Quick lunchtime trip to Hills and Dales again.
Black and White or Color? What's your preference?
Dang Its Cold Out
Little cold out today - about 8-degrees without the windchill coming off the lake.
Happy Anniversary
Not sure this is what Louise meant when she said "take some pictures of the flowers you gave me." But, it's what you get when your husband loves macro photography. Happy 20th Anniversary Louise - I love you.
More Snow
Quick trip at lunch to Hills and Dales Metropark to see what was around.
First Snow
Can you believe it is January 10th, and we are just now getting our first snow of the season. Too warm and wet to photograph snowflakes, but the birds are very excited to visit the deck and feeders. The snow in the woods was amazing.
Great Visitor Today
This Lady Bug was nice enough to visit my kitchen today - especially while I was writing the review for the Raynox DCR-250.
Review: Testing the Raynox DCR-250 (M-250)
The Raynox DCR-250 provides a low-cost solution to convert standard telephoto lens into flexible and affordable macro lens...not just an affordable filter for the beginner, but a useful tool for true macro photography.
Read MoreBack in the Fen
Had the chance to get out at lunch today and shoot wildlife for the first time in several week. It was a beautiful January day - no hat or gloves required and plenty of sunlight. Checked off all our common species of birds and even spotted a beautiful Great Horned Owl who was being camera shy. This photo of the Red-bellied Woodpecker show how they get there name (Hint: Not very original)
Nikon News: Nikon Introduces the new D5 and D500
Nikon just announced two exciting new cameras at CES in Las Vegas:
Nikon D5: Exceptional ISO, Faster Focus, Faster Shooting and 4K Video
Nikon D5
Nikon D5 Rear Controls
Next-generation Focusing System: The 20.8 mega-pixel Nikon D5 features a "entirely re-vamped" AF system with adoption of the Multi-CAM 20K autofocus sensor featuring 153 focus points (99 of which are cross-type sensors.) We'll have to wait for further information to determine if Nikon has listened to user feedback and expanded the focus points further out to the edge of the field?
Master of Low-Light: The center focus point has a range of up to -4 EV and other focus points as sensitive as -3 EV. Having experienced the low-light focusing of the D750 (-3 EV), the D5 will be a low-light photographer's dream. On top of low-light focusing, Nikon has expanded the ISO sensitivity utilizing the new EXPEED 5 image-processing engine - featuring a native ISO range from 100 to 102,400. Nikon boasts of superior image quality especially within the high ISO range of 3200 to 12800.
Speed Demon: Simply put - 12fps and up to 200 RAW image buffer (with XQD 2.0 memory cards)
Upgraded Video: Nikon's first and premier 4K UHD camera at up to 30 frames per second along with 1920 x 1080 at 60p.
Used Car Price: SRP $6499 US when it comes out in March
D500: Interesting?
The 20.9 mega-pixel Nikon D500
Nikon D500 Rear Controls
Next Generation Focusing: The D500 utilizes the D5's new Multi-CAM 20K autofocus system - leaving the D610, D750 and D810 owners in a uncomfortable place (coming from a D750 user.)
Speedy Jr: Simply - 10 fps for up to 200 in 14-bit lossles compressed RAW. Again look at the pained face of D610, D750 and D810 owners.
DX Magnification: With all the pro-features, the DX format offers the added benefit to nature and sport photographers of a 1.5x magnification. Taking that 600mm lens up to a 900mm equivalent.
Video Stabilization: Also offering Nikon's new 4K UHD recording capability similar to the D5, the D500 offers electronic Vibration Reduction in Full HD or HD mode - reducing shake in horizontal, vertical and rotational directions. The D5 also features an impressive 29 min. 59 sec. Full HD recording duration.
Impressive in Low-Light: Standard ISO sensitivity is an impressive ISO 100 to 51200 (expandable to 50 to 164K). The Advanced Scene Recognition System also features flicker reduction, reducing exposure variations for still images under flickering lights.
Price You Ask? SRP $1999. Makes you scratch your head and say hummm. Higher priced than the D610 and D750. Fewer mega-pixels than the D7200 which costs $900 less (and D7100). As a longtime D7000 user, I love the DX-format, but without testing this camera out, I can't justify how the new D500 is $100 more expensive than the D750.
