Monthly Archives: August 2014

 

I have to be honest, I love graphics and color for color sake!  This bicycle was leaned against a fantastic red painted wall in a little town in the Palouse region of Washington State.  Simple enough image to make.  First the technical data, Fuji X-T1 with the 55-200 at 129mm @ f 11.  ISO 800.  I’m thrilled with the basic result, straight shot, increased saturation, little spotting of white specks on the wall, and sharpening.  So that is where I will start.

 

How about making the image appear like an HDR shot with Topaz Adjust Spicify filter dialed up to be very gritty.

 

 

 

Now for something less drastic how about the original shot with Nik Color Efex Pro 4 –  Tonal Contrast.

 

 

 

Not gritty enough for you, how about Topaz Psychedelic!

 

 

Now let’s take the image with Tonal Contrast and take it into Topaz simplify and turn it into a painting.

 

 

 

Now let’s reduce the saturation!

 

 

As long as we are playing around let’s try a little NIK Silver Efex Pro to convert it to a monochrome image.

 

 

 

Hope this spurs your enthusiasm for trying some new approaches!  You may or may not like any of these images, but it should give you some ideas about how to work on your own!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Got a few emails, bet you knew that already!  Quote from one, “Please make sure I get this right, you are dumping every single piece of Nikon equipment you ever owned!!??”  No, and I didn’t say that, I said I hadn’t used my Nikons for over a year, and that I was selling off some Nikon equipment, not that I’m washing my hands of Nikon altogether.  So what am I keeping and why?

 

For 99% of my day to day work I’m shooting the Fuji X-System, I love it, it meets all my needs, and it’s a kick to use.  I do still have an ember in my heart of Nikons and Nikkor lenses.  I have a particular love for the Nikkor lenses of the AI-s era.  These mechanical jewels are a beauty to behold and hold.  Translation they provide a tactal  sensation going back to the days of Leitz lenses from Wetzler!  These Nikkors are amazing in quality and fun to use.  So, I’m holding on to a single Domke bag, filled with a manual system for the occasional times I need a Nikon manual fix!

 

 

 

So what’s in that bag?  The body is a D700.  In my opinion one of the best DSLRs Nikon ever made. It is essentially a D3 in a smaller package.  Image quality is superb and it plays well with the manual lenses. Just in case you were wondering, These same lenses are also suberb on the D800/D800e and I’m sure the D810 as well.  So why is my body not a D800 series camera?  Too much resolution for me, just don’t need it, the storage issues or the slow computer blues!

 

 

 

The lenses I chose are some of the “Legendary” Nikkors of all time, AI-s lenses.

 

The Nikkor 24mm f 2.8

 

 

The Micro Nikkor 55mm f 2.8 AI-s

 

 

 

 

The 25-50 AI-s f 4 Nikkor zoom lens.  An incredible zoom with super sweet color.

 

 

The Nikon 105mm  Micro Nikkor f 2.8 AI-s

 

 

The Nikon 80-200 f 4  AI-s Nikkor zoom.

 

 

 

 

Nikon 50-135 f 3.5 AI-s Nikkor

 

 

 

 

I also threw in a set of Automatic Extension tubes and some electronic cable releases.  So for those that are worried, I still have some Nikon stuff and enjoy it on rare occasions.  Does this mean that I think the new auto-focus glass in inferior?  No the modern glass is certainly great, but in order to allow micro motors to move the focusing mechanism the lenses must be made lighter internally, and there goes the smooth, old world feel!  A part of my past is using these old type lenses for the majority of my early career, and to be honest, I have a real love for the gear and the memories!

 

So all our decisions are not based in hard cold facts and specs!  Photography is a part technical but even more aesthetic and this is some of my aesthetic love affair with the gear of photography!!!!

 

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

A special thanks to my buddy Ken Rockwell for his wonderful product images.  I’ve checked out gear for years on  his site!

 

Oh yes, and I use my 400mm f 3.5 IF-ED AI-s, 300mm f 4.5 IF_ED AI-s, and 200mm Micro Nikkor f4 AF on both the Nikon body and with adapters on the Fuji X bodies.

 

 

Really!!??  You’re kidding?  You’re really closed?  I was driving back from Harlan and saw this place, it just seemed the CLOSED sign was overkill! I love the commercials with Captain Obvious, and it is strangely ringing true.   How many things do we know to be obvious, but our behavior doesn’t reveal that we know the truth in the statement?

 

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

 

Be kind, step carefully when dealing with others feelings.

 

Don’t let what you WANT override what you NEED!

 

Learn what is most important and pay the most attention to that.

 

Never ever forget that Character and Integrity really do matter!

 

When you are finished learning, you are finished.

 

If you think we are alone in the Universe, have you ever considered God?

 

Life isn’t all that complicated; do the right thing, for the right reason, and serve the right one, (God)  If you’ve been blessed with a spouse and a family, love them with everything you’ve got.  Work hard, play harder, laugh a lot, cry when you feel like it,  never pass up a chance to encourage someone, know that a friendly smile may do far more for someone than you will ever know.  Come to grips with the fact that this life is not about you!  When you aren’t sure what to do, just ask yourself, “What Would Jesus Do!”

 

That about covers it!  Just like Captain Obvious would tell us!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Sometimes obvious is beautiful, in it’s simplicity.

 

 

 

When I was in my very early 40’s,  some time ago, a dear friend gave me a wonderful book titled “The Second Half”.  It was  of course a football reference, suggesting that when a man gets to the mid point of life, he needs to re-access what his goals and commitments are to.  It was a very valuable book for me and was part of the turning point when I started to focus in on what I believe my purpose to be.

 

Taking the football analogy to the next step, and based on normal life expectancy figures, I am somewhere in the middle of the fourth quarter.  Being an avid football fan,  I know that many games are decided in the last ten minutes or so of the game.  You can flounder around and make a lot of mistakes throughout the first half, in the third quarter you need to keep it close and position yourself for closing the gap!  When the clock is ticking down during the fourth quarter it becomes critical, it is no time for stupid mistakes and fumbles!  In our spiritual life the same is true.  Let’s take a short break, If you’ve given your heart to Jesus the final outcome, for you, is already determined, you won, game over.  Your service however may be another thing, altogether.

 

When the clock is running down the most important battles must be won.  When I played ball, the fourth quarter was when  you hit the hardest, blocked the best, and wrapped up on every tackle!  If your goal is to lead people to Christ, this is when you want to be on top of your game.  That’s easy, trust in Him, and follow His lead.  Sometimes we want so bad to win people for Him, but we can’t in our own power, we have to leave it to Him.  Trust is hard until you see Him at work!  When you experience His overpowering love, you understand why you want to share him with those you love and have a burden for.

 

Well, the TV time out is over, got to get back on the field, there is a game to be won, and my coach is  calling the plays…..

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim