The Club's Covid Challenge

Almost a year ago to the day, the photo club which I participate had its last in person meeting.  At the time we didn't know that the meeting end would start a year before - well nothing yet.  There was a glimmer of hope as last night we tried a Zoom meeting.  There were a few brave souls in attendance.  It was good to see them all.

The bad news is we're not much closer to meeting in person again.  The location where we had meetings isn't open to the public yet.  Realistically, I don't see us meeting in person again until after our summer break is over in August.  Vaccinations will be had by all, and more importantly the post-meeting restaurant will be available again.

The good news.  Some of us will get together tomorrow to Eagle chase and chat.  The day is forecasted to be sunny, but brisk.  (Mid-20's but coming from a week in the low teens, brisk it is.)  We'll be outdoors so the ventilation will not be an issue.  And we'll observe the all important distance restrictions.  More than six feet, but closer than yelling distance.

And better news for me, this Eagle location will be new to me.  Intel says the Eagles are 'nesting'.  A good time is promised for all.  The location should be prime Eagle viewing area.  Flint City landfill close by and a pretty good creek in the area.  So just looked at the cameras.  Batteries are charged.  EV set to 0.  (You'd be surprised how many time I screw that up!  Or maybe not....)  I see a lot of walking in my Saturday future.

Another agenda item from the meeting was everyone 'send in' their five best Covid era  photos.  These don't have to be Covid related, thankfully, but show that at least for a few times we got out of the house.  Unless you have some bird shots from the inside.  Two months ago, I posted my best of 2020 shots.  Unless I had some better shots in 2021 - I have my pool of shots to choose from.  As it turns out, I do have a good shot already this year.  And I have more that five shots in the year end post.  And I want to spread out the interests.  So my five for the club challenge.

In May, after the initial lockdown release I made a few trips to the Shiawassee Nature Refuge.  In one of the trips I found an Eagle sitting on a dead tree overlooking the Shiawassee River.  Luckily, no one behind me.  Just stop - and enjoy the sight.  I was able to take a series of shots of the Eagle in the tree and in flight.  The Eagle flight path was almost eye level.  And because of Covid, I was still breaking in the 200-500 lens.

In May, I started going to the Michigan Barrel Racer's events.  Weather was heating up, nice to get out and about.  I made it out to three of the events.  I also made it out to some Hunter/Jumper events.  It was tough to pare down to only one photo in the horse photos.  I had some nice shots at the H/J events, but only nice to me.  I need to work on framing a better shot.  I had way too much non-subject junk in the shots.  Too much to clean up.  I did better at the Barrel events.  Again, getting to one shot was an exercise, but in the end I went with this one.  Background could be better, but that is what it is.  The subject fills the frame, by my standards anyway.  I like dirt flying, horse body defining and hair explosion in this shot.

I backed into a new subject to shoot during the summer, BMX bike racing.  Our local park has a pretty nice track.  The first time I went out, the place was alive and colorful.  Team colors and tents.  Racers all over the place.  And some were hitting the high jumps.  Close to home, I could spend an afternoon there when I was working on-call.  In November, after the published season was over, we had a nice Michigan weekend.  Plenty of sun - and a race was put together.  I had just picked up the D850, putting an end to the failed D780 experiment, and needed some shots.  At the same time, I picked up a 70-200 f/2.8 lens which also needed a test run.  It all came together.  This shot was a sleeper to me.  But I voted it the best shot of  2020.  Really looked good on the monitors.  That carries more weight than you'd think.

On New Year's Day, we had a wonderful early morning snowfall.  No wind.  Snow on the branches.  Lots of snow on the branches.  After clearing off the driveway, there had to be some photo ops somewhere.  I found my way to one of the county parks.  In the park is a bridge that crosses the Flint River.  I thought this would be an excellent view for the day.  As I was walking around, two kayakers came into view.  The shot is easily the front runner for Best of 2021.

The final entry on the Club Challenge is somewhat odd.  Again, in January the only game in town was "small" birding.  I found a nice area where small birds would congregate.  Or whatever it is called when birds of all demographics get together.  When I returned home to review the day's shots I had to look up a number of the subjects.  I am so small bird ignorant.  One I didn't have to look up was the Robin.  I was walking down the trail, having a stare down through the lens with this one when he/she/it took to the air.  Awesome effect.

Those are my five Covid Era shots to share with the club.  And maybe tomorrow - I might have to add another.

