*POW 5 16 10*

[shaloot]

<p>Wow this week's shots are nicely shaping up! Before I get commenting, I will say this to Steve regarding his train shot: it might p*ss off a lot of people if you post that shot in the off-topic or casual conversations forum! I remember this one thread that got real heated regarding shooting near train tracks. Some people are adamant that it should not be done; citing safety reasons and all.<br>

Personally, I've never had a problem with it and would love to do a shot like yours!</p>

[russel_yee]

<p>lorenzo.. I think I like the one with the moon better.<br>

dorus, that museum is cool, like the clouds.<br>

Somanna, that shot looks really good in the larger size, lots of detail and good color without oversaturation.<br>

julio, the fern and the fungus look very alien and apealing.<br>

matt congrats on the 15mm like the first shot, how close were you to the biker?</p>

<div></div>

[snik75]

<p>One of many attempts at light trails, from the House on the Rock, a crazy tourist trap in central Wisconsin with the worlds largest carousel, as (somewhat) shown.</p><div></div>

[snik75]

<p>And some macro work</p><div></div>

[snik75]

<p>Finally, a Painted Lady butterfly my daughters are raising. Not the best shot, but it is hard to get the camera down into their habitat.</p><div></div>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>More I like a lot:<br>

Somanna's portrait of his wife<br>

ME's violet<br>

Julios fetal fern<br>

Haig's from Bartlet Lake--such a delicate splash of color!</p>

[deaner66]

<p>Javier, nice shots. I takes guts to do street photography. I never get anywhere with street shots because people always give me that look.</p>

<p>Haig, all nice shots, but you sure can tell a difference between the DA*50-135 and the other two lenses. IMO, this is Pentax's best lens.</p>

<p>Somanna, I really like the jungle shot. Well done. Regarding the trains, the shots weren't in anyway dangerous, unless the threat of a train derailment was a worry. Even though we were only about ten feet away from the tracks, there is a trench between the tracks and where we were standing. And besides, I wouldn't dream of putting my son in danger. I grew up around railroad tracks, and as a kid, I did many stupid things on train tracks. Let's just say I've learned what not to do.</p>

<p>But why would anyone want to get bent sideways about how or what someone else is doing with their camera? Some people don't like war photography. Some hate nudity. I can't stand celebrity paparazzo photography, but if I couldn't see it, I wouldn't know I didn't like it. This type of thinking is why we can no longer take pictures around airports, subways and government buildings. We are no safer for it, and we lose a little freedom when it happens. Anyway, I like the train shots.</p><div></div>

[michael_elenko]

<p>The photos this week reflect a high level of quality and diversity.<br>

What caught my attention:<br>

Javier-yes the little dog really seals the 2nd shot; that said, I just love the slice of the trombone slider and how it is rendered in the first image. Nice contrast to the grain and texture of the rest of the picture. And their faces are so interesting.</p>

<p>Lorenzo--there is a certain calendaresque quality to your shots. The first one especially would look good with copy in the blue space under the moon. Yes, "making do" with the DA 21mm is so very tough. . .</p>

<p>dorus o--the first one is a fine atmospheric; subtle colors. The smoked herring would look pretty cool blown up big. And the third one is also compelling to look at.</p>

<p>Bob M-What a great shot, may be my favorite of the week--so human yet the other stuff is interesting too. ISO 100 impresses me.</p>

<p>John OK-O--Nice frame tells all; didn't even need the back story.</p>

<p>Somanna--so, have you blown that up to poster size yet? Do it.</p>

<p>Julio--lot to like there. As someone noted, the fern looks so alien. I like the fungus too. Are you using a ring flash with these? I like the form of the last one too. I'd try to remove more of the glare on the bulbous part and blip out the orange dot on the lower right.</p>

<p>Steve D--The third one is Zen-like. Love the tones as well. Must be great big too.</p>

<p>Haig-I like the center shot of the girl reclining. I remember doing the same thing at the same place (if that is indeed the Botanical Museum) after a day of walking in the dry heat.</p>

<p>Nick S--Love the "Seventh Layer" for the light and the humor. If I recall correctly, some memorable scenes from the House of the Rock took place in the novel <em>American Gods</em>--one of my favorite books--but I like most anything Neil Gaiman does.</p>

<p>Trevor P, Frank B., Ben P., Dave H., thanks for your kind words. Haig, thanks again. I'll let you know if I ever run across another Voigtlander 125mm, though they seem to be getting rarer on the used market.</p>

<p>ME</p>

<p> </p>

[MattB.Net]

<p>Russel, I was right on the edge of the trail - maybe 3 Ft. or less for that photo. This was my friend and we were riding together so I was pretty confident he wasn't going to take me out.</p>

[hagar]

