Triptych - Youth and Humor

Youth and Humor

Nikon Df, Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-S Lens

 

 

I accompanied my friend, Charles Arnhold, to one of his regular haunts this weekend. Charlie is doing a project on the place, Cafe Amouri, in Vienna, Virginia. (Click Here) to check out the cafe's website. Great coffee.

 

These are Charlie's friends, Anna and Jayna, having a little fun on the sidelines.

 

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Mixing Digital and Film - Melissa Wright's Tribute to Patsy Cline

Some of my good friends, Melissa Wright, Danny Zezeski, Rudy B., Dwayne Brooke, and Evan (a new acquaintance) put on an amazing tribute to Patsy Cline a couple of weeks back. I shot my Nikon Df (digital) and FM (film). I had my AIS 50mm f1.2 lens on the FM, and loaded it up with Ilford Delta 3200 film. I also processed the digital images with settings to emulate the Delta 3200 look.

 

Here's a film shot:

 

That's what an f1.2 lens is for...

 

And here's an example of a digital example:

 

(Click Here) to see the whole set.

 

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Georgetown (less cynical)

Georgetown Street Scene, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 35-70mm f2.8 AF-D at 70mm

iso 400, f5.6, 1/500 sec.

 

Shot through open passenger window while stopped in traffic.

 

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"Sightseeing"

"Sightseeing"at the Lincoln Memorial, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 35-70mm f2.8 AF-D at 40mm

iso 400, f5.6, 1/800 sec.

 

 

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Snowy President's Day in Virginia

 

 

Valentine Flowers in Snow

Nikon Df, Carl Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Milvus Lens

iso 800, f5.6, 1/250 sec.

 

I have the great fortune of trying out two of the Zeiss Milvus lenses, the 85mm and 50mm f1.4, on loan. They are absolutely gorgeous.

 

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Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Holidays! Hope everyone has a nice end of 2015 and wonderful 2016!

 

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Digital Panorama with Nikon Df - Korean War Memorial, Washington, DC

I've been working on my technique for shooting digital panoramas. Today I shot this one, at the Korean War Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC. I shot it with my Nikon Df, Nikkor 35-70mm f2.8 AF lens at 44mm, f/11. I found the approximate nodal point (ideal point of rotation for panoramic images) by using my gimbal head, usually reserved for the big telephotos. That worked quite well.

 

I am searching for a viewer to allow my blog readers to see it up close and scroll around - the detail in this huge image is amazing.

 

Just for fun, I printed it on my Epson P600 printer with roll paper. In order to get the height to 12 inches, the length of the print is nearly 10 feet! It is really cool to see on paper. I can't do that everyday. The cost of this one print was probably ridiculous. I think it was about $20 in paper, many times that in ink cost.

 

 

If you click on the image, it should take you to flicker, where you can see it bigger.

 

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Upgrade of my Nikkor 85mm f1.8 Lens

I have had a Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D lens for several years. Here's a shot I made with it some time ago.

 

Made with Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-D Lens][

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Not bad, right? The sharpness is not to be argued with. However, this is one of the few times that I've been unpleased with the "bokeh," or out of focus rendering characteristics of a lens. I don't like how the bright spots in the background are so regular and repeatable.

 

I recently decided to upgrade this lens, sending the AF-D off to KEH for a reasonable purchase price, and buying the newer Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-S G lens, refurbished by Nikon, for about $150 total cost (after selling the AF-D). I was not sure about this trade, especially since I am not a fan of G lenses overall. Their lack of an aperture ring makes them useless on my Nikon film cameras. But, the AF-S lens just hums on my Nikon Df (and the D810 for that matter).

 

Here's a sample shot from the new lens:

Made with Nikkor 85mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

 

As you can see, the new lens has no trouble with sharpness, either. And, at least in this example, the bokeh is lovely. I have to gain more experience with this new lens, but it looks very good at this point.

 

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That's Old Time

Banjo Player with Pokey LaFarge, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 180mm f2.8 AF Lens

iso 1100, f2.8, 1/250 sec.

 

This guy has a very classic look. Easy to photograph.

 

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Watching the Lanterns Lift Off

 

At the Watermelon Park Festival this last weekend, I got to spend some time with friends I haven't seen in a while. In this scene, as we sat around the campfire, my friend Rudy B and his lovely girlfriend Sarah watched as a group of people constructed, lit, and set free some Chinese Lanterns. They flew up and up, finally disappearing into the clouds of the night sky.

