The Blue Demon Pitts

One of the Battle Creek air show acts was the Blue Demon Pitts.  The Pitts aircraft design originated in 1943 and first flew in 1944.  The original design was a single seat, bi-plane used primarily for acrobatics.  The design was/is very successful.  The aircraft was very popular in the 60s and 70s, getting a lot of attention for performances.  Various models of the Pitts comprise the majority of entries in the Reno Air Race Bi-Plane class.

For Friday's airshow, two shots of the Blue Demon Pitts made the cut for the day.  One shot fooled the camera so much, it turned out pretty artistic for me.  The other, just plain lucky.  I may have to create another category for the year end awards, this being called the Blind Squirrel  Award.

The day had a light upper level haze going on.  And there was some airshow smoke going on as well.  I wasn't having any luck shooting the aircraft with a 1/250 sec shutter speed.  I thought the best opportunity for a good shot would be the top of a vertical climb.  On the plus side, the aircraft is about as slow as it will ever get.  The downside is distance.  For the distance, I was using the 70-300 lens on the D500.  That gives me approximate 450 mm reach.  (I just can't think of lugging around the monster lens, but some day I will!)  At some point during the performance, there was a vertical climb at show center.  I was able to get these two shots, just the top of the climb was reached, and the fall back through the smoke.  The second was after the recovery from the stall and start of controlled flight.  Both nice slow speed, and a touch of luck on my part.

I will guess that the airshow smoke and the slow shutter speed, helped by a three stop ND filter helped to confuse the camera.  And these are the results.

In this shot, I like the light of the smoke.  Mistakes often lead to creativity.  And this is creative for me.  This has a pretty sever crop, any more and I'd have to Gigapixel it.  I usually like my subjects to take up more space, but in the case the smoke is almost as much of the subject.  And the prop blur is just right!  Reminds me of the opening of a John Wayne movie western art.  Definitely on the screen save list.

Falling Pitts

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

450 mm, 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size: DX

3 Stop ND Filter

Shortly after this fall to earth, the aircraft will regain controlled flight.  When this happens, it is still moving relatively slow.  In a series of six shots, this was the best.  Again, prop blur!

Pitts in the Clouds

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

450 mm, 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size: DX

3 Stop ND Filter

I'm planning on returning today, or more for the evening show.  I'd like to catch the F22 Demo show again, can't get enough of the sound.  And I'll stick around for the twi-light show.  And maybe the night show.  I'll travel much lighter, planning on only the D850 and 70-200/f2.8 lens.  I may take a CPL filter just for fun.  But that's all and I'll just have to make it work.  

Daycation - Battle Creek Airshow

After the last 15 to 18 months, everyone has their own criteria as to when 'normalcy' is established.  For some, it never went away.  For others it will never return.  For me, there was at least two days that I have circled.  The first day on the return to normalcy for me was mid-May, which was two weeks after my second shot.  The next day is today.  My first airshow since the Reno Air races in September of 2019.  I'm sure there will be more stages in the return, but today was a big step.

For the airshow side of my brain, I needed to get my ears cleaned out.  The USAF F22 Demo team did that for me today.  I needed my eyes cleared out.  There were colors everywhere.  I needed to see young aviation fans, the next generation.  And I did.

For the photographer side of my brain, happy to be in a target rich environment.  Everything is interesting.  I overpacked for the day.  But who cares?  Great to have the camera bag backpack on my back as I paid for my ticket and got the wristband.  

As this was my first time to Battle Creek, I had no idea what to expect.  This was a carnival with an air show as the main event.  Lots of the carnival rides, carnival food and carnival smells all around.  It was great!  There were a few vendors, but none with airshow flavor.  Their lo$$.

As I overpacked for the day, I also over-thought everything.  My kit was the D500 with the 70-300 and the D850 with the 27-70.  The D850 never made it out of the bag.  There were no real close up opportunities.  The airshow box was a little on the far side out.  I needed all the reach I could get.  As to overthinking, I started with a 3 stop filter to get the props right.  I started at 1/120 second - and had no luck at all.  I moved to 1/200 sec, still no luck.  By the time I removed the filter and set the shutter to 1/500 - I started getting decent shots on a regular basis.  That being aid, one of the best shot I have for the day was with the filter and the effect it gave was very interesting.  Another post.