<p>Thanks for the comments everyone..<br>

and yes, Michael, you guessed the spot correctly :-)<br>

Steve, I agree with you about the da 50-135, but I must say that I have had some really great shots with the Tamron 28-75.. It's super on my k20d.. but has some focus issues on the k10d. I like that last train shot, more so than the first one you posted.<br>

Nick, a thought on your carousel.. have you tried a long exposure, slightly underexposed, and then finish with flash. You'll freeze the motion at the very end, but still get your light trails. I like the detail on your painted lady.. and if you darken the pink areas of the flower a bit I think the dirty reflections will look very cool.</p>

<p> </p>

[bob-c]

<p>Since I did a separate thread this week, I am not going to post anything here but I would like to make some comments.<br>

Javier - The second shot might be my favorite all-time street shot of yours. Really well done.<br>

Lorenzo - I really like the shot with the moon in it but then I looked at the other one and it's just as good. Nice!<br>

Dorus - First one is very nice.<br>

Bob - The anniversary shot is just beautiful. Hang it up!<br>

ME - That Purple Violet is so nice. The contrasting bokeh really brings out the color of the flower.<br>

Haig - I had a hard time picking a favorite but I love that flower, whatever it is, at Bartlett Lake.<br>

Nick - Dirty Reflections is really cool.</p>

[bob_marz]

<p>Thanks everyone for the nice comments on my photo of the week. Haig, thanks for your suggestion about the foreground darkening. You hinted for another fish shot. I am trying photograph more than fish, but here goes. Shot two weeks ago. Everyone's shots are absolutely beautiful and too tough for me to pick favorites.<a href="http://s407.photobucket.com/albums/pp153/marzrw/4-23-10/?action=view&current=Brown4-23-10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp153/marzrw/4-23-10/Brown4-23-10.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></p>

[julio_cano]

<p>Just wanted to say thanks for all the comments.<br>

ME, no ring flash. Just a homemade Glad container diffuser on a handheld Sunpak flash triggered by a Cactus V2s setup. Oh, and a styrofoam panel as a reflector. It's pretty basic and on a shoestring budget for now because I am just beginning to learn how to manage flash lighting. Yeah, the glare was somewhat distracting to me as well. Maybe the flash was too close?</p>

<p>Now onto comments of some diverse and wonderful shots this week. Thanks all for sharing. It was difficult to select just a few because there was so many interesting offerings.<br>

Javier G., love the street shots and the 2nd one in particular.<br>

Lorenzo P., I like the vertical shot the best. Something about having the moon in the shot and the sunrise reflected on the boat, that worked for me.<br>

Ben P., interesting use of your sunglasses as filter, I'll have to try it out sometime. I like the first shot for its starkness and the redness of it all.<br>

dorus o., interesting trio. I like the abstract picture of the museum. Something about the colors and angle.<br>

Bob M., I enjoyed this one very much. Beside the focal point, the muted surroundings add to a most beautiful photo.<br>

David H., your third picture reminds me of toy soldiers. Interesting capture.<br>

Matt B., I loved the second picture. For me a nice black and white and playing with the tree's shadow.<br>

Michael E., lovely trio. Leaves and Light is gorgeous. I can almost feel the leaf from here!<br>

Frank B., very nice evening shots. I liked the first the best. It's another place I need to go visit.<br>

Steve D., the third picture is fantastic. It's so peaceful and the light coming from the opening in the canopy just adds a dimension.<br>

Haig T., your third post is beautiful. I like the purples and pinks and the very odd looking plant/flower. Very eye-catching.<br>

Nick S., I liked Dirty Reflections very much and the carousel at the House on the Rock has so much movement and color. Very cool.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Julio,<br>

Thanks for your kind words.</p>

<p>I like those lighting hacks, they tend to work pretty well.</p>

<p>Re: the glare on the plant, I think you were probably at the right distance. Shooting rounded, or bulbous objects with flash will almost always produce that kind of glare. The light naturally bends nicely around curves. On those situations I'll do flash bracketing or if shooting with a P-TTL ringflash, exposure bracketing. In Lightroom (or ACR) it's fairly easy and effective to diminish the glare. You can use highlight recovery or the adjustment brush. For the latter I find creating a custom brush with lower Brightness, lower contrast, slightly lower exposure, and reduced clarity and sharpness to work enough. Have the density about 65-75. And adjust to the specifics of the shot.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[frank_b._baiamonte]

<p>Haig, I really like that Bartlett Lake shot.</p>

[snik75]

<p>Thanks Michael, Haig, Robert and Julio! I would agree that there is probably some way to strengthen the reflections photo, but this was a first pass edit - more playing around later. Similarly the butterfly I need to at least get the sensor dust out. "American Gods", huh? I will check that out. It was an unusual place. I did try a combo light trails plus flash with one of my daughters, it came out okay, not quite what I had in mind.</p>

