Bringing Home the Food - Part II

Today was not the best day to be out and about.   Heavy overcast.  Just plain flat.  But I needed to get out and walk around a bit.  Good day to get back to basics.  I've been relying on high shutter speeds (over 1/1200th sec) to help with focus.  Call it a crutch.  And to really handicap myself, I used a polarizer.  The polarizer just arrived and I was looking to use it, no matter what.

I wanted to check out the Eagles in Richfield Park.  I've stopped by their nest a few times this year, but always appeared no one was home.  I heard from a friend that the nest was still being used.  So the nest was a destination today.

Over the last three years that I've been observing the nest and Eagle life, I've come to the conclusion that the more time that is spent at the nest, the better the chance to see something more than a bird in the trees.  You have to work for it.  Except for today.  I spent about 15 minutes at the nest.  One of my favorite sights is to see one of the Eagles fly directly overhead bringing home some food.  It's not easy, because it is silence coming to you from behind.  Sometimes I can see the reflection in the pond water, but not today.  

The Eagle is in flight above my head in view for only 3 to 5 seconds.  Hate to say it, but if I was using the 200-500 lens, I probably miss it.  With the 70-300 lens, much lighter to swing around.  The difference is 1.5 pounds to 5.25 pounds.

Bringing Home the Food

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/640th sec, f/5.6, ISO 110 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

A year ago, I was able to catch food being delivered, here.  It almost looks like as spring brings out the greens and life, it's also a good gage on the new life of the Eaglets.  Didn't see this until I started looking at the photos on a monitor.  Eaglet!  Need a serious crop to get the little one.  Big eyes and a lot of fuzz.

Mom and Eaglet

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR

450 mm, 1/640th sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Tomorrow is forecasted to be a much better day, light-wise.  Sunny.  Maybe.  I read where the Eaglets spend most of their day eating, so the food train has to keep rolling.  Maybe get another shot.

A Tale of Two Tractor Photos

Last Sunday's visit to a farm not only presented critter photo ops, but older farm equipment opportunities as well.  May not be as fast as aircraft, but the heavy machinery is very interesting to me.  Still can't draw up in my head how a machine can scoop up a line of straw in one end and produce a squared off bale of hay out of the other.  And that was before the newer models that sport shiny paint jobs.  And seems to me that the first designed models were built to last as many can still be found.  Maybe not working anymore, but they can be found maintaining the watch.

I was lucky enough to find two such 'retired' tractors.   Both had completed their tour of duty and were retired to rightful places of honor.  Which is to say not out in the middle of a field somewhere.  These were both in a barn, somewhat protected from the elements.

And therein is the issue.  One tractor is in a doorway, sunshine in the front and shadow in the back.  And the second tractor is completely in the shadows, but has a small amount of light from a window on the front end.  Both present challenges.  And if you pass the challenge, you get a good shot.  And as always, the finished product must be better than a phone photo.  On reflection, I should have tried a phone shot.  Even if only for comparison.

The first shot, the tractor in a doorway is a classic HDR setup.  Big light differential.  You could take a tripod and take 3 to 7 shots with different settings, depending on your style.  Mine was always different speeds.  Or you could fake HDR it.  Take one shot, preferably in RAW, and expose it to different exposures and blend the results.  I did that on some shots in the past, sometimes it works.  Other times, meh.  Or you can take one shot, exposed normally, and send it through Photomatix.

I am not a Photomatix sales rep, but I will say it was the best $45 ever spent.  I think I've been using some form of it for over ten years.  In all that time, I was charged only once for an upgrade.  For me, the fastest way to solve difficult lighting situations.  With some effort you can use it and the end production will not look like the typical HDR effort.  The application has been improved over the years resulting in the ability to get an HDR file from one photo.  Better chances for a better results if you use a RAW file.  And that is the path I went on here.

I've started taking JPG shots for backup purposes, and I was doing so on Sunday.  This is a Nikon JPG set to Landscape.

I assume a camera phone would do the same.  I've tried to fake HDR with a JPG.  Results are inconsistent, but usually not helpful.  With a RAW file and some work outside the norm, this can be saved.  The goal is keep the sunlight and really bring out the shadows - while keeping the shadows looking like shadows.  I could spend a lot of time in Photoshop, but using Photomatix it was three minutes tops to help bring out the shadows.  I can add the final work with PS and a shot of Clear.  I think this looks much better.