There is a good chance I'll go back tomorrow.  I'd like to see the F22 again, but there is also a twilight and night airshow.  I think that would be interesting.  For kit, I'll go much lighter.  I'll take the D850 and 70-200.  Might need to crop some, and Gigapixel - but you have to see what it will do.

One of the opening acts was a jet powered sail plane.  It is interesting when a jet engine is put on frames now originally designed for such power.  This sail plane has a PBS TJ-100 jet engine to power it along.  The jet engine itself, comes in at 43 pounds.  Ha, when I worked on jet engines, I had tools that weighed that much.

Anyway, this is a good photo of the sail plane coming in low, with some other spectators in the foreground.  I like the effect.  My first, of hopefully many, air show post in a long time.

Jet Glider

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

270 mm, 1/125 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

3 Stop Filter

Perfect day, upper 70s and a bit of a breeze.  Tomorrow looks to be just as nice.  Will be hard to stay away.

Daycation - Mackinaw City

One of my favorite things to do when I can get some time off from the paying job is driving to Mackinaw City.  235 miles in my cocoon.  One way.  Listen to a good book.

Today's weather was perfect.  Low 70s, slight cool lake breeze.  Truth be told, got a bit of a burn going on as well.  Probably should have donned a hat.  It was good to see the city somewhat recovering.  There are a number of store fronts that didn't make it through the year.  But the people were there today.  Good for a mid-week day.  Lots of ferries taking people back and forth to the island.  Good to see.

One of the attractions to see is the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw.  USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) patrolled the Great Lakes from 1943 to 2006.  Patrolling including ice breaking.  Hull is 4 inches thick steel.  The ship is now a living museum.  I had taken the tour a few years ago.  And I went in today.  Lots of progress in the museum over the years.  Again, good to see.

So I had the D850 matched with the 24-70 lens for my walk around.  Because I was around water I was using a polarizer as well.  And that would come in handy, more later.   

The 290 foot long USCGC Mackinaw:

USCGC Mackinaw

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

70 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 64

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

During the tour, one gets to go through the engine room.  Ah, the smell.  Took me back to the maintenance days before the paying job.  A vacation within a daycation.

Also during the tour, you get to pass by the ships bell.  As an ignorant landlubber, I don't think much of a ship's bell.  But thanks to the Discovery Channel and the like, many are rescued/replaced when a sunk vessel can't be raised.  So at least I can recognize one when I see it.  And I saw the Mackinaw's bell.  It wasn't easy to photograph.  Can't get very close to it.  And the silver was definitely reflecting the sun.  Thankfully, the polarizer seemed to take care of the sun's reflection.  I had to crop this pretty tight due to some unwanted objects close by.

USCGC Mackinaw Ship's Bell

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

70 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 64

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I was a great day to just get out and about.  And I'm happy a lot of people joined me.

Port Huron Video Tests

 The video saga continues.  And with much better results.  I'd been waiting all week for Saturday.

The weather forecast was for storms all over the state.  The decision was to head to Mackinaw City or Port Huron.  Since both location had virtually no chance of nice weather, I went for Port Huron.  Turns out, that worked.

But getting to PH was a journey.  The video journey.  

So far, I've figured out what the GoPro is good for, and not so good for.  Let's start with the positive.  it is set for wide angle.  With a very a small sensor.  And infinity focus.  It has an auto leveling function, where the horizon for the most part is level.  It has a 'smoothing' function where the image is not shaking, such as when the truck is on unimproved surface.  Very handy features.  It will take videos at 5k, but is somewhat limited on other functions.  The not so good side is it is fixed wide angle.  Although there is a 'narrow' mode, it is only less wide angle.  For an action cam this makes sense.  For my interest in videos, not so much.  I want the close up.  That being said, I won't be sending it back.

What really drove home the wide angle elements to me was this clip.  This is from a drive in the Refuge where a Heron flew across the front of the truck.  When it happened, I thought it would be great on the GoPro.  In reality, not so much.  Looked small and far away.

However, the GoPro sparked the interest in videos for me.  There aren't any feature length videos in my plans.  I am, however, looking to 'enhance' some of my photos when I can.  There's more to a F22 demo than afterburners.  With a video clip, there is movement and sound.  Same for the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels.  And if the GoPro won't get me what I want, then maybe the Nikons will.

