Show Off Your Pics (1 Viewer)

EricSchulz · Apr 4, 2023

JohnRice said:
Here's a few more I shot with conventional lenses the other day. I stepped up the approach, because the Nikkor Z 14-30mm lens that's the most useful for this doesn't focus quite as close as I need, even though it can focus incredibly close. So I got a set of close-up filters for it and now I can shoot any way I want.

I want to add that mirrorless cameras are absolutely ideal for this type of subject. First, you have great live view, since that's the way mirrorless cameras work anyway. I mean, there is absolutely no way to look through a viewfinder with this stuff. Plus, electronic shutter essentially eliminates any camera vibration, which I make a point to use with these. Yes, you can lock up the mirror on a DSLR, but you still have a mechanical shutter, which can't be avoided with them. So, I use the lowest ISO, which is 64 on the Z7ii, and have a long exposure. On the pinhole shots, I went ahead and cranked it up to 800 because the exposure would have been over a minute.

These are all focus stacked, BTW. Not the pinhole ones, of course.

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As someone who is a neon/ghost sign fanatic I’m LOVING this!

Scott Merryfield · Apr 13, 2023

A few gator shots from Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina this morning, using my recently acquired Canon RF 800mm f/11 lens. I posted some other photos in the birds thread.

JohnRice · Apr 14, 2023

Just a self portrait, goofing around with some of the new toys.

JohnRice · Apr 20, 2023

The stress filled life of a cat.

I'm amazed by the dynamic range of current cameras. This is my Nikon Z7ii, with direct sunlight from behind. It was extremely harsh light, but I still didn't need to crank it quite to the limit to retrieve this.

JohnRice · May 7, 2023

Longs Peak and the Rocky Mountain Front Range, a couple miles from my house.

EricSchulz · May 8, 2023

The lilacs FINALLY bloomed!

JohnRice · Jun 25, 2023

My first time photographing flowers with my new Nikon Z7ii.

All I can say is, it absolutely blows the doors off the D500 in terms of raw image quality. The dynamic range and color is astounding! I mean, holy crap. Plus, no, this is not a macro lens. It's the Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S. I had my Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS macro with me, but had it on the IR converted Z5.

This is from my mother's rose garden, which has pretty much been unattended for a few years now, and next year the house will belong to someone else. We've had a historic amount of rain this year, and the roses love it.

Now that I see the final sRGB 8bit version, I think I dropped the shadows just a little too much. There are other roses in the background, which are further down than they were in the Adobe RGB, 16 bit editing version. Raising the black level just 2 units should do the trick.

JohnRice · Jun 25, 2023

Getting funky with some infrared. Tomorrow this pic will probably make me want to hurl, but we'll see.

This is with a 590nm IR converted Nikon Z5 and a Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro.

Scott Merryfield · Jun 26, 2023

JohnRice said:
My first time photographing flowers with my new Nikon Z7ii.

All I can say is, it absolutely blows the doors off the D500 in terms of raw image quality. The dynamic range and color is astounding! I mean, holy crap. Plus, no, this is not a macro lens. It's the Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S. I had my Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS macro with me, but had it on the IR converted Z5.

This is from my mother's rose garden, which has pretty much been unattended for a few years now, and next year the house will belong to someone else. We've had a historic amount of rain this year, and the roses love it.

Now that I see the final sRGB 8bit version, I think I dropped the shadows just a little too much. There are other roses in the background, which are further down than they were in the Adobe RGB, 16 bit editing version. Raising the black level just 2 units should do the trick.

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I like this version, John. Leaving the other background roses in the dark really isolates the rose and makes it stand out. It should be the focal point of the photo, and the dark background makes it work.

JohnRice · Jun 26, 2023

Scott Merryfield said:
I like this version, John. Leaving the other background roses in the dark really isolates the rose and makes it stand out. It should be the focal point of the photo, and the dark background makes it work.

This is actually the modified version. I replaced the one I originally posted. Part of the problem is all the white around the image on the forum makes the dark roses gets lost. I just like seeing a hint of the roses in the background, but don't want them light enough to be distracting. I might do alternate versions and see what I like best.