101. Weathervane - May 17-23, 2015
Paul-
You may have found this week’s theme easy or a bit of a challenge in both its specificity and anachronistic quality. While it’s true that weathervanes are not that uncommon, depending on what neighborhood or region you live it might be hard to spot one without some searching.
In my case, I was hoping for the latter. I came up with this theme not too long before I announced it and had no houses, barns or other buildings in mind…on purpose. I wanted to have fun hunting one down. And you’d think in Lincoln Nebraska—a bucolic big-little city by most people’s standards—it wouldn’t be too hard. Right?
I spent more than an hour and half crisscrossing the southern part of town and when I couldn’t find much hither, I headed over to yon. To be sure, I saw a few but they were either partially obscured by roof lines and trees, or just plain uninteresting to look at. On the outskirts of town (to the west), I drove by an old Victorian-looking house—turrets and everything—that sported several antique lightning rods. Very cool.
But they really weren’t weather vanes.
I did finally spot the specimen you see here. I’m guessing it needs some WD-40 because the wind was picking up when I started shooting and the weathervane stayed rock solid. No rotation. No vibration. Nothing. (I can only guess at the wind speed and density because my D5200 doesn’t have the on-board anemometer/aerometer/Dopler radar like the pricier Nikons do.)
Any, I took this picture slightly and across a street to get a clear shot--wishing all the while I had a 300mm lens. I was also hoping no one would wonder what the heck I was doing and come bellowing out of the house brandishing a huge cut of raw Porterhouse. This is Nebraska. It could happen.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/1250 sec.; f/11; ISO 500; -2/3EV; 55-200mm lens cranked out to 200mm; monopod used. And speaking of weathervanes, Mary Poppins blows into the Banks’ home on an easterly wind and states that she will stay until the wind changes. She departs on a westerly wind and finds herself (a year later) on top of an Austrian hill spinning around in a novice’s outfit. Apparently unfazed, she later decides to play the stage as a woman pretending to be man playing a woman. Now that’s throwing caution to the wind.
You may have found this week’s theme easy or a bit of a challenge in both its specificity and anachronistic quality. While it’s true that weathervanes are not that uncommon, depending on what neighborhood or region you live it might be hard to spot one without some searching.
In my case, I was hoping for the latter. I came up with this theme not too long before I announced it and had no houses, barns or other buildings in mind…on purpose. I wanted to have fun hunting one down. And you’d think in Lincoln Nebraska—a bucolic big-little city by most people’s standards—it wouldn’t be too hard. Right?
I spent more than an hour and half crisscrossing the southern part of town and when I couldn’t find much hither, I headed over to yon. To be sure, I saw a few but they were either partially obscured by roof lines and trees, or just plain uninteresting to look at. On the outskirts of town (to the west), I drove by an old Victorian-looking house—turrets and everything—that sported several antique lightning rods. Very cool.
But they really weren’t weather vanes.
I did finally spot the specimen you see here. I’m guessing it needs some WD-40 because the wind was picking up when I started shooting and the weathervane stayed rock solid. No rotation. No vibration. Nothing. (I can only guess at the wind speed and density because my D5200 doesn’t have the on-board anemometer/aerometer/Dopler radar like the pricier Nikons do.)
Any, I took this picture slightly and across a street to get a clear shot--wishing all the while I had a 300mm lens. I was also hoping no one would wonder what the heck I was doing and come bellowing out of the house brandishing a huge cut of raw Porterhouse. This is Nebraska. It could happen.
Our story so far: Shot at 1/1250 sec.; f/11; ISO 500; -2/3EV; 55-200mm lens cranked out to 200mm; monopod used. And speaking of weathervanes, Mary Poppins blows into the Banks’ home on an easterly wind and states that she will stay until the wind changes. She departs on a westerly wind and finds herself (a year later) on top of an Austrian hill spinning around in a novice’s outfit. Apparently unfazed, she later decides to play the stage as a woman pretending to be man playing a woman. Now that’s throwing caution to the wind.
Jerry-
Weathervane, weathervane, where can you find one when you need one? I noticed this one at the Ronald McDonald House at the U of M while taking a shuttle bus from the "East" campus to the "West" campus. So early Tuesday morning at about 6:15ish I attacked the subject hoping for some nice morning sun. But alas, tall buildings kept it in the shade. But I did get a weathervane photo!