In my video viewing experience, I know more about what I find in a 'bad' video.  For now, a good video just is.  First on my list of unpleasantries is video jumpiness.  This is not video shakes from being handheld, but action too fast for the video frames.  I my research, I found normal video frame rates are 30 frames per second.  To test this, I shot video of a car passing in front of me at a theoretical 35 mph.  Theoretical in that 35 mph is the speed limit in the sub-division.  At 30 FPS, the images were shaky, not smooth.  What would a jet at 450 mph look like?  The image of a car crossing at 35 mph looks much better at 60 FPS.  The Nikons will handle a 60 FPS at 1080 - and that's good enough for me.  But what does a Nikon video look like?

And that takes us to Port Huron, for video testing.  Nikon video testing.  I had the D500 paired with the 70-300 and the D850 paired with the 24-70.  If I was walking around an airshow, this is my kit for now.  I didn't take a tri or mono pod to PH.  With the prediction of stormy weather, that was one less piece of equipment to deal with.  I'll deal with the next level later.

What did I learn?

First, the Nikon DSLRs have a very bad reputation for video auto focus.  Nikon made great strides in this area with the mirrorless models such as the D780 and the Z line.  But I have what I have.  I'm too late in the game, both age and financial, to switch to mirrorless.  So I need to see what the auto focus is really like.  And I found out.

I will also note, that while showing some of the errors of the day, the errors are mostly my issues.  It's a journey, right?

Left to its own, the AF will come in.  But it would be better if I could start out in focus.  And after experimenting, I could get the start of the videos much closer to an acceptable focus.  Staying with the focus subject, one of the other things I noticed when I reviewed the videos on a larger monitor was the auto focus tracking occasionally would search.  I read that depending on the subject and environment, might be better to go to manual focus., At least now I know why this might be better.  Set it and forget it.  This sequence would have been much better in constant focus.

The D500 with the 70-300 did OK, but stretch out the lens magnified every little 'shake'.  There is software that will help out, but for now the level of video editor I have does not include this option.  And some form of pod would have helped.  But for now, this is annoying!

Most of these issues were with the D500 combo.  With the D850 and a shorter lens the videos were much 'better'.  

You can still see the camera shakes, but here it only feels like a home video, whereas with the wind surfer the shakes were really bad.

The was the next to last video shot with the D850 combo.  It's not bad, looks home video.  But what gets to me is the clear, sharp image.

I like the detail on the water and on both watercrafts wake.

Journey fist steps.  Still have to work on color grading.  But have good test files to work on.

First SNWR Eagle Shots for 2021

The Shaiwassee National Wildlife Reserve Wildlife Drive opened on the first of June this year.  Today was the first day I could get there for this season.  And I had a guest to whom I have said this is the greatest place, ever!  Or in mid-Michigan.  So the pressure was on to deliver some wild life.

For today, this time of year, the critters delivered.  We didn't see great numbers, but there was diversity.

We witnessed two really interesting critter acts.  The first were multiple groups of pelicans moving from an area to someplace else.  All moving a loose form of unison, but more about them later.  The next was an Eagle in a place I've never seen one before.

On the way out of the Refuge, the last half mile of Wilderness Drive usually doesn't have a lot going on.  Just after I made the statement to my guest, she says Hey, there's a bird over there.  And after confirming that the critter on the ground was a bird, I could confirm it was an Eagle.  On the ground, just by a pool of standing water.  Didn't look like it was feasting, but who knows? 

I watched the Eagle for a few minutes.  I could tell it was getting ready to do something other than sit.  And then it transitioned from ground forager to aerial predator.  And all I can think of is don't screw this up.  It was fun to watch, and I didn't screw it up.  So I end up with a series of an Eagles low flight path that ends up going nose up into a tree.

For the initial transition, since the Eagle was not in a tree with altitude to lose to trade for speed, it just went horizontal with about two steps and then low level flight.  I thought the wing action would be fast and chaotic.  Not the case, just fast.  This is the fist shot in the sequence I have with the landing gear up and locked.

Eagle First Flap

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

310 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

If I didn't know that this was a take off event, you could make the argument that the bird was trying to slow down with the wings in a forward position.  But this bird is stretching its wing forward to push itself for more speed.

The Eagle eventually ended up on a branch in a tree.  I thought that was the end of the chase.  Again, I was mistaken.  Although in a tree, somehow the sun found a way to light up the head.  And somehow I didn't miss this one.

Eagle in the Sun

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

500 mm, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 450 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

Aside from the really lucky positioning of the sun, this is really sharp, detailed photo.  Not sure I get the same photo with the D500.  And a mostly unnoticed element, the feet and talons really stand out.  In the takeoff sequence, it happened so fast, I couldn't get the zoom all the way out to 500.  With the Eagle sitting in the tree, I had time to get the zoom right.

So good at the Refuge.  My guest had a good time.  Wonder if this photo will end up in her house sometime?

The GoPro Story

 As early as two years ago I said, mostly to myself, that I'd never go Video.  And yet here we are.

Over the lockdown I became a fan of YouTube.  I went down many rabbit holes, losing up to 12 hours before thinking - maybe I should call it a day.  I learned about heavy vehicle recoveries in Sweden, ocean vessel recoveries all over the world, military aircraft get togethers called Tattoos and running low level flights in Star Wars Canyon and the Mach Loop.  I watched ATV riders in the US and Canada.  I learned neat tricks in Photoshop.  I watched World Cup Rally racing  all over Europe.  It's been wonderful.

Not that I'll ever make YouTube star status, but some elements of video look fun.  For now, I'm continuing on the still photography track.  But, if I can take take an action photo, and put it in context with a, say 5 second background video with sound if necessary, wouldn't that be somewhat 'cool'?  In my head, I see a F22 crossing in front of the crowd, pulling a multi-G nose up maneuver complete with vapor trails off the wing and I have a video of that 5 second move and in the middle I have one, two or three photographs of the moments that count.  And for a kicker, aircraft sound.  All that's missing is the heat on your face and the smell.

There is a lot to do to get here.  I know very little about videos.  I've made a few videos on ATV outings that are on YouTube.  Yes, I have a channel.  (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTaseYKoLNlodYmLqfEAlpA)

You could ask why I don't use the Nikons to shoot video.  Optical lenses vs digital lenses?  Not an argument worth bringing up.  I believe phones are phones, cameras in an emergency.  I believe cameras are cameras.  And as of now, the GP9 is a video device, not a camera.  Go with the strength.

I've had four video cameras, all relatively cheap, up to this point.  Strangely enough, I don't count my phone as a video device - and have not knowingly used the phone for that purpose.  I used some small unit, hand held unit that shot the Thunder on the Mountain videos.  I used a Panasonic unit attached to the front of my ATV for the first Drummond Island videos.  I used a Contour attached to my helmet for a number of ATV rides.  And the last iteration of the video adventure was a Sena Tube.

All were interesting for their time.  And over time the units had their own demise.  Time to move on.

I got the idea to marry video and still from others.  I've seen some awesome captures of low flying military aircraft through the Mach loop.  Google it.  Lottery bucket list.  There are some very creative YouTubers on that circuit.

The learning curve is not that bad.  The student however, another story.  YouTube has been a big help, with GP gurus offering their advice.  I have to be careful because most gurus want to talk to talk about becoming an influencer.  Not where I'm going.  But every video offered something to think about.

So I'm now experimenting with resolutions, frame rates and editing software.  I'm taking Monday off from the paying job, hopefully I'll be able to get out to the nature Refuge and work on my theories with some flying subjects.  At the end of the month I have some time off.  During that time is the Battle Creek Balloon fly in and Air Show.  Lots of airshow acts and....  The F22 Demo Team.  I'll be there at least one day.  And if my normal routine holds, I'll have to go back another day to fix my mistakes.

If any experimenting is worth posting about - it will be here.

And we're back

 And we're back after a short absence.  The reasons are many and uninteresting.  The good news is we're all more free to roam around.  

I have two money sucking hobbies.  The other one is off-road ATV riding.  Over Labor Day weekend, I was able to get out for a few hours.  First ride in almost two years.  There's a lot of pre-work involved to ensure a successful ride - and not to be 'that guy'.  That took some time.  The paying job took its toll as well.  Now that we can move around again, I have to pay attention to that work/life balance thing.

