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Just as I was about to refocus, the egret took off. I love the reflection in the water.
For my friends in the Northern Hemisphere, Australia does have a Winter. It is only supposed to reach 14C today and at the moment at 11.29 a.m. is 10C. It went down to -1.4C in the early hours of this morning. As we don't have central heating, it was nice to stay snuggly warm in bed for a little longer this morning.
Created with Nokia Refocus
-/-/-/-/-/
Faith goes out through the window when beauty comes in at the door.
George Edward Moore
So, I had this planned in my head to get a real comparison of the new Sony equipment versus my Canon/Sigma for wide angle. I figure the coolest place was to do this at my trusty location of Middle River ... just had to wait for a potential pretty sunset.
After work this evening, things looked promising so I headed down with all the gear. Took the Canon/Sigma capture and then switched out to the Sony and took the same shot about a minute or so between them.
Both full captures are placed here for overall comparison. I also created layer copies of 2000 x 2000 pixels from each capture there at the benches so you can zoom over those together to see the difference details there pixel per pixel.
Overall about 66% more detail is there. Recommend viewing this Large on a computer screen ... looking at it on phone does not work well in Flickr for zooming. On a computer it is slightly better ... certainly not what it looks like viewing the actual image at resolution on the full computer screen. There the difference in details and size is amazing to see.
The earlier test results of the Sigma lens on the Sony camera was not up to what can be had with the Sony lens on the Sony camera. So it was worth getting the new glass with all those extra pixels on the sensor.
This will be interesting more as I shoot landscapes with the Sony, as the potential for more very large crops within a capture of the wide angle will still be very nice and able to print large if needed.
This really gets me excited to get under some clear skies in dark areas of the country to test it out under those conditions.
Hope this is helpful for those are thinking about all those extra pixels and what it can get for you.
After doing this fun exercise, it was then concentration of images taken with both setups. The Sony stayed on the tripod, and I shot handheld with the Canon/Sigma. This allowed me to quickly refocus on different areas along the river as the sunset move along. Also moving about in 6 inches of snow still on the ground and piers add a lot more complexity to the shooting this evening ... but it was fun. More shots from this evening to follow soon.
A local hike I love to take surprised me with some wildflowers popping up on the trail. It really shouldn't have surprised me as I looked back at my catalog and noticed I had shot them around this time last year. I went out with the 24-70 2.8 and tried some handheld images hoping to get some in focus as the light was waning. I went back out the next day excited with the 100-400 and a tripod shining I would dominate in a more professional manner this time around and while I got a few that I liked, this composition resonating with me a few days late. Less direct and focusing more on different parts of the flower. My photography lately has shown me to take the path less travelled. Look for deeper compositions, take your time, contemplate, take a deep breath, look around, refocus, and learn to see things differently.
I wish I had this same determination in my private life.
I shared that my youngest daughter went no contact with me, my wife, and my other two children more than a year ago. We had such a wonderful tight knit family that stuck with each other through thick and thin. I try to message her weekly through every avenue I can think of. She has blocked me. I'm not even sure if she is still living in the same apartment anymore. I have been through difficult times before but nothing like this. I even lost my father back in 2009 but this sting hurts the most. I pray for her daily. I hope someday soon she comes home or even calls me just to say Hi.
I share this with you not for sympathy but to tell you to go right this minute and hug and give love to everyone that you hold dear to you. Like these wildflowers they will be gone was to soon. To Be Wild.
Finding Calm Among the Trees
Sometimes, when the noise of the world becomes too much, the best thing I can do is step away from it all. This morning, Leica and I wandered a quiet trail close to home and stopped by a small pond, its glassy surface reflecting the soft colours of early autumn. In places like this, the weight of the daily news begins to fade. Among the trees, while Leica explores the undergrowth, I feel myself begin to unwind and refocus on the things that truly matter.
