Tag: 10D

More Nik Silver Efex

Posted by Chris Klug – March 2, 2010

Playing with Tones

Digital Capture in color (shot with 10D), Noise reduction in Dfine (ISO 400), loaded into Silver Efex, preset underexpose 1 stop, raise overall exposure slightly, add yellow filter, choose Delta 100 film type, add control point on front wall to lighten and bring out the dappled sunlight, a second control point to bring up the urn thingy in the front, lastly burn the left edge of the frame.

One slight issue with Silver Efex is that I can’t figure out how to save out each step so I can show them to you one by one as Kevin suggested. Efex doesn’t work in layers, and doesn’t save out the steps (as far as I can see). So, you load in a TIF as exported from Lightroom, mess withe the image until you like it, save it back out as a TIF, and there you are.

I could do a step, save it out, load another original, do the original change and then a second, save that out, etc. But that’s a little clumsy, especially, as I want to, show you paths tried and then rejected (for this image there was a great alternative where I used a green filter and it totally altered the feeling).

It would be very cool if I could figure out a way to save out step-by-step; if any Nik users out there know how, let me know, please.

This is an image Peg liked quite a bit from our excursion to Cleveland’s Lakeview Cemetery in September (remember when the grass was green?)

Allegheny Cemetery

Posted by Chris Klug – October 25, 2009

Angel

This afternoon was cold and wet, and Peg and I determined it was an ideal day to go visit Allegheny Cemetery. As the web site for the cemetery describes, these lands are truly beautiful, and it is a tribute to a different age. The light was soft and gorgeous, and I took three cameras with me. My 10D captured the majority of the images while I also used my FTb loaded with HP5. Of special interest was the new (to mew) F100 I’ve posted about before. This was the first real day of use for the F100, and for those Nikon loyalists, I will give a particular report about that camera below.

Peg and I love to visit cemeteries, and we had visited Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland in September. However, in comparing the two places, while Lakeview is beautiful (and does have James Garfield’s memorial) Allegheny is more monumental in many aspects, especially in its use of Egyptian-inspired craftsmanship.

The Ages Pass

I guess at one time in the history of building personal monuments, the news from the excavations in Egypt had a huge impact on the kind of memorials the wealthy members of society built for themselves. Both Allegheny and Lakeview had many such memorials, but in Allegheny they are both larger and more numerous (maybe there was more money in Pittsburgh).

Typical grouping

Typical grouping

The workmanship on these memorials is quite stunning.

Winter's Resting Place

The place is quiet and beautiful, and it is really a peaceful locale to visit.

Bearing Witness

On a separate note, working quickly gave me an opportunity to really compare the three cameras in a very limited time (we arrived around 3:30 and were kicked out –gently, mind you, but firmly– at 5:30; the grounds close at 5:00 pm but we didn’t know that).

I used the F100 with an older Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens (manual focus). The focus ring and the aperture ring on this lens turns the opposite from my Canon lenses, and it initially threw me off. But the viewfinder was wonderful, and the controls very easy to figure out. I didn’t have the manual with me, but after a few frames I could easily figure out how to do everything I wanted to do. It felt very nice in my hand and was wonderful to use. I loaded the camera with Ektar and used an 81a filter to warm things up a bit (Ektar can be a little cold in my experience and the day was cloudy). I REALLY liked this camera, and found it much better than the modern equivalent Canon film cameras, and look forward to using it more often. I do want to purchase an AF lens, because while the F100 DID give me focus confirmation, the focussing screen currently in the camera didn’t help me at all. While the camera supports older manual focus lenses (bravo), clearly it assumes you’re gonna use an AF lens. Nikon users: can the F100 take different focussing screens?

The Ftb, as in the past, was easy and intuitive to use, and today I mounted my 28mm f/2 FD lens, which I love. I certainly have flip-flopped on this topic, but after today I think that 28mm might be my favorite fixed focal length when capturing landscapes. The image of the angel at the top of the post was captured with my 10D and the 17-40 Canon zoom, which I like very much, but at 17mm with a 1.6 crop factor (equalling roughly a 28) the image just didn’t look as great as it did through my FTb. I know crop factor equivalent 28 doesn’t really equal a real 28, and this time, in direct comparison, it was very clear to me what the difference was. I had been reading recently on a forum a thread about how 28mm lenses don’t get much love (Canon, for instance, doesn’t have a ‘L’ series 28 prime; they have a great 35mm ‘L’ prime and a 24mm ‘L’ prime, but no 28).

