mark_starr

<p>Sorry the url didn't load - a second try to post the photo for those interested -<br>

Mark</p><div></div>

<p>I have been photographing Native American stone structures in my hometown of North Stonington, Conncticut. Three of four months ago I didn't even know they existed, and now I have logged over 800 sites in the woods in town. It is really thrilling to come across structures that might have been built a thousand years ago that almost nobody has seen for perhaps a few hundred years. It is amazing what I can see in a twenty minute walk in the woods from my door, and very few people even know they exist. The photo here is of an alter site at the base of a cliff that I photographed today. The alter stone itself (seen rising diagonally to the right) was probably upended from its position by a tree that grew within the enclosure and toppled over, knocking some of the stonework out of place before decaying away out of existence. Searching for these sites and photographing them is very rewarding, as I have yet to come back from a walk without having discovered new things - the kind of thing we used to dream of finding as kids. What I find so compelling is that this stony record is nearly all that is left from nearly 11,000 years of Native inhabitation in this area, and trying to figure out what they have to say has been very inspiring. If anyone finds themselves in southeastern Connecticut and wants to see some sites, drop me a line!<br>

Mark<img src="/photo/17787982" alt="" /></p>

<p>Willis and Chris,<br>

Thank you to you both as well. I really appreciate you taking the time to help with this and I wish you all a bright new year.<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Thank you all for your responses! This is a bit of a delicate situation as the young girl is dying and we have been donating to help her family with the expenses anonomously. We don't want to hurt the parent's pride by figuring out who we are, so this is why we don't want to ask any more questions. Given what you have said, it probably isnt a Polaroid as they couldn't afford the film at this point - perhaps one of the new cameras developed with instant film? I think we will just have to let this one go. She was so happy taking photos with it that it seemed a nice opportunity, although we might try Gary's idea if we have time. Thanks to you all for your help - it really means a lot to us.<br>

Mark</p>

<p>My wife has a high school student who said she has been given a Polaroid camera. We would, anonomously, like to buy her some film for it so we don't want to ask her much about it because she will know where the donations are coming from. My question is: Is there only one film anyway being made that we can buy or are there several sizes/types that might not fit her camera? (I know she is taking photos with it. Does one film fit all cameras made to use the film you can still buy today?<br>

Thanks for any help anyone can give me with this - I really appreciate it!<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Martin,<br>

Congratulations! I personally hate to sign photos but because I have had to open and sign many framed prints at the request of purchasers, I now (at least when I remember...) sign the print but beneath the mat. I can tell them it is signed without having to see it. Have fun and I hope you sell out on the first day!<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Phillip,<br>

Thanks for that - I really loved that lens and will look for another used one at this point. As you say, price does sometimes make a difference but in this case it wasn't too bad and worked out. A lieca is way out of the question.... Thanks for your thoughts -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Stephen, Siegfried and Don.<br>

Thanks so much for your helpful answers - I think I will stick with a dedicated macro lens. I always have to battle my urge to do things the cheap way... I really appreciate all of you taking the time to help me with this question. Have a great week -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I had a sigma 105mm macro lens for a Nikon that I gave to my daughter and want to replace it but they don't seem to make the same lens anymore (now they have stabilization in them and are much more expensive. I don't use it all that often but when I do it was just what I needed. My question is this: I see other zoom lenses that also list macro on them from various manufacturers and as I need to replace a zoom I broke the front end off anyway, would this be a good way to go or will it be too much of a compromise for both the zoom and the macro? Other info that may be helpful: The macro is used mostly for copy work of existing photos. The zoom I need runs generally from 24 mm to anywhere from 70 to 120 mm. Just wondering which way to go. Thanks for any light any of you might be able to shed on this!<br>

Mark Starr</p>

<p>Petri,<br>

Thanks for sharing this with us. Your opening portrait is really great and I think the portraits are the strongest images in the piece. I agree with Clive's comment about the first piece of music though, a little shrill! Great images and thanks again for sharing them -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Alan,<br>

You and me both, but I haven't even seen that many movies.... Thanks again -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Alan,<br>

Thank-you for your kind and helpful comments. I wholeheartedly agree with your assesment on what needs to be added or removed. I am trying to get an overall shot of the ship when it is in port, as it's location when I got on didn't allow for a shot without a fence in front of it and a family emergency kept me from getting an ending shot, but that can be fixed as well. These were culled down from several hundred final shots, and in the end only a dozen or so will be used in the book so I still have a long way to go in terms of editing. Thanks so much for taking the time to help with this - I really appreciate having pros guide me along my somewhat tortured path!<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I have just posted a slide show of a project I have been working on all summer at the United States Coast Guard Academy. I followed the incoming class of 2016 through their summer boot camp - swab summer to them - and this slide show follows them onto the Coast Guard's sail training ship Eagle at the end of their summer's training. Three companies of cadets go on the ship for a week where they learn to work together to get a sailing ship from one port to another. The slides of the Eagle are just a small part of the whole summer's work but I thought they might be of some interest to people on this site for their documentary nature. They are set to music by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com. If anyone cares to watch it and comment on what can be improved I would greatly appreciate all comments. Thanks for your interest and thoughts in advance. The slideshow is on youtube at this address:<br>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02OK5wG0v3s&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02OK5wG0v3s&feature=youtu.be</a></p>