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Fujifilm X-T3
Website: www.sollows.ca
Contact and links: www.linktr.ee/jsollows
66501 Spirit of '65 Celebrating 60 years of Freightliner passes through the Werrington Diveunder and climbs to Glinton Jn., working 4E56 15.28 Felixstowe North - Leeds FLT. [Pole, 4/6 sections (~5.4m)]
After photographing the orange 20s at Ramsey Road, Whittlesey, on their second trip from Harwich to Worksop (see this picture), most of the photographers said their farewells and set off for home (well, it was dinner time, after all!), but I paused briefly to talk to another lad stood beside the crossing (rather than down the path), and someone else didn't rush off. He received a message that 66501 was at Ely and on its way towards us... The sun angle at Ramsey Road would have been too frontal by the time it arrived, but 4E56 is the perfect train to photograph going under the Werrington Diveunder during the few weeks either side of the summer solstice - and there was plenty of time to get here.
Most of the photographers who had been here for the 20s had already departed, but a couple of them remained, having been deep in conversation but now about to go. When I told them 66501 was in its way, they stayed a bit longer.
After I took this shot, I wasn't very happy with it. First, although I'd previously used a 50mm lens (equivalent to 75mm on full frame digital or 35mm film), almost at the last minute I decided to try a wider lens - and then didn't really like the image when the train was in the optimum position. This is therefore a slightly earlier frame cropped on the left. But when I downloaded the image I also found that it wasn't completely sharp... I don't know whether I'd forgotten to refocus when I'd changed lenses, or whether I'd not quite focused on the correct thing (there's a big fence in the way when stood at ground level, so you can't see the scene), or whether the focusing ring had slipped very slightly when raising and lowering the camera on the pole. Thankfully, application of the "Auto Sharpen" function in Photoshop twice has repaired the damage without adding a noticeable amount of noise (except in the sky, where I removed it very easily).
So I wanted to repeat the shot... but the following day (when I came here for the 20s as they were slightly later) 66501 was on an exam at Midland Road in Leeds and 4E56 was worked by green 66531. The day after that, 66501 worked from Leeds to Felixstowe fairly early in the morning, and I wondered if it might come back on 4E56 - and it did! I killed time after work (seeking out new locations north of Peterborough for shots of 91s, and then doing 91101 at Creeton - a location I'd done, but not with a 91 in full sun with the sun completely on the front) and then came here (joining another photographer who'd been here the previous two evenings) - only to find 4E56 was let out of Peterborough station on the Down Fast rather than the Down Stamford, and it crossed over using the ladder at Werrington Jn. and ran via the old route rather than the diveunder: there was no shot. Apparently, the diveunder was out of use, at least for northbound trains, and it continued to be out of use the following day. So the next day I thought I'd have another go at photographing 4E56, despite a much poorer weather forecast, but played safe and went to Barway (between Soham and Ely). The train came in fairly good light, but hauled by green 66518.
So this is the best shot I've got (so far) of 66501, the first 66 built for Freightliner, and which carries a special version of the latest orange livery to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the introduction of container trains by British Rail.
Visit Brian Carter's Non-Transport Pics to see my photos of landscapes, buildings, bridges, sunsets, rainbows and more.
"What sort of rose is this?" a horticulturalist may ask.
Well, it is inspired by Pep Ventosa. Born near Barcelona in 1957, Ventosa now lives and works in the Bay Area of San Francisco. He developed a unique style of multiple exposures in post-processing which you can see on his web site: www.pepventosa.com/
One of the features he uses in shooting is to photograph a subject in-the-round, by taking a series of photos the full 360 degrees around it. Now this is a much simpler version of the process (my picture only uses seven shots around the full 360 degrees). But I'm happy with the result that looks like cotton candy (fairy floss we call it in Australia).
refocus-awards.com/artists/pep-ventosa
[No AI is used in producing any of my photographs.]
While there isn't one particular song, piano music is my go to music. Depending on the genre, it can relax me, de-stress me, energize me or refocus me. It is by far my favorite instrument.
There’s beauty in the darkness and a certain gentleness amidst the shadows. I could photograph the uniqueness of the nothingness for hours. All the while, never once feeling at a loss for something alluring on which to refocus. It’s true.
What is your favorite thing to photograph?
The “something” that warrants a pause in the urgency to leave resulting in you staying without noticing the passing of time. What’s your “something?”
As August ends and September begins, I fear winter, refocus on this moment. It too will pass. My humble perspective.
www.fluidr.com/photos/25709079@N03
Copyright © S. F. Brown - All Rights Reserved
Never expected to be flickr MIA so long! Attempting to refocus now! Excuses, excuses, so many I could give you! ;-) Will be gliding slowly through your streams this week. Looking forward to catching up with all the beauty and creativity that I have missed!
Take time to reflect on your life and your choices. Make the necessary adjustments you need to live your truth. xoxo
More photos from the roll michaelkowalczyk.eu/blog/photo-diary/north-america/canon-...
Winner of the reFocus Awards 2024 Category Analog Film, non-professional.
Canon AF35ML, Konica VX100, Mexico City, 2019
Getting ahead in life is not always about doing a much a possible.
Sometimes getting ahead is about slowing down to breathe and refocus.
Annoyingly the lens decided to refocus as the train got to me so not as sharp as it should be.
LMS Jubilee 5XP Class 4-6-0 45596 'Bahamas' and LMS Jubilee Class 4-6-0 45690 'Leander' head through Leominster working Day 6 of the Great Britain XIV railtour, 1Z41 1235 Chester to Cardiff Central
I took this photo in the Grand Canyon in August 2019. I was on a 226 mile, 8 day raft trip on the Colorado River. It was the second to last camp night and I had found a spot several hundred yards from the main camp site where the Milky Way was framed nearly perfectly by the walls of the Canyon. That photo was taken early in the night before core of the Milky Way set (I posted a couple versions of it earlier). Much later, in the wee hours, I returned to the same spot (I bravely left my tripod in place) to get pictures (which Ill try to share later) of the Canyon walls illuminated by the waning crescent moon, having risen 30 minutes past midnight. The sky was getting bright so I decided to head back to camp.
The scenery on the hike back to camp was overwhelming. It was the nature of the light. The sky was getting brighter by the minute, there was orange in the sky in the notch in the Canyon’s horizon, probably enhanced by light smoke from a wildfire on the north rim. The Canyon walls were glowing. I kept hiking. The light kept getting better. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I told myself I have to try a photo because I’ll never be here in this location in this light ever again. I’ll regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t try to capture this feeling.
But I could no longer see the river. So, I turned around and headed for a spot where I could get the River in the shot. I had decided much earlier in the expedition that any photo without the River was only partially telling the real story. My pace quickened. I was now thinking I might miss the shot altogether. The story of Ansel Adams’ Moonrise over Hernandez rushed through my head. I finally got to the spot I wanted. I set up the tripod, did a composition and took a test shot. I didn’t have the moon in the shot. Moved back up the river. Another test shot. Moon just above the Canyon wall - good. Live view focus on near field rocks. Still very low light so try shooting wide open. Better. Check depth of field. Reasonable compromise. Shoot a 5 shot exposure bracket. Didn’t get it - moon saturated. 7 shot bracket and separate moon exposure single exposure. Close. Made some minor composition changes. Another bracket. Refocus. Another. The magic on the Canyon walls was almost gone. Did what I could. Headed back to camp. So that’s the story behind this photo. _RQZ0552_canyon_sunrise_with_moon_RQFugate
Best position, Explore, 28/03/2020 (#244)
"it's time to stop
it's time to look out for each other in the distance
time to stare humanity in the eyes
to take a break, for the world
it's time to stop
time to make a pause so we can play again
to think of everyone and meet no one
to reset, recenter
switch off to move on
time to change our little world
to calibrate the path of mankind
it's time to stop
we are meant to connect and we are stronger together
but separated, we are today more united than ever
and for now, our main strength is to be apart
it's time to stop
nature, landscapes, beaches and monuments aren't going anywhere
they will still be there waiting for a better time to be lived
and we must do the same for a while
it's time to stop
the perfect time not to visit anything
sometimes, to rise is to stand still
it's time to stop
stop and think of ourselves
think of everyone else too
it's time to stop
and refocus as a whole
for all
it's time to understand and respect our times
respect one another
the faster we stop, the sooner we will bond again
it's time to dream of those amazing days to come
for when those days arrive, we will say again ... "
#CantSkipHope
Copywriter: João Moura
Buttermere Mirror.