Tractor in the Door

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

35 mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

There were a few iterations of the shadows.  Either too light or too dark.  I finally settled on this, bit of a fade to dark.  Great learning experience.

For photo number two:  Almost total darkness.  I have the setting for auto ISO to limit at 6400.  And it worked.  The D850 and f/2.8 lens was the right combo for this.  And the original Nikon JPG:

That's dark.  This is straight out of the camera.  And with some of the before mentioned work:

Dark Old Tractor

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

24 mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 6400 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Again, there is a lot of back and forth working on this.  Sometimes too light, sometimes too dark.  The noise issues weren't too bad to clean up.  Again looking back, would have been excellent chance to push a few higher ISOs, just to play.

Fun to see the old machinery.  And the light challenge was fun to play with as well.

Out on a Farm

There are many good reasons to join a photo club.  One of the best reasons is you are 'forced' out of your comfort zone.  Or you can state it in the words of Monty Python - And now for something completely different.

I've wanted to visit a farm for a long time for a photographic opportunity.  Michigan has farms aplenty.  And so when a friend from the club offered a farm field trip, I was all over it.

I googled farm photography.  Two items were the most talked about.  First, on the arts side - pay attention to the background.  And for the most part I did.  Next, be prepared to get dirty and muddy.  And for the most part I was.  Success all around.

For the outing I went with the D850 and 24-70 lens.  I didn't expect any fast action stuff and I thought I'd be pretty close to the action.  And I was confident enough to not take a backup combo setup.  Whew, I didn't miss by much.  I could have used the 70-200 lens when I was outside.  The smaller critters didn't come up too close.  But for the inside shots, the 70-200 lens would have been useless.  One of the other things I learned was the D850 and a f/2.8 lens lets in a LOT of light.  I have two 'inside' shots for tractors that I thought I'd need to do a lot of light addition work to get to come out.  As right as I was about the combo to use, I was not so right on this.  Wow.   Goes to show, you need to get out there and shoot.

We endured a bit of a rain delay once we were out in the field.  The rain wasn't heavy by any stretch, but was a lot more than mist.  So we took about a ten minute break in a horse shelter until the worst passed.  But the clouds never really broke and the light was generally CRAP.  (Said with due respect to all the meadow muffins.)  And as always, if you look hard enough in any great setting you can find a rainbow.  And there was a very nice one at one point.  Great to see one without a bunch of urban development around.

For the critter side, the farm had three horses and some beef.  Horses were great.  No biting.  No fast moves.  Very relaxed.   This was my favorite horse shot.  Really close up.  That eye is right at you.  Supports the photo adage, if the eye is sharp, the rest will follow.

White Horse - Pale Sky

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

48 mm, 1/200th sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

As to the beef, there were three cows and four calves.  The calves were just awesome.  The young ones are always cute.  These four were great color targets, going from mostly all white to to the other end of the spectrum.  And what I would call personality was flowing through these little ones.  They would come up to me, until I moved.  (I had to resist a moo moment there.)  Then they'd step back a bit.  Who startled who first?  So I did move around quite a bit.  And this is my favorite shot with the calves.  Remembering the advice to make sure the background was right.  I had to wait for this to line up, and everyone played their part.

Two babies and a Mom

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR

48 mm, 1/200th sec, f/5.6, ISO 320 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

And another reason it is good to travel with a photo club, sometimes the odd photo is taken.

Not ever to be one who could talk to the animals, but I tried to negotiate my safe passage past the gate.  I was granted safe passage by the horses, by they could not guarantee the beef would honor their word.  I was on my own there.  Thanks Bob for the photo.

Merlin (AI) and eBird

I try to leave the paying job out of this blog as much as I can.  Usually any mention is that it is a necessary evil to fund the photography hobby or that the hours required have prevented me from attending some photo related activity.  And not that the following will shower praises on the paying job, just an interesting intersection of job and hobby.

I've spent the past few weeks taking classes, taking tests and earning certifications in the web world for both IBM and AWS.  The track I'm on is for administration, not programing.  Fascinating stuff.  Because of my relationship with IBM, I am very familiar with Watson and the technology.  Watson gained fame by competing on the Jeopardy game show - against a human.  Enter into the world of deep learning.  Artificial Intelligence.  AI.  With massive amounts of data available, you have AI to sift though the data to get the answers of the world.  And if IBM has it, so do AWS, Google, Microsoft and the rest.