<p>Thanks again and have a great week.<br>

Sincerely,<br>

Markham Starr<br>

PS I find I have to stop the playing of the slideshow when I go to full screen once after it stafts or the photos are all blurry - stopping and starting it helps on my computer, which is quited old I am afrraid...</p>

<p>Jerry and Steve,<br>

Sorry for the delayed response - computer problems after Comcast upgraded a system - took out 3500 customers in Connecticut and denied they had anything to do with it. Caused stores around the state to run out of modems they had told customers were broken. Anyway, thanks for the help. I haven't seen what is in the school library but will take a look. Our local library isn't too current... Thanks for the book suggestions and the idea of getting the student a copy as well - I really appreciate your help with this and will get copies of the books!<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I was asked to be a mentor for a senior project for a high school student interested in photography. This student wants to concentrate on portraits and photos of people in general and is new to photography other than snapping photos as all kids do. I was thinking of small homework assignments to help the student develop an understanding of the variables we have to play with as photographers and was wondering if anyone here might have a book they might recommend that could give me additional ideas for assignments. I am not necessarily looking for books on portraiture, but photography in general. While I will search the web for books, it is always nice to have one recommended by a photographer who has used it. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give me.<br>

Sincerely,<br>

Markham Starr</p>

<p>Jim,<br>

Thanks for that - I was thinking of that lens - I assume you like it?<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Dear Louis and Peter,<br>

Thanks so much for the information - just what I needed and I appreciate you both taking the time to help! Have a great weekend -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone knows if there are lenses made by other manufacturers that will work on the Nex7 without adapter rings, so that the autofocus will work? If so, has anyone tried them? Thanks so much for your help!<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the comments and advice. I didn't notice the mirrorless forum when I posted this question, but knowing the moderators don't like repeated questions I won't put it in there, and it seems like the answer lies in the lens, not the camera, so I will pursue that route. Thanks to everyone for the help with this - I really appreciate it -<br>

Markham Starr</p>

<p>To all above,<br>

Thank-you for your help and responses. I have noticed that most of the people who love the camera are not using the sony lenes, so I guess you are right. I will try the converter and some nikor lenses with it- thanks for that tip too. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to help me with this. I am sure it will eventually work the way I need it to! Thanks again and have a great weekend -<br>

Sincerely,<br>

Markham Starr</p>

<p>I bought a Sony Nex7 for a specific job and have been amazed at how bad the kit lens (18mm-55mm) is. I had read every review I could find about the camera and really couldn't find many negative reviews (that is, where the review was negative throughout - obviously small negatives in any extensive review). Everything about the lens says there is distortion at the wide end (and there really is!) and they talk about how sharp or not sharp the lens is, but I have never come across any comments on how dead flat the lens is for contrast. I have never seen any lens produce such a flat image. (My primary cameras are Nikons) With an unbelievable amount of work I can get the image to come out okay, but I am really talking about a lot of work per image. I do the same with photos shot with my other cameras, but the difference in work is tremendous.<br>

My questions are these:<br>

1) Is it possible to just have a bad copy of the lens and that is why I don't see negative reviews? Seems unlikely to me, but I don't know that much about it.<br>

2) I can probably get by with the 50mm lens in terms of length (I need to shoot quietly in a military classroom setting without flash - at least more quietly than my Nikon) and I am wondering if anyone has experience with this lens, ie- is it as flat as the other?<br>

3) It seems like many people put other lenses on it using converters for the mount - is that the way to go?</p>

<p>Any advice, insights or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much -<br>

Markham Starr</p>

<p>The majority of my projects are going to the Library of Congress, so I don't have to worry about them anymore. The non-project photos will most likely quickly disappear although the family photos will hopefully pass down to the next generations. I do wonder about the millions of images uploaded daily and who will ever try to make sense of them if they survive - not a job I would want-<br>

Mark</p>

<p>John,<br>

Thanks for the clarification and for your help with this- I will send her the links and I think she will enjoy tham as much as I did.<br>

Ann,<br>

Thank-you for your thoughts on this too. I could very well be wrong in my assumption that she might enjoy getting photos in her e-mail - I have been wrong many times before. With my daughter, complete strangers did the nicest things for her and we never, never resented it in any way. In fact, I remember every kindness done for her and my sense of gratitude is still overwhelming. As I mentioned, people would get her e-mail address through me, so a flood could be avoided if it became necessary (but as I have seen, this is a moot point) As to overwhelming her e-mail limits, small jpgs in an e-mail are not usually a problem, and the delete key solves storage problems pretty quickly after she has looked at them. Perhaps she would have found it a burden. Thanks for your comments and have a great weekend -<br>

Mark</p>

<p>John,<br>

Thanks for the link to your stories - I enjoyed them very much. I was not quite sure what you meant in your post however - do you mean send her photos with stories or your particular stories? The whole point may be moot as far as Photo.net is concerned, as there has only been one person willing to help out and so I will move on to another plan, which is to get personal friends of mine to help out with it. Either way, thanks for the links to your work - they are well done and a great read -<br>

Mark</p>