Another shot from Buttermere taken just moments before or after my previous Buttermere Pines post. All I had to do was pan the camera round on the tripod, zoom slightly and refocus. Such a rich area for photos from a small area.
While walking around the Tennessee State Museum, I spotted these lockers and photographed them with the hope of creating an appealing "abstract" based on an unusual perspective/POV.
I thought I would take a low angle shot to see if I could give the row of 42 cottages a better profile. But there was no light and it all looked pretty dull. And then I realised we were being watched. He only stayed there for a moment more before he moved on. No time even to refocus, let alone grab a longer lens. Can you see the spy?
Nokia Lumia 930 shot. Created with Nokia Refocus + Vivitar Ser-Vii macro lens. Edited in the phone with Adobe Express.
This Heron took off from this perch and flew to another Heron nearby for a quick tiff in flight - something I observed, but by that time I refocused the camera to another bird and hence couldn't refocus in time. I love shooting these birds since they are full of surprises. They eat pretty much everything in the water and even small birds.
Thanks in advance for your views / feedback. Much appreciated.
These are crazy times indeed. The Coronavirus pandemic has gripped the entire globe. With so much anxiety, fear, chaos & confusion all around the world, I have been glued to my screens, radio & podcasts trying to take in as much information as possible. I have discovered this is how I deal with my own anxiety & fears, I seek out as much information as I possibly can to try & understand the issue driving my fear.
But this is different. This is overwhelming. The more I read & process, the more anxious I feel. Consuming so much information my head is spinning & my heart racing.
So I've decided I need a circuit breaker. I need to refocus on what I love & take time out.
I will be making time for my bird images again. I will switch off for a while each day and process some of my favourites. And maybe by relieving some of my own anxieties, perhaps this simple gesture can also give others a small break from the realities of this new ever-changing world we are all living in right now. Stay safe everyone.
...
Pink Cockatoo (male)
Lophochroa leadbeateri
Vulnerable in Victoria
October 10th, 2017
Wyperfeld National Park, Big Desert, Victoria, Australia
Canon EOS 1D X
Canon EF 600mm f4L IS II USM lens
Canon EF 1.4x III Extender
My favourite image from my Spring 2017 Mallee adventure with good friend James White - a magnificent male Pink Cockatoo putting on an amazing show to woo the ladies!
Just after sunset, this male flew into his hollow & performed an all-singing, all-dancing routine for two nearby females. It was an incredible experience to witness & an absolute thrill to capture some images of his performance!
Over the course of five days, James & I explored Northern Wyperfeld where we came across six active Pink Cockatoo hollows. Unfortunately, due to the types of hollows they select for nesting, many Pink Cockatoos fail to raise their young to fledge as they are heavily predated by feral cats & foxes, which climb the trunks of the trees & take the chicks. Hopefully as many as possible Pink Cockatoo have a successful breeding season so we continue to have the opportunity to experience these beautiful birds in the Victorian Mallee region.
I absolutely love visiting the Mallee region, & this image will always remind me of a brilliant trip away & act as a draw card to take me back!
When our group of 8 photographers were led to the Seal Rock State Recreation Area on the Oregon coast, I was the last one to change into fishing waders, climb down the steep moist dirt path from the wooden railing you see in the top left hand corner. There were several sea stacks of different heights and shapes on this beach. I could see a lot of sea birds perched on the sea stacks along with perhaps seals, sea lions, and other marine life whose vocalizations we could hear.
Marc Adamus had forecast a blazing sunset for this evening. Once we were on the beach, everyone got down to shooting whatever wave action pictures we had practiced the previous evening in really poor conditions and the sky completely white with the marine layer anchored in place.
At this time, I had still not decided to clamber up the rock Marc said we need to be on to capture some of the most dramatic, powerful, dynamic and violent releases of energy that takes place when the Pacific Ocean waves crash into the rocks on shore. The reason for my diffidence was because I had previously read about people losing their camera gear to the ocean when hit by rogue waves. At last count, Marc’s clients had lost 7 cameras. I did not want to be the 8th.