For the faint of heart in privacy concerns, you may not like the following.  If you didn't know this already, facial recognition software is available to the masses.  With the stroke of a pen on a check, you to have the ability to run any kind of recognition application.  Yep, even facial.

The world of AI encompasses more than just facial.  And that's where work crosses with hobby.  It appears that many in the birding community also have a hobby of photography.  So there has to be millions of  bird photos floating around the web and other databases.  And most are probably correctly identified.  And this is where deep learning, AI and your phone all come together.  The best parts of the web, coming together.

Cornell Labs, part of the Cornell university in NY, has created a network that birders can use to log species seen plus information such as date and location.  In return, Cornell Labs has an unpaid data stream to its databases.  And eBird is born.  And that's all well and good, and here's the really good part.  Another way into the eBird database is an app called Merlin.  When I hear Merlin, I think of Wizards and Aircraft engines.  Closer to the Wizard part, this app will help you identify what flying critter you just saw.  And if you happen to have a photo of said flying critter, even easier.  All on your phone.  Easy peazy.

So I'm now a member of the eBird community.  And frequent user of Merlin.

Nikon, DSLR and Old Age

The photography interest for me started a long time ago.  My maternal grandfather took numerous photos on many world trips, either business or pleasure.  His chosen field was chemical engineering.  As I understand it, he did some of the developing himself.  My father was also somewhat of a photo bug as well.  Call it destiny.  The journey to Nikon had a much less formidable start.  I remember my dad showing me a Nikon camera he had just purchased in the 60's.  Devil made me do it, he said.  Boom, hooked.  In the early 80's, while stationed at Kadena AB I purchased a Minolta XG-1.  I was mesmerized for the 'on board' computing that gave a visual indication of the selected settings and if your exposure was correct.  And I bought the 'speed winder', a device that would automatically advance the film after a shot was taken.  The sound was hypnotic.  Three frames in two seconds.  Press the button just to hear it.

Move to the 90's, a job that provided some disposable income and need of a hobby.  The digital photography age was starting.  Bought the D80 from an appliance store.  And the digital journey started.  With no knowledge.

The decision to stay with Nikon was easy.  Top quality glass and an easy transition from the D80 to the D90, to the D7200, to the D500 and D850.  In the period starting between the D7200 and D500, started acquiring 'better' glass.  Not professional level, but better than kit.

I have a lot invested with Nikon.  To change lanes now would be a financial loss to a hobby that generates zero dollars.

Why would I think of changing lanes?  I have my dream kit.  But if someone who was just starting out would ask me what to look at or get, my answer would probably be "Not Nikon".

The answer has nothing to do with design or quality.  The answer mostly has to do with the direction of Nikon, the corporation.  

Photography, as it was ten years ago faces tremendous pressure from cell phones.  Although higher end DSLRs can produce technically much better images, who can tell the difference between a really good photo and a stunningly great photo?  Along with the cameras going digital, the presentation medium moved from print to LCDs.  I think this also favored the growth of the cell phone photography as well.

The DSLR design is changing as well.  The DSLR design came from the film SLRs.  With micro technology, it was inevitable that all that internal glass would just get in the way.  Mirrorless was on the way.

Nikon seems to have missed reading the mirrorless trend.  Nikon is now moving in the mirrorless direction with new camera models every 12-18 months.  There are 5 to 7 new Z mount lenses released every year.  Nothing on the F mount front.  But Nikon is in the also ran category for mirrorless now. As Nikon has lost DSLR market share over the last 10 years, the new announced direction is to focus more on the professional level gear.  To me, that is short term thinking.  You're not going to get a loyal following by forgoing a 'learning' or entry platform.  I could not in good conscious tell someone looking to learn photography to begin with Canon and then switch to Nikon when you go pro.

The recent news that Nikon was paring down its warranty is not good and has not been received by the Nikon nation as favorable.  I am fortunate, so far, to have never needed the services of Nikon repair/warranty.  But looking forward, that just isn't a good business sign.  I read today where a Nikon protest in Japan is scheduled at their HQ this year by international users.  That's not a good business plan.

So, where does my relationship with Nikon go from here?  Status quo.  My goal for the photography hobby was to have the dream kit built by the time I retire.  Retirement is not that far away.  Mission accomplished.  Unless I win the lottery, there isn't the time to sell the current inventory, at a loss, and go in another direction.  I like the way things are now.  I like the DSLR.  Spare me the arguments about how much better the mirrorless model is.  You might be right.  People still drive old muscle cars as well.  But I would never suggest to start there.