D750 with 80-400 at 300mm, f8 @ 1/640, iso 400
Weathervane, weathervane, where can you find one when you need one? I noticed this one at the Ronald McDonald House at the U of M while taking a shuttle bus from the "East" campus to the "West" campus. So early Tuesday morning at about 6:15ish I attacked the subject hoping for some nice morning sun. But alas, tall buildings kept it in the shade. But I did get a weathervane photo!
D750 with 80-400 at 300mm, f8 @ 1/640, iso 400
Byron-
I've been struggling with this seemingly simply theme. I've driven around looking for weather vanes. They just aren't used as commonly anymore. I called a former co-worker that has an interest in anything old. I left a message but he hasn't called me back. This is Saturday morning and I was at the point of admitting defeat and saying I've got nothing for this week. I stood at my kitchen sink, preparing a bowl of oatmeal, and I looked at my neighbors mini barn and lo and behold, a weather vane mounted to its roof. The light and sky looked about right so I grabbed the camera and tripod and walked across my yard. I think it's the first time I've shot a WPOTM photo in my pajamas (and what it was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know). I shot several variations and this is my favorite.
ISO 110 (110? I don't know how that happened), 100mm, f/11, 1,125 sec, -0.7 EV
I've been struggling with this seemingly simply theme. I've driven around looking for weather vanes. They just aren't used as commonly anymore. I called a former co-worker that has an interest in anything old. I left a message but he hasn't called me back. This is Saturday morning and I was at the point of admitting defeat and saying I've got nothing for this week. I stood at my kitchen sink, preparing a bowl of oatmeal, and I looked at my neighbors mini barn and lo and behold, a weather vane mounted to its roof. The light and sky looked about right so I grabbed the camera and tripod and walked across my yard. I think it's the first time I've shot a WPOTM photo in my pajamas (and what it was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know). I shot several variations and this is my favorite.
ISO 110 (110? I don't know how that happened), 100mm, f/11, 1,125 sec, -0.7 EV
Deron-
This is the weathervane atop Riverside's Historic Mission Inn. You may remember the Mission Inn from my WPOTM Week 10 photo (Local Landmark). The design in the 'sail' part of the weathervane is Riverside's logo- The Raincross Bell, which can be seen all over the city.
This is the weathervane atop Riverside's Historic Mission Inn. You may remember the Mission Inn from my WPOTM Week 10 photo (Local Landmark). The design in the 'sail' part of the weathervane is Riverside's logo- The Raincross Bell, which can be seen all over the city.
Kevin-
I gave Paul a pretty hard time about this theme, finding it narrow. But in reality my thinking was more narrow than the actual theme. Paul is of course a master of linguistics and when I realized the Paul had indicted that Weathervane was also know as a Wind Vane or a Weathercock I realized the photographic answer was obvious. When one is uncertain and safety is a must a proper raincoat can provide simple and important protection.
The first shot I tried on Tuesday was on a white card. One softbox for backlight. And a split-toning effect in processing.
It was okay but I quickly began to realize I could do much better. So I repeated the shot again. This time I shot on a blue gel as a background (which was in turn placed on top of a light table) lit from below by a studio strobe with another studio strobe with a red gel placed behind. Much better I thought!
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens. f/8 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync speed). ISO 100.
I gave Paul a pretty hard time about this theme, finding it narrow. But in reality my thinking was more narrow than the actual theme. Paul is of course a master of linguistics and when I realized the Paul had indicted that Weathervane was also know as a Wind Vane or a Weathercock I realized the photographic answer was obvious. When one is uncertain and safety is a must a proper raincoat can provide simple and important protection.
The first shot I tried on Tuesday was on a white card. One softbox for backlight. And a split-toning effect in processing.
It was okay but I quickly began to realize I could do much better. So I repeated the shot again. This time I shot on a blue gel as a background (which was in turn placed on top of a light table) lit from below by a studio strobe with another studio strobe with a red gel placed behind. Much better I thought!
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens. f/8 @ 1/250th of a second (flash sync speed). ISO 100.