a set way. This makes it very difficult to do anything in an environment where you need to deal with other people who have no idea about your situation and only have things like money and career on their minds.
One thing I'd love to be able to do is go traveling internationally and basically to places with wild wilderness for full on nature photography. Unfortunately the costs involved are astronomic and if you're not being sponsored to go or are given a project and sent out, then it is really hard.
I doubt I have the talent, ability or consistency to be able to do photography professionally. Also as mentioned above, not being able to communicate well to non-technical people becomes really restrictive.
Welp... I'm just happy that I have got this far. At least the shots are in focus and no motion blur!! Basic expectations but realistic as even that is hard for me. Sometimes I need to be up at 1/4000s to stop motion blur - that's with VR turned on. The problem is that I just shake and wobble too much.
I guess the advantage of being in a hide is that I could prop my elbow onto the window ledge and steady the camera a little. It means shutter could be around 1/1600s meaning lower ISO and less grain in the shots.
So glad you like the images :-D
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
03-14-2023, 01:31 PM
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Hi everyone :-) :-)
Well first up my health has turned south.... as some of you will know my condition and situation; I have been on medication for over 10 years which was never monitored or controlled and I was at the maximum dosage. Recently that stopped so now I have either withdrawal symptoms or the medication was doing something - maybe not very well but at least helping slightly.
It's not possible to find a specialist it seems as there are none, so I am basically left to my own assets :-(
What was nice about Saturday is meeting some people who could relate to what I went through and how photography is helping me at least escape the confines of the city and the house. I also got to work with an elderly couple for a while trying to help them achieve better images through their Fuji X-T3. That I must say was fun! It needed a very gentle approach and lots of patience but was really rewarding to see the image quality increase gradually.
So start with here some Pentax HDR brackets taken using the K1 mkII and Samyang 24mm... I really have to upgrade to the 15-30mm or at least the Irix 15mm or Venus Laowa 12mm:
Towards the end before it started raining I wanted to try some macro out, this is just some general stuff and nothing specific, again using the K1 and Irix 150mm! When I go again I'll be searching for an unusual mushroom species which I was told about after I had packed up and was headed to the car:
Maybe this is a good time to throw out a curve ball lol.... Nikon D500 and 200-500mm: first shot displayed here is from the nearby airport:
Now over to the C101 Hercules.... erm I mean Canada Geese in formation flying:
Talking a little bit about the shot above and many to follow, the problem I had is that I have never been to this place before. It was also a very different experience not being able to get close to the action as you had to basically do whatever you could from a bird hide. The light and movement is restrictive in these things and the distance to the water is too much, even for a Canon 1200mm or Nikon 800mm with inbuilt TC engaged!!
Like a total rookie I screwed up my camera settings too by keeping an EV bias of +3 and even set to +5 after a while.... what do you expect when all shots are ruined due to being completely over exposed?? Really kicking myself as I don't know even what I was thinking that made me push things that way :-( I should have just concentrated on 0EV with +/-1 if I needed it or +/-2 at the extremes, like with swans.
Unfortunately there's no cure for stupidity and it seems like I'll never learn so meh.... :o
These Tufted Ducks look pretty evil and demonic with the black heads and yellow eyes and the Predator (movie) like hair at the back of the head. They're actually a form of diving duck:
Black headed Gull dive bomb routine... they have this weird thing where they suddenly do a zoom climb, then almost go into a stall situation then dive bomb into the water:
For this I was wide open at f/5.6 though I need to try and see how f/8 would effect the DoF of the shot next time:
Gorgeous male and female Gadwall, another type of diving duck:
I did say that these guys were diving ducks didn't I?? :p :lol:
Uh yeah.... a conversation between two geese:
This is a Lapwing:
Tufted duck splashing around doing the diving routine:
This is a female Shoveler, a type of diving duck with a shovel like bill:
Another Lapwing:
Here's a cute little male Mallard:
Scuba lessons from a Mute Swan:
Calling Quacker Airfield: Shoveler 1 is ready for takeoff!!! Yup, you guessed correctly... it's a male Shoveler during launch routine:
Finally a really cute pair of Gadwalls:
Full album can be seen here if anyone is interested: College Lake 03/11 - Google Photos |
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-20-2023, 01:23 PM
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Ok, so I actually setup my cameras a little differently to half shutter press AF. I prefer the back button focus method.