When I saw a gentleman in our group who is perhaps in his mid 70s climb up the rock first, I felt a tinge of shame and a spark of courage to follow suit. Once up there, this gentleman whose interpersonal skills would sometimes make a Texan exclaim “Bless your heart!”, took some shots and climbed down.
I found a little sheltered cranny in the rock that I hoped would protect me and my gear should a rogue wave hit. Meanwhile Marc kept running up and down the rock helping whoever wanted to climb up and take some pictures. The best spot was apparently a little to my right but I was not prepared to risk a direct hit. It was however the same spot Chris Moore later settled in.
Once I got situated, I stayed put on the rock for a full 90 minutes shooting 362 pictures. I used no filters except a UV filter which I use on all my lenses for protection. Given the exploding waves and ocean spray there was a lot of wipe the lens, refocus, shoot and repeat that took place. Initially the clouds broke up and we saw blue skies for the first time since we arrived in Oregon. Then the clouds started moving inland. The light gradually started to show signs of what Marc had predicted. I captured hundreds of waves crashing into the rocks and some were as high as the Sea Stacks and in front of me. The only Sea Sack that did not get covered fully was the tallest one. Perhaps that explains why the sea birds felt comfortable there.
For most of the time the main brooding and tall sea stack was in the dark. As the Sun started to go down below the clouds and closer to the horizon, Chris Moore who was shooting on my right said softly “there is our Money Shot”. Meaning the warm light from the setting Sun, coming in at a horizontal angle was going to spotlight the dark and imposing sea stack. And the next moment, it happened.
This is what the experts do, They chase light and the only the perfect version of it. I climbed down the rock knowing I had experienced something special and learned a great deal in those 90 minutes rubbing shoulders with two of the best artists.
Tidbit: What is a sea stack?
If waves erode a cliff from two sides, the erosion produced can form an open area in the cliff called an arch. If the material above the arch eventually erodes away, a piece of tall rock can remain in the water, which is called a sea stack.
Toronto is lagging behind other cities when it comes to the return of workers downtown. Will things ever get back to normal?
Chris Fox, CP24.com Managing Digital Producer
A new study suggests that downtown Toronto’s economic recovery is lagging behind other urban centres and one of its authors says that it has now become clear that “we are not going back to normal.”
The study, called “Death of Downtown?” used data from cell phone towers to track the return of people to the core in 62 urban centres.
It found that the level of cell activity measured in downtown Toronto between March and May of this year was only at about 46 per cent of the pre-pandemic norm.
Karen Chapple, who is the director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto and one of the co-authors of the study, told CP24.com this week that Toronto’s recovery has been slower, in part due to lockdowns that were deeper and longer-lasting than in many other cities.
But she said that there are also “structural” issues with Toronto’s economy that make the full return of office workers to the core going forward less likely, mainly the prevalence of technology and financial services jobs that lend themselves to remote or hybrid work.
“This is a collective action problem and Toronto seems to have been very passive, waiting for individual actors to make it all better and it's not (going to get better),” she said. “It's going to take a real concerted effort of the public and private sectors together to figure out what are the spaces that are likely to continue to be dead in the future? What are those specific blocks? How can we liven up those blocks? How can we get new tenants there? How can we make both the private space work, the commercial space work but also the public space work? That's a problem we have together, so it is something that we should be solving together.”
The data suggest that cell phone pings in downtown Toronto dropped to as low as 28 per cent of the pre-pandemic norm, both at the outset of the pandemic in 2020 and during a devastating third wave in the spring of 2021.
In recent weeks there has been a sustained rise in activity downtown, but the data is beginning to show signs of a levelling off and Chapple said that she doesn’t foresee a scenario where the vast majority of office workers return downtown five days a week.
Not this fall, not ever.
“We're not going back to normal,” she warned. “The question people are debating right now is will it be going to 40 per cent or 60 per cent? Will people be going back for two days a week or three days a week? That hasn’t really been settled. But if you're going to have, you know, half of the downtown economy on a hybrid work schedule, then you really have to think about how you're going to reuse that space.”
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Strategic Regional Research Alliance suggests that overall occupancy in downtown Toronto workplaces is still only at 27 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, virtually unchanged from last month.