<p>I was especially impressed by Haig's Bartlett Lake shot, with great geometry and colors; Bob's anniversary shot, just lovely; Javiers stoners/tromboners; and everything dorus posts as always. Lots of good stuff here this week!</p><div></div>

[hagar]

<p>Thanks!!<br />Bob, your fish always look so good.. love how you always get the colors to come out so beautifully.<br />Nick, that last shot is great!! Love the effect :-)<br />The plant in question is one of the "fairy dusters". This particular one is also known as a false mesquite, latin name <em>Calliandra eriophylla. </em>The red ones are always tough to photograph for me..always end up with blown highlights in the red. The more common one is red and looks like</p><div></div>

[leo_papandreou1]

My Pentax is being repaired. These are Fuji REALA, Zeiss 80mm CF. The nightscape is a 645 crop. Click through for larger.

<p>

<a href=" title="20100518-REALA-001 by manual crank, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/4622092016_47f3bc557d.jpg" width="494" height="500" alt="20100518-REALA-001" /></a>

<p>

<a href=" title="20100518-REALA-009 (crop) by manual crank, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4621485525_c6faa9bbfc.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="20100518-REALA-009 (crop)" /></a>

[jgredline]

<p>Hi folks. For those of you you who liked my street photos, Thank you so much.. It is something I love and I hope it shows through the images I make..It was also the first time I had been out in a while...By the way....Something I have not mentioned, but there are three news papers in L.A. that will begin to carry and use my photos on a regular basis. The Voice which covers North East los Angeles which is mostly a Spanish publication. I will also be writing my blurbs in both English and Spanish for them. Then there is another publication called Alhambra Source that just got fully funded for the next three years and the Los Angeles times will be publishing a Story and pictures I did on Racism. The concept of the story was simple. I have seen blacks, whites, latinos, asians all in the street homeless and hungry. What they all have in common is the streets who are the least racist of all..They will take in anyone....Once the stories run I will post some links here in P.net....By the way, Something I never even thought to ask about was money. So far I have been offered to get paid by one of them, but to be honest, I think I would rather not take the money. I don't need the stress of another job. But it is funny. All these folks found me though my cheesy little blog....I mention this because 13 of the 16 images that got accepted to use where shot with the K20D and the other 3 with the D700. But enough about me....</p>

<p>My favorite images of the week are as follows.<br>

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3995070">Bob Marz</a>'s couple in the mountains. Bob, did you know them? Great shot.<br>

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3763961">Dave Hollander</a>,s third is awesome. I love the composition allot!<br>

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=3873014">Matt Burt</a>'s second is awesome. I love shadows and of late have been on the hunt for them.<br>

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=4650026">Trevor Peterson</a>'s first. I tried taking a similar shot and my stunk to high heaven. That shot looks simple, but is a tough one and I appreciate that!<br>

<a href="../photodb/user?user_id=2364938">Steve Dean</a>'s train shots are spectacular. I am going to have to try that.....Fantastic.</p>

 

[bob_marz]

<p>Yes, Javier, I know them pretty well I'd say. I used the timer on the K10D to capture me and my wife. Gotta get a remote some day so I don't have to run quickly into the picture.</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>Nice Leo! Where is this? There are similar scenes here in Baltimore.</p>

[bob-c]

<p>Congratulations Javier! I look forward to the link once they are published. I think that's pretty exciting.</p>

[leo_papandreou1]

<p>Dave, it's in Montreal.</p>

[htarragon]

<p>The level of these POWs is getting higher and higher, I hope I can keep up.<br /> My faves this week:<br /> Javier Interesting shots - the dog does make the first one and the kid makes the last, no commentary needed. And Congratulations!<br /> Lorenzo - 2nd boat - you managed to make the 21mm look like the 15mm w/ the camera angle-great shot.<br /> Dorus- you always manage to show interesting patterns. The feel of the subtle color and texture shifts catches me in the first one.<br /> Bob - It looks like the world went away...<br /> Somanna - one just gets lost in that landscape - Shangri-la<br /> ME - Everytime I think Im getting pretty good, you come up with shots like these. Unreal.<br /> Trevor- I don't don't know if you are familiar with the original first Star Wars movie, but I started to hear the theme with your first shot of the stone tablet.<br /> Julio - the crispness of your shots is amazing. <br /> Steve - #1 You got the light and the mood (what else is there?) I like the vignette; #2 I can FEEL the train passing; #3 Perfect<br /> Haig - Your last 3 blow me away.<br>

What a thread this is! Great pictures and instruction, too!</p>

[htarragon]

<p>Here's my contribution - some macro work: The yellow ones seemed to be under water and the last was - it was raining:</p>

<p>First yellow</p>