POW feb15 2009

<p>I'm a little slow this week. Wow, there's a full POW gallery with terrific shots all around. Here are a few that really sttod out for me (in no particular order):</p>

<p>Ronny Perry, the faded Coca-Cola on brick scene is gritty and real with a splask of color from the light. Well done.</p>

<p>Garry, it's been that long since I've seen a flower up here in the great white north that your shot was wonderful to see. It's a sharp, vibrant and well lit capture with outstanding DOF. Kudos.</p>

<p>Jon, the orange and the knife is the everyday extraordinary. Stunning image.</p>

<p>Steve, great indoor basketball shots. Thanks for listing the DA*50-135 as the lens as I'm attempting to convince my lovely wife I need both the DA*16-50 and DA* 50-135. Now only if the K30D would come with an LBA excuse generator that hypnotizes our significant others to encourage lens shopping....</p>

<p>Great shots by all...</p>

<p>Dorus O & Javier--thanks for your kind words. When I spied that bicycle I just knew the tap was open. Don't you just love that feeling? It's very much a high.<br>

My faves and there are many:<br>

Dorus-I'll start the mutual admiration society, I just dig all three of your shots. The comps, creativity, and colors are just rich. I have the pleasure of viewing them on a 23-in IPS monitor and they just pop,especially the drill.<br>

Ben P-The Bridge Crossing is so inviting in a post-modern way. My favorite component is that patch under the double yellow line in the foreground.<br>

Robert C--The Winter in Chester County is a classic; my favorite of all your shots so far. The Blue Heron in Snow is a close second. It's vaguely Asian.<br>

Bob M--Golf Ball is very creative and kinda funny too. There are too few funny photographs in the universe.<br>

John-Paul T--Gotta love that portrait--color and lighting rock. His eyes!<br>

Ronny P-K100D first shot of the fish feeder has great form and color. Coke is nicely framed, though it may be nice to make that traffic light go away. Or maybe not.<br>

Garry Ian Y--Temple and sky is a grabber. I would try to make the clouds a bit darker even with a mask.<br>

Andrew H--the first one is my fave, love the inspiration, I'm sticking a tripod under my skylight this week.<br>

Scot Tremblay--what is that? the scale has me all messed up.<br>

Ian F--The first portrait captures my eyeballs. Nice lighting and timing. You did a great job on the toning as well.<br>

ME</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Since I'm never sure how much post processing has gone into the beautiful images posted in threads like these, I'll submit one of my before and after Pentax K100D shots. </p>

<p>Landa Park shows some of the most interesting things with light and color I've ever seen in a local park.</p><div></div>

<p>An outstanding series of photos by everyone.. My favorites<br>

Dorus: The net, and the spoon<br>

Ronny's first aliens and the Coke wall<br>

Garry: The flower and the b/w. That's a pretty sharp lens, by the way<br>

Michael: Interesting lines with the bike<br>

Steve: Good capture with the basketball poised<br>

Javier: I liked your landscape with all the details<br>

Ian: the second portrait has nice light<br>

Arkadiy: the b/w<br>

Dave: your beech leaf.. nice texture on the water<br>

Robert: I like the blue heron.. except I think the bottom right is a bit too white<br>

Ben: The river crossing turned out beautifully<br>

I didn't really do anything other than some pp this week.. too many out of town friends visiting :-)<br>

#1</p>

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<p>#2</p><div></div>

<p># 3</p><div></div>

<p>#4</p><div></div>

<p>Arkadiy, were those flowers done with the new Voigtlander? <br>

Maria, I didn't totally disappear - I have a very productive weekend - an old friend visited from NY and I spent the weekend teaching her a bit about photography. She'd mentioned wanting to learn how to do macros. And I'd just received a set of extension tubes, and some close up filters - so I gave her a treat - allowing her to use my k10d. First, the extension tubes with a 200mm tak, followed by the FA 50 with the close up filters, then last - the pentax 100mm macro. - All told, her best image ended up being done with the close-up filters and the 50mm. It was a fun experiment. I don't think I'm allowed to post that resulting image here, because it isn't mine. But, I will post a few of my own. </p><div></div>

<p>my black boy</p><div></div>

<p>and one of my macro captures</p><div></div>

<p>Rose:<br>

Well, it's not new, but it's the 2002 Voigtlander 90/3.5 SL. Probably one of the finest pieces of glass I've ever had my hands on.</p>

<p>Arkadiy, it sounds like you recommend it then. I saw your original post about ordering it. And, I was wondering how it worked out for you.<br>

I received my 50mm nokton - but I haven't finished shooting the roll (film) yet. My first thoughts on it though is that It's not as intuitive as other lenses I've used. The aperture ring for it, is placed closer to the front element - so when I go to focus - I find myself shifting the aperture instead of the focus ... rather bothersome - but I think it'll be worked out in some sort of practice/learning curve.</p>

 

<p>Rose:<br>

It's all Justin's fault, he was whining left and right about how good they were, and I ended up getting one. I totally fell in love with it. Smooth focus, very precise, and the image quality is really superior to the one of the limiteds and other pentax compatible lenses. Plus the price is also awesome. I mean, they are equal or at least very good runner-ups for the Zeisses. For me it worked great, since I always used manual focus coz Pentax auto focus really sucks, and Im faster using the focusing ring than the AF system itself lolololol =P. But yah, manual focus is not for everybody, and the weight of their lenses either.</p>

<p>Well, if your pictures are anything to go by - then, I may be increasing my shopping list again for another 'new' lens. <br>

I don't much mind manual focus. It's what comes from focusing that counts, not how the focus is acheived. :)</p>

<p>Greetings. .I am enjoying my new DA 40mm and the wonderful weather that Pittsburgh usually enjoys in February</p><div></div>

<p>Aberaeron, West Wales<br>

<img src="http://gallery.me.com/cringeruk/100142/IMGP2654/web.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="468" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p>Samuel and David: Welcome.. good to see posts from you. That DA 40 is a little beauty isn't it? </p>