The camera and lens are fine! This is a non-AF shot, completely manually focused using the FA*300mm and the quality is perfect, it was on a tripod so f/11 shutter was at 1/30s and of course ISO 100:
In order to get better AF results I have set the AF fine-tuning all the way to maximum negative for this lens. This is as good as it gets which unfortunately is still out:
I'm just working on my Nikon images from today and many came out very well. Unfortunately I managed to blow a swan out by using the wrong EV compensation so I'm kicking myself for that :-( grrrrr; basically I used a +1EV bias when I should have used -1EV
I'll post some images soon from earlier
---------- Post added 02-20-23 at 01:52 PM ----------
Right so these are some samples from today's adventure:
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
02-16-2023, 06:54 PM
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Hi everyone, so I went to a place called Spade Oak on Monday as I switched to a proper lens for my Nikon D500. I must admit that the 18-300mm has been a bit of a disappointment for me in that I have not been able to get sharp shots at all, even using on tripod with timer at ISO100 and it suffers badly from focus breathing etc....
After becoming quite fedup and apparently making a friend of mine who is mentoring me in the field of birds even more fedup with my complaining I took the plunge and went for a 200-500mm Nikon brand lens. It's advantage over the Tamron/Sigma counter parts is the constant f/5.6 aperture.
Here are some of the better images from my first ever field experience with this lens. I would definitely say it's highly capable but I need to work on using it better.
For now I can definitely say that I have identified a few problems causing images to become soft. It seems that apart from the standard wobbling and shaking that I do, I have a tendency to pitch the camera up while pressing the shutter release. It probably stems from tensing up a lot while gripping the system in general.
One thing that is apparent is that 500mm is coming up a little short for smaller subjects and larger distances. That's something that I need to learn how to deal with in terms of either wait till the subject is closer or position myself better. I am sure at this stage experience will help in time and definitely listening to veterans advice ;-)
The full album is here: Spade Oak 02/13 - Google Photos
I will definitely be adding more images in time as there are quite a few to process still as I have taken over 500, so lots of weeding out the bad ones and then working on the good ones etc.... Stay Tuned! :-)
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
02-10-2023, 09:39 AM
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Hi everyone,
apologies for being a little distant, things just got really busy very quickly!!
First I'm gona just get some news out there.... as some of you will know I am battling living with a condition called ASD which is short for Autism/Asperger's Spectral Disorder. Luckily through photography I found a new lease of life and actually something that makes life much better.
As it's helping me so much I figure that many other people can also benefit and I know many people with difficult health conditions have taken up photography which definitely helps them too, and these are incredibly talented people too....
Here's an article which I am hoping will kick start awareness and get more people interested to take up the subject: https://www.bbowt.org.uk/blog/kate-titford/how-nature-can-help-improve-everyones-wellbeing
In addition to this there are many organizations including the national health service that I am starting to work together with now to build bridges and get the ball rolling so to speak :-)
All at the same time trying to improve myself as there are many areas that I need to work on!
Now onto the images. These are Velvet Shank Mushrooms and for me it was unusual to see at this time of year and especially with a lot of frost and cold temperatures around but it turns out that they actually prefer this type of climate:
Here's some frost covered moss:
I'm not gona post the landscape stuff I did as that didn't come out so well, unfortunately the shots are a little dull and boring :( time of year is not the best and location also wasn't ideal, but also like I mentioned above it's something that I need to work more on in order to be able to capture interesting images
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-17-2022, 04:10 PM
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Hi guys,
I wonder what is happening to me as I seem to be more out and about then inside these :)
Here are some nightscape shots from the last past 2 days:
If I had to be super critical of this one I would say that the framing isn't fantastic.... perhaps a wider lens like a 15 or 12mm would have been better??