But today’s clear winner was the F100. I am hoping to acquire a 28mm Nikkor AF prime, and once I do, I may actually start doing the majority of my 35mm film work with the F100. So, Nikon users, a second question: any thoughts about prime Nikkor lenses I should acquire? Does Nikon have a good 28mm prime? Their zoom lenses I know are wonderful, but for me right now, pricey.

Today’s clear loser was the 10D. I know the design is old for a digital, and my thoughts about it have nothing to do with the megapixel count, but it was the hardest camera to use of the three. I hope soon to acquire a used 5D, which I am sure I will use a great deal for landscapes (( have wanted a full-frame digital for 4 years). When that arrives, Peg and I are thinking of converting the 10D to infrared use.

Overall, a great day capturing images with my wife. Lots of fun.

Hope you enjoy the images.

Construction

Posted by Chris Klug – October 19, 2009

Not going to do much work any more

No work 'till spring

This image was from the same lot of cars and amusement park equipment where I captured the abandoned ride equipment. I got to play with my favorite Nik Silver Effects on this image. Man, I love that software. I also think I like old construction equipment. Don’t know why, maybe it’s a flashback to playing with trucks as a kid (although I don’t remember doing that much of it). I think I may actually read the Nik documentation (grin).

I started reading a book on Photoshop (I think I’m gonna break down and learn more about that puppy). Fascinating what people do with that tool. There are so many software tools I want to work more with. We’ll have to see how much shooting I’ll do here in the winter. I’d like to try to work in the snow a little.

Fun In storage

Posted by Chris Klug – October 14, 2009

Fun in Storage

Fun in Storage

My Mamiya 645e, as some of you know, was irreparably damaged in a fall last April. In August, I bought a replacement 645e from Adorama in August, but it was inoperable upon delivery and I returned it.

As some of you also know, much of my gear is currently in storage in Arizona. This includes three of my 645e lenses. When I purchased the 645e from Adorama, I also bought a wide angle lens so I would have something on the body to work with while I wait for my things to come from AZ.

The repair was taking an awfully long time, so I contacted them via email last week and today I received this reply:

“We have received your return and the Used Department has deemed the unit unirepairable (sic). We don’t have another camera body available at this time with no real prospect of one comeing (sic) in. We do however have another better quality lens.

I see we’ve refunded the monies already, so if you are still interested you may contact our Sales Department at xxx-xxx-xxxx to see what else we may offer you. Or you may contact us regularly to see if we’ve received more.

We apologize for any inconvenience.”

So, now I am trying to figure out what to do. Do I

a) sell the three lenses I have and save up for a different medium format camera (I love the 645 neg, but I’d also like a 6×6 or a 6×7). I was always planning to save up for a Mamiya 7II, so maybe this is the time?
b) shop for another 645e
c) ???

Readers, what would you do?

Sometimes fun is in storage waiting for the right time to come out into the light.

Self Portrait

Posted by Chris Klug – October 13, 2009

Another image captured with my wife's macro lens

Another image captured with my wife's macro lens

Went to NJ for the weekend. I had intended to go into NYC to see the Robert Frank show at the Met but didn’t feel well on Saturday so I stayed in NJ and bummed around with my wife and her friend. Found a great vantage point where you could look out from the Atlantic Highlands part of NJ and see across the Bay to Manhattan. While we were capturing that image we were swapping the 70-200 zoom and for a few moments I had the macro lens.

The image below is one of those captured of the view; I didn’t have a polarizing filter on me in the size I needed to cut through some of the atmospherics and darken the sky, but this is what it looked like. I’ve included both a color and b&w conversion.