 

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Nikon D810 and Df - The Best Combination Available Today?

Well, I've been thoroughly enjoying my Nikon Df for some time now. The low light capabilities of this camera are spectacular.

 

I've recently purchased a Nikon D810, specifically to take advantage of the increased resolution (36 megapixels) for nature photography. Mounted on my Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR G lens, the D810 should allow me more freedom in cropping, which is always useful in wildlife photography, especially with active species like birds.

 

I've only had my D810 out a couple of times so far. One was this morning, shooting birds on a kayak outing. Here's a tightly-cropped shot of a swallow hitting the water surface.

And here's a 100% blow-up (cropped even more).

What I've found so far is that while the D810 does allow significant cropping, it doesn't handle high iso noise nearly as well as the Df. Of course, that's well-known in the Nikon crowd, and makes perfect sense, given the much higher number of pixels crammed into the same sensor real estate as the Df. The shots above were made at iso 1600, and noise is quite visible on my screen, looking at the images in Lightroom.

 

Here's a snapshot of DxO Lab's comparison of the two cameras:

 

Image Source: http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Nikon-Df-versus-Nikon-D810___925_963

 

As you can see, the D810 wins in overall score, color depth, and dynamic range. But, it performs significantly worse in low light (high iso). Again, no new information here, but it's helping me to form my opinion of this pair of cameras and how best to use them.

 

Basically, the D810 will fill my need for high resolution and cropping ability when shooting wildlife in good light. Or anything else in good light, for that matter. The Df will remain my go-to camera for more challenging lighting situations, and when cropping is not as necessary.

 

So, I think that for me, yes, this is the best combination of Nikon bodies available today.

 

I have to get the D810 out in the field again, and shoot at lower iso settings. I'm sure that's going to really impress me.

 

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More From Jammin' Java - Jamie Lin Wilson

Yesterday, I posted some pictures of Scott Miller's show at Jammin' Java. Here are some additional images from the same night, of Jamie Lin Wilson, who opened the show.

 

I really enjoyed Jamie's music, especially a song from her new album "Holidays and Wedding Rings." It's called "You Left My Chair," and is about an abandoned house, with only an old chair left on the porch. The house really exists, and Jamie said that she photographed it, which inspired the song. I'd love to see that photograph.

 

(Click Here) to check out Jamie Lin Wilson's website.

 

All of these shots were made with the Nikon Df.

 

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Live Music Concert- Scott Miller at Jammin' Java - Shot With the Nikon Df

Last Sunday (July 19, 2015), I went to a live music show at one of my favorite venues, Jammin' Java, in Vienna. (Click Here) to check out Jammin' Java. They have a very full schedule of interesting shows. Most importantly for this evening, Jammin' Java is indoors. It was still in the 90s and very humid outside, even after sunset.

 

 

Scott is a very interesting guy - professional musician and Virginia cattle farmer. (Click Here) to check out his website.

 

Once again, my Nikon Df is the master of darkness. Shooting with my favorite prime lenses (28mm f1.8 AF-S, 50mm f1.4 AF-D, and 85mm f1.8 AF-D), I was able to shoot at either 1/125 or 1/250 of a second and still have enough depth of field to be useful. This meant iso values of 3200 or even 6400 - no problem at all for the Df. I love this camera.

 

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Freaky Dolls at The Gilded Flea

My friend Dwayne Brooke, guitarist and creative genius, owns a fun antique shop in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, called The Gilded Flea. (Click Here) to check them out.

 

I recently stopped in, while my Mom was in town. Of course, Mom found some treasures. But what intrigued me were these two uber-creepy dolls.

 

Cracked, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 400, f1.2, 1/60 sec.

 

Mom tells me the doll below has "sleep eyes." I'd say it looks more like out of body experience or possessed eyes, but that's just me.

 

Sleep Eyes, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 400, f1.2, 1/60 sec.

 

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Farm Cats

My Mom recently visited me, and we went to Antietam National Battlefield for some sightseeing. While we were there, we met these farm kitties.

 

Farm Cats, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor Pre-AI 55mm f1.2 Lens

iso 160, f4, 1/60sec

 

I love the cat looking out from under the barn at right.

 

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Lens Comparison: Nikon Nikkor 55mm f1.2 Non-AI Versus 50mm f1.2 AIS

Not long ago, I purchased a near-mint Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens from my friend. This super-speed manual focus lens is still made by Nikon, and is simply beautiful. I've posted a few shots from it. (Click Here) to see some photos I made with it in the darkness, during a fire.

