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Fun with the Pentax K5

Knorp

Well-known member
Re: Jim's giant locomotive pic. I have to agree with Elliot that the color version provides more punch than the black and white...I think the black and white version was done a disservice by the transfer to jpeg and GetDPI's rendering of the image. I took the liberty of copying (forgive me, please, Jim) the b&w image to my Mac monitor and the image revealed all the punch (deeper blacks, better contrast) that Jim intended when he sent the image. No matter...it's a great pic either way. And I have deleted my copy of the image.

Roy Benson
Looking at the photos you can see Jim had to shoot the shadow site of the locomotive. Bet he had to deploy a fair amount of shadow recovery.
Not to mention the extremely high contrast light making it very difficult to get black paint looking good.
Mind you, in the steam era manufacturers used to paint their new machines in grey tones for the photo shoot.

Kind regards.
 

seakayaker

Active member
Beautiful Jim.....the B+W is exemplary.

+ 1!

Love the B&W version, beautiful shot. Thanks for the link, if I make it back to the Dallas area I will have to swing by Frisco to see the Museum of American Railroad, it looks like a great place to visit.
 

Elliot

Active member
Jim,

You certainly should treat yourself to a new high-quality monitor to fully enjoy your incredible photographic art (and others in this forum)!

Elliot
 
Jim,

You certainly should treat yourself to a new high-quality monitor to fully enjoy your incredible photographic art (and others in this forum)!

Elliot
Trust me.. I've been looking but unfortunately I have a few things that are of a higher priority. Maybe if I sell some of my camera gear I can upgrade.
 
Star Tree - Night Photography

Just got back from an all-nighter in Medicine Mound, Texas.. not a bonafide Dark Sky area but close enough for me to enjoy staying up to 3am in the morning shooting the night sky. The Milky Way was huge and very bright.. this is the first shot I have worked on from the trip. By the way, it was 107 degrees there today. Thankfully the night was much cooler.

K5 IIs & DA* 16-50
20 secs @ f/2.8 ISO 800



I was also fortunate enough to capture a meteor as I was photographing the Milky Way. It pulsed twice during entry into the atmosphere before it burned out. You can see the two pulses in the trail it left in this photo.



While shooting the Milky Way at Medicine Mound (you can see the mounds in the background) my friend began walking back to our location in the field and turned on his LED flashlight to find his way back... right into the lens of the K5 IIs.. the result was a pretty cool looking photo.



And one more to add to the set. This is probably my favorite of the photos I took at Medicine Mound. I positioned myself in a field so that the Milky Way was rising between the mounds. The bit of light pollution at the base of the Milky Way actually enhances the shot a bit.. but on the other hand it is a clear reminder of how we are polluting the night sky.

 
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MalcolmP

New member
Hi, mooching around the Cardiff Bay area with theK5 + 17-50 & 70-200 Tamron's.
Regards
Malcolm
 
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I got lucky again... Meteor & Milky Way

I spent all of Friday evening and early Saturday morning (about 3am) shooting from various locations in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. I met a rancher not long ago and asked permission to shoot on his property... very rugged property. He gave me permission and this is one of many shots taken during the night in the Wichita Mountains. To the best of my knowledge, no one had ever photographed the night sky from this vantage point.

I was painting the rock formation with light from a flashlight and the meteor showed up in the last 10 seconds of my exposure.. very lucky.

Pentax K5 IIs with the DA* 16-50mm Post work in Photoshop CS6.

Note, some have suggested that the blue tint/cast should be corrected. I do not desire to do so. I am not trying to be scientific here. I just like the way this looks, accurate or not. WB was set to Tungsten due to light pollution from Fort Sill and Lawton, OK.

 

MichaelinA2

New member
The butterfly (above, on the lens) is a Mourning Cloak. It does NOT nectar. Instead, it dines on sap emitted by damaged shrubs and tree cambium. It over-Winters snuggled under tree bark and can survive sub-zero (F) temps. In the Spring it will emerge when the air is warm (say, 60F+), even though snow may still be on the ground. Seeing a butterfly with no flowers, but with snow, can be quite a surprise. It's a sure sign Spring is about to pop. Also, it's not unusual for these butterflies to land on dark clothing. They are looking for salt, and if undisturbed, they will stay for quite a while.

Consider its visit "Good Luck" for the coming year.
 

Elliot

Active member
Re: I got lucky again... Meteor & Milky Way

I spent all of Friday evening and early Saturday morning (about 3am) shooting from various locations in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. I met a rancher not long ago and asked permission to shoot on his property... very rugged property. He gave me permission and this is one of many shots taken during the night in the Wichita Mountains. To the best of my knowledge, no one had ever photographed the night sky from this vantage point.

I was painting the rock formation with light from a flashlight and the meteor showed up in the last 10 seconds of my exposure.. very lucky.

Pentax K5 IIs with the DA* 16-50mm Post work in Photoshop CS6.

Note, some have suggested that the blue tint/cast should be corrected. I do not desire to do so. I am not trying to be scientific here. I just like the way this looks, accurate or not. WB was set to Tungsten due to light pollution from Fort Sill and Lawton, OK.

Great shot, Jim. I like the foreground context and the immensity of the night sky.
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Some excellent observations and captures, Trygve.
Especially the dragonfly in flight is pretty cool.
:salute:

Kind regards.
 

PenSon

New member
Some excellent observations and captures, Trygve.
Especially the dragonfly in flight is pretty cool.
:salute:

Kind regards.
The dragonfly was not so easy to get in focus (fast flyer). I have to use on the 200mm with the manual focus and the af(confirm) in the viewfinder.

Trygve;)
 

benroy

Subscriber Member
5IIs with 300/4.5 FA...can't compete with the wonderful butterfly and dragonfly pics...and Jim's night sky images...but provides a record of the capabilities of a very nice, able to be hand-held lens.

Roy Benson
 
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Knorp

Well-known member
Looking good these shots with the 300/4.5, Roy.
Hope you can catch us another one of those wonderful lizards living in your neighbourhood.

Kind regards.
 
One more: Milky Way Rising

Taken with the K5 IIs and the DA* 16-50. ISO 1600 15 sec exposure.

I have to say that I am hooked on this night sky photography. This is my fourth outing and what I enjoy most is the peace and quiet of these remote locations and the blanket of stars over my head. For those who have not tried this, do yourself a favor and venture out into the night under a dark sky.. the photography is only half of the fun.

 
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