And the new photography angle.  I came into some bonus buck at the paying job and decided to look into the video game.  I spent a lot of time during the lock down watching all sorts of YouTube productions.  Not that I'm looking into gaining YT celebrity status, but it might be interesting to add a new tool to the box.  So I now have a GoPro 9 - and a bunch of accessories.  I have this idea of mounting the GP9 to the camera to get a video/still shot mix.

So Sunday was out and about the area.  I saw the BMX circuit was back in business - and in a big way.  The park was packed.  The goal quickly became to take less, but better photos.  In truth, I took more photos, but on fewer scenes.  Means, I'm going to throw away more.  And I did.  I wound up keeping about 15 shots out of 120 taken.  

The gear for the day was the D500 and 70/200.  

And if you wait long enough, you can get something new.  Or new to me anyway.  Up until now, the leader of the heat coming over the mound gets the best air.  Not this time.  Second racer over had the best air.  One of those shots where you think you saw what you saw and if that's right you hope then you didn't miss the shot.  Some call that process a nightmare.  I call it signature thought process.

Second Place Air

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED

105 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5, ISO 140 (AUTO)

EV 0, MAUNUAL Mode, Size DX

Good day to get out and about.  And a surprise shot.

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.

Heron Snack Time

Another sign spring is on the the way, or in progress.  A Heron on the ground.  There was a single Heron at the Reserve this weekend.  Just standing in the water.  For me, there was a lot going on at the pond.  No offense to the Heron, but I was looking at the Hooded Mergansers most of the time.  But every few minutes or so, I'd look back to see what the Heron was doing.

To be honest, I failed my pre-event checklist before heading out.  I skipped the step of checking my EV.  It was set from the past outing at +1.  Not a killer miss, but it certainly doesn't help.  But that's not the issue here, I caught the mistake earlier.  The shot is light, should have gone with -1 for the day, that is the miss that hurt.  And the angle of the Heron's head is a direct flat reflect from the sun to where I was standing.  Really messed with the camera.  What are the chances?  Reverse luck.  But the total subject works for me.  Yep, this took some time.

Although technically not the best photo ever taken, I try to balance the 'value' of a shot between the technical aspects and the aesthetics.  If it is interesting, it doesn't have to be perfect.  The fish may disagree, but this is interesting.  Not your everyday Heron shot.

Heron with a Snack

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

375 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size: DX

Not being able to fix the clarity issue with the yellow eye keeps this from being a really good shot.  Room for improvement.

I take this as a sign warmer weather is on the way and better times ahead.  But, maybe not for the fish, who did not make it to the next shot.

Tree Sparrow - In Flight shots

On my travels to the Shiawassee Nature Preserve, I would often see these small 'fluorescent' birds moving around very quickly.  Seems I missed every opportunity to get a good shot as no shots were attempted.  I do that a lot.  Part of the journey.  On Saturday's venture to For-Mar, I had a chance to miss more shots of these birds.  Fortunately, I tried a different approach.  Take a shot.  Or two.

I found two of these little birds at the beginning of my hike.  They are hard to miss, even at a distance.  The coloring is pretty unique.  Practicing my best slow approach, I was able to get within ten yards of the tree a pair were sitting in.  I took a number of shots of the pair.  Sometimes they would fly off, never going too far but always returning to the tree.  The short round trip efforts never lasted more than 30 seconds.  Because of these trips, I had multiple attempts at something other than a bird sitting on a branch.

And I needed multiple attempts for an inflight sequence.  I had narrowed my AF down quite a bit, because I was expecting to mostly target stationary subjects, not birds in flight.  For the most part that worked.  And again being a seasoned rookie at this, it never dawned on me to change one setting.  In the field.  One command dial motion.  Yet another lesson.  And the journey continues.  

But there was some success.  If I ever go professional in this field at any level, I'd consider the name Blind Squirrel Photography for my business.  Or the next blog.  Because sometimes you just get lucky.  True, you can increase your chances at a good shot, but for me often it is luck when I get one of these quick action shots.  With aircraft, you know they are coming and at what speed.  Small birds are an entirely different set of skills.  And I count luck right up there.

The first shot is of a stationary subject getting ready for flight.  I'm not kidding anyone here, the bird's movements are so fast none of this beyond the bird's placement was planned.  I hit the shutter release at the time the bird was going to change locations.  Luck.