Testing a DX lens on an FX body
Clear skies have been hard to find lately in Ohio - I'd like to blame El Nino. Tonight was one of the first clear nights in several weeks, so I thought I would get out and test my Sigma 10-20mm 1:3.5 DC HSM lens on the Nikon D750. The test shots look pretty positive as long as some serious vignetting doesn't bother you too much. Guess now I need to speak to the new neighbors about turning off their barn lights.
Updated Review
Check out the updated review of the Meike MK-14EXT.
Shout Out to the Photo Crew
As the year wraps up, I'd like to give a big shout-out to the crew at work that helps keep me energized and excited for photography. Here is the long version of an article we wrote for an employee news letter. Thank you to everyone for helping me get out of the office regularly to shoot and improve my skills.
Charles Booker (ITS Department)
How did you realize you had a common interest? How did you decide to start taking pictures together? I found a common interest while talking with Stefan (Minnig) one day. And I decided to give it a try since I had always been into photography but had never tried bird photography before. I quickly realized that I needed a zoom lens since my kit lens was not delivery any good results. So I went the inexpensive route and purchased a used manual focus 300mm lens. My results did improve greatly but I quickly found that the learning curve was steep and was not able to get as many good shots since our bird subjects were not always willing to sit still long enough for me to compose my shot, then manually focus to get the shots that I desired. So at the advice of Stefan I eventually purchased a auto focus lens which has allowed me to progress in my photography skills greatly. When it comes to bird photography though I still seek out Stefan’s advice and his help with identifying different bird species."
See more of Charles' photos on Flickr
Michael Rowe (New Product Development)
How did you realize you had a common interest? How did you decide to start taking pictures together? A common love of photography, and the desire to learn from each other, to build our skills. Part of it was the Employee photography in the hallways, and the Kettering Gallery.
How do you decide where to take photos? I can find subjects anywhere, but I like a variety…
Does everyone photograph the same types of subjects (insects, flowers)? Or do you all photograph different subjects? I don’t have a long telephoto lens, so I rarely try to take bird photos. I usually try to find a different perspective, and aim for smaller details that often get overlooked, I bought a fairly nice Macro lens, and have been using that to see lots of detail.
More of Mike's photography at: https://500px.com/mikerowe
Meredith Skeens (Creative Services)
New to the lunchtime group, Meredith writes "hoping to start getting out and shooting more." See Meredith's work at meredithalanephotography.blogspot.com
Jeremy Mudd (Marketing)
From what departments is the photo group? We all come from multiple departments: Marketing, NPD, OPS, IT, Creative, and of course the Photography department.
How did you realize you had a common interest? How did you decide to start taking pictures together? I came to the game late, as I didn't start working here at ACCO until December 2014 and the group was already out and about taking photos at lunch. I think I started taking photos with the group sometime in January. I remember the first few times we were out my hands were freezing, and Stefan kept talking about how great his shots looked and all I had was a small spec in my photo of something that was supposed to be a bird. Of course, I was shooting with a fairly short lens at the time and he was shooting with something large enough to set off warnings at a NATO Security checkpoint. Since then I've acquired a longer lens so I can take images of birds far away and actually see what it is I am photographing.
How do you decide where to take photos? Usually its a group decision based on weather, cloud conditions, who is driving that day, and what time of year it is. Of course if Stefan gets a report of a Spotted Apothecary Warbler seen somewhere in the area, then we are off to that location to scout it out regardless of conditions or risk to life and limb.
Does everyone photograph the same types of subjects (insects, flowers)? Or do you all photograph different subjects? Right now most of us shoot birds at lunch, but we also will shot bugs, landscapes, and architecture. Most of us have a diverse background in photography likes and will shoot images of just about anything.
In addition to the Kettering Employee Art Gallery, where else might we see photography work done by these employees? Many of us have Flickr accounts with images that are view-able to the public. Also many of us have our own websites or blogs dedicated to photography.
See more of Jeremy's work on Flickr
Robb Nickel (Direct to Consumer - Creative Services)
How did you realize you had a common interest? Stefan is also in D2C Creative and We started talking one day and then went out to start taking photos one day and it kinda went from there.
How did you decide to start taking pictures together? How do you decide where to take photos? We usually pick a park around the area that we all agree on before hand.
Does everyone photograph the same types of subjects (insects, flowers)? Or do you all photograph different subjects? Stefan really got me into shooting birds. Before hand I had no idea there were so many different species in the area and during migration.
