March Monthly Challenge - "B&W"

I can appreciate your fondness for a paricular lens Craig, is there anywhere in your neck of the woods you can get it serviced?

 

as you are using it on a mirror based camera have you checked the back / front focusing?
you also might want to o a de-centering test too, see if an element hasn't shifted

 

unfortunately, no.

 

I have looked up how to do a autofocus micro adjustment on youtube but the 60D does not have this function. As for the test I have downloaded the test sheet and will be printing it out tomorrow, I will be using it as a demo in my next class.

 

A image from Ancathe park in Lenah Valley.

 

you can do the de-centering test straight off the computer / monitor screen

can you use the camera with mirror up? live a live view, does the lens focus manually ok?

 

Very nice idea Caladina, thanks. I had the image printed out on A4 from the last time you put it up. I have yet to use it but will get around to it soon.

 

Love the dappled light here Craig and that bench looks very inviting for a few moments of quiet contemplation.

 

Thanks Thumbnail, I have taken my photography class here numerus times, it is a quiet park with a lovely creek running through it and easy to walk track around it as some of my students have mobility issues.

 

Hopefully I have fixed my autofocus problem or improved upon it.
I looked up on how to do it on Youtube, simply clean the contacts on the camera and lens and then put the shutter on 30second , then turn the camera upside down and use a rocket blower for agood stream of air at the autofuocus sensor to hopefully clear any dust on it.
check out the plants in the upper left corner of the original and then the image I have just put up. there is an improvement.

 

Thumbnail, I have just had another look at the Ancathe park image and looking at the bench I imagained two nuns sitting there quitely discussing there relationship with God.
I am not a person who is into church stuff so I might be getting into my creepy old man stage of life.

 

Life would be very boring without our imagination Craig. I have been a Humanist since I started to think for myself but I really appreciate the vision and skill of architects, craftsmen and ancilliary workers who transformed raw stone into magnificent structures and I love to seek out and photograph those little nuggets of design that most people wouldn't even notice.

 

My father was a mechanical fitter by trade. he worked in metal and timber. He could look at a need for something and visulise a piece of equipement or machinery and build it without the need for plans as he could visulise it in his mind. He had the drive to build something that worked and was well built. I was lucky to have grown up in and around his workshop. He was a happy father when I got a apprenticeship as a mechanical fitter. As elderst son I think this was expected of me, the only difference between us is he thought little of photography. He constantly refered to them as shutter bugs who annoyed him, I on the other hand have a passion for it. My youngest brother has spent a life time in the Australian Air Force as a professional photographer.

 

when i saw this little fella in the park i thought of you Craig, well it reminded me of your avatar


nice bit of wood


yucky bit of stream water

all three were shot in monochrome on the M50 with the sigma 100-400mm c

 

Image 1, probely in about 20 years time, at the moment I have a fair amount of coverage but it thining but for my age I am pleased with the amount of folical coverage I have and I still have many visits to the barber left in me. Image 2, lovely texture in this image, monochrome definately suits it. Image 3, That is a drawback of living in a big city, yucky stream water. I like the way it falls in the shadow part of the tonal range as it gives a dark and forboding look to the image. I definately would not drink from it. A fine series of images, Caladina.

 

when reviewing the third one it seemed a bit on the dark side in tonal balance but then some may prefer that
i seem to prefer the even balance across the image

 

This comes down to what your goal and your vision for this image, does it need to invoke a mood or is a capturing of the moment in time, where a even balance is needed.

 

excellent close up, caladina. I like the spider hiding at the base of the flower.
Sort of makes me want to go out and have another go at the B/W images again.

 

A very nice flower study Caladina.