[aspidites]

Input for #3 please –

http://photos.imageevent.com/ulle17/fark/Spilt-Milk_4585.jpg
From years ago for the “sayings” theme. Obviously, “Don’t cry over spilt milk”

or

http://photos.imageevent.com/ulle17/fark/Low-Key_9505s.jpg
Feeling…ummm…good?

I like the lighting on the second one, but I like the spilt milk one better. JMO

[aspidites]

Some weeks I look at the pics in front of mine and think to myself, “Geez. Mine is as good as that one.” Not this week. There were so many good entries and Aspidites certainly deserve to lead the pack.

Asp‘ – do you have really good long lenses or good technique or what?… Those eagles just POP. I swear that they look like you used a flash.

Thanks U-Man

I used a 70-200 f2.8 on the eagle shots they were taken with a focal length of 135 both manual metered at 1/250, f5.0 for one the other was f8.0 both of them were taken around 19:30. The sun was to my back so no flash was needed. I use a tripod for everything I shoot. I have changed some of the settings on my camera, I have changed my focus button from the shutter release to the * on the back of the camera. This helps keep the focus locked on a moving target. Once you have your focus locked on you just hold the * down while you fire the shutter.

[aspidites]

Congrats to aspidities this week–a very well deserved win!

Thanks 😀

It’s been a pretty good week.

1st time I got above 3rd place here.

This photo made it to the finalist on BetterPhoto

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetail.asp?photoID=12110178

and I got a deal with a greeting card company, they are interested in 8 pictures so far and they are useing this one in their fall line up.

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetail.asp?photoID=689571

😀 😀

[aspidites]

aspidites, your work is amazing. I dread seeing what you’re going to come up with for “Wild Things.” Actually, I don’t dread seeing them, just going up against them in the contest. 🙂

I think if you had’ve entered that second eagle B-side (_X0U7896Eagle.jpg), you very likely could’ve been looking at tied #1’s.

You mentioned shooting for a calendar – is photography your career?

Holy crap, that’s an amazing photo aspidites. Yeah, you’d be taking the top 3 if you had entered it.

I wanted to put a heron shot in there. Heron flight shots are much harder to get than eagle filght shots.

Herons fishing are easy to get,

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/DuplicateImage2bp.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/_I6R3213_Herron_Fish-1.jpg

but since they don’t have the white and black contrast that an egale has it is more difficult to get a focus lock on them and because of their body shape (small head, long thin neck, and huge wingspan) you have to use a lower apeture (f8…f11 range) to get the depth of field to keep the bird sharp. So if you don’t have perfect light you end up with big blue blurry bird.

I didn’t figure it would do as well as the eagles, but that’s ok with me.

[aspidites]

aspidites, your work is amazing. I dread seeing what you’re going to come up with for “Wild Things.” Actually, I don’t dread seeing them, just going up against them in the contest. 🙂

I think if you had’ve entered that second eagle B-side (_X0U7896Eagle.jpg), you very likely could’ve been looking at tied #1’s.

You mentioned shooting for a calendar – is photography your career?

Thanks CauseISaidSo and Pope_Larry_II

Nope it isn’t my career, just a hobby that luckily is paying for itself now. I work as a computer software developer full time.

I was working with 2 Nikon contracted photographers on a part time basis for their workshops in the Smokie Mountains. I went to Yellowstone in the winter and I got to photograph a tiger on an abandoned airfield in Minnesota with them.

I have recieved contracts from people that have seen my pics on BetterPhoto.com. That was how I got the calendar job. A VP from Nationwide Insurance saw them and contacted me to do 2 calendars wildlife and scenic and wanted to know if I could come up with 26 pictures for them. Funny thing is I was working for Nationwide as a programmer at the time. That turned into 2 calendars for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. That contract paid for better camera equipment, trips to Alaska for the eagles, Canada for polar bears, and lots of trips to get landscapes. I put 14,000 miles on my car in 2005 just for photography trips. I was on Fark then but didn’t have a lot of time to participate.

Sorry for the long winded response 🙂

[aspidites]

There really are many jaw-dropping photos this week. Those eagle and osprey photos are stunning.

Thanks iwanttoeatyourchildren

There are a bunch of very good pictures this week.