See more of Robb's photos at 500px.com/rnickell
Brian Sellers (New Product Development)
How did you realize you had a common interest? How did you decide to start taking pictures together? I learned about the "photo club" right away as two members were in my department. I was invited along not long after I started with ACCO and have been on several outings during my tenure.
Does everyone photograph the same types of subjects (insects, flowers)? Or do you all photograph different subjects? Most outings involve nature in some way so there's never a shortage of interesting subject matter: flowers, birds, bugs, or people. One of my favorite photos was a grab shot of Stefan, Rob, & Charles shooting birds. I was away from the pack and looked ahead to see the three of them lined up and focused on the same bird.
Additional photos can be found on http://www.railpictures.net. Just search for Brian's name.
Stefan Minnig (Direct to Consumer - Creative Services)
Okay - Stefan didn't actually submit for the article, but we'd all be remiss if we didn't give Stafan a big thank you. Passionate birder and photographer, Stefan gets everyone going (almost every day) to go, take an hour, and shoot some photography. Here are a couple of photos he's shared over the past year. Looking forward to seeing more of his work online in the coming new year (right Stefan?).
Thank you to everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to another great year of photography.
Another Not So Quick Moon Photo
Here is a 35-layer image stack in using Lightroom, Photoshop and RegiStax. Taking the pictures was the quick part.
A Very Wilbur Christmas
Merry Christmas from our favorite furry rodent. Wilbur wishes each and everyone of us a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Wilbur the Guinea Pig was very patient as he posed with his Santa Claus hat and didn't mind the lights and flash at all. Maybe there will be more modeling in Wilbur's future.
Review: Testing the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 SP Di VC USD with a 2x Telecoverter
So, I've been very curious to review how the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 SP Di VC USD would work with a teleconverter. Today I tested it out on some lunar photography using the Tamron 300F-FNs 2x. Here are the sample images from tonight (and last month without the converter). Take a look, and then I'll share my thoughts.
As you can see on the image using the Tamron 300F-FNs 2x teleconverter, you definitely get that extra reach you are looking for in lunar photography, but the important question is are you getting the detail.
As far as detail goes, you are getting just a bit more with the extra focal length. But, you are not getting the full power of twice the magnification. As expected, the Tamron 300F-FNs 2x brings a loss of sharpness that reduces the benefit of increased zoom.
Watch-out, what you give up is auto-focus. On the Nikon D750, auto-focus disappears when you take the lens out past about f/5.3 - not very useful if you're looking to double your 600mm's of zoom. But, with some careful Live View focus, you can achieve pretty sharp images.
But, here's where the real fun came in. After taking about a dozen photographs of the moon, I did a rough alignment in Photoshop and brought them into RegiStax V6. Re-aligned them and processed them to get this beautiful image of the moon utilizing the full 1200mm of the Tamron 150-600 plus teleconverter.
"The Snowflake"
While I usually keep to my own work on the blog, this piece can't go without mention. Don Komarechka just released an amazing poster, titled "The Snowflake." Available for purchase from his website: skycryslats.ca This amazing print contains over 400 unique snowflakes, each one in relative size.
"On average, 40 separate images are combined for each snowflake. This is required to get the crystal in focus from tip to tip....Due to the nature of the subject and the hand-held approach to photographing each snowflake, 4-5 hours are spent on each image in post-processing."
A great Christmas gift idea for the Macro photographer in your family.
Frost is in the Air
Heavy fog, freezing temperatures and wind equal wickedly cool frost. Time to dust off the macro equipment.
Gulls, Gulls, Gulls
As the weather changes to winter, we're starting to see migration of gulls and over shore birds through Ohio. These ring-billed gulls are nothing unusual, but I was happy with how the photographs turned out.
Been a Little While
The last week has been crazy busy. I've been cutting and editing an end-of-the-season video for the Bellbrook Marching Eagles. Video is SO much more time consuming than photography. Here are a couple photos from the last week.
So this guy appears to be lost - a Ross's Goose, way out of his range, hanging out at a scary park in West Dayton.
This hawk was trying to make sense out of thousands and thousands of European Starlings.
And good old Gus the Greylag Goose (our non-migratory friend at Spring Lakes in Bellbrook, Ohio.
A Clear Crisp Night
Finally a clear night in Ohio. We've been overcast much of the last week. Gave me a chance to capture this clean image of the half Waxing Moon.
Sunday night, very cold. Feels like November is finally here. The stars and sky are amazing, even with this bright moon.