Thank you for your response, Jim. I had guessed as much but wanted to be certain. I will have to double check but I am using the Nikon Z7 and I had inadvertently left Vivid picture control on and unknowingly shot a cherry log on the ground that had some fungus fans and the resulting image was amazingly colorful with purple cherry bark and yellow/green fungus. I believe I shot it in Raw with the pict control still on. I'll look again and let you know. Pat

Always enjoy your posts, Jim. I am drawn to stormy, dramatic skies also but not quite as many opportunities here in the east. Do you ever use Vivid setting in pict control or more use of post processing for color control? Thx Pat

My local printer requires either JPEG or TIFF-cannot print from NEF or DNG files.

In the early 90's I wanted to know just where digital imagery was headed relative to film. I had a well equipped darkroom in my home with Beseler 4X5 enlarger, a Zone VI cold light head with stabilizer, six foot fiberglass sink with Calumet temp control and lots of stainless trays, tanks etc. I took a local class with a Comm College professor specializing in Photoshop. Digital cameras at the time were 4-5 megapixel and pricey. Most of us taking the class (five of us as I recall) were film folks looking to learn what digital was all about and when , if ever, it would overtake film. Knowing how to maximize my educational opportunities I brought some negatives with me and the instructor who had not worked at this particular facility before noted they had a scanner that would take anything from half-frame 35mm to 4X5 film. Of course, I just "happened" to have a 4X5 negative and he was intrigued as he had never scanned a negative that size so he did it. The resulting file was so large that it would not fit on any of the "floppies" of that era so it only lived on the computers hard drive and he did not know at that time how to resize it. Based on what I learned from that class I immediately listed my entire darkroom on eBay selling roughly $3,000.00 worth of gear for $1,250.00. Good move actually as within a year photo chemistry was getting difficult to find and I could not have given away that gear. Though I enjoyed the darkroom I never looked back.

The gentlest way is to inform them that an unplanned conflict arose for their Wedding date that precludes you doing their event with apologies for any inconvenience. Hopefully the date is far enough in advance that they can make other arrangements. I learned early-on that clearly indicating the style of wedding I did (mostly candid with some planned set shots) usually put us all on the same page and if they wanted another style (lot's of studio type shooting) that perhaps a more formal studio would better suit them. Good Luck. Pat

Thanks all, I love trudging the trails in winter. Sun reaches places it normally wouldn't and few other folks around. Pat

Always enjoy your work, Cany. Thx Pat

Sometimes backlighting from just the right angle is magical!

(Download)

Great Job and I think you have one more task; paint the inside of the lens board flat black to avoid internal reflections. Enjoy, Pat

Hi Mark, Not always a viable solution but two possibilities that may help and cost very little. A small beanbag made of coarse cloth (canvas maybe) and filled with plastic pellets available online. More flexibility is obtained with a 1/4-20 threaded eyebolt, two nuts and a metal and a fiber/rubber washer. Thread the two nuts onto the eyebolt and place the metal washer on top. Thread it into your tripod socket on your camera until it just bottoms. Fix the nuts in that position with lock tight or epoxy and then epoxy the washer in place and then epoxy the fiber washer atop the metal one. This will provide clearance so you cannot over tighten it in the camera. Tie a length of clothesline to the eyebolt such that you can step on it pulling the assembly taught and stabilizing the camera while still allowing movement. Not perfect but may help and costs little if it does not work for you.

Pat

My evidence is anecdotal but I am convinced the IBIS system in the new Nikon mirrorless Z6&7 is topnotch. Yesterday I posted a set of river/stream photos that were all handheld at shutter speeds that varied from 1/40 sec to 1/2 sec. The latter (last photo in the series) I wanted to show motion in the water and I braced my hand and forearm against a tree and got the effect I wanted with the stationary rocks and leaves all quite sharp. This was with the Z7 and 24-70mm f4.0 lens at 70mm using autofocus set on the central rock.
Pat

Thank you all for the nice comments. I hike the state park trails here in fall &winter for both exercise and photo ops. I find the lighting much better than the deep shade and dappled sunlight of spring/summer when trees are in leaf. John, I have never tried the UHH zoom feature-where does one find it? When I first attempted posting I found my files too large so I gradually downsized them in Lightroom export until they fit and settled on 2000 pixels in the long dimension. If anyone can answer your question it is likely Paul Sager (Chg_Canon).

Pat

I have always had a fascination with water in all its' forms. This fall and winter it manifests in rivers, streams and creeks. Although an oversimplification the subject movie title is a metaphor for Life. I love it when it displays power, whimsy and serenity often in the same image. These are all parts of the large and small Gunpowder Rivers that run southeast in northern Baltimore suburbs depositing their liquid into the Chesapeake Bay. Enjoy, Pat

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

Thanks Tim, and enjoy your hiking; never say never. I have had them without a single exposure and others where it's a bonanza. Getting out there and looking is it's own reward. Pat

I've been hiking local state park trails for both exercise and photo ops mostly focused (sic) on streams and rivers but open to anything. Found this cherry limb on the forest floor succumbing to the spores and moisture in incredible tones. If I saw this posted I would swear that it was way overcooked in photoshop but it is not SOOC but just minimally cropped and tweaked in lightroom cc. Pat

(Download)