The slow pace of the recovery isn’t a surprise to Marcy Burchfield, who has been tracking it as part of her work with the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s Economic Blueprint Institute.
The city has taken an active role in encouraging the return of workers downtown and was among the first major employers to require its employees to return to the office, at least part time.
Canadian cities have lagged behind when compared to the U.S
The return of workers to downtown Toronto has been particularly slow when compared to several large American cities, including New York, where cell phone pings are now at about 76 per cent of their pre-pandemic norm.
Toronto’s experience, however, is not entirely unique among Canadian cities, with both Vancouver (55th) and Montreal (57th) among the cities the study identified as having a slower recovery.
Chapple said that she speaks to a lot of stakeholders and business organizations and gets the impression that they are “waiting for the employers to crack down on folks.”
But she said that may be the wrong attitude amid what appears to be a significant shift around the very nature of work in many industries.
“Cities like San Francisco and Toronto are just going to have to rethink what their downtown should look like and refocus on arts and entertainment, even non-profits and health sector and education sector. These are the future of downtowns once you have professional services kind of clearing out,” she said.
Source: www.cp24.com/news/toronto-is-lagging-behind-other-cities-...
Great Blue Heron poser (Ardea herodias) - The Anhinga Trail, Royal Palms, Everglades National Park, Homestead, Florida
(25.382444, -80.609383)
This guy was too close for the six to get the green wrap-around composition I wanted, so I went with 3 horizontal captures and used PhotoMerge to stitch it all into a single image.
And hey, yah gotta love the detail you get in close like that with the six, and how a refocus between shots keeps bird parts in good focus @ ƒ/4.0 (used to for a short DOF to isolate the bird from the BG) while keeping the tail feathers and head as sharp as a tac in the merged image.
Check out the notes on this image
to get a feel for how I went about creating this image.
The beautiful town of Malcesine at the Garda lake in Italy 😍
When I started editing drone photos about a year ago, it felt totally frustrating: lots of noise due to a small sensor, weird color shifts, misaligned shots due to drone movement and so on. With time I found more and more tricks to work around these limitations and now I finally can say that editing drone photos is fun again 😀.
Here just a few tips, which might help you to improve your drone photography:
- Always bracket your shots or do a 5-shot burst: you can use the shots for noise stacking and/or for exposure blending, both will greatly improve image quality
- Shoot the same scene at least twice and refocus inbetween: if your first attempt wasn't properly focused or it got blurred because the drone moved too much and you didn't notice it on the screen, the second attempt will come to your rescue
- Become a Photoshop cloning expert: you will have to manually fix artifacts due to misaligned shots 😀
Nikon AF 80-200 F/2.8 lens. North hemisphere, west coast of continental U.S. (Take a photo of a large swathe of the Northwest night sky at dusk at 6400 iso focused to infinity. Visually scan the image on the LCD to pinpoint the comet. Once located, zoom in, refocus to infinity to compose your comet capture.)
No, it's not the revolutionary light field camera by Lytro, also called "shoot now - focus later" :) Until the company starts selling them, we have to settle for multiple exposures at different focal settings. I just tried to blend them - in different proportion (sharp v/s blurred layer).. Totally different images emerged, and the possibilities are endless...
Press 'L' to see larger on black
Rolleiflex 3.5e
Schneider Kreuznach Xenotar 75mm f3.5
Fomapan100
9 minutes 30 in Rodinal 50:1 at 20 degrees
This is my first try at luminosity masking multiple exposures from different times. Captures started at about 4am and finished at 6am. I took about 500 photos for this but in the end only used three. I learnt a lesson here that you should not refocus during the captures as now the images didn't line up. I tried to reposition them but didn't have much success. In the end I just left them as they are. Overall I'm happy with the result even not know exactly what I am doing with luminosity masks.
I figured I would try and post something a little different.
Last month I saw a presentation from an inspiring photographer, Don Komarechka. Don is an amazing macro, nature and landscape photographer. Many of you may have seen his jaw dropping snowflake photography that has made him a big name in the photo community.
At the presentation, he mentioned that he was trying his hand at 3D or stereo photography and he presented some amazing examples, both his own and a few that were 100 years old.
So, I figured I would try it here. How to see a photo in 3D? If you look dead centre of the image and UNFOCUS, then REFOCUS your eyes, you should see a third image in the middle. The middle image should appear in 3D. Best if viewed in full. Press L
Now, he also mentioned that not everyone can see stereo photographyLet me know if it worked for you.
What could be more Aussie than a platypus in a gum tree?
I was actually taking 3D images of this pond and surrounds which lie in the Tasmanian Arboretum near Devonport, when I was suddenly surprised by this lively little platypus! Not having anything with me resembling a zoom lens, I was stuck with the camera at hand which was the big 3D World medium format stereo film camera and its fixed 80mm lenses. So, it was a quick re-aim of the tripod mounted camera, a very quick manual refocus, and hope for the best. When a platypus pops to the surface, they usually don't hang around for long.
Any day with a platypus sighting is a good day!
Original colour slide was taken between 2007 and 2009 with a 3D World medium format stereo film camera using Fuji Provia 100F colour slide film. Scanned with a Canon R10 with RF24-240mm lens and Nisi close up attachment.
Morning view of Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, Nevada.
One silver lining with the COVID-19 pandemic is that it can refocus our attention on the wonders and the good in our beautiful world. We have so many things to be grateful for! It is good to look past the difficulties, challenges, and sorrows of the current situation and try to see the good, share good, and do good in every way we can.
Old bit of circuit board courtesy the workshop floor... Orb courtesy me... Insperation courtesy { tcb }.
In trying to do this refocus, change focal lens shit I realise just how talented { tcb } is. I haven't even made an attempt at trying to get things in the right place. Crap location too as I was trying it out in the drive while the family sleep!!
No editing apart from the crop (to remove the drive!) and RAW conversation.
* World Annual Photo 2025, ReFocus Awards, Nominee Portrait
* Winner - Portrait, Cinematography and Photography Awards Winter 2024
"If you are sailing into uncharted waters, expect there will be rough seas along the way. But take heart in the knowledge you are on your way to a new world."
Storm clouds are heaving on the horizon. It's that fleeting moment before the sky opens up, when everything feels just on the verge. Do now or regret forever.
I pull on my red dress and grab my camera and tripod. I run out towards the ocean, shouting to my sister who is playing frisbee with her boyfriend on the sand bar.
"Stand in for me while I find focus?"
"Ok" she says, dropping the frisbee. "How bout I just take the picture?"
I plunk the tripod down in the mud. The sky is looking angry now.
"You better hurry," she warns as I attempt to fix the exposure.
I tell her to wade out deeper in the water. She stands impatiently squinting at the sky, while I figure out focus marks. We swap places and I realize I've lost the mark- where exactly was she standing? Shit. She goes back, I refocus, this time I walk out to her before she moves and take her place.
Now it's raining. Snap snap snap, she pushes the shutter and I fall back into a variety of dramatic poses.
"You're all blurry!" she cries. Stupid me, rushing. The shutter speed is too slow. She can't capture my motion when I move quickly. I have to hold my poses longer.
Now it's really starting to rain.
"Just a few more poses!" I say, clutching my dress.
"Ok..." she says dubiously.
The thunder crackles. Snap snap snap.
"Done!" I yell, tossing her one of my props which lands in a distant patch of ocean and starts drifting the other away.
My sister rolls her eyes. "I'll grab that, you get the camera."
We grab, we run. Along the beach towards the bank. Now we are covered in rain. We run up the stairs towards the cottage, the storm nipping angry at our heels
We arrive on the porch as the sky opens up. Monsoon disaster. We throw shut the doors as the rain screams down. The wind picks up the neighbour's basketball net and drops it onto my sister's boyfriend's car.
"Better call your insurance." my sister says.
Good storm.
Stop and Refocus on The Present
It doesn't matter how much we practice principles that help us achieve in life, we always stumble. Everyone does. The best way to deal with it is to accept your error or lapse. Then refocus and move on.
So remember to stop and refocus on the present. It takes practice but the rewards are astounding.
