AT Shot of the Day Thread

[Crotulus]

A couple shots of the Pacific from Torrey Pines State Reserve. A nice little Mothers Day outing with my wife and the girls.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

My buddy's band played a show at a local skate park...

 

[zCypher]

That first skateboard one is awesome Cerpin, great!!

I haven't taken many pics lately and the weather finally started to get nice, so I wandered around a bit. I didn't really see much, but as usual the 105 is just a joy to shoot with. Here are a few from this afternoon:

 

[Red Squirrel]

Had a pretty awesome sunset today. I kinda cheated as some of these are altered slightly. (colors/exposure etc)

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

That first skateboard one is awesome Cerpin

Thanks! I really dig those macro shots. I had a chance to get the old AF-D 105mm macro from a guy, but I passed it up. He had 3 lenses and I only had enough $ to buy 2. I opted for the 24mm/2.8 that I'm already looking to replace. Kinda kicking myself for not getting the 105.

 

[zCypher]

Thanks! I really dig those macro shots. I had a chance to get the old AF-D 105mm macro from a guy, but I passed it up. He had 3 lenses and I only had enough $ to buy 2. I opted for the 24mm/2.8 that I'm already looking to replace. Kinda kicking myself for not getting the 105.

Thanks! Why are you looking to replace the 24 2.8, and is that on a full or crop body? The 105 has been such a satisfying lens to shoot with that it has changed my view on primes. I was initially opposed mostly on the basis of my epic laziness, but I now have the 35mm f/1.4 sigma "ART" on the way and I cannot wait! I suspect it will be the only lens I use for a while, and like the 105, it will carry over when I finally make the upgrade to full frame.

@Red Squirrel: nice pics, but I just have to say that editing is really not cheating at all. Most pics can benefit from basic edits, and there usually isn't any compelling reason not to do it. There are times where there's little to nothing to change, sure - but more often than not, there can be a lot to be gained just in slight changes to exposure, white balance, contrast, clarity, whites/blacks/shadows/highlights/colour tones and such which can add up to making or breaking the shot! You'd really have to be a hater to take up much issue with some basic post cleanup

 

[CuriousMike]

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Thanks! Why are you looking to replace the 24 2.8, and is that on a full or crop body?

See my other thread on this forum for a full explanation, but in short I went to full frame and found myself lacking for glass on the wide end. My 35-70/2.8 is a great mid-range lens, but I wanted the 24mm for something wider, and frankly it's still not wide enough for me. The Tokina 11-16mm kinda spoiled me on my crop sensor.

The 35-70/2.8 actually has a macro option at 35mm only, which is kinda weird but kinda cool, too:

The 105 has been such a satisfying lens to shoot with that it has changed my view on primes. I was initially opposed mostly on the basis of my epic laziness, but I now have the 35mm f/1.4 sigma "ART" on the way and I cannot wait! I suspect it will be the only lens I use for a while, and like the 105, it will carry over when I finally make the upgrade to full frame.

Fast primes are awesome, for sure. I got no complaints about the 24mm/2.8 from a quality standpoint. I just want to go wider. I love my 50/1.8. I'm sure you'll love that sigma.

I'd also like a zoomier macro lens. The 105 is a fine specimen, but I've also lusted after the Nikon 105/2.0 DC forever for a portrait lens so Idk what to do there. I just want all the lenses, basically.

 

[Spoooon]

Been messing around with IR lately, Lifepixel converted NEX7:

 

[Ajay]

Thanks @CuriousMike - needed a new desktop background

 

[Will Thatcher]

Mountainside - looks like it is out of this world!

 

[zCypher]

 

[Will Thatcher]

Hi,
I can't even imagine how you shot the last photo with the cat's eye, which is amazing! I am an intermediate level when it comes to photography, but when looking to these pictures on this thread I fell inspired to strive for more. So, can you please let me know what objective you used to take this picture and the camera as well? I am thinking of getting a DSLR but I don't know which I should start with! Also, what objective should be the best option and investment at this time, I can afford around $1000 at this time for all. Any advice?
Thank you all in advance, amazing pictures!!

 

[zCypher]

Thanks Will Thatcher, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos! She is my cat, so waiting for the right moment was not too bad. These were shot with the Nikon D5200 camera and 105mm macro lens. If you're looking to get a DSLR but not too sure about where you're going with photography yet, I would highly recommend looking for deals on refurbished entry or mid level kits like the Canon Rebel series or Nikon D3xxx and D5xxx series. They are usually bundled with an 18-55mm kit lens which is an excellent value to get started. You can expect to find refurb kits in the $300-400 range usually. Otherwise if you're buying new, you're looking at more like $600-$800.

If I was just starting out and looking at a new DSLR today, with a budget of $1000 or less, I would probably be taking a close look at the Nikon D5500 / D5600.

 

[zCypher]

Sorry for all the cat spam, but the Sigma arrived early and I got excited, haha

 

[CuriousMike]

This year I went back to Yosemite for another try at "Milky Way over the valley" - instead of Glacier Point (2016), I tried Tunnel View (2017)

 

[corkyg]

Great pic - added it tomy Yosemite collection.

 

[zCypher]

beautiful turnout for that night shot CuriousMike! Did you do any stacking or is that a single exposure? Looks really clean! It looks pretty sharp to my eyes throughout the frame, and I can see in the EXIF that you shot this at f/1.8. Really nice.

 

[CuriousMike]

Single exposure - as you noted, f/1.8, 20 seconds at ISO 3200 on the D610.
It is a vertical pano of 6 images with a modest amount of overlap. I'm not super happy with the noise and I didn't do a longer exposure of foreground to blend with background like I wanted to do. Next year.

beautiful turnout for that night shot CuriousMike! Did you do any stacking or is that a single exposure? Looks really clean! It looks pretty sharp to my eyes throughout the frame, and I can see in the EXIF that you shot this at f/1.8. Really nice.

As a comparison, the following was shot with my Fuji - 15 seconds, ISO 12800, f/2
This is a pano of 3 (horizontal) images. The Fuji 23mm f/2 seemingly has much less light gathering than the Rokinon 24 f/1.4 on my Nikon at f1/.8, hence the astronomical(!) ISO.

 

[zCypher]

That one's nice too, which Fuji body is that on? I'm used to a crop body (D5200) so maybe that's why I didn't find the noise in yours to be that bad, but I see what you're saying now looking at both of them side by side. I'm anxious to put my new sigma 1.4 to the test for stars. I don't expect miraculous results, it being a little long for that on this body (52mm equivalent), but i'm still excited to see how it goes.

 

[corkyg]

Just curious as to time of day - both are looking East through the tunnel, and the horizon shows the first traces of dawn. The single looks more natural than the stacked IMHO. Both great!

 

[CuriousMike]

The Fuji X-T20.
I had a D5200 and did some astro work with it - the f/1.4 will work great. Keep your exposure at 10 seconds (500/52 - 10 seconds).
One of my favorite astro photos I took (https://www.flickr.com/photos/coustier/26777358434/in/dateposted-ff/) was with the 50mm f/1.8, again, stitching 4 vertical images.

I've said that a few times: I do pano stitching on many of these images - 24mm isn't wide enough to get the entire Milky Way when it's horizontal (Mar->June in North America.)

That one's nice too, which Fuji body is that on? I'm used to a crop body (D5200) so maybe that's why I didn't find the noise in yours to be that bad, but I see what you're saying now looking at both of them side by side. I'm anxious to put my new sigma 1.4 to the test for stars. I don't expect miraculous results, it being a little long for that on this body (52mm equivalent), but i'm still excited to see how it goes.

 

[CuriousMike]

I used a wrong word - the Fuji is not stacked - it's just three horizontal images pano'd together.

Both images are taken somewhere between 11:45pm and about 12:30 a.m.

The valley had a tremendous amount of light - Tunnel View had continuous car traffic into the midnight hour.

I now hate mirrorless cameras with a passion - or, their users. There was 6-8 people with mirrorless, crammed up next to me who refused to use their EVF and instead used their LCD for everything, spilling even more light pollution and making it truly impossible for your eyes to ever adjust to the (lack of) dark.

Just curious as to time of day - both are looking East through the tunnel, and the horizon shows the first traces of dawn. The single looks more natural than the stacked IMHO. Both great!

 

[zCypher]

Cool, thanks for the tips. Hoping the tripod should arrive today or tomorrow so I can take it out to the nearby dark sky preserve at Elk Island National Park!

 

[CuriousMike]

Cool, thanks for the tips. Hoping the tripod should arrive today or tomorrow so I can take it out to the nearby dark sky preserve at Elk Island National Park!

I'm not sure if you've done astrophotography before - I see you have a D5200. The hard part is focusing.
I did an amateur (duh) video on the basics of focusing last year - it is very germane to the D5200 ( I helped a guy Friday with a D5300 - same deal.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocfzCBuwZjs