A few pictures with my new lens

[sparkie1263]

Here are some pictures with my Tamron 70-300


S 1/500 f/8 iso 400 eV 1.00
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/BarnSwallow.jpg


S 1/160 f/8 iso 100 (original)
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/DSC04856.jpg

Crop of above

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/Butterfly56.jpg

S 1/2000 f/8 iso 400

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/RailroadTracks1.jpg

S1/1000 f/8 iso 400

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/RailroadTracks.jpg

[DonSchap]

Frank, I'd say you doing great with that copy of the 70-300mm. The images are robustly sharp ... and there is the slight warming color shifting in the image, that I can see.

TAMRONs are notoriously warmer looking lenses, but those last two images seem to be more neutral than usual, in that respect.

Here is a before and after color cast correction for your butterfly:

B4
36602

AFTA
36603

[sparkie1263]

Looks great Don what did you use. I just cropped them. How should I have shot the train tracks? I don't like the way they look. I didn't know what to do so I just snapped off a few.


Don I went and picked up my lens in NY at Adorama. What a place I didn't have time to look because I had to make my sons football game. I have to get back to look around. I think it is 6 floors.

[DonSchap]

Butterflies in my gut:
I used the curves layer ... in Photoshop, using the "white" in the butterfly's wing spots as my whitest white. It's really a simple correction, if you have a "white" area to work with.

Concerning railroad shots:
I did some track shots, back in 2006, seeings that Des Plaines is literally surrounded on all sides by railroad tracks and those "untimely" freight trains. It makes a hell of a wall of steel, when they get going, in two directions.

36604


I'm not sure if you sense what I do when I look at this composition, but note the "balance" in the framing of it. How the rails come in from the sides and not entirely from the bottom. Note how the horizon settles in at mid-frame and the tracks go off to a vanishing point, nearly dead center. The tracks draw you in ... and make you wonder: "Where do they go?"

The METRA rail, which these tracks belong to, services Chicago and all points North, West and Northwest. They love to paint the locomotives with this obnoxious red-striped pattern, so when they give you lemons ... make lemonade, right?

I came up with this grid composition, instead.

36605

[sparkie1263]

Nice images Don How about B&W

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/RailroadTracks1BW.jpg

[DonSchap]

So Frank ... what do you think of my B&W? Compare them ...

36608

You have to "work" that image ... milk it for its hidden qualities.

[sparkie1263]

I have alot to learn.LOL It look real good. I use all the preset plug-ins.

[DonSchap]

There are ways to correct colors in Photoshop, that allows you to shift the primaries and secondaries independently. It allows you to recover the sky, when you convert to B&W. If you took some of the Photoshop classes, these techniques would be soon revealed and you could have a lot more fun with your photography.

[sparkie1263]

I have seen a few online tutorials I just need to take the time to read.
Thanks
Frank

[DonSchap]

This stuff doesn't just happen overnight ... it does take a little investment of time and experience. I have been at it for many years ... and I am still acquiring and practicing techniques, trying to get it looking right. Half the fun is in the experimental aspects of photography ... because after you get it down, it's just workflow and routine. I feel the real "creativity" still takes place in getting that shot looking as close to perfect as you can, when you trip the shutter.

As you well know, the photographer often struggles with interference, timing and position. Our arsenal of lenses are part of the solution to each challenge, but then again ... making sure you are there, when the "event" takes place is just as critical.

I think of post processing as "tying up loose ends." Minimizing those, at the time of the shot, is the real challenge, then you don't have to work so hard in front of the computer patching things up. Knowing what I want to acheive BEFORE I take the shot is invaluable. If I have to figure it out, afterwards, well ...


things can get ugly, real fast.

36611


Good luck with your new lens, Frank. Most of all, enjoy it.

[sparkie1263]

Was looking through them again. Here are a few that looked good. (to me)

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/QuarterbackScramblng.jpg

My son Blocking # 83

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/Mikeblocking1.jpg

Him getting leveled

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/Mikegettingleveled.jpg

Him on the sideline

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn219/sparkie1263/Sony%20A100/Mikeonthesideline.jpg

[DonSchap]

Yes, definitely looks like a winner. Your original shot had the quarterback in sharp focus ... Photoshop took care of that, making Mike the true subject.


36613

[sparkie1263]

Maintain focus? What do you mean?

[DonSchap]

I was trying to be slick ... looks like Mike is focused on the game ... and the others, simply milling about.

[sparkie1263]

He takes his sports seriously. He will do anything to win.
Thanks
Frank

[DonSchap]

Well, I think you are definitely getting the sports out of the lens, Frank. Mission Accomplished ... in a Bush-way. LOL The beat goes on!

Even when you have to simulate the action ...

36614
Canon EOS 20D w/ EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM @ 70mm - 1/60 - ISO100 - WB:5600 - using Quad-580EX flash w/ST-E2

[sparkie1263]

That is cool. You did that? I forgot to tell you I just foung out there is a eagle nest about a hour away. I am going to try to get there this weekend and see if I can get any shots.

[DonSchap]

That is cool. You did that? I forgot to tell you I just foung out there is a eagle nest about a hour away. I am going to try to get there this weekend and see if I can get any shots.


This was one of the "final" submissions for my "Photographic Lighting" class, about two years ago, featuring my son and his hunting target.

Regarding the Eagle's nest, you are going to have to get pretty close to get a decent sized redition. I've really taken a beating in the past two seasons, with the Eagle spotting me and then soaring right of of sight.

36615

It's hard to avoid the eagle's eyes. Much sharper than these I'm sporting.

Good luck in your "captures."

[sparkie1263]

You can hunt with a cross bow? We are not allowed to use them in NJ.

[DonSchap]

No hunting, just practice against 3-D foam targets. It that target had been in focus, you would not have been nearly as impressed, believe me.

Darn crossbows become a lot of work after that first shot. With a 160-lb pull on the bowstring ... nothing short of the handcrank is recommended. It takes about seven or eight full cranks to get the string back ... or about two full minutes or more between shots. About the same as the time between shots with a P&S camera, eh?

Nah, both my son and I have 70-lb. compound long bows for hunting. In fact, here he is, again:

36617
Canon EOS 20D w/ TAMRON SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Apsherical (IF)
@ 28mm - f/16 - 1/160 sec - ISO-400 - Manual - Tungsten Hot lights - WB:3200


He was a little 'fresh-faced' in this shot, so I positioned the hot light on his left to cast a shadow on his chin ... to give him a hint of that "Indiana Jones" unshaven look. Again, this was also part of my "Photographic Lighting" final.

[Rooz]

are you serious ? you use those for hunting ? hunting what ?

[DonSchap]

Sometimes the kangaroo population gets out of control ... and we have to hunker down and nail 'em, as they hop from here to there ...

"Here Joey, Joey ..."
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Whump! There you go, mate. Another 'roo for your wall.

Truth be told, the whitetail deer population is pretty darn good in northern Illinois and Wisconsin. You can almost bag 'em in the backyard, to be honest, in the Fall. I'll try and get some images, this Fall, and show you just how dense it has become. There is a long bow season and then rifle season ... which I tend to shy away from. Running around in the woods with a bow is one thing, but when those idiots are armed with rifles and slug-bearing shotguns ... I tend to not be there. Somebody could get hurt! :eek: