View allAll Photos Tagged pixelshift
Well, not really, but I need to go with the words here. Feeling OK actually, trying to get more active and shed some of the extra beer and my-daughters-wont-stop-baking-stuff-and-I-cant-stop-eating-it lockdown pounds. Some serious grooving of a different kind happening here in this stretch of the "Narrows" of the Virgin River canyon in Zion National Park. One can certainly see why it is called the Narrows. And these lined walls provide pretty compelling evidence of the power of some serious water force driving rocks down the river bed. One shutters to think about getting caught in a flash flood here... and then one yells at one's brain to think of something else right quick!!
In fitter times I hiked for hours through the freezing cold water of the Narrows with fellow photogs Kevin Benedict and Josh Krasner last fall. Then we got up and did it again two days later! Had an absolute blast and loved the ever-changing light conditions especially when the reflected light would dance across different canyon walls.
I especially wanted to thank everyone who left such kind comments on my previous post, I really appreciate the tremendous support and feedback y'all keep giving. I really enjoy the writing aspect of posting my photos perhaps almost as much as the photography itself.
Burbage Brook, Padley Gorge, early autumn.
Linhof Technikardan S45
Rodenstock Grandagon-N 6.8/115
1.5mm front rise
2° rear backward tilt
f32
15 seconds
Kodak Portra 400 (EI 320)
Heliopan Slim High Transmission SH-PMC CPL
Gitzo GT3532LS
Arca-Swiss Z1
Lab development
Digitised using 16-shot pixel-shift capture
Note: my images are processed to appear correct on a calibrated, professional grade colour-accurate monitor set to Adobe RGB output / 6500 K temperature / gamma 2.2. Many consumer grade screens (particularly mobile phone screens) at default settings will display these images with too much saturation and contrast, so please bear this in mind when viewing on such devices.
(Best viewed fullscreen in the lightbox)
The Df is gone and I've jumped ship... to the wild side. This is from my first outing with the K1 after a rather lengthy setup (!) When I brought the pixel shifted images up on screen it was simply *breathtaking*. Looking forward to seeing how these print...
As I wrote in my last post, during a recent swing out to Vegas we took a short road trip, but the weather was uncooperative and so we spent quite a bit of time in the slot canyons near Page Arizona, where the incredible forms and textures are plenty photogenic in all kinds of weather. I do have somewhat mixed feelings about many of my slot canyon photos from an artistic perspective, because you have to hire a guide there and it is so crowded that the guide points out most of interesting formations and the photographer just tries to do their best not to mess up the shot (it's actually not so easy given how little time you have before the next group wanders through your frame). Nonetheless, a magical place to visit.
This is the "Lady in the Wind" formation from lower Antelope canyon. The canyons did provide me an opportunity to work out my Pentax 15-30mm (rebrand version of the Tamron 15-30), which is a terrific lens that I haven't actually used that often.
Separating the districts of Morar (north) and Moidart (south), the freshwater Loch Eilt is to be found between the villages of Glenfinnan and Lochailort. The A830 (Rathad nan Eilean) runs along the north shore, while the West Highland Line railway follows the south shore.
Shame about the midges...
Prints and things are available from the website: www.shinyphoto.co.uk/photo/Loch-Eilt-c79f070ec00047b32e2d...
I took this photo a few years back on a drive through the Skagit River valley along the 'Crowsnest Highway' (Highway 3) that runs from Hope through the interior of British Columbia along the US-Canada border all the way through to Medicine Hat Alberta.
I had been visiting relatives in the Okanagan valley and I was making my way back to Seattle in the fall and the Skagit River valley fascinated me visually. It is nestled between some taller mountains and in the fall it frequently has stretches of mist and low lying clouds. The views along the way on this day were tantalizing me, however, there aren't a lot of great spots to simply pull over and set up a camera (busy highway with a lot of particularly large logging trucks). I finally found a pull over and put my 70-200 on to zoom in on this one dead, moss-covered tree sitting among the red fall vegetation (Ok, I confess I once knew what plant this was but I've forgotten - it is extensive along the river banks of southern BC and turns an exquisite shade of maroon in the fall) surrounded by this misty atmosphere right out of a scooby-doo cartoon.
This past spring I did a wonderful road trip with my younger daughter (now an astonishing 20 years old) and she taught me this super fun Irish folk song called "the Rattlin' Bog". The lyrics go something like:
"Ho, o, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
Real bog, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
Well in the bog there was a hole
A rare hole and a rattlin' hole
Hole in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
Ho, o, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
Real bog, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
Well in that hole there was a tree
A rare tree and a rattlin' tree
The tree in the hole
And the hole in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
Ho, o, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
Real bog, the rattlin' bog
The bog down in the valley-o
On that tree there was a branch
A rare branch and a rattlin' branch
The branch on the tree
And the tree in the hole
And the hole in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
..."
and on for about 6 more verses each adding new things. The tempo keeps getting faster with each verse and the idea is basically to be very drunk and shout along with all these crazy things on the tree (the bird in the egg in the nest on the limb on the branch on the tree in the hole in the bog down in the valley-o...) presumably until one passes out from lack of oxygen.
Well every road trip I do with my family now we end up putting on this song on (usually about five or six times) and singing along and laughing hysterically until we're gasping like fish. And even though I'd not heard of The Rattlin' Bog when I took this picture, whenever I see it now I think of that song. I wish the tree here had a nest on it, that would've made it perfect. It won't win any awards, but it's one of those "small scene" photos that I like to try sometimes.
You can find a version of Rattlin' Bog sung by just about any Irish band you care to name, but I have to go with the Irish Rovers because these guys are iconic for Canadians and I have a strong fondness for Irish drinking songs from my time in Nova Scotia, and since one of my daughters also followed in her old man's footsteps to experience the unique cultural experience that is university in Nova Scotia
The phrase "in the pink" has a rather more interesting origin than most people think. It is assumed to be associated with the "pink cheeks" of a healthy person. But according to this site: www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-pink.html there's no clear proof of that association. It's earliest origin seems to be associated with something of the 'highest quality', and it seems based on the period in question that the likely association comes from flowers (Dianthuses) popular at the time which were commonly referred to as "Pinks". This message brought to you by Fun Literate but Useless Facts for Friday (FLUFF).
Not many flowers growing at Zabriskie Point, but the pinks were plentiful at least for a few brief minutes. I've always liked this little wash that meanders through the 'badlands' type formations of Zabriskie. Zabriskie is quite a fascinating formation and just one of many cool features of Death Valley National Park.
Yet another shot from my fall trip to Oregon/Washington/British Columbia. This is the Grist mill at Cedar Creek in Washington state near the Oregon border. This was a treat to photograph because not only was it a beautiful setting (once the heavy rain stopped) but the steelhead salmon were running in the creek and watching them jump the falls was a new experience for me and I was fascinated. The energy and athleticism displayed by these fish swimming up river is something else to see. I was surprised at how often their jumps failed, often by hitting one of rocks in the falls head on with a painful sounding smack. Have to say I felt mighty sorry for these fish. I took a few shots of them too with the Telephoto. Might even post one of those to make this a two-fer.
The trees in the background are covered in a smokey haze from woodsmoke that was coming from a house/cottage nearby. I thought it added splendidly to the overall fall ambience. Shot with Pentax K-1 (with "Pixel Shift" on) and Pentax 24-70mm.
I'm still working through pictures from a road trip through Oregon and Washington State with Kevin Benedict back at the end of May. I had a hard time coming up with any kind of appropriate title for this photo of the Oneonta gorge near the end of the lower trail where the Oneonta creek crashes down in a dramatic set of falls. In many ways it defies description and feels like a place out of a mythological past. The Gorge is breathtaking, and we had come prepared to freeze our butts off in the glacial runoff water. However, in an unusual (nearly unheard of) turn it was nearly 100 degrees F in the area that day and so hordes of people sought out relief in the cool water. In our dry suits we felt very overdressed and a little silly.