Tree Swallow Pre-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

525 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I was lucky enough to get a shot of one in flight with some great wing motion.

Tree Swallow In-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

This next shot is a pair of Tree Swallows in flight.  Again, very lucky to get the AF on one of the birds.  Also what gets to me is the bird on the right appears to be looking back at me.  Wonder what is going through that brain.

Tree Swallow Pair In-Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

465 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

It is fun to see these photos turn out.  A lot more interesting in its own way.

Northern Flicker

Life was a lot easier when I didn't appreciate the smaller bird.  Something moves in the bushes, I have to find it.  Some sound comes from above, I have to investigate.  Prefect segue to my introduction to the Northern Flicker.  I was walking around For-Mar, heard some commotion in a tree ahead of me.  Followed the noise to the source.  There was some avian altercation going on that ended with two birds flying off in different directions.  And after the two ruckus participants had moved on, there was movement on the tree limb.  And I waited.  You have to work for it.  And I waited.  There was movement on the branch.  And the sun hit the bird and....

Northern Flicker

NIKON D850 Ver.1.20/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED

200 mm, 1/800 sec, f/3.5, ISO 125 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

For me, there is a lot going on.  First, it has been some time since I used a polarizer.  usually, using a CPL will deepen my sky blues.  It is supposed to also help with contrasts.  Without a non-CPL shot to compare to it is tough to know what is or what isn't.  Under the category of what is, to me this is one of the technically better shots I've done.  The D850 and the 2.8 lens are turning out to be an awesome combo.  There is a pretty aggressive crop going on.  Still looks like full frame image.  The wood in the tree has a lot going on as well.  I did lighten the shadow of the perch a bit, trying to remember it is a shadow.  As to the subject, I've never seen anything like that pattern.  When I was looking on-line for what it was, one identifying mark was red on the back of the neck.  Tough to see from this angle, but if you look close enough the red is there.  I didn't see any of this until I looked at the photograph.

Hooded Merganser, Right?

Spring 2021 is getting here.  Rain instead of snow.  A warmer cold instead of a colder cold.  For sure, I'll take anything at this point.  Feels like a super long winter.  Like all of 2020 was winter.  Today was nice sunshine in mid-Michigan, very little wind.  On the ground was a lot of standing water.  The rainfall over the past 24 hours had no where to go.  When walking, you can still feel the frozen ground layer less than an inch below the surface.  No mono-pod work today.  On the positive side, my boots from the last two weekend hikes were cleaned.  Important stuff.  The boots can come inside the house now, the banishment to the garage being lifted.

Along with the nice sunshine that greeted me at For-Mar, noise filled the air.  Sure a lot of the noise was the Canadians (Geese), but others in the park were clearing their throats as well.  I was expecting a good day.  Something more than the Canadian Geese and squirrels.  And with any luck, by the end of the day I'll have to look up the name of a new to me bird.

The primary unit today was the D850/70-200 , backed up by the D500/200-500.  Over the winter I had purchased CPLs for the new lenses.  I wanted to try them out and there was certainly enough sunlight to drive the CPL on the 70-200 today.  Not sure if I will get one for the 200-500 as it is pretty expensive, but we'll see what the difference was to day between the two sets of photos.  With that said. the best shots for the day were from the secondary unit.  That big lens trumps just about everything when looking for small birds.  Other 'improvements' for the day.  Go with a slower shutter speed.  I didn't need to be close to 1/2000.  I should be shooting in that area for the 2X focal length rule, somewhere around 1/1500th.  Trying to dial it back a bit so I don't have to rely on software as much to clean up the shot.  My targets for the day were going to be pretty much stationary birds, not much speed needed there.

One of the new birds for me today was a pair of Hooded Mergansers.  A male and female pair.  You would be correct is stating that I couldn't describe this bird 24 hours ago.  Truth is, I've seen other photos of these birds before.  Still didn't know the name.  And I've read that they are all over Michigan.  So today when I was walking around one of the ponds, I saw something small on the water.  When I focused in, it turned into the good news/bad news scenario.  Good news, I see one of these birds on the water.   Bad news - don't screw up the photos.  No pressure.

Hooded Merganser

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, F/5.6, ISO 500 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Those colors are fantastic.  Black, White, Gold eye with black dot.  Copper/gray.  Wow.  Add a little water reflection.  

