Polarizing Filter

Spent last week getting ready for a class in Houston. We’d set the date 8 weeks ago. Then spent a nervous Fri and Sat waiting to see the results of Ike. I didn’t get confirmation that the classes were postponed until Sunday morning.

With that off the front burner I could go looking for a filter in earnest. I didn’t think finding one would be that tough. Had to go to downtown Austin to find one that fit my lens (49mm).

I’d done a little reading on the web. I needed a Circular Polarizer because of the digital camera. They have two plates. The first cuts reflected light, that’s the polarizer. The second plate sort of makes it scattered (circular) again so the polarizing sensors inside the camera don’t reject the light. That’s sort of the layman’s version.

Meanwhile, I had to relearn to watch the viewfinder when rotating the filter. My first attempt didn’t show much change. I shot from one position and took another shot with the filter rotated 90 degress. It wasn’t until 20 shots later that I came to realize the best position was 45 degrees.

The second day’s photo shoot I adjusted for best reduction first. Then tested 90 degrees off of that. The results weren’t spectacular, but the behavior was much better and in line with what I expected.

Windmill

I guess the "third time's the charm." I visited Old Settlers Park on three separate days to get a photo of the windmill. I had been out at the park earlier to test depth of field and focus. Some experimental shots of the windmill showed blurring on the blades, because it was moderately windy.

Last Friday it was low winds, so I went out to try for some serious shots. I got lucky and actually had it stop a few times. Problem was they were all darker than I wanted. I should have upped the EV since the back ground was blue sky and clouds.

I got my Weekly Assignment shot for next week, so the trip wasn’t a total waste. A number of the shots didn’t have a blur giving me hope.

Went back Saturday because I had the day free. Joanne was at a quilt show. I boosted the EV two notches. The wind was puffy and didn’t cooperate. I liked the shots, until I got home and looked at actual pixels. Vanes were sharp but the spokes were blurred. The speed of rotation was definitely the culprit, everything else was sharp.

Sunday morning I usually go out for the Sunday paper. Took my camera and drove the extra 3 miles to the park. Light wind but some of the flags were drooping. If they’d been ripping off the poles I would have turned around.

Plus 0.7 EV, large format for extra cropping latitude, and a little patience for the wind to hold up occasionally (at least slow down). For an extra benefit, the wind was aiming the tail into the sun, so the sun lit up the Texas flag on the tail. Out of 14 taken, seven are pretty good. The others had very small distortions around the spokes.

Photos for this week

I used the sewing machine feet for my DPS assignment. So that gives me the second choice photo for my Weekly Photo. I should call it weekly photo"S", since I probably took 20 or more of these guys, bracketing the exposures.

I’m going to adjust the weekly photo page to archive the first half on the year. The page will look the same except for some navigation links for the archive.

Studio Work

Used the light tent for this week’s assignment. It really required setting up the camera to get the photo I wanted. Took me three sessions. Take a couple dozen shots and pull them up on the computer to see how they really turned out.

I’d already figured out you need to adjust the white balance for the lighting. But the exposure was still darker than I wanted. I turned off the D-R-O and boosted the exposure to +1.3EV. I even bracketed the shots +/- 0.7EV.

Surprised to find that +2.0EV seemed to give the most reliable picture quality.

I doubt if I’ll have to mess around quite so much for penguin pictures. I won’t be shooting indoors, or using artificial light. I’ll probably use a flash for on board the ship.

Back from the Midwest

Overall, the trip was a success. We found the gum boots in Wisconsin, and Turkey run had enough rain that we could try them out. Nice and snug with heavy socks and the walking wasn't too bad. I think they'll do the job.

The weekly assignment is Natural Framing. I had that in mind when we were trying out the boots. The trail followed a stream bed, plenty of mud, but deep cut channels into the rock. Got a photo to use for the Weekly Assignment

On the way back to Texas, we stopped in Paducah for an afternoon. They have a Quilt Museum. While Joanne looked at quilts, I went down to the flood wall. It is all covered with murals. I wanted to take a couple "framing" shots. Didn't use them for DPS, but one was interesting. It is the Ohio river through a door-way. Almost looks like a mural itself. That's the one I'm using for the Weekly Photo.

More Flowers

Had a good week. The weather is hot but very little rain. I’ve been walking late evenings rather than mid-afternoon, just to avoid the mid-day sun.

The Weekly Assignment was shooting from the hip, no viewfinder. I tried to take some photos of some oleanders peaking over a fence, but couldn’t get the shot I wanted (usually too much fence).

I used the view finder to take this week’s photo.

The DPS photo for the week was taken within the rules and can be found here.

I did learn a little from this assignment. I was pretty sure the auto-focus would work. It did, very few blurry photos. But, it didn’t always focus where I thought it should.

Odds & Ends

The weekly photo is up. It is one of the batch I took last Sunday. I liked the color contrasts. Particularly the drive belt.

I also posted the cat photo for the DPS contest.

Have been doing my daily walk early evening when it is a little cooler. I took the camera along to try a long shadow shot. But the sun was playing hide and seek, so I didn't get the shot I wanted. I've still got a week or so to get it.

And, I got a clean bill of health from my doctor. The growth they removed two weeks ago is nothing special. And my eyelid is healing well.

Road Trip, of sorts

Went to lunch with our friends today. When we got back to their house, I asked if he had an old Edison phonograph. Yup, sure do!

The photos are a little dark but PSP cleans them up. Got one with a cat that may be my assignment picture for next week. Haven't uploaded the shots to Flickr yet, that's next.

After Dark

Sometimes the second time is better. I went to UT on Sunday, slightly after sunset, and got a few pictures I liked. So, Monday night I went to downtown Round Rock after it had gotten dark (around 9:15 pm). Surprised how deserted the streets get.

They have white lights around the trees and some of the buildings. The assignment is night photography, so I suppose the lights made it easier.

Took my tripod. Used the night portrait mode (no flash) on the camera. Used the timer function and turn DR-O off.

It appears the night portrait mode uses ISO 800 as the setting. When I look at the 100% pixels I can see a little graininess, but I suspect it would show in a normal print.

Took about 30 shots. I got four or five shots that I like. Makes it hard to choose. I'll update this post with my choice Wednesday.

Update: My DPS choice is now up. I have also updated the weekly photo page.

Night Photography

Went down to UT tonight to take some photos at the LBJ library and the UT Tower.

We went at 8pm but it didn't really get dark until 9pm. Haven't analyzed all the pictures yet. Some look ok, others are out of focus or blurred. Most likely because I didn't always use the autotimer.

One lesson learned is that pebble surfaced sidewalk are sharp on your knee. I need to bring a pad or something so I can kneel behind the tripod.

I've got a photo I can use for the assignment, but want to do better. I've got another 9 days to go out and shoot at night to get something I really like. Thinking of going to downtown Round Rock tomorrow night.