I was struggling mightily that day as I woke up with a crashing migraine the likes of which I've not had in many years. Advil seemed to have little effect and I couldn't focus or find interesting compositions here, especially with so many people around. After a time, the natural beauty of it began to relax me and I shook off most of the fog. Since we had nothing better to do, we patiently outwaited the hordes to get a shot here and there. For this one I got a little lower down close to the river to get the water rushing over the rocks. Cropped it wide to try to capture some of the drama of the giant moss-covered walls a bit better.
As delightful as the gorge was, I feel like I need a return journey to do it better justice. Preferably at a slightly less busy time.
One of my favourite old trees in the Black Woods of Rannoch - tired and done with life, two big branches fallen off and not many left - taken in December as 2020 crumbles into decay as well.
Prints, masks and other things are available via the website: Tired Old Friend.
Made of 12 pictures, 6 for the Milky Way with astrotracer on, and 6 for the foreground with PixelShift activated.
Busy male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly dining on Lantana nectar in my garden.
Common for the season.
07-29-2022 Explore: www.flickr.com/photos/michaelina2/52247855535/in/explore-...
Stumbled across a folder of tulip shots I took earlier in the year, not very seasonal now, of course!
Lit with my homemade ringflash adapter on an Elinchrom octabox.
A 3 frame panorama shot of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The large cliff feature on the right is called the "Painted Wall" for obvious reasons. It is truly spectacular to see in person, and as I mentioned in the previous shot, somewhat difficult to photograph! Second shot from Black Canyon from my recent Colorado trip. This is the first true multi-frame pano that I've ever posted here, though I've tried some others. This one is also a multiple exposure merge using the Pentax K-3 ii pixel shift. So, there are a total of 36 separate images merged here. The original TIF file after the merge is 415MB. By far the largest image I've ever created. Wish I'd had the fancy motorized pano head that we saw one photog using at Mesa Arch a couple of days later!
Very cool to see this hit explore (peaked at 24) on August 10. Thanks to all for viewing, faving and commenting!
A small (2cm) pencil sharpener photographed with a combination of old and new.
The lens is a 56 year old Macro-Takumar 50/4, pre-set, 1:1, extended to its maximum magnification. The shot uses in-camera Pixel Shift – merging four nearly identical photos into one, for more clarity/detail. Minor crop off the pencil to the right, to keep the width of the horizontal plane to less than an inch.
#MacroMondays #LessThanAnInch
Bumper crop of White Oak Acorns.
Common for the season.
www.flickr.com/photos/michaelina2/51426631607/in/explore-...
This is probably my favorite photo (of my own making) of 2020. The intense winds of Abraham Lake Alberta are renowned for scouring the snow off the lake revealing amazing patterns of methane bubbles, but they also create wild ice pile ups on the shore. At first glance it just looks like a jumbled mess, but when you get down in it, like on your belly hiding from the wind, these piles of ice reveal some interesting forms, including these crazy bits of snow covered by wind shaped ice. They looked to me almost like petroglyphs carved in the snow and preserved under the ice. Let's call them "Glacioglyphs". And then there is the horse's head poking through on the right. I loved that bit. A magnificent place that fired my imagination almost like no other. Sort of a Canadian version of the sandstone slot canyons.
I have an amusing story to relate, which should serve as yet another cautionary tale for anyone shooting in similar environments. First of all, the ice is incredibly smooth, and the wind here truly is ferocious, blowing a pretty constant 20-40mph the whole time we were there. On this morning, as I said, I was down on my belly trying to line up comps among these ice flows. Just moments after taking this picture, I removed my outer gloves and placed them on my bag for just a second, so I could adjust the camera position when a gust of wind swept through and grabbed one of the gloves, sending it sliding along the ice.
I jumped up and then watched dismayed as it rapidly slid away down the icy embankment. I was prepared to give it up when it caught on a snow ridge so I started to move towards it, a bit reluctantly since I didn't think I had much chance to retrieve it but had to give it a go. The wind then decided to have some fun with me and flung it further away just as I was about to reach down to grab it.Annoyed, I decided to run after it to see if I could grab it.
Again it snagged on a bit of snow and I hustled towards it, only for it to whip away from me as I was almost upon it. Now, I had a decision to make as it was nearly out on the open ice of the lake where surely I would have no chance. To set the stage some more, I've got heavy boots on and ice crampons slipped over the boots, and the ice on the lake is extremely smooth and slippery. I had to decide whether to really put on the chase and sprint after it before it hit the smooth lake surface, or whether to be smart and just give it up.
Of course, you know I chose the dumb route or I wouldn't be writing this. So off I go full sprinting for a good 20 seconds across the broken ice surface praying the wind would break for a second. Well, the wind did slow just enough to let me think I could catch it just as the glove slid on to the lake. I put it in to top 100 meter olympic sprint gear, getting closer, and then the glove starts picking up speed and I'm almost ready to accept the bronze medal for my efforts, when I see a small patch of snow lying ahead and realize I have one last chance. I'm fully committed to the chase now, it's do or, well you know, I probably won't die but it is sure gonna hurt like hell when I inevitably fall on my ass. It's not *quite* the stupidest thing I've ever done. But it is inexplicably stupid for a 50-something year old man to be risking broken bones, not to mention looking like a complete idiot, sprinting after a $25 glove in a wind tunnel. The glove catches, ever so briefly, on the snow patch. I am 5 meters away. I have a second or two at most. So I launch in a glorious full-body dive across the ice, sliding over that glove like it's home base in the 9th inning of game 7 of the World Series. So, there you have it. Don't put your damn clothes down for a second in this kind of environment! I was pretty damned lucky that I came away with a story and no hospital bills. I only wish there'd been a video camera catching the action.
Ceiling of the Bell Tower of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The title of the shot comes from the two carved faces visible in the upper left and right areas of the photograph.
I am pretty sure that the middle (wooden) section can be removed...(in other words it's an access hatch)....enabling the bells of the church to be hoisted into place within the tower or lowered and removed as necessary.
This was originally 2 x (Pixel Shift) photographs (one photo couldn't quite fit the entire ceiling in) taken (with a Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART lens) by placing the Pentax K3 II on the flagstone floor (the camera was jacked up on one side with folded paper (all I had to hand!!) as the camera doesn't quite sit level on it's back), shutter release via Pentax remote, subsequently I used 'Photomerge' in Photoshop to blend the two images together into one and then edited religiously in Snapseed on iPad Pro.
For more info. on the church:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._John_the_Baptist,_Cir...
For more info on Pixel Shift :-
www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/how-pentax-k...
Sun setting, waves rolling in.
Heavily backlit shot.
With the recent release of the 2 m43 cameras, OM-1 and GH6, it appears that the improvement in images claimed are mostly down to in-camera as well as manufacturer’s RAW developer software. If so, why pay for this when you can achieve the same in post processing?
Still waiting for the detailed analysis of the OM-1 sensor dynamic range and high ISO noise performance to determine if any of the claimed improvement is actually due to the new sensor.
Speaking of in-camera softwares, Nikon has in-camera focus stacking while Sony has pixelshift. Olympus however has the most in-camera software features; handheld high resolution, handheld focus stacking, pixelshift, live composite, live ND, live bulb and pro-capture. Olympus Live ND is similar to the Sony Smooth Reflections app although the OM-1’s version can now be used handheld.
I believe many of these in-camera softwares are 3rd party and are licensed for use by the different camera brands at a cost. This obviously adds to the cost of Olympus cameras since so many apps came already installed in the body.
Sony was previously on the right track when they offered many of these softwares for purchase from their Playmemories site, Sky HDR and Smooth Reflection apps were particularly useful, you buy only what you need instead of being dumped an entire suite of it regardless of whether you ever use them or not. This stopped being available in newer cameras released after the A7Rii however.
When people buy a camera, they look at the sticker price, not the value of the loaded software apps in-camera and Olympus (now OM) will do better if these apps can be bought separately and hence excluded from the initial price of the camera.
