yardkat

Yep, PM me your address and I'll send you these film holders!

Lucky you... I'll ship elsewhere...just not for free, so if you want them, and if you don't mind paying shipping,they can be yours!

Hi everyone, I found 3 4x5 film holders in my desk that I didn't know I had. I don't have a 4x5 camera. Two are Fidelity Elite, and one is Riteway. If you would use these, PM me your address and I will send them to you! (Continental US addresses only, please!)

Fun wayback Wednesday! I closed my eyes and clicked on a year. ETA: D700+24-85vr In 2013 I shot a series of pictures behind the scenes at the Utah Symphony (where I work) and called it Backstage Pass. Here are a couple from that folder.

Thank you for the input, everyone! I've got so much to think about! Best, Julie

Awesome tips, everyone! Thank you! I do have a bubble level, I just need to figure out exactly where it is. I also think I can work with some flashes or reflectors. My house is pretty small, typical for our neighborhood, I think one flash will be sufficient...I hadn't thought of standing on a ladder for the backyard, but that's interesting. Tree trimmers are coming tomorrow, so I could get some practice ideas in tonight. Thank you all for the very helpful suggestions, it makes me feel encouraged...

Thank you, this is informative. Great for the reminder about camera position causing more distortion than the lens itself. And for the reminder that it's ok to use bounced flash to balance the exposure. I'll also have the benefit of being able to practice whenever I want since I live here. :) I can stitch if I have to, I hadn't thought of that as an option... Thank you!!

Yeah, definitely not high end real estate...weeping softly...

Hi everyone, We are thinking about listing our house. (Gulp.) I think I can probably do the photography myself. I can rent lenses locally for a day. I currently own a 14mm Rokinon, and Nikon 18-35 and 24-85. Would the 14-24 or 16-35 do better than what I have in terms of distortion or is what I have capable? I want it to look great and am happy to rent if it gets better results. I suspect the Rokinon maybe isn't awesome, but the 18-35 might be ok? Any other tips for the photography? I will try some mild HDR but I actually sort of hope the windows blow out because view out the window of the next door houses or our garage out back isn't so pretty. ;) I'll shoot the yard and exterior in the evening for nice light. Actually the heavy HDR that so many real estate pictures have is really icky to me, I just want it to look nicely exposed and inviting. Thank you, tips so very much appreciated! I have some (ok, a lot) decluttering to do first...

Haven't shot much lately, but my students had a potluck so I shot some rare (for me) people pictures. Nikon D750+24-85vr.

I hope your healing is fast and recovery easy! What a terrible thing to have to deal with on a photo trip! I just went through a similar tripod shopping dilemma. I have a bummer of a neck and even carrying a camera on a strap around my neck for 5 minutes gives me a headache, let alone hauling a tripod around. I thought I'd bought something lighter last spring that would work, but it turned out to be quite heavy and bulky for hiking, it didn't fit well in my pack, and I didn't want to carry it over my shoulder because of my aforementioned sensitive neck. Anyway, I went to a local store and picked up a Gitzo Series 1 Traveler and haven't looked back. I thought I wouldn't like it because I've always had a tripod with lever locks, and the tripods I've owned with the twist locks have driven me crazy, but the Gitzo twist locks work so well. I also thought the price was ridiculous, but turns out it's kinda worth it. The tripod feels really solid, far more solid than it should for how light it is. The shop owner seemed to feel I could put any of my lenses on it comfortably. (The only one I wouldn't is my Sigma 150-600, because I won't likely be hiking with that lens anyway, so I'll bring the other tripod.) The Series 2 Traveler was a tad bigger, wider, slightly heavier, and you probably could put anything on it and be fine. I didn't get that one because my main goal is to put a tripod in a day pack and not whine. Every time I took it out of my pack I said, "I love this tripod." I'm pretty sure I've never uttered those words, ever. That being said, these are traveling tripods and are designed to fit in packs and luggage, and may not be tall enough. I decided I could bend down a bit, if it meant that I'd actually carry the damn thing on hikes, and the trade off was worth it. You just have to decide what the trade offs are and which ones you're willing to make. So if you can swing it, take a look at the Gitzo. I never thought I would because of the price, but I decided it was worth something to stop buying tripods I didn't like.

D750, 24-85vr

Yes, after a couple months of all over the map focusing, I took it to a local camera shop and had them test it, came back fine. It's just different to use on the D750, and took me a while to figure it out. The guy who tested it for me gave me a couple pieces of advice, 1. make sure I'm staying around f8, and 2. put primes on the D750 and don't look back. :) I've been thinking about both of those things, and trying to figure out what to do moving forward. I had also sent the camera body in to Nikon for a completely unrelated repair, and on the checklist when it came back was "adjusted auto focus" or something like that. I feel as if it's behavior has been better since then. I really don't know what they did, and the tech couldn't tell me any detail about it, but it seems like it focuses more consistently. All that to say, the 24-85 is a pretty good walkaround lens, but. I feel I've had some trust issues with it on the D750 and I'm learning how to work those out. ;)