E' incredibile ma vero. Avevo acquistato lo Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron C8 (203mm f/10) nel 2000 e non lo avevo mai provato per la fotografia Deep-Sky. Neanche dopo aver acquistato il suo riduttore-correttore 0.63x, perchè non solo il suo campo corretto è più piccolo del formato APS-C ma ero anche convinto che la mia HEQ5-pro non fosse in grado di gestirne adeguatamente il peso e la guida. La ASI533MC-P, con il suo sensore da 1" (11.31x11.31mm) mi ha spinto a provare.
Ho iniziato con un target luminoso e quale migliore occasione che ripuntare la nebulosa M16?
Il controllo con la HEQ5 è al limite e alcune volte le oscillazioni per le folate di vento creano problemi. L'autoguida fa quello che può e la turbolenza spesso non mi ha aiutato.Forse un'ottica adattiva potrebbe fare miracoli, ma sono comunque rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso da questo primo rsultato ottenuto. Comunque c'è da dire che è stato un grande vantaggio per me avere sul tetto di casa "l'ossservatorio", che mi ha semplificato molto il processo di acquisizione, composto da 4 sessioni fotografiche.
I Pilastri della Creazione, la Guglia stellare, le nebulose oscure che si stagliano nel vasto tappeto di emissione Ha e i contorni delle nubi di idrogeno: questo spettacolo visto con una focale di 1260mm è stato veramente appagante.
Per i dettagli sulla Nebulosa Aquila vi rimando all'immagine flic.kr/p/2reF7PA
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It's incredible but true. I purchased the Celestron C8 Schmidt-Cassegrain (203mm f/10) in 2000 and had never tried it for deep-sky photography. Not even after purchasing its 0.63x reducer-corrector, because not only is its corrected field smaller than that of an APS-C format, but I was also convinced that my HEQ5-pro wouldn't be able to adequately handle its weight and guiding. The ASI533MC-P, with its 1" sensor (11.31x11.31mm), encouraged me to try.
I started with a bright target, and what better opportunity than to refocus on the M16 nebula?
Control with the HEQ5 is at its limits, and sometimes the oscillations caused by gusts of wind create problems. The autoguider does what it can, and the turbulence often didn't help. Perhaps adaptive optics could work miracles, but I was still pleasantly surprised by this first result. However, it must be said that it was a great advantage for me to have "the observatory" on the roof of my house, which greatly simplified the acquisition process, which consisted of 4 photographic sessions.
The Pillars of Creation, the Stellar Spire, the dark nebulae that stand out in the vast carpet of Ha emission and the outlines of hydrogen clouds: this spectacle seen with a focal length of 1260mm was truly rewarding.
For details on the Eagle Nebula, I refer you to the image flic.kr/p/2reF7PA
Google translation
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Optic: Celestron SC C8 203mm f/10+ Celestron riducer-corrector 0.63X
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC-Pro
Mount: Sky Watcher HEQ5-Pro
Seeing: 4 (scala Antoniadi)
Filter: Narrowband Optolong L-eNhance 2" + SVbony UV-IR cut
-153x180s 250gain/ 25 dark /23 flat / 23 darkflat /80 bias
t° sensor: -5°C
Date: 12-13-14-15/07/2025
Integration: 7h 39m
Temperature: 25°C (media)
location for : Biancavilla -Catania-(Italy) 515m slm (Bortle 5-6)
Acquisition: NINA, PHDGuiding
Processing: DSS, SIRIL, PS, GraXpert
Alpha and Omega- the framed image was the first I shot after learning I would be housebound and sick. I though it would last a few months, not more than a year. This is the 3rd birthday shot and I am tired of being eaten by the walls. The shooting room is going to be stripped bare, repainted; all my props I have packed and put away. I want to look elsewhere but need to learn to refocus my eyes. I suppose we just ran out of things to say to one another.
The walls in the blue room caught fire not that long ago, this is the last and best record of the ashes.
It's our spot. Right in the corner, next to the kitchen sink. It's where we come together to talk about our day, and refocus, and let go of distractions. It's where we wrap each other up, and where I get to squeeze her sexy buns. We might end up anywhere, doing whatever...but we usually start right here, with kitchen kisses.
*Reposted with permission from Morgan Monroe.