That’s awesome! How did you find the nest?
We had a female hummingbird who hung around our yard last year (this is her) and I was convinced there was a nest nearby but even with lots of observation, I was never able to figure out where it was.
Thanks.
The nest was in plain sight in a rose bush not six feet from our back door. I could see her flying in and out before the chicks hatched.
So is anyone going to attempt to photograph the solar eclipse in August? I’m thinking about trying it.
I have been shooting more than holiday snapshots for about 10 years now. No formal training, picked things up along the way. My main subject is abstraction in photographs, and I have managed to sell a few.
My two main cameras nowadays are a Nikon D7000 (with Nikkor 18-300 mm lens) and a Canon IXUS 170.
I share my pictures on Flickr (link), and in my art blog, where I make a selection of the ones that received more than usual positive feedback at Flickr and/or that I like best myself (link).
I absolutely agree with this (well, in RAW you don’t have to get the white balance right in camera, as it makes no difference in the file, just in the post processing in that you have to correct it later.) I do agree with the author’s general philosophy of getting it right in camera, and I see how the discipline of shooting JPEG can help to get to that point. (Heck, I shot for years on JPEG because it was the only reasonable format to shoot on in the early days for high volume and/or quickly processed shooting.)
It’s a great exercise for a beginning to mid-level photographer. Beyond that, though, there’s plenty of valid technical and artistic reasons to shoot RAW. The biggest one, for me that doesn’t have to do with a “safety net,” is the dynamic range. I can easily coax out detail in a high-contrast shooting situation that would simply be impossible with a JPEG. Deep shadows that would just break up in a JPEG can be lifted 3 or more stops in post on a Nikon D750. It’s simply incredible–you can preserve your highlights and process in post to retain shadow detail. (Results are not quite as impressive on older generation of cameras.)
And a fine reply it was !! Ahhh well. I’ll write again, and I apologize profusely if my first post from 10 minutes ago appears.
My father gave me my first camera when I was 12- it was one he had used for years. A Yashica 635. It shot both 120 film and using a clever set of adaptors, also 35mm film. I’ve still got it. It was a twin-lens reflex camera with an 80mm fixed lens. ( Well. Lenses. )
I’ve got every single B&W negative I’ve ever shot, in several binders along with the contact sheets. But for quite a few years I’ve owned DSLR’s. Currently I shoot with a Nikon D90. I enjoy it a lot, and it’s the great creative passion that doesn’t produce a dime of income. As a working cinematographer of the last 37 years, I do get to use cameras every day and I adore THAT work as well, but it’s the paying career. Stills work is pure because it doesn’t involve income.
I’m so glad to read this thread, and am wanting to reply to the OP’s questions. Here goes !
- What kind of photography do you do? Landscapes? Portraits? Macro? Fashion? Abstract? Street? Sport? Something else?
Hmmm. Almost no sports. No macro work because I own no macro lenses, though I am very much hooked on extreme shallow depth of field and close-up work. I adore swing-tilt lenses and wish I could afford one. No fashion work. Love shooting people and architecture on the street here in NYC. I used to shoot only B&W negative and haven’t done that in years. At one point I found out about the Kodak B&W 3200 asa film and shot a few rolls with that. Paid to have the negatives developed and rented darkroom space. God- how very gratifying to work in the darkroom again.
- What kind of camera do you use?
Currently a Nikon D90. I’ve also got the Yashica 635 and a very fine Leica that was my father’s. Wicked sharp lens, but I’ve not got the eyes any more to focus it perfectly.
- Where do you share your images?
I have a bunch of my portfolio images here on PhotoBucket. Apologies for what seems to be tiny version of a few of them. NO idea why, and I cannot get ahold of the external hard drive that has the full res scans of the prints. That said, go ahead and poke around.
The password, predictably, is: CecilAdams 
- Any funny stories?
Not really funny, but I did shoot a personal project of extreme close-up details of the art work at St. Bart’s church on Park Ave in NYC a year or so ago. There’s a titanic painting in the church, and it’s unlit- and badly faded. NOBODY in the church knew what the image was. My wife, a lighting director, brought in a wonderful strong led light with variable color temperatures and we shot up a bunch of frames. It is the Ascension and when I first showed that image to the clergy, they were delighted to know what it was. It is kind of reminiscent of a Chagall. Lovely place, that church.
Yes, I’ve been planning for 2 years.
There’s a thread on the Eclipse here:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802289
Ya’ll be careful out there. I once flashed my right cornea and took an after-image of the totality of an eclipse. It was there when I blinked for close to a week. I was violently nauseous and had headaches for a few days- and I KNOW it’s unsafe. It was a dumb mistake with a motion picture camera…
Anyway, Best to read up on how to safely photograph a Solar Eclipse !!!
:smack:
ETA: The color of the light…it’s otherworldly. A part of the colors go away along with the light. Just gorgeous.
I think I am going to buy a little solar scope and use that - pretty safe and I can practice with it a bit to see what results I get before the big day.
Have you experienced many eclipses before? This one will be my first, and for that reason I don’t intend to try to take pictures at totality. I just want to experience the whole thing, and not be fiddling with equipment.
