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Forum: General Talk
04-02-2018, 09:43 AM
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Software engineer for 18 years, IT tech, then director before that. I also make a small amount from photography which I promptly spend on gear and travel!
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Forum: General Photography
03-22-2018, 01:18 PM
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When I think back to what ultimately and most fundamentally compelled me to pick up photography myself, it would most likely have been marvelling at compelling photographs. So whenever people ask me to dispense with a piece of photographic wisdom, my first impulse is to show them a photograph or two I'm passionate about, and then let the talking start from there. I'm not saying that it isn't possible to talk about photography in intelligent, instructive, and rewarding ways, as proven by many such posts on this very forum, and from countless other sources that have informed my personal photographic journey.
However, the photographers I admire the most have primarily earned my respect through their work, not through their words (even if some of their famous or less famous quotes have stayed with me over the years). As someone who loves to and needs to create and share, I would always prefer to be remembered as a photographer, and not so much as a philosopher.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-15-2018, 08:44 PM
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I will preface this with I am not an expert, however I have degrees in Chemistry and Biology. I did physiological research into "hibernation" in small mammals in the late '70s. We were using Franklins ground squirrels. Hibernation is a conglomeration of torpor events with concomitant reduction in core body temperature and respiration activity. This is a stepwise process where the torpor events become deeper and longer in duration until a significant time is involved. Think of walking down stairs two steps then coming back up, then 4 steps waiting longer, then coming back up. Then going down 6 steps, waiting longer then going up. Then 10, 15, 20, etc. Each time waiting longer to go up. The process is reversed with shorter intervals and depths. We had squirrels eventually at 4C demonstrating 8C core body temperature. We had calibrated battery powered temperature sensors encased in teflon that were about the size of a peanut, which we surgically placed under the squirrels' livers. These emitted signals on different frequencies which we detected with police scanners tuned to the various frequencies and recorded by reel to reel tape decks. We had 300, half were controls and half were experimental. We would slowly expose them (over days to weeks) to lower and lower temperatures in various environmental chambers with controlled lighting. They had food and water and large amounts of nesting materials. At different points of torpor (monitored by core body temps) we would go into the chamber and perform a ventricular needle puncture and withdraw 1ml of blood from their hearts. This had to be done in 60 seconds after touching them because the change in body orientation would cause the release of adrenaline, which reversed the effect of their secreted control agents in their blood that initiated and controlled the torpor events. Each sampled subject had to be left out from further testing until it returned to a lower level than when sampled. We could perform a series of serum dialysis of different excluding pore size to isolate the two secreted agents which we could inject into white lab rats and initiate torpor events in the non-hibernating rats.
To make a long story short, if the bear's endocrine system operates the same way (mammals) and it was disturbed sufficiently to secrete significant adrenaline, then he may have exited torpor completely and would have to start over. Probably grumpy also.
I was only a masters student, so I am sure there is some PhD or long term researcher that can elucidate further and better.
JB
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Forum: Pentax Full Frame
03-17-2018, 11:46 AM
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You can USE all of them. They will all work, but most will vignette to some degree. You can also put the K-1 in crop mode and then they will all work as they did on your K-3 except with an image about the size of a K-5.
Of the lenses you list only the DA 50 f/1.8 and the DA 35 f/2.4 will give you reasonable performance on the K-1 in FF mode. The others will vignette to some degree, at some focal length. If you are serious about moving to FF honestly you are going to need new glass unless you want to use the K-1 in crop mode.
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Forum: General Photography
03-14-2018, 05:03 PM
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I've been with zenfolio for some time. It works, and the back end for printing is easy to use when I need prints for customers.
Zigzag Mountain Art |
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
03-07-2018, 10:05 AM
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I don't believe it but it worked!!
My DA*55 failed and I was going to send it in for repair.
I happened across this thread just now and tried it and after about two minutes of holding the AF button down for about 3 seconds, it freed up and now it works. Thank you.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-05-2018, 11:10 AM
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Mine took five months to get accepted. Used to be two or three months. And it depends on how many members are voting and how often.
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Forum: Repairs and Warranty Service
11-20-2017, 06:24 PM
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Glad you got a response. I sent in my 16-50 for a frozen zoom. To Precision Camera. Initial quote was what yours is - I believe that is default quote. My work was not warranty work. After a while, they asked for my authorization for a total price of about $280, for reasons that they did not explain. The repair, from send to return, required about 2.5 months - so prepare for a long turnaround time. I checked the Precision progress tracker often. At some point, there was no update and I sent notes asking for an update, which I eventually got. Eventually received the lens, works well. I got the impression that it was not an easy fix, had to send to Pentax in Japan or somewhere distant. So, took a long time and was expensive. Other than that it was fine.
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Forum: General Talk
03-28-2017, 04:30 PM
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My new daily beater arrived today :)
I hope she will be around for the next couple decades. Just like her predecessors.
Seiko Prospex GMT kinetic divers SUN 023.Attachment 349943 |
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Forum: Photo Critique
10-01-2016, 05:35 AM
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Dave,
These are phenomenal images, they are so pleasing to look at.
To be technical, they cannot get any better. The composition is top notch, you've got a great eye. The exposure is spot on, The dynamic range is unreal.
Thank you for sharing, I really enjoyed them. It looks like the light and the clouds were on your side, and with your skills, youve created something extra ordinary. Well done!
