View allAll Photos Tagged 2ndamendment
I think this is the first astrophoto I've made where I wasn't shooting the moon, or growing star trails or just randomly pointing the camera at a patch of sky. As I recall, for this one I actually selected a subject that seemed interesting, though at the time I didn't know what I was looking at.
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens on Nikon D50. A single frame, shot wide open at ISO200 for 30 seconds. I messed with levels and curves in Nikon Capture NX.
30 seconds was too long, as you can see substantial trailing.
The Rule of 600 suggests that 8 seconds is maximum for a 75mm focal length (75mm because my camera has a 1.5X "crop factor"). That seems to agree with the results here.
I'll also need to secure the camera better. On my flimsy tripod I get a distinct j-shape to each star trail, due to mirror slap. My camera can't do mirror pre-lock, so perhaps the old hat trick is the best option (hold a hat over the lens, open the shutter, wait for the camera to stop jiggling, then move the hat away from the lens, and let the exposure progress normally until the shutter closes).
Next time, I'll shoot with the Rule in mind, and at ISO800, and multiple light and dark frames for noise reduction.
The Witch Head Nebula, in the large note box above, is totally invisible in my short exposure. It's quite an awesome sight when exposed in detail. Check it out!
3/14/2018 Mike Orazzi | Staff
Bristol Eastern High School students while walking out of school Wednesday to mark the one month anniversary of the Parkland school shooting. Students planned to stay outside for 17 minutes, one minute for each victim, they also want more gun control.
The current owner Willie Shepherd, who is well into his eighties, originally traded two sacks of potatoes for this sweet (at the time) ride.
My old M101 military trailer, currently being used as a scrap metal container.
This photo was made with my old Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 lens. It was made in 1972 or 1973. It is quite scratched, dusty and maybe even has a little fungus growing, along with damaged coatings.
Nonetheless, it is fun to play with. I performed a crude AI-modification to the aperture ring (I used a file). The lens now works perfectly with my Nikon D600 (full metering and focus confirmation).
This large and ancient metal lathe is located in Lookout, California, in Lassen County, Big Valley. This is in the boonies of Northern CA.
The label reads:
The Muller Lathe
Built by
The Bradford Mill Co.
Cincinatti, Ohio
USA
The size is as follows, roughly measured:
Swing over bed: 20"
Swing over carriage: unknown
Four-jaw chuck diameter: 18"
Bed length: 12 feet
Bed width, center to center across the outer two ways: 16”
Maximum workpiece length, center to center: 8 feet
It may have been built in the 1886-1901 era, from what I've learned so far.
It is owned by a fine older gentleman named Willie. He owns a LARGE property full of old tractors, cars, trucks, bulldozers and vehicles of varied and sundry description. My girlfriend Zoe bought a 1955 Carpenter (1954 GMC based) school bus from him, and he towed it the 17 miles to our Ranch with his old tractor on public roads:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vihuX5mIFSA
Photos of the bus can be seen in another set of mine:
www.flickr.com/photos/darronb/sets/72157635098965316/
Willie also renovates and runs old steam engines. His tools are basic and in, umm, often less than pretty condition.
I believe he told me that despite its condition, having been outside for many years, this lathe was still in occasional use, wonder of wonders. I expect that it could be restored to its former glory by a man willing and able to put a LOT of time and/or money into it. I plan to list it for sale soon, online. If nothing else, it makes a magnificent lawn ornament.
Almost all of the images in this set were 3-exp HDRs, processed with Photomatix. The camera was a Nikon D50.
More info on Bradford lathes:
Noisy!
$25 eBay lens, diaphragm stuck wide open.
Many of the fainter "stars" in this image are just hot pixels and quantum noise.
Check out the previous image in my photostream for a stacked, low noise version of this starfield.
Nikon D600 DSLR on tripod
Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 manual focus F-mount lens, set to infinity stop and shot wide open.
ISO 12,800 and 2 second exposure to minimize star trailing while capturing some fainter stars.
Shot in Big Valley, California, on a concrete slab next to our largest hot tub. Big Valley has dark skies, and plays host to the Golden State Star Party (GSSP) each year, about three miles from our Ranch.
