Sony/Minolta pictures of the week / 1 March 2015

[howardstanbury]

<p>And a happy St David's day to you all!</p>

<p>More from Oxford this week, riverside.</p>

<p><a title="Thirteen geese by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8570/16637788035_54b96396de_b.jpg" alt="Thirteen geese" width="1024" height="685" /></a><br>

^ Thirteen geese</p>

<p><a title="Salters boatyard by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8609/16451609119_82204b6ec0_b.jpg" alt="Salters boatyard" width="1024" height="685" /></a><br>

^Salter's boatyard</p>

<p><a title="A Bit on the Side by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8659/16637785435_fa0e5b5e75_b.jpg" alt="A Bit on the Side" width="1024" height="685" /></a><br>

^ A bit on the side</p>

<p>All A7, FE 28-70 zoom and rich-tone mono picture effect.</p>

<p>As ever, please add your selection of pictures taken with Sony/Minolta gear, digital or film, to a maximum of 3 photos.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

Howard it snowed about 8 more inches last night so activity here is at a minimum although I don't think anybody

could notice a difference in my caloric output [8-}<div></div>

[randy_cooprider1]

Feisty squirrrel<div></div>

[randy_cooprider1]

Birds are persistent<div></div>

[howardstanbury]

<p>That's some winter you're having, Randy - we've had one dusting of snow here in Oxford and although it is what we would call "cold", there's nothing below freezing here.</p>

[dianedh]

<p>We had about 5 inches at my place. This followed freezing rain last week. And I moved to North Carolina to get away from this stuff....</p><div></div>

[dianedh]

<p>I love it when it snows at night - it's so quiet!</p><div></div>

[dianedh]

<p>And finally, from my second floor window....</p><div></div>

[dianedh]

<p>By the way, Howard, I love the geese shot. Is the 'rich tone, mono picture effect' something in PS? I have CS6 but use Picasa unless I have to do something major, so I'm not familiar with all the bells and whistles.</p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>Thanks, Diane: 'rich tone mono' is a setting in the camera, one of the 'Picture Effects' that become available when you shoot JPG. My NEX-7 had them as well as this A7, but I don't know how widespread they were before that. Older A-mount cameras probably don't have it as an option.</p>

[dianedh]

<p>Well live and learn! I just checked on my A65 and there it is. Guess I'll have to play with those 'picture effects' one day soon.</p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>Rich tone mono is one I use quite a lot - the camera captures three different exposures and merges them into one, a little bit like the HDR option (available in the DRO menu) but in black and white rather than colour.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

Diane, Howard I wanted to try the rich monotone HDR mode but the Nex 3 does not have it. I tried B&W with an

HDR mode however it was lacking the "look" of Howards pix. (8-{

[dianedh]

<p>This was very timely information for me. I'm going out to Las Vegas to see my brother next week and, depending on the weather, will try and get back out to Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire Park and try out some of these settings.</p>