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Forum: General Talk
07-10-2016, 04:20 PM
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Hi LeDave. I went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on a Toshiba laptop Satellite 500 ( 32 bit ) and found that some of the " drivers " were inadequate for the change. Luckily Toshiba found this out pretty quickly and updated them so a few downloads were needed as a fix. It changes the computer quite a lot. Each user has the ability to configure the computer to their needs. Separate screen savers, separate shortcuts on their user screen etc. Each user must log in from the lock screen which then configures the computer to their personal user settings. A bit of a pain to initially set everything up, but pretty good IMO when done. From memory you have 30 days to revert to your previous Windows if not satisfied with the change. The driver issue was the biggest problem. There was no warning that this was an issue, and much troubleshooting and diagnostic work needed to be done. Some older programs no longer work as they did ( Windows Media Player as an example ) and some new features added. For me the change has more positives than negatives. Good luck.:)
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Forum: General Talk
03-27-2016, 10:31 PM
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That's a lot of Fords :) So much detailed work would drive the Ford fans into a frenzy.
You must have been knackered after shooting all those. And then processing them? Phew.
---------- Post added 28-03-16 at 16:40 ----------
I haven't posted here for a while, but it's about time I got back into it. We were visiting England in May 2014 when I spotted this beauty. Although I lived there for a while, it still seems wrong that it's legal to park on the wrong side of the road :eek:
Regards,
Richard.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
03-04-2016, 09:45 PM
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Just a reminder to never use honey in a hummingbird feeder. It contains a fungus that makes the throat swell, eventually killing the bird.
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Forum: General Talk
02-29-2016, 10:14 AM
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Adorama offered workers the opportunity to unionize about a year ago - they voted against!
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-23-2016, 01:01 PM
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See what you made me do Dave.:lol: I had to try 2 different shots to see how they would meld. The stars were taken with the Pentax 18-250 lens and the moon was with the Sigma 50-500.Thanks for the tip.--charliezap.
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Forum: General Photography
02-14-2016, 04:41 PM
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I've had that triangle ring essentially unravel/unwind if the camera or strap got caught on something. I used to carry with the BlackRapid clip through the loop exactly like that.
It took surprisingly little force. Regardless, the camera fell and the lens mount broke on the lens along with some internal elements breaking loose.
Luckily the repair was still relatively inexpensive. The K5 was built like a tank and took the fall without issues.
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Forum: Pentax News and Rumors
02-10-2016, 01:43 PM
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I wonder if it's related to the "How old are you" poll... ;)
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Forum: General Photography
02-05-2016, 08:06 PM
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Annoying habit that I do: Obsessing over focus. When I shoot models, I keep going until I'm sure the focus is spot on. It takes a bit but I always get it. They thank me later, even though I made them hold that pose a bit longer. :)
Bad habit I don't do: Forget to use a hood, especially in bright light.
I hate this "chimping is for derps" attitude. The benefit of digital is that you CAN SEE IT BEFORE YOU LEAVE. To not use this enormous benefit is madness. It's like racing to finish a test as fast as possible because you think there's more honor in finishing 20 minutes early rather than double checking answers and making sure they're right.
I think it comes from the early days of digital photography from a bunch of film snobs who were like "Oh, yeah, my camera always focuses perfectly! (False) And of course the metering is always spot-on, it never gets fooled! (Wrong!)"
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
01-31-2016, 12:23 AM
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Forum: Weekly Photo Challenges
01-23-2016, 04:33 PM
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In Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, on the way to the "Admirals' Arch" and the "Remarkable Rocks", two of the islands spectacular natural formations. We had just turned the corner and I saw this vista unfolding in front of us. Being short of time and with uncertain weather, I pressed on making a mental not to stop here on the way back. I did so and the weather was kind and after a short wait I was rewarded with a car driving past. To me this expresses one view of life. Ups and downs, corners and never exactly sure where we will end up. Since posting this photo on this site and elsewhere, I have been seen three others taken in almost exactly the same place and with almost the exactly same composition. The only differences being a) no vehicle in sight, b) car heading towards rather than away and c) a young chap on a skateboard just starting a thrilling downhill ride. I was struck with the thought that four people unknown to each other, could all be on the same path, each in a different way and yet stop and share the same thought.
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Forum: General Talk
01-22-2016, 07:30 PM
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Thanks everyone for the comments and continued support - just wanted to share that we are back in business! :D
See the initial post in this thread ;)
I won't be making any other "bumps" to this thread, I just wanted to update the initial post and let those who were subscribed to this be made aware.
-Heie
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Forum: Pentax K-3 & K-3 II
01-17-2016, 08:29 AM
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Forum: Photographic Technique
10-02-2015, 06:20 PM
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You can use spot metering. But you have to be careful what you point it at. You can get pretty wildly different reading unless you know what you are doing with spot metering. I'd suggest using center weighted to get a slightly more "average" reading of the areas.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
09-28-2015, 10:38 AM
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A quick google search turned up
The Cokin 121 series of filters comes in five variations of graduation:
•Cokin 121 - ND8 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density
•Cokin 121S - 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density (Soft)
•Cokin 121F - 3-stop Graduated Neutral Density (Full)
•Cokin 121L - 1-stop Graduated Neutral Density (Light)
•Cokin 121M - ND4 2-stop Graduated Neutral Density (Medium)
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Forum: Photographic Technique
09-28-2015, 10:41 AM
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