I made my sun filter using Thousand Oaks Solar Filter ( eBay under Astronomy, telescopes) this is the only filters used and recommended by the Oregon Obsovertory, in Sisters OR. I made mine for under $20, I used a tin can and felt to slip over my lens, but I like the Doubble UV filter trick. It requires less work.

Old time photographer and college photography instructor, a "good photographer " uses ALL the tools he/she has available. That includes but not limited to : F1.2 to F64 for control of depth of field. Shutter speeds from minutes to 1/4000 sec to control movement along with proper exposure. ISO (ASA) color, noise (grain). Choice of lens , make and focal length for perspective. Flash, supplemental light, filters, color, B&W etc. Don't limit yourself to just one method of shooting. Be creative, use all those tools to capture your vision.

I have ordered a number of $9. Adapters from EBay so that I can use all my old lenses on a used a5000 that I bought just so I could use those lenses. I am a Zeiss fan from way back. I have ones from my Exackta , Rollei and old 50s vintage Canon 39mm screw mount. By far the best are the Zeiss lenses. Besides Exackta, Exa, Rollei, there are a fair number of 42mm Pracktica Zeiss lenses. The "Jena" were made in East Germany "Cold War" days.
Now when I go to garage sales, I'll pick up an old Film camera for under $5 and use it's lenses. Happy shooting.

The pages from my books

Two things I would look at, proper agitation. My old Kodak book lists agitation for the first 10 seconds and then every 30sec there after. Agitation for small tank as being inverted every second. Note that too little agitation gives low contrast and possiby uneven development. Too much agitation especially vigerous agitation (making a martini) induces sprocket marks. The second thing I would do is remove all CFL, Fluorescent, and LED lights from your dark room. Replace them with old style incandescent lamps. These new lights tend to glow a while after turned off, the 4ft tubes can glow for mor than an hour. They also give off a bit of UV light that you cannot see. We used color heads for our enlargers at the university and just dialed in the contrast contrast. You may be able to pick one up for pennies. Enjoy you time in the dark...

Sure, and if you are hiking and camping go ahead and use the tripod to hang your cast iron kettle over the campfire. Just like Jackson, Russell, and O'Sullivan did during the 1800s

If you want great stability do not look for camera tripods. Way overpriced and most are not rock solid. I would recommend that you look for a used servayers transit tripod. That is what I use for my 4x5 and my Mamya 645. You can find used wooden ones..(by nature of wood, vibration dampening) or more modern metal ones. You may have to make your own head mount. They are cumbersome but inexpensive and very, very stable. I got my wood tripod for under $20. Then I used a head from an old broken tripod, a little epoxy and plywood and bingo a great tripod that can handle 10 minute exposures with a 4x5 view camera and no vibration. Happy shooting

I have the Sony a99ll , love it, I also have the a65, Maxxum 5D, and the E-mount a5000. I get to use all of my minolta, and sony lenses on the A99ll . It is essentially the a7Rll but in A-mount and updated features.

It is listed on the Shutterbug web site...https://www.theshutterbug.com/product-page/sony-2016-tulip-festival-photography-workshop


SONY 2017 Tulip Festival Photography Workshop
SONY 2017 Tulip Festival Photography Workshop

$24.99Sony Tulip Fest Workshop
April 7, 2017 (Friday)

Time: 8:30AM

Location: The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
Address: 33814 S Meridian Rd, Woodburn, OR 97071
Presented by The Shutterbug
Instructed by Sony


You have to make reservations through the Shutterbug..

Here is one of my sonya7Rll from the festival.

Take the drive to Salem Oregon, Shutterbug store for a demo weekend. https://www.theshutterbug.com I went to the Tulip festival last year, Well Worth It. I drove the 165mi from Prineville OR. The actual real Sony Corporate rep was there and you could try out many of the Sony cameras and lenses, including the a7Rll with Zeiss lenses....all for only the cost of the seminar. Reps are on hand to answer all your questions and help you out. The Woodburn Tulips were fantastic too.

Your best bet is the Sony a7Rll and Zeiss or G lenses. You you are talking $$$$. The photo of the flying bird is doing maybe 20mph (that is 352 inches per second, or almost 3/4 of an inch movement in a shutter speed of 1/500sec) and you are shooting hand held???? There is going to be motion blur even though you have image stabilization on not to mention possible focus error. Tripods help with operator induced blur. Moving birds are going to need no less that 1/500 sec or faster, 1/2000 or faster for a humming bird. That means you will need a fast lens and or higher ISO. Higher ISO is the cheep easy out but you will introduce noise. The better the camera... the less noise and higher ISO. The sony a7sll will give you less noise than the a7Rll. You are trying to make your Mercedes be a Ferrari. The Sony a7Rll has 5 axis stabilization vs 2 or 3 for Nikon or Cannon. The Sony has several focus modes so you can set it up for shooting moving birds instead of mountains. You might consider switching from zooms to prime lenses. Primes are usually superior in resolution, color, and contrast to zooms. Go out and rent a a7Rll or a7sll before plunking down the money. Or check with your local camera store for weekend seminars and use the camera for free, like Shutterbug stores out here in Oregon do. Happy shooting

Sign up for a local class at your local community college, high school or recreation department, talk to other photographers, and by all means, get hands on experience. Do not be blinded by salesmen, they may be on commission and not really interested in your true needs. Almost all camera companies make decent cameras, it is just a matter of how it feels and the features you need. I personally like Sony because of the Zeiss Lenses, but I also have used Canon, Panasonic (Leica), Sanyo, HP, Nikon, and others. I am a Photography teacher so I get to see them all. Evaluate if you want pocket size, interchangeable lenses, sealed from dust and weather, and most importantly.... what are you going to take pictures of. You have hundreds of choices from pocket compacts, mirrorless DSLR, Mirrored DSLT, Bridgcameras also known as prosoumer. If you don't want to lug 20-30LB of gear around look at bridgcameras or pocket compact cameras. There are many fine used cameras and you can also get Factory Refurbished cameras at very reasonable prices. Do your home work and then make the leap. Happy shooting.

Another flash tip from the old days.... Most DSLRs have built in flash. Sometimes the onboard flash is just too harsh. Don't confuse this with overexposed burned out. I put a white Styrofoam cup or a single layer of my white handkerchief over the flash head to diffuse the beam.