I have the 24-85vr and use it all the time. I liked it a lot on my D700, and not as much on my D750. I have felt that on the higher resolution camera I have a lot more focus errors with it. I finally learned just to keep the lens at f8. I suppose that's really true for most lenses, but I'm a bonehead sometimes. When I first got the D750 I just could not get anything in focus, it's gotten better, or I should say, I guess I've gotten better. I rented a 24-120 last summer, and I think the copy I got wasn't great, because it was definitely not better than my 24-85, and I didn't find the extra focal length to be a deal breaker, but I've read/heard such great things about that lens I just have to assume I got a bad copy. Soft, soft, soft and out of focus. The 24-85 is a perfect weight for walking around. We hike a lot and I don't ever feel like I'm carrying too much camera weight. (The tripod is another story...) I agree with @ben_hutcherson about the 24mm focal length, and I couldn't give it up for a 28 or 30 that goes longer, either. (I've just recently decided that I need to understand how to use longer focal lengths, so I've started carrying my 70-300 along.) As far as distortion, I have LR set to correct it on import and so I never notice it. However, because of the higher rate of focus errors, and because I'm wishing to step up my game and produce better images, I've been trying to figure out if the 24-70 class of lenses (Nikon or third party) is a better option than the 24-85. But the carrying weight of 24-85 is perfect, so truth be told, I haven't landed on an answer yet. If you think of anything let me know. ;) I sort of think I'd like to be one of those people who shoots only prime lenses, but the truth is I don't like changing lenses so often out in the field. It's dusty here in Utah! So all that to say, it's a good enough lens. The weight is perfect, the focal length is very useful, and it's price point is perfect. (esp by this time, I bought mine a few years ago, but it was still only about $500 Nikon refurbished back then.) I've taken some nice photos with it, but it does miss. It's a slower (and noisier) focus than the 24-70 that I've rented from time to time. I didn't find it worth it to consider the 24-120. A good enough walk around lens.

Great Salt Lake, D750, 24-85.

Yes, this is the reason I want and ND option that I might actually carry and use.

Exactly why I'm uncertain about shifting to round. But that's why I wonder if post processing can fill in the gap. I've done a fair amount of exposure blending and wondering if it takes the place of the need for ND grads.

Yes, I do have clear filters on the lenses for protection! I shoot a lot on hikes. Seems like rocks, trees, streams, etc are easy targets for falling cameras.

Hi all, I'm thinking about updating some of my filters. I confess, I'm a terrible photographer and rarely carry my filter kit! So lazy! I have a Cokin P system and find it fiddly to use, don't enjoy it, when I do use it I get crazy flare, and so hardly every carry it with me. Truth be told, it's also kind of dated, I bought it to use R/G/B filters on BW film across multiple formats (none of which I still have), and I don't actually have a great selection of ND filters. I only have one grad and one .0.3 ND. (I do have circ polarizers also, but they're not square...) I'm going to be buying a lens soon, and was thinking about updating my ND filters to round filters for each lens, or step up/down rings, depending on the lens. So my question for you all today is does this seem like a good plan, to move away from square filter holder? I feel like I'll carry and use the NDs more often if I just have to screw on a filter, and I'll still be able to use my lens hood which might help with the flare. But what about grads? Do folks use grads or just blend multiple exposures? Thanks in advance, and many apologies if this is an oft asked question... ~Julie

Another couple of shots from end of March in Grand Staircase-Escalante. D750, Sigma Art 35, Nikon 18-35.

Went out shooting the moon last weekend. Enjoyed the rental lens so much that I bought it! D750+Sigma 150-600.

Getting one in under the wire. Rented a long lens for a quick weekend trip tomorrow. D750, Sigma 150-600.

I just went and tried one yesterday at my local camera shop. I tried it against my Nikon 24-85. It's heavy, seems to focus very fast and quietly, feels really solid. I only got to test it in their parking lot, so it wasn't a real world scenario. The files are clean, and colors good, there's a lot of distortion that LR easily corrected, and I didn't see any CA at all...literally none, I shot up into tree branches, the Nikon is purple all over but the Sigma is clean as a whistle. But as far as sharpness goes, it wasn't a huge improvement over the 24-85. Certain focal lengths it was worse, some were better. One of the Sigma files showed some nice fine details that the Nikon didn't, but overall I didn't feel like it hit it out of the park in terms of sharpness, particularly at 24mm. Right in the middle of the lenses they were pretty much the same. Again, not a completely scientific test. Maybe in the real world it would be a more consistent focuser, or offer more consistent results. I don't think I'm going to go back and buy it, it just wasn't enough better than what I have to justify the expense. I've rented the current version Nikon 24-70 on a couple of occasions and it seems like it couldn't miss the focus, really consistent. But I didn't pixel peep for sharpness so I can't compare files. But using it offered no challenges, other than weight, it just worked like it was supposed to. I just can't afford that one. And buying that one used gives me pause because I think they're often really well used and then you end up with...ahem...graunchy zoom or focusing. ;) I might see about renting the Tamron at some point, but I also think I might try some primes in this middle range and see if I'm happy that way. I've gotten spoiled by the ease of the mid-range zoom, but I feel I'm having a hard time getting exactly the consistency and quality from it that I did on my D700.

I have been so busy, no time to get the camera out of the bag. But his week I shot a photo of a blanket made by a group of people to honor a retiring colleague. Each of us knit 1 or 2 individual squares and it was put together by our organizer.

He's much better than I am about buying on a whim! ;) (I literally woke up one morning last June and decided to upgrade my kit.) He rents and gets over whatever whim he may have been on...Case in point was a Sigma Art lens that he rented. He was just going to buy it, then rented it a couple times and wasn't that wowed by it in real life. (Paired with the rented D7500 there were focusing issues, so rendered the rental sort of useless...I would be hesitant to buy anything that gave results like that, too.)