Same goes for this one. I love the scene but either a 20mm or 15mm would have been better or even a 30mm to narrow things up a little:
As the previous night was so clear and I messed up the astro shots big time I wanted to try again. Checked the window and forecast and all seemed clear until I started driving. At that point I was met with fog and cloud....
The results were still nice though:
The full albums from both days can be seen here:
Marlow Henley Warburg 12_16 - Google Photos
Cobstone Wynscombe Warburg 12/17 - Google Photos |
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-12-2022, 02:25 PM
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Oh ok you meant the St. Botoloph's church or Wynscombe Church. Yeah it was created about 1000 years ago apparently but it's still in daily operation so not exactly a historic ruin that I thought it was :)
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-11-2022, 09:26 AM
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Hi everyone,
this week has been the first time I have taken my cameras out "into the wild". I went first to a place I discovered at 2am in the morning on Wednesday but didn't feel confident enough to use my tripod and K1 so they got left in the trunk. I started out by using my Nikon D500 and 18-300mm lens.
The initial Nikon gallery can be seen here: Warburg 12/7 - Google Photos
Having an understanding of the place and knowing what to expect I went back on Saturday. I wanted to try the Red Kites again with some tips that people have given me since. Unfortunately my 300mm lens on the Nikon system is the limiting factor. While at the reserve I met a guy with a Nikon Z9 and 800mm lens, he had another mirrorless Nikon with zoom too but way over the capacity of my travel based 18-300mm.
Before anyone starts wondering what I have been doing with my Pentax K1 ii for the year plus few months that I have had it, mainly astro stuff and exploring the camera capabilities in the back yard.
Unfortunately over 10 years ago I got diagnosed with ASD or Autism spectrum and quite severely as I started freaking out in crowded and busy places. To say the least my career as an engineer was over before it started as the people and communication issues seemed to be too severe that either I wasn't understood or just couldn't get on in social environments with groups of people.
For the last 10 years I have been going through hell with the wrong medication and living in the center of a crowded city does not make things easier. Due to these issues I was pretty much home bound for that time apart from frequent hospital visits for the ASD plus other issues which stem from it (I nearly lost some of my internal organs as a child as the everyday stress affected them so badly that they nearly ceased functioning).
So first before posting images I want to thank everyone that I have become close to as a result of photography and especially astro, for the support and strength given to me. This trip was really a result of everyone's motivation and energy that I received! :D
These were all taken using my K1 with either Samyang 24mm or DFA28-105mm lenses:
There are plenty more images in the album on my Google Photo's which can be seen here:
Warburg 12/10 - Google Photos
I plan to visit this place frequently now as it's quite a large area so lots of really cool things to see. I also want to improve my bird photography but will probably need a better lens on the Nikon body. I'm currently planning for a Sigma 60-600mm. I think 600mm should be ok? as you can never get long enough for birds it seems....
[EDIT]
Ps. if anyone gets confused about me talking about Nikon then Pentax... I have two bodies. The K1 ii and a Nikon D500. The last link has images from both. If you click the "i" button a panel should appear on the right hand side giving EXIF information where you can see which camera/lens was used and even GPS maps from the K1 :)
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
12-11-2022, 05:08 PM
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Many people seem to suffer from some kind of condition whether it be ASD, ADD, ADHD or whatever; and have found photography as a means to live life again and do something meaningful to themselves.
That's really what this post was for and is all about. I want to reach out and try and show people that things are still possible regardless of the difficulties. Hopefully if somehow this post and my images reach someone it is a big bonus!
I'm not sure which church you mean as there are two? The one with the graveyard is called St. Botolphs church and the other ruin is St. James church which is meant to have been built circa 900bc.
If you click the link to my Google Photo's, there should be an "i" Information button there which should reveal a side window on the right. I embedded the GPS data into EXIF so it should display a map for you as to the exact location of where things are :)
It just started snowing in fact so those lanes should be even colder now. Though I'm too exhausted for another 3 hour round trip provided there is no traffic or accidents from the weather....
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