Here’s a site with instructions about how to, but with this disclaimer at the top:
[QUOTE=http://www.eclipse2017.org]
If you REALLY want to take eclipse pictures, look at this first! Photos like this require hundreds of pictures to be taken within the space of only a couple of minutes - and then literally hundreds of hours of post-processing with the computer are necessary to achieve this spectacular, world-class result. Miloslav is the undisputed king of this process, and all other mortals stand in awe of his results. This is far outside the ability of most everyone on the planet, and if you fit this description, then you’re outside the scope of this site already! Otherwise, watch the eclipse and enjoy it! But if you want to give it a shot, read on…
Remember that when you set up your equipment, you have to ensure that there is NEVER any chance AT ALL that anyone could possibly look through an unfiltered camera lens at the Sun! If you’re uncomfortable in any way with the technical aspects of filters, f-stops, and quirks of more advanced photography, best to leave this area to the pros, and concentrate yourself on enjoying the visuals of the eclipse. Burn images into your brain that will be better than photos, and will last the rest of your life!
[/QUOTE]
(Emphasis mine.)
I’ll bring my cameras, and maybe shoot some video of the reactions of the group I’m with, but I don’t want to me distracted from this once- (or twice-) in-a-lifetime event by screwing around with cameras, and possibly risking making a mistake that could result in blindness!
Of course, YMMV.
I have a problem that you guys might be able to help me with. I’m traveling to Colombia at the end of August and want to take my Nikon D3200. It shoots onto a standard memory card and has a wireless adapter. I will have my smartphone, but an extremely limited data plan. No laptop.
Any thoughts about how I can back up my photos without carrying a bunch of stuff? Some sort of small apparatus that copies memory cards? Anything else?
A few recent photos:
Eclipse Landscape
Hypercar
Monument Valley by Moonlight
Sunrise
Excellent, beowulff!
Assuming the eclipse is a stacked composite, I’d suggest a version with fewer partial suns spaced out a little further: maybe ten on each side? This shot just looks a little crowded.
I envy you your Monument Valley shots. You obviously had a lot of time there. My wife and I toured Arizona for five days this summer: Sedona, Flagstaff, Monument Valley, Upper Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell. We took a three-hour tour of Monument Valley and I took a lot of pictures, but most are little better than snapshots. We also took the photography tour of Antelope Canyon, and I got a few satisfactory shots there.
Here are a few from Monument Valley and Upper Antelope Canyon that I processed after getting home. (The Antelope Canyon shots are multiple raw frames merged with TuFuse and further processed in Photoshop Elements.) I’d love to go back and spend more time in both of those places.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/qRL47BbIM9VNIziMemUJJ3zMeHZ00OLIWdkwzMjghaf
Your last slot canyon shot is amazing! Antelope Canyon is next on my list - I’ve been in Arizona 34 years and never visited.
I took your suggestion - what do you think of this version?
Eclipse Landscape_v2
Thanks. After coming home and looking through my shots, I was surprised and pleased to find that a number of pro art photographers had also found that exact spot. For instance. When I have a little more time, I’ll write a long post about shooting in the slot canyon. You can also Google some other people’s experiences.
I think it looks great! What do you think? Do you find it more pleasing? Where were you, BTW? We were in Troy, KS, where it was mostly cloudy. I grabbed a few shots through the clouds, but nothing worth posting here.
Also very nice. Where is that?
I saw the Eclipse in Prineville, OR. A few miles away from Eclipse Madness Central - Madras.
The seashore photos were taken on the Oregon Coast, close to the California border.
I posted some more seashore photos:
And a few Salmon river photos:
I was a point and shooter for a long time, last couple of years with my Samsung phone, which to me had a surprisingly good camera. I take travel photos, so landscapes, architecture, type of stuff. My wife got sick of me hanging around for ages trying to get the perfect composition on shots, so decided I better have a decent camera to do it with. :o
I’ve recently picked up a entrish level camera in a Canon 100D, and a couple of extra lenses. A 50mm fixed, and a 10-18mm wide angle. I would like to get a zoom as well, there’s a 75-300mm quite well priced. Although when I say that I’m not talking the thousands price ranges.
I took a beginners course to learn the basics, which I’ve found very useful. Of course with more to think about and remember, I’m finding less of my photos are ‘usable’ ad I continue to fiddle with settings, and occasional forget to adjust them so wind up with horribly under or over exposed shots. Still learning though
I signed up Flickr ad a place to share my photos, although In the past I mainly shared on Facebook, and still do as it’s the most central place to share with most of my friends.
Here’s my flickr album to date. I’ve only been to York so far with the new camera, big holidays to come shortly in Scotland and Ireland, so hoping to capture some great shots there. Not wanting to hijack the thread, but if any of you experienced photographers feel like giving me some feedback I’d welcome it.
GreedySmurf-
Some of those are quite nice. As vacation memory photos they work well. I would recommend trying to get away from centering your subject in the frame (even I do this, and my wife always gets on my case about it). For example, #4206 has beautiful sky - if the castle was offset, it would be a more interesting composition. The portraits are pretty good. Your subject was looking into the sun, so that leads to her squinting, but the arrangements are good. As an ex-newspaper guy, I’d prefer to have her look into the photo rather than out of it in the second shot. Even though #4374 is dead-center, the framing between the walls helps the composition a lot - I like this one.
I was just looking at this thread again and noted your post-shoot tools. I looked up the Nik Collection; it says it’s compatible through W8. Do you know if it will work with W10?