Golden State Star Party:
4/5/2014 Mike Orazzi | Staff
Participants listen to Connecticut Citizens Defense League President Scott Wilson during a CCDL gun rights rally at the Connecticut state capitol in Hartford, Saturday April 5, 2014, speaks out against the state's gun control law passed one year ago on April 4, 2013 restricting magazines to 10 rounds and prohibiting the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms, including the AR-15.
Video & Slideshow here: youtu.be/XbILfKZkMbs
This image was NOT created with a dark ND filter, rather by stacking multiple exposures together using the "Average" function of Markus Enzweiler's excellent program StarStaX, which can be downloaded for free here:
www.markus-enzweiler.de/software/software.html
The preceding image was a single frame from the stack, so you can see the difference.
3/20/2020 Mike Orazzi | Staff
Tammy Cyr talks with Raymond Marquis after he purchased a gun at Wolf's Indoor Range and Shooting Center in Bristol on Friday. Even though Marquis has a valid pistol permit, the process was delayed by the an overload at Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection because of high demand.
The current owner Willie Shepherd, who is well into his eighties, originally traded two sacks of potatoes for this sweet (at the time) ride.
The items on the driver's seat appears to be a powder horn.
Take out a U.S. $20 bill, and have a look at the "gold" 20 lettering at the lower right corner. This image was framed right in the middle of the 2 and the 0, so you can see the gap in the 2 at the left, and some of the wavy lines in the 0 at the right.
I used a 10X microscope lens mounted to my old Nikon D50 DSLR via a series of adapters. As you'll notice, depth of field at 10X is VERY shallow. This is an unavoidable law of physics, so better equipment can't do much. I calculated the DOF with my setup to be around 16.8 micrometers. A micrometer is 1/1,000 of a millimeter, so that's only .0168 millimeters, or 0.00066 inches! (less than a thousandth of an inch).
There is a process called "focus stacking" that can combine images taken at several subject distances into one seamless image with much greater depth of field. That will have to come later for me, as stacking at 10X requires a VERY demanding studio setup and close attention to detail. For example, I would need a way to accurately and consistently move my subject less than a thousandth of an inch for each exposure, and do this perhaps dozens or even HUNDREDS of times for ONE final photograph.
The fine green lines seen here in the background may not be visible on a bill held in front of you, unless you have exceptional vision, strong reading glasses or a good loupe.
This is a full-frame (uncropped) image.
Check it out here: sonsoflibertytees.com/SOL383
Use code for 20% off: INSTAG20
www.sonsoflibertytees.com/patriotblog/dont-tread-on-me-re....
The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights (1791)
U.S. Constitution
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
This is a shop-made "Beauty Dish" light modifier. To build it, I bought a $6.00 20" woven-bamboo salad bowl at Resco, a restaurant supply house in Reno, Nevada.
I cut a rectangular hole for the Speedlight's nose to poke through. I drilled two holes to attach an L-bracket to the back of the dish, below the rectangular hole. A plastic rail from a cheap light stand umbrella adapter is screwed down to the L-bracket, allowing the Nikon SB600 Speedlight to sit at just the right height to poke through the center hole.
The baffle in the center of the dish is a plastic ceiling box cover, obtained for free from the Reno Habitat For Humanity store. The baffle stands off of the dish about 4 inches, held there by two #6 machine screws. The stand-off distance is adjustable, and I found that all the way out from the dish worked best.
I painted the baffle and the inside of the dish with flat white spray paint, purchased from Walmart for $.96US per can (cheap!). I will probably paint the outside flat black at some point, but that is strictly a cosmetic measure. You can see the woven bamboo pattern under the paint, but it doesn't significantly affect the reflected light pattern.
I made a handle from an aluminum bicycle seatpost, which is attached to the L-bracket with the same screw that retains the plastic hotshoe mounting rail. This allows the rig to be easily hand-held for macro and other no-assistant-needed shots. I use Nikon's CLS system to allow full TTL exposure with no wires required. Works very well!
I'll post additional photos of the details in a day or two.
I found that the most even coverage of the dish was obtained when the flip-down "14mm" diffuser over the flash reflector was deployed.
The SB600 was set to 1/64 power here, and f/16 at ISO100 on the camera.