 

Well, for no reason other than curiosity, I just bought a much older (1970s vintage) Nikkor 55mm f1.2 Pre-AI lens. With the older lens at about half the cost of the AIS lens, I was very interested to see how the two compare. So, I mounted the 55mm lens on my Nikon Df, set the iso to 160, and began to shoot from a tripod. I shot at f1.2, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, and 8. You can click on any of the following images to see them full size on flickr.

 

Here's what the whole scene looked like (top row: 55mm f1.2 Non-AI, bottom row: 50mm f1.2 AIS):

(Click Here) to go to the full flickr set, where you can get a much better idea of how these lenses compare. Be sure to look at how the vignetting decreases on both lenses as I stop down, look at the focus points (the flowers), out of focus areas (like the lemon painting on the wall at right), and how out of focus highlights are rendered. Here are a couple of selected comparisions, at f1.2 and f4:

f1.2, 55mm Non-AI on Top, 50mm AIS on Bottom

f4, 55mm Non-AI on Top, 50mm AIS on Bottom

 

I need to look at these more closely, but immediately conclude that the sharpness doesn't differ much at all. I also see that the 55mm lens seems to let less light in at the same f-stop as the 50mm lens. This could be do to the more modern coatings on the 50mm AIS lens.

 

If you're interested in these super-fast Nikkor lenses and their history, (Click Here) to read more on Nikon's website. Great information!

 

I plan to enjoy both of these lenses. The non-AI lens will be fun to put on a matching-age Nikon F2 and shoot some film with.

 

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River and Roots Festival - Great for Kids of All Ages!

I love music festivals. But, size matters. The huge ones can be a bit much. My two favorite festivals, ever, are held every year at the same place - Watermelon Park in Berryville, VA.

 

River and Roots Fun, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 1000, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

The Watermelon Park Fest, held every September, is the larger of the two. (Click Here) to read more about it.

 

I made the photo above at the River and Roots Festival in June, also held at Watermelon Park. This one's smaller, but so much fun. Large enough to attract major acts (the headliner this year was David "Dawg" Grisman), R&R is small enough that there's no stress or hurry to be anywhere. Wonderful. This year, I only made it out for the first day of the festival, going home in time to miss the deluge of rain, yet also missing Dawg and many other great musical performances.

I shot with my Nikon Df, and enjoyed trying out my new 28mm f1.8 AF-S lens. In the shot above, it allowed me to capture enough of the scene to share how it felt, but still shows the emotion and wonder on the little girl's face. I had to get pretty close to pull this off, but not uncomfortably so.

 

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Ice Cream, Anyone?

 

Ice Cream, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 500, f2, 1/125 sec.

 

I shot this at a recent live music festival. My new, latest-technology Nikkor 28mm lens is pretty nice. At f2, focused on the ice cream cone, and this close to my subject, the nice lady serving me is slightly out of focus. Honestly, my attention was fully on the ice cream, and that's where the emphasis is in the picture.

 

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Summer Leaves

There's something about trees. They have this incredible range of dimension, from the microscopic detail of leaf structure, to the sometimes impressively large structure of the trunk and root system. There's a lot going on inside this one living organism, and even more just outside.

 

Photographers, including me, love to shoot the autumn leaves. I found this tree, which happens to be at its peak summer health, equally interesting

 

Summer Leaves, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 28mm f1.8 AF-S G Lens

iso 3200, f5.6, 1/125 sec.

 

I spot metered a point on the gray tree bark to get this exposure. Of course, that meant blowing out the highlights in the white sky around the leaves, but that's okay.

 

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Fire! At the Leesburg Car Show

Yesterday, I posted some images I took after dark at the car show in Leesburg, Virginia. Just as we were leaving, one of the business buildings in town caught fire. More emergency vehicles than I knew existed in the area converged for the fun. Here are some images I made of the event, using my Nikon Df and Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens.

 

This is my favorite shot of the event. I love how sharp the firefighter's face is, the police car and fire truck in the foreground, and the burning building and ladder crew in the background. This one deserves a nice print.

 

Here are some other images I made in the few minutes we hung around.

 

 

My understanding is that luckily no one was injured in this fire. I feel fortunate to have had the Df and f1.2 lens with me; there wasn't much light to work with. I hope these images tell the story well!

 

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