Pair of Hooded Mergansers

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

750 mm, 1/1250 sec, F/5.6, ISO 720 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Very cool to know where to find these.  There was another pair on the pond at the same time.  Something to look for next time out.

Broadwing Hawk Re-Do

Call it Throw Back Thursday.  One of my favorite bird shots came up as a screen background last night on the home PC.  As I looked at it, I started to think I could re do this photo a bit better these days.  And an afternoon project was born.

I am far from a Hawk expert.  I scoured lots of web photos to come up with this is a 'Broadwing' Hawk.  And I looked for help from other websites such as the page that lists what birds were seen at the Refuge for the day, or recently, as reported by much more expert birders.  So if someone says this isn't a BWH, I counter with the photo is good enough that you can tell and I really did try to identify it correctly.

The photo comes from September of 2018.  I was hiking the Nature Refuge with the D7200 and 70-300 lens.  I came across a veteran birder at the Grefe Tower observation deck.  He instantly recognized me as a person who could only ruin his day if I was allowed to roam freely.  Thankfully he did not carry a stun gun that day.  But as a nice member of the birder community, he motioned me to be quiet, and to come up on the tower.  (The tower is about four feet off the ground.)  He motioned for me to look over the far end of the tower deck, look over past the road and in the trees.  Looking back at me like I was a freshly fried donut was this BWH.  It was relatively far away at probably 20 to 30 yards.  The original shot frame is this:

For me to get this shot I had to extend the lens to its full reach.  And shoot with a reduced sensor size.  It's a physics thing.  Anyway, this is an effective lens angle, or reach, of 600 mm.  If I remember right, I braced myself on one of the tower rails for the shot.  The BWH did its part by just sitting still, even when a car passed within six feet below it, it just sat still.  (I bet the car occupants didn't even see the bird.  Rookies.)  Other photo information, 1/800th sec, f/5.6, ISO 640.

When this showed as the background on the monitor last night, I thought with some improved processing techniques and newer software I might be able to improve on this result.  This is the image from the original post in January of 2019: Eyes on Eyes

This was from a time when I was framing the finished shots with a black and white border.  I have since gone borderless.  The eye in the shadow always bothered me as well.  I have since improved on my shadow work.   The 'improved' shot.

I didn't boost any of the colors as much in the re do shot.  I could be talked into maybe giving it more of a vibrant look, but I seem to be going in a more realistic look phase.  The improvement of shadowed eye is reason alone to delete the original photo.  The bird's feet and tail also improved with more definition.  The overall definition or sharpness improved a bit.  In the end, the dampening of the eye shadow is the difference until you get into the pixel peeping.  I did use Gigapixel to help out, I think it is worth the time.

Lazy Sparrow Shot

It's Friday.  It's after work.  Can't get more lazy than that.  The sun is out - and although not summer warm, it is coming out of winter warm.

We have a homemade birdhouse in front of the house, close to my office window.  The house is untreated wood and it shows.  It has been weathered by at least 10 Michigan outdoor years.  Wood grains and colors are awesome.  Can't buy it in a store.

Over the years, the house has been home to a new Sparrow family every spring.  From the house I can watch the cycle of the birds freshening up the nest with new organic material, starting the family and then moving out, all in the space of a few months.  I never got it as a kid how all this could be interesting.  But now, we'll always have a bird house or many around.

So I have the cameras out this afternoon, getting prepped for a small outing tomorrow.  I've been working a lot with the D850, now how to bring out the D500.  Tomorrow's nature hike in a county park that will be new to me will have the D500 and the 70-300 lens as the primary unit.  I'll take the D850 and monster lens in the car for backup or opportunity.  (Frankly, I'm learning that unit is heavy to lug around!)

Back to today, and the sunlight hitting a Sparrow on the birdhouse in front of the house.  It's not exotic.  It's not exciting.  But it is a sign, spring is on the way.  The term lazy in the title does not refer to the Sparrow.  It refers to me being lazy in the effort to obtain this shot.   Slightly more than mailing it in.

Lazy Sparrow Shot

NIKON D500 Ver.1.30/NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED)

300 mm, 1/2000 sec, f/3.5, ISO 160 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Looking forward to tomorrow's hike.  Maybe a bit warmer, and just as many no clouds.