I took the eagles at Homer Alaska in March 2005. I needed some eagle shots for a calendar I was working on. The main lens I used was a 70 – 200 f2.8, sometimes with a 1.4 extender. There was just so many eagles in one place. I had never seen anything like it. I shot from the eagle lady’s trailer one morning and I quit counting when I got to 200 and more were coming in.

These are some of the others I was looking at for this one.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/DSC_1035_Wing_Walker.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/_X0U7896Eagle.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/_I6R6190Herron-1.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/_X0U4705Eagle-1.jpg
http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/102_I6R9588-1.jpg%5B/quote%5D

[aspidites]

so if i park outside Kessler AFB and take pictures of the planes it should be ok, right?

Depends on if you are photographing on public or private land.

I would probably contact the Public Affairs Visual Information Manager
listed on this page

http://www.keesler.af.mil/units/multimediapage/index.asp

to see what their policy is for civilians photographing on or near military installations.

[aspidites]

Congrats U-Man and ravnostic!

[aspidites]

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/Homer_Eagles_Panorama.jpg

On the other hand, none of these birds are airborne…

Great picture–but IMO, while I wouldn’t exclude backgrounds, I’d want the subject that draws the interest to be airborne. Damn the Engrish langoo-edge.

I wasn’t suggesting that as a submision. It was stitche together from 3 pictures and none of them are airborne. That was just what I started the day off with. It was a good day.

This one is airborne.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/_X0U3974.jpg

[aspidites]

Woohoo, I have internet again! In time to answer a question it seems, too. When I was thinking “airborne” I was thinking particular objects – not cloudscapes. I don’t think it really fits in with the theme here (though, technically, it could). Let’s try to stick to no clouds, no stars, no sun, no moon, etc.

I was thinking along the lines of ‘off-ground objects within the earth’s atmosphere, but also excluding those things a part of earth’s atmosphere.’

Eliminates astrophoto-centric stuff, plus the clouds/lightning/rays-of-sunshine-etc. that people might be compelled to enter.

The hardest part of many themes is that the idea behind them is clear, to us frequent viewers, but how to word it concisely for the non-forum venued poster, not-so-much.

This is pretty much what I was thinking from the beginning. I’m worried a stipulation of “no natural phenomena” would have people questioning whether a flock of birds is considered a phenomena.

What a small flock of birds might look like.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Pictures/Homer_Eagles_Panorama.jpg

[aspidites]

I would agree that clouds fit the current definition but would vote that it’s tweaked to exclude them so we don’t wind up with a repeat of Cloudscapes from May. Perhaps by saying that the “something” airborne should be artificial. I’m good either way, that’s just my two cents.

So that would mean birds are out?

[aspidites]

Technically, also, the rescuees are holding down the chopper. But I think the chopper probably won. 😀

Thanks for the info. I can’t submit this picture anyway because I’m one of the guys holding down the huey, but I have others that I have taken. All I have to do is find the slides they are on.

It was a demo for some new officers on fast extractions. I wouldn’t really consider us recuees. We had completed our mission and were taking part in a fast extraction. hmmm now that I read that back, I guess you could say we were rescuees.

[aspidites]

Elsinore wrote:

Flying, gliding, falling, or throwing – show something airborne. Difficulty: no holding things up with string (holding them down is fine).

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/DSC_0931.jpg

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/Scan1695.jpg

Would these be considered being held up with strings?

[aspidites]

Bees:

Summertime means:
Playing with the big-boy toys http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/3358826723/
Spongeriding http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/3862360600/
Girls on Rollercoasters http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/4869963844/
Making fun of leftover winter signs http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/5976703503
Moar Kudzu http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/6050174215
Moar big biy toys http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/6050745740/
Yellow Spiders http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/6050192519/
Flowers that look like vaginas http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/6064256922/
Taking antique cameras to the beach http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionid/6131836191/

I ran across some of those flowers on a hike

Pink Lady Slipper http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/_X0U0046.jpg

Mushroom http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i447/aspidites2001/_X0U1437.jpg%5B/img%5D

[aspidites]

I?m practicing for the procrastinator contest I?ll post some later.

[Author]

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