wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

Yup, been there, done that. Don't give up. It could still happen.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

Kingfisher in flight that is sharp and with a good soft background. Perhaps on the nest with chicks and feeding behavior. Every time I see one, it just laughs at me and flit’s away. They have my number.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

You can call me nuts, I won’t mind. I want a shot of me inside a MiG -29 jet with my photo of me as a screaming Mimi at full throttle. It may be a good shot but only G-d and me can hear me yell my freaking lungs out.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Thank you for your kind words John Paquette...
The greatest reward I ever receive from my craft is when brides tell me after their wedding event how empowered they felt on the most important day of their life... amid the chaos of this "special" day they had a wonderful inter radiance knowing they likely looked their absolute best :)

Sadly we live in a society were people (especially young women) are judged aesthetically...
And now in the throws of a political contest even males have to spend an inordinate amount of time in a makeup chair as the masters of male grooming and hair styling create the illusion that their PR agents demand...

btw, I became intrigued with makeup artistry early on by watching the amazing transformation my mother created as she carefully and methodically applied her makeup every day... She was indeed truly a master of her own "art"

All the best on your journey John Paquette

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

It’s hard enough getting a kingfisher sitting still!

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Thank you for your thoughtful comment on my photographic artistry Ava'sPapa it means a lot to me that you recognized the importance on critical focus on these wonderful talent's eyes...

Yes it is oft said that the eyes are windows to the soul... I've invested countless hours in the amazing art galleries here in Washington DC which are home to a myriad of some of the greatest painters of antiquity... Almost without exception it is the eyes of their sitters which immediately lock onto your initial gaze... These early masters indeed realized the incredible power latent within same...

All the best on your journey Ava'sPapa

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

I'm not sure that you saw my reference to you on page two, but I'd sure like a tip or two on how to get sharp eyes.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

It might sound funny to say I want to capture a mountain in the right setting. Since mountains are notoriously difficult to move, my next best alternative is to find the ideal foreground and the ideal angle. And the ideal mountain of course, but I'm fairly flexible about what looks "mountainy". Not to mention good light to take the shot in (which usually means good weather).

When I took this one it was cloudy with a light drizzle. I had to stand in the rain waiting for a gap in the clouds to shine some light on the top of the mountain. Finding the foreground and angle was sheer luck - I pulled off the road to park in a council dumping area and when I turned round, there it was.
.

Slioch.

(Download)

frjack Loc: Boston, MA

A Jesuit friend who is studying here was ordained to the priesthood a month ago. Because he was unable to return to Nigeria for his planned ordination in July he asked if I would do photography for him. These are shots that I planned, thought about, envisioned and sweated out. I was ordained by the same cardinal in the same church 13 years ago and know what these moments in the ritual mean to the man being ordained.

The shooting was complicated by a book stand holding the long ordination ritual, the need to remain unobtrusive, and the need to get down to ground level (my motto is, "If you take all your shots standing up you aren't doing it right.") Shot raw, manual, and manual focus (with focus assist) using EM1 mk ii and pro f/2.8 40-150. ISO hovering around 2000. After two plus hours of shooting 700 + shots, being old, and having a neuromuscular disease that makes getting up from stooping, kneeling, or sitting on the ground a challenge I could barely move the next morning but it was worth every grain of aspirin needed to become mobile.

Because of covid the men wore masks with the Jesuit seal.

The laying on of hands. Tight crop because of bookstand. I was delighted that Cardinal O'Malley wears his episcopal ring on his right hand.

(Download)

Prostration during the chanting of the litany of the saints and prayer. One of the most moving moments for families and friends.

(Download)

Being presented the gifts that he will consecrate for the rest of his life.

(Download)

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...a tip or two on how to get sharp eyes..." Ava'sPapa I calibrate every lens I use for optimum critical focus... I shoot only with camera bodies that have been "Fine Tuned" to the optic I'm using...

Additionally I use single point focus (only one AF point) in a "Continuous Mode" so the capture is in focus the moment I depress the shutter.

Since many of these images were taken with "long glass" (my trusty soccer lens the AF-S 200-400mm f/4 IF ED VR Nikkor) I have it mounted on a Wimberley Gimbal head. I'm a major fan of tripods in the studio, albeit not so much on location where off-camera speedlights in HSS at a 1/2000 minimum is the rule not the exception.

Hope this helps Ava'sPapa

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Epic series of your Jesuit friend being ordained to the priesthood frjack...

So poignant... so enigmatic... so beautifully done...

Superb photographic excellence of the highest caliber...
You are truly a master of reportage frjack
Thank you for sharing these serene and endearing moments...

lsaguy Loc: Udall, KS, USA

The shot I missed this last summer, the ISS going right through the Milky Way. I was standing there watching it while taking the little dogs out for a QP just after sunset. Now I know that the ISS must be going west to south east with an elevation of at least 40 degrees. Damn, I still see that shot in my head. Standing there watching it happen was the most painful photography moment I'll probably ever have.

Rick

Cathy vinci

I say the same when I take pictures of the sky and clouds. We can’t replicate what God has mastered. But we can enjoy the beauty in its moment.

Cathy vinci

Great shot!!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Close enough?
https://www.google.com/search?q=margot+robbie+in+a+bikini&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=AH2KiD7CFWWgUM%252C4B3n7-y3mJJy1M%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kS7-MKjwAssVjFFqFwo_IzjD3N0WA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw4enEjNXsAhVGCs0KHYDBB70Q9QF6BAgDECQ&biw=1530&bih=750#imgrc=AH2KiD7CFWWgUM