197. Something in the Air - March 26-April 1, 2017
Byron-
Due to March Madness, it seemed appropriate to show a basketball in the air. With the help of basketball legend, Jerry "stretch" Vincent, I captured on film (whoops, on sensor) a 25ft jump shot just before it hit the net, or chain if you prefer. I used my SU800 to trigger a flash unit. I was hoping for a bit of blur and some sharpness.
Due to March Madness, it seemed appropriate to show a basketball in the air. With the help of basketball legend, Jerry "stretch" Vincent, I captured on film (whoops, on sensor) a 25ft jump shot just before it hit the net, or chain if you prefer. I used my SU800 to trigger a flash unit. I was hoping for a bit of blur and some sharpness.
Kevin-
Obviously I have shared a number of hummingbird photos, but I don’t believe I have ever shared one as a WPOTM image.
The baby hummingbird grew quickly, mom would return the the nest again and again to feed it, and finally this week it looked ready to take it’s first flight. Finally it flew from the nest to the back of a lounge chair about 5-feet away. Another long pause, more food from mom. The wings would occasionally flex and stretch.
I waited with my Nikon and that 200-500mm lens for a long time. A very heavy combination to hand hold! And then suddenly it took off again, flying another 15-feet to a nearby cactus. I had the camera in burst mode and hoped the autofocus was fast enough to track the baby in flight.
I managed a couple of sharp frames, the best of which is shown here.
Nikon D4s, handheld, 200-500mm Nikkor lens set to 500mm, VR (Vibration reduction) turned on, ISO 3200, 1/2000 of a second at f/5.6.
Obviously I have shared a number of hummingbird photos, but I don’t believe I have ever shared one as a WPOTM image.
The baby hummingbird grew quickly, mom would return the the nest again and again to feed it, and finally this week it looked ready to take it’s first flight. Finally it flew from the nest to the back of a lounge chair about 5-feet away. Another long pause, more food from mom. The wings would occasionally flex and stretch.
I waited with my Nikon and that 200-500mm lens for a long time. A very heavy combination to hand hold! And then suddenly it took off again, flying another 15-feet to a nearby cactus. I had the camera in burst mode and hoped the autofocus was fast enough to track the baby in flight.
I managed a couple of sharp frames, the best of which is shown here.
Nikon D4s, handheld, 200-500mm Nikkor lens set to 500mm, VR (Vibration reduction) turned on, ISO 3200, 1/2000 of a second at f/5.6.
Paul-
Here I am in my backyard on sullen, chilly afternoon waiting—arms outstretched in mock placation--for one of my “diabolos” to come down. I decided to use this juggling apparatus for this week’s theme.
If you’ve never used (or seen, for that matter) a diabolo, it’s manipulated (mostly) on a long string tied to the ends of two sticks. (The diabolo is believed to have evolved from the Chinese yo-yo in or shortly after the 11th century.
Whether the practitioner knows only a few tricks (and I’d be firmly in that group), or has some real skill (see the clip I’ve posted), they’re great fun to play with.
I selected the backyard to either get a reflection of the diabolo--that red hourglass-shaped UFO the photographer was lucky enough to capture in flight—or the stretched string for a little added effect. Very little, apparently.
I purposely cranked up the ISO to insure I could stop down the lens to sufficient depth-of-field on a gray, gray day and still “freeze” the action. Obviously, I needed have worried. 1/4000 second is the camera’s maximum shutter speed, so I could have dropped the ISO slightly and/or stopped down the lens further and still gotten the shot. I’ll blame it on the chill muddling my thinking.
It’s a toss-up this time: (3:12PM) Nikon D5200; aperture priority; 18-55mm focused at 18mm; ISO 5000; 1/4000 sec. at f/7.1; matrix metered; WB Cloudy, shutter set for High Continuous Release Mode. The camera was tripod-mounted, and I had hired a photo assistant—who happens to live with me—to press the shutter button on my signal.
Here I am in my backyard on sullen, chilly afternoon waiting—arms outstretched in mock placation--for one of my “diabolos” to come down. I decided to use this juggling apparatus for this week’s theme.
If you’ve never used (or seen, for that matter) a diabolo, it’s manipulated (mostly) on a long string tied to the ends of two sticks. (The diabolo is believed to have evolved from the Chinese yo-yo in or shortly after the 11th century.
Whether the practitioner knows only a few tricks (and I’d be firmly in that group), or has some real skill (see the clip I’ve posted), they’re great fun to play with.
I selected the backyard to either get a reflection of the diabolo--that red hourglass-shaped UFO the photographer was lucky enough to capture in flight—or the stretched string for a little added effect. Very little, apparently.
I purposely cranked up the ISO to insure I could stop down the lens to sufficient depth-of-field on a gray, gray day and still “freeze” the action. Obviously, I needed have worried. 1/4000 second is the camera’s maximum shutter speed, so I could have dropped the ISO slightly and/or stopped down the lens further and still gotten the shot. I’ll blame it on the chill muddling my thinking.
It’s a toss-up this time: (3:12PM) Nikon D5200; aperture priority; 18-55mm focused at 18mm; ISO 5000; 1/4000 sec. at f/7.1; matrix metered; WB Cloudy, shutter set for High Continuous Release Mode. The camera was tripod-mounted, and I had hired a photo assistant—who happens to live with me—to press the shutter button on my signal.
Jerry-
With my intrepid flight engineer, B. Braton, we created a series of photos documenting balsa wood airplanes in flight. Here is my favorite, the "Starfire", heading towards some rough looking trees. We also flew the "Jetstream", which would be more accurately called the "Propjob".
Camera was the Nikon D750 with 24-70 zoomed to 70mm, 1/1600 @ f16, ISO 800. In photoshop I selected the airplane and brought up the saturation and then changed the background to black and white.
With my intrepid flight engineer, B. Braton, we created a series of photos documenting balsa wood airplanes in flight. Here is my favorite, the "Starfire", heading towards some rough looking trees. We also flew the "Jetstream", which would be more accurately called the "Propjob".
Camera was the Nikon D750 with 24-70 zoomed to 70mm, 1/1600 @ f16, ISO 800. In photoshop I selected the airplane and brought up the saturation and then changed the background to black and white.