Random Photos

[BillTre]

This is a fun illusion:

 

[BillTre]

 

[jtbell]

The Southern Railway / Norfolk Southern roundhouse at the NCTM.

Of course, the exhibits include steam locomotives.

However, my favorite is this ugly beast, an electric locomotive of the Piedmont & Northern Railway.

The P&N was the most successful and the last survivor of the few electric interurban railroads of the deep South. It converted to diesel power in the early 1950s, but this locomotive continued to run until 1958 on street trackage in central Charlotte that was too light for the P&N's diesel locomotives. It has both a pantograph and a trolley pole, for different types of overhead wire.

The P&N survived as an independent diesel railroad until 1969. Different sections are now operated by CSX or independent shortlines, or have been abandoned.

 

[docnet]

View attachment baobab-trees-Grandidier-Avenue-of-the-Baobabs.jpg.webp

 

[DennisN]

More macro... I've had so much fun with this the last couple of days...
...it's fun to go around and look for small things we don't usually pay attention to...

Ants

- this was really, really tricky. These were incredibly small and move around like crazy.
Here I found some ants on a stem being occupied with something (ant business, I assume, I didn't ask them ), so they were reasonably still.

Grove snail (Cepaea nemoralis)

Ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata)

- lovely small creatures in my opinion. This one was taking a stroll on a big Allium plant.

...and the Allium plants were also frequently visited by bees...

Here is one caught in the process of nectar extraction:

A shot where details of the wings can be seen:

Another shot I liked:

(all shot with Canon nFD 100mm Macro + 50mm extension tube (ca))

 

[Bystander]

(ant business, I assume, I didn't ask them ), so they were reasonably still.

Aphid "herding?"

 

[Andy Resnick]

More macro... I've had so much fun with this the last couple of days...
...it's fun to go around and look for small things we don't usually pay attention to...

[...]


(all shot with Canon nFD 100mm Macro + 50mm extension tube (ca))

Well done! Do you know what f/# you were shooting at?

 

[DennisN]

Well done! Do you know what f/# you were shooting at?

Thanks!

I shot mostly at around f/16 to f/22 to get more depth of field. Some may have been shot at f/11 too, but I don't remember . As you very well know the depth of field gets ridiculously thin when using macro lenses, so I've followed the advice on Ken Rockwells page "How to Shoot Macro" and shot at higher f-stops.

Furthermore I shot with high ISO (4000) and short exposure times to get more likelihood of sharper photos (I varied the exposure times to get the right amount of light). And not all photos got sharp!

I didn't do quite "spray and pray", but I took quite many shots since I knew there would be quite a few duds . And the weight of the gear is almost 1 kg (camera + macro lens) so this can get exhausting after a while, which impacts the stability of the arms and hands. It becomes a bit of a workout.

Here are the exposure times and ISOs of the photos:

Ants: Exposure: 1/800 s, ISO 4000
Grove snail & Ladybug: Exposure: 1/500s, ISO 4000
Bees: Exposure: 1/500s - 1/1000s, ISO 4000

Edit:

Furthermore I shot with focus peaking enabled (I always do). It helps VERY much, particularly when shooting macro. And the focus peaking on my Sony cameras is very good, which I'm thankful for .

 

[morrobay]

Surprise gifts from Thai girlfriend . With spray and pray as always

 

[morrobay]

From Japanese restaurant along Pattaya Beach rd

 

[DennisN]

I passed by one of the pawnshops in the city and saw they had an old camera, so I entered the shop and asked if I could have a look at it. I could, and I was told it was a Leica. "Oh, then it's probably expensive", I said... I asked if I could photograph it, and they allowed me to:

It's a Leica M2.
It's an analog camera (film).
It is vintage.
So it can't be that expensive, right?
Well...
...the price is $2200.

Also, here's another shot of the eye of one of my cats:

 

[DennisN]

A weather vane:

 

[Andy Resnick]

...the price is $2200.

That's actually a reasonable price (assuming it's for everything in your image)- you are paying for the lenses, not the camera body. That summaron is (supposedly) fantastic.

 

[collinsmark]

I passed by one of the pawnshops in the city and saw they had an old camera, so I entered the shop and asked if I could have a look at it. I could, and I was told it was a Leica. "Oh, then it's probably expensive", I said... I asked if I could photograph it, and they allowed me to:

View attachment 346081

View attachment 346083

It's a Leica M2.
It's an analog camera (film).
It is vintage.
So it can't be that expensive, right?
Well...
...the price is $2200.

Coincidentally, I've been thinking about Leica a lot lately. But let me step back for a moment.

I'll start fresh. I love this thread. It's truly inspiring. Many of the pictures recently posted here -- particularly those photographs taken by actual PF members -- are breathtaking. And this thread documents those photographers' gradual improvements. (I won't mention any names specifically, but you all know who you are.) If you start at page 1 you can experience the continual tales of people on their unmistakable, productive journey toward mastering the art of photography. And the progression is as clear as day. This thread tells stories.

It's inspiring me to join in the fun.

For those that don't know me, I used to be kind of a shutterbug, back around 15 or more years ago. But due to a lot of frustration with my equipment, and more even more with my deteriorating bad leg, I ended up neglecting the hobby altogether (terrestrial photography, that is). It's difficult to lug a heavy, bulky camera bag up a hill when you can barely walk, even with a cane.

But now I have a new leg (hip replacement surgery). And this thread inspires me to get out of the house and take part. My 20 year-old Nikon, however, might not share my excitement.

So I'm pondering some of those new, fancy mirrorless systems. And since I'm at it, now would be a good time to switch to a new manufacturer. Don't get me wrong, my Nikon and Nikkor glass have served me well in their time. But if I'm starting anew, and I was ever going to make the switch, now's the time to make the switch.

So I've been thinking a lot about Leica lately. If you told me 15 years ago that I would be considering being a Leica person in the future, I would have called you crazy. Canon, maybe. Even Sony perhaps. But Leica?! Are you insane? But, well, here we are.

I'm going to be kinda hush about this for a while though until I get a camera in my hand. I haven't settled on anything 100% just yet, and I don't want to jinx it.

In the mean time, I'm enjoying everyone else's excelent photos.

 

[DennisN]

So I've been thinking a lot about Leica lately. If you told me 15 years ago that I would be considering being a Leica person in the future, I would have called you crazy. Canon, maybe. Even Sony perhaps. But Leica?! Are you insane? But, well, here we are.

Cool! I can't advise you on what system to go for, as I have no particular experience of various camera systems. But there are good photography/gear youtube channels out there; two favorites of mine which I have mentioned in this thread are Zenography and Simon's Utak. But there are others, and if I remember correctly there are even dedicated Leica channels.

And some sites worth mentioning:

DxoMark: https://www.dxomark.com/
(for ranking of e.g. cameras and sensors)

DpReview (Digital Photography Review): https://www.dpreview.com/
(though it's not active anymore, it can be useful as an archive)

PentaxForums: https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/
(for reviews and specifications of vintage lenses)

For those that don't know me, I used to be kind of a shutterbug, back around 15 or more years ago. But due to a lot of frustration with my equipment, and more even more with my deteriorating bad leg, I ended up neglecting the hobby altogether (terrestrial photography, that is). It's difficult to lug a heavy, bulky camera bag up a hill when you can barely walk, even with a cane.

But now I have a new leg (hip replacement surgery). And this thread inspires me to get out of the house and take part. My 20 year-old Nikon, however, might not share my excitement.

I'll put in a couple of my own thoughts and recent experiences:

I got me a Sony A6000 mirrorless camera in 2021 after quite a lot of research. The reasons were (1) I like photography and (2) and wanted to do more astrophotography. I was more than pleased with it, it was an excellent buy. Now I also got a full-frame (Sony A7R). If I were to upgrade, I might go for a more recent camera (i.e. Sony A7 Mark 2+), but I am holding my horses at the moment.

I like small and lightweight gear because I like to be comfortable. In fact it is almost a necessity for me.
And one thing that I've truly found out is that I do not like to bring a lot of equipment with me. At all. Because of this I try to make my kit (i.e. photography bag) minimal.

And I'm almost always only bringing one lens with me when I go shooting. One. "One lens only" (and the youtuber Zenography says "bring maximum three lenses with you"). Furthermore I like lightweight lenses, but I also love vintage lenses, so this becomes conflicting since vintage lenses are often heavier.

Of course there are occasions when I wish I had another lens with me, but there have also been occasions when my shoulders hurt .

Also, there are excellent compact cameras out there, and I wouldn't mind having one myself, actually.
I haven't done much research on this though.

As a bonus just to maybe thrill you (and perhaps @Andy Resnick ) I'll share a short but very cool video I recently saw about creative lens modifications:

5 Illegal LENS Modifications (Mathieu Stern)
Edit: They're not illegal of course, the youtuber was just being funny .


I LOVE stuff like that . Cheap, fun and creative.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Thanks!

I shot mostly at around f/16 to f/22 to get more depth of field. Some may have been shot at f/11 too, but I don't remember .[...]

Furthermore I shot with focus peaking enabled (I always do). It helps VERY much, particularly when shooting macro. And the focus peaking on my Sony cameras is very good, which I'm thankful for .

Thanks for the info! Here's what I managed yesterday (55mm micro-nikkor + M2 spacer), close focus (1:1 reproduction ratio), f/11, 1/320s, auto ISO (EXIF sez 1600):

One of the qualities I really like about this lens is the vibrant color. Also, it was free. And like I said earlier, the optical quality is very good, here's a crop that has been scaled 200%:

(same lens/camera settings as above)

I am definitely jealous, not having focus peaking- although I can always get *something* in focus, getting prcisely what I want to be in focus is rather difficult. Cheers!

 

[DennisN]

although I can always get *something* in focus, getting prcisely what I want to be in focus is rather difficult

Hehe, I know that feeling all too well when using macro lenses.

 

[jack action]

Thanks for the info! Here's what I managed yesterday (55mm micro-nikkor + M2 spacer), close focus (1:1 reproduction ratio), f/11, 1/320s, auto ISO (EXIF sez 1600):

View attachment 346197

One of the qualities I really like about this lens is the vibrant color. Also, it was free. And like I said earlier, the optical quality is very good, here's a crop that has been scaled 200%:

View attachment 346198

(same lens/camera settings as above)

I am definitely jealous, not having focus peaking- although I can always get *something* in focus, getting prcisely what I want to be in focus is rather difficult. Cheers!

That looks like botanic porn.

 

[nsaspook]

Some very hot magic smoke escaped.

 

[berkeman]

How are those two pics related? I see burn marks/damage in both pictures...

 

[Averagesupernova]

@berkeman I'd suspect the boards set in the chassis one above the other. Of course I'm not the one who has the assembly in front of me on the bench. Having done lots of circuit board repair over the years, my heart kind of sinks when I see something like that. First, I don't consider it a very good design when it can get that bad other than if it were a lightning strike. Second, it's not something that's acceptable to repair unless just for personal or nostalgia and that goes against my grain.

 

[nsaspook]

@berkeman I'd suspect the boards set in the chassis one above the other. Of course I'm not the one who has the assembly in front of me on the bench. Having done lots of circuit board repair over the years, my heart kind of sinks when I see something like that. First, I don't consider it a very good design when it can get that bad other than if it were a lightning strike. Second, it's not something that's acceptable to repair unless just for personal or nostalgia and that goes against my grain.

You nailed it. We replaced the bad module.

It didn't trip the mains breaker or blow the fuses in the power modules. It shut down when the area smoke alarm EMO'd the entire tool. It looks bad and is bad but the total power of the supply makes it harder to detect 'small' faults.

2.5KW into the testload.

 

[jtbell]

Yesterday I passed through Marion NC, where Bigfoot is a big thing. Their annual Bigfoot Festival was two weeks ago.

The local radio station has adopted the theme.

 

[jtbell]

On the other side of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Marion, Spruce Pine has its own festival coming up next week:

 

[Ibix]

Aliens to the left of me,
Bigfoots to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

 

[jack action]

Aliens to the left of me,
Bigfoots to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

With the railroad tracks in @jtbell 's photo (beautiful picture, by the way), I could only think of the following Simpsons episode while reading your post:

​

 

[jtbell]

From the "Big Train Show" in Johnson City TN. Cute not only for the layout, but also the background chatter and the owner eating lunch.

 

[BillTre]

 

[dwarde]

 

[docnet]

This picture is probably edited because there's little chance it's a coincidence.

 

[renormalize]

This picture is probably edited because there's little chance it's a coincidence.

View attachment 346380

Yeah, the black car in the background looks like it was passed through a wormhole! Probably an AI manipulated image?

 

[Ibix]

Also the girl in blue is holding two cups, and her right hand seems to be fitted backwards. (Edit: or it's the girl in brown's hand, but her arm is missing as docnet proposed while I was typing.)

Nice optical trick, though.

 

[docnet]

It definitely seems AI generated. They might not even be real people for all you know.

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ibix]

It definitely seems AI generated. They might not even be real people for all you know.

I think of it as a more sophisticated version of the "two faces" trick image in #1961 at the top of this page. That's a clever cutout that co-opts the woman's features and your pareidolia to construct another woman. This one co-opts other image features to do its trick, and they've had to adapt the image to make it truly work.

I'd guess it's actually originally exactly what it looks like - a photo of three young women having a cup of coffee at a street cafe, probably destined for Shutterstock or something. And somebody saw it from a distance and saw a face, came closer and saw the women, commented on it, and somebody amped up the effect for giggles, I suppose.