NYC Skyline

Emulating a deep orange filter

Emulating a deep orange filter

How we want to be remembered

Posted by Chris Klug – September 12, 2009

Illustration/etching from a Headstone in Lakeview Cemetery

Illustration/etching from a Headstone in Lakeview Cemetery

Peg found this headstone while we drove around the grounds today. This WWII veteran clearly was a carrier fighter pilot (that type of fighter had folding wings so they could fit more of them on the carrier deck) and served his country well. By the time he passed he had a rather large family and they chose to honor him and his achievements in that war with this artwork etched into his headstone. It was amazing work, skillful and dramatic. It caught Peg’s eye from 30 feet away as we drove by in the car. The workmanship only got more impressive the closer we got to it.

Many men of my generation had fathers who served in WWII or Korea. It was indeed a different world then.

James Garfield: Shot by a disappointed office seeker

Posted by Chris Klug – September 12, 2009

Statue of our 20th President at his Memorial

Statue of our 20th President at his Memorial

The phrase which titles this post is the one I always associate with Garfield.

Peg and I drove to Cleveland today, and we went to Lakeview Cemetery, where James Garfield is buried. His memorial is the architectural attraction of the cemetery, so we went there first. The exterior is an amazing edifice, but the interior is rather modest for an assassinated President. I don’t know much about Garfield, myself.

I believe Garfield was a Civil War General

I believe Garfield was a Civil War General


Garfield Memorial Entrance

There was a excerpt from an article in a medical journal inside the memorial which compared Garfield’s wound to Ronald Reagan’s wound when he was shot. While I don’t know the details of Garfield’s injuries, the implication was that Reagan’s was much, much more serious and, owing to modern medicine, Reagan was up and walking around 24 hours after being admitted while Garfield died. Apparently Garfield’s wound did not piece an organ, did no major damage to an artery, and lodged in a muscle in Garfield’s back. Maybe he died of infection, I’m not sure.

The one thing I do know is that Garfield was from Cleveland.

Dreaming of Light

Posted by Chris Klug – August 29, 2009

Geometry

Geometry

Went into the backyard late this afternoon and did some capturing of light. No real commentary today, just wanted to post some of the images that I found.

Contrasts

Contrasts

Very peaceful afternoon, right as summer begins to fade into early fall.

Visual tension

Visual tension

Have a good weekend, everyone. This week I’m making a trip to a conference in the Pacific Northwest, where I hope to rent a camera I’ve never shot with before and tour Seattle with one of the regular readers of this blog. I’ll post again before I go.

North Park Lake

Posted by Chris Klug – August 21, 2009

I'm a sucker for the Black & White

I'm a sucker for the Black & White

Near our house in Pittsburgh is a lake.

The sunset today was beautiful and I honestly set out to make a color image. I had been thinking about how few color images I’ve made of late, and thought I should post one. The light was golden, the setting sun rakes across the lake just at the right time, I park the car, I see this guy in his kayak and I’m thinking ‘great, a beautiful golden image; wonderful.’ Now, if I had my film camera with me, I’d have exposed this image certainly with color film; I’d have never exposed it with b&w.

I get home, I load it into Lightroom, and I start playing. The color version stayed until I got it into Color efex, where the first preset is b&w conversion, and the b&w version just leapt off the screen.

I loaded it into Silver efex, played with it a little, and here ya go.

Just a sucker for the black&white. Even on a rare day in the ‘Burgh where color seemed to be the perfect choice.

Light and Texture

Posted by Chris Klug – August 14, 2009

Light and texture on a rainy day

Light and texture on a rainy day

Sometimes I think I’m really an abstract expressionist. What I mean is that I react to a photographic opportunity very instinctively, and often don’t know why I press the shutter. I’ve commented earlier this week that I envy the photographer who can plan a shoot, pre-visualize, then execute. I don’t know if I have the patience for that. I’m gonna give it a try once I get all my equipment back together. Last post’s ‘still life’ of the Diet Pepsi can and the banana has given me some inspiration, but I really want to set up my flash and umbrella. I’d wanted to try portraits that way with my Mamiya until it fell over.

The end of the summer is approaching here in Pittsburgh and I saw this pattern in a puddle walking back to my car. Enhanced it a little with Color Efex. Liked what I saw, so I thought I’d post.