I remember considering between the Nikon D500 and Olympus OMD E-M1 Mkii, both launched at around the same time and at roughly the same price. Much as I like m43, the decision was relatively easy and I bought the D500. The value of all those Olympus super duper in-camera apps did not convince me, in fact the cost of Olympus including all those apps probably dissuaded me from buying it at initial launch price!
I do wish the Playmemories “Sky HDR” app can be used handheld someday. Lugging around a tripod all day is a hassle, so is constant putting on and taking off ND, GND, CPL etc filters.
Mt Baker looking majestic in the last embers of sunset. There was a bright full moon rising just out of the frame here, casting some additional light on the gleaming snow cap of one of the most spectacular mountains in all of North America. It's singular prominence over the landscape of northern
Washington State and southern British Columbia, together with it's epic form derived from being an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano (say that 10 times fast!) make it a feast for the eyes in my view. I've visited before but only captured the view over to nearby Mt Shuksan, never managed to capture a decent shot of Baker itself.
Last fall I started with a short visit in BC then drove down to Seattle, stopping to explore possible shots of Mt Baker from the Mt Baker Highway, and then flew from Seattle to Vegas. Since I had just a short evening to work with I didn't want to venture too far along the Baker highway, and I was fortunate to quickly discover a small turnoff to the Nooksack river that looked like it might provide a view along the river. There also happened to be a full moon rising and I was really keen (perhaps even a bit crazed?) to get a shot of the moon over Mt Baker. I did end up getting that shot but the light was not as good at that point, so the shot is less interesting and by the time the sun set the moon was too high in the sky to get in frame (I did in fact try photoshopping it in to the scene but I didn't find it added much so I decided to leave it natural).
Sometimes my brain doesn't think things through very well when I'm excited to get a particular shot, and this was a prime example. I decided to just take a quick look for a comp along the river with just camera and tripod before gathering up all my stuff and carrying the heavy backpack. Well, the short walk to the edge of the river became a little bit further to see around that tree and then a bit more to look around the next river bend, and so on until I was a good 45 minutes from the car when I finally found some satisfactory views. There was of course no turning back at that point so I had no chance to change lenses or try filters or whatever. I shot with what I brought. Fortunately a small part of brain perhaps realized that I might not return immediately and maybe it'd better to bring the tripod *just in case*.
I would have liked to get more interesting rocks or other feature in the foreground here, but every time I found one it came with a more obstructed view of the mountain, so I prioritized the mountain. It seems likely that more time to explore could have yielded a better comp but I've learned the hard way that perfect is the enemy of good when it comes to finding compositions in a new location (which is why return visits are so satisfying).
The trek back to the car in near darkness, over slick rocks and through heavy riverbank growth, and in unfamiliar territory, was also a gentle (moon luck?) reminder that although I'm usually reasonably intelligent, I can also be a fool. A full moon fool.
Thanks for the views, and especially for the comments. Stay safe!
Holidays and work have taken their toll on my flickr presence lately. Also I've run in to a horrid stretch of mediocre light conditions and bad weather over the past 4-5 months. Mother nature likes to test our commitment occasionally, by not cooperating with epic sunsets and sunrises and so one has to look for other opportunities that have some unique and interesting beauty.
Recently completed a short trip out from Vegas with Kevin Benedict, and stopped for a morning shot at Coal Mine Canyon near Tuba City, Arizona. While not as deep as the nearby Grand Canyon, it nonetheless is pretty spectacular and is a little bit off the beaten path photographically (indeed we were the only ones around on this day). The whole west coast seemed to be socked in with an enormous cloud system and we charted a path where we thought we'd have the best chance for some interesting light conditions, and also access to slot canyons that pretty photogenic in any light. Coal Mine looked promising but as it turned out the sunrise was largely blocked out by cloud. For a few brief minutes just after sunrise some gaps in the cloud allowed a few rays of sun to peek through, which cast some interesting highlights among the deep shadows in the canyon.
On the far right in the foreground you can see the evidence for how Coal Mine canyon got it's name, there are patches of dark coal seams visible all around the canyon rim.
Title is a line from one of my favorite movies. As soon as I saw this pattern of light in the canyon I thought of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbq0OuJtErs