Photo Slideshow from the DMRRC Shoot

I put a slideshow together of the photos I shot at the Detroit Model Rail Road Club last week when I was out with the Flint Lensmen.
This is also an attempt at a slide show.  I tried using Lightroom, but I found that - well not so good.  not very intuitive.  I purchased a program for the West Virginia trip to put some videos together and used that program.  It worked OK.
it's short, no music.

2018 DMRRC Slideshow

These photos are just that - the raw photos.  there are a few that need some help with lights removed and maybe a new backdrop.
For the most part I was really happy with how the photo stack worked and with the 50 mm lens.

Back to the Detroit Model Railroad Club - 2017

In a few weeks, my Photo Club will be heading out to the DMRRC for a return visit.  Personally, I had a lot of fun last year.  The DMRRC members who were out that night were just wonderful.  Like most places as soon as I left when we were done, I know I left so many shots out there.  Fortunately, I get another crack at them.

Last year I worked with focus stacking.  While most of my shots lacked train aesthetics, but technically they were good.

I've been asked by the Club to lead a discussion in our next meeting about the photo shoot.  Most of our members are outdoor photographers and being inside is a stretch.  

From talking with Club members after the 2016 visit, many said they didn't understand why the shots appeared out of focus.  That seemed to be the number one challenge.

I've been out to the DMRRC a few times in the last weeks.  I was in with the paying public, I didn't have the freedom to do focus stacking in these visits - as well as the trains were now in motion.  Well, this stinks.

In my first visit this year, I shot maybe 300 images - and only two came out that were any good.  And guess what - they were all fuzzy - like out of focus.  And then it hit me what the problem was.  Depth of Field.  I could usually find some point that was sharp - just not the point I wanted.

Unless this engine is getting ready to hit a fog bank, the focus starts to come in about two to three inches behind the front of the unit.  This is a clear miss on my part.  I'll bet I hit the front with the focus point and as I moved the camera back to center the subject, I held on the focus and it moved.  Rookie mistakes.......  Well that mystery solved.  But this illustrates how shallow the depth of filed can be.

So....  Speaking of Depth of Field, working inside is a real challenge.  The lighting isn't too bad but far from ideal.  You are shooting short distances to subject with high lens mm settings.  For example, if you shoot f/8 at 30 inches to subject with an 85mm lens - your DOF is essentially one inch.  Which coincidentally is just about right on for the image above. 

So the first points to the club are this.  Be sure of your focus point and have a strategy to deal with Depth of Field.  

One of the environmental factors is the subjects will more than likely not be moving.  They will be staged as requested.  So the speed question is reduced.  Even better if you bring a tripod.  I used a bean bag on the track last year.

Also, I will be focus stacking again this year.  I've gone over this with the Club a few times, hope they stayed awake.

Next up:  Increasing ISO if necessary.  (And it might be.)

Detroit Model Railroad Club

Had a wonderful evening last night with the photo club at the Detroit Model Railroad Club in Holly, MI. ( Website)
The DMRRC rolled out the red carpet for us.  Lots of people wanting to make sure we had all the shots we needed.
Although I find the trains and the support interesting, the detail in the scenery and the thought that went into the planning of the rails is just fascinating to me.
I focused on stacking photos.  I'll have 24 images to work.  t least one or two should be good, right?
This is the first time I shot in MANUAL mode.  Also the first time I used a bean bag.  And the wi-fi.
I hope these turn out good!

Classes at Flint Farmer's Market

Today was the first of a three lesson plan with the Flint Farmer's Market, puton by the local photo club in Flint - of which I am a member.  And because I like to hear myself talk, I led the first class.

This class was focused on the technical part of a DLSR - not so much any technique.  The thought was that many people want to take more 'artsy' photographs, get a DLSR and then become overwhelmed with all the controls.  Well, you want to take control of the image or else you'd use your phone.  So the point of the class was to walk through the most common features of a DLSR and get people to use any mode other than AUTO.

It was a good class, we had 12 paid attendees - and hope to get a few to see what our club is about.  My target was to yak for 45 minutes.  I missed that.  I was yakking for close to 1:20!  The audience was great.

There was great club participation in a few showed up to help with the questions period after the lesson where we could take some one on one time with the attendees for specific questions about the camera they brought in.

All in all - good day for me.  I had fun.  And no one threw any tomatoes.

Will be very interested in the next classes!  (I set the bar high for them.)