The Official Head-Case Photography Thread.

[blessingx]

You and I are a lot alike on the reflection front. What's the old quote I can never find a record of? "We live just long enough to doubt everything we believed in" (or something similar)? 

Anyway, within photography, and I know not everyone agrees, gear got good enough at least a decade ago (and probably much longer - four decades?) and common big photographic questions answered (at least in pursuit of realism?), so whatever constitutes image making now seems at least partially tied with experimentation and alternative views, no? I mean is a mouth camera much crazier than the fact that the mouth camera is a film pinhole camera in 2024? Anyway, looking forward to other orifices in 2025. 🫠

 

Edited January 2 by blessingx

[Torpedo]

I for one I'm waiting for something like the extinct Google glasses with video features, so I can wear them while operating or attending a concert, or walking the city for pictures. While discreet, the mouth camera won't be so convenient

Edited January 2 by Torpedo

[Knuckledragger]

Flickr turned 21 and did post on Instagram about it because Zucc won't rest until he consumes us all that's the age we live in.  Apparently a shot I took in 2006 is featured in it.

Instagram ruins the shot, as it does to all things including the mental health of anyone who uses it.

The original isn't bad, if I do say so myself.

 

[MexicanDragon]

On 2/5/2025 at 9:57 AM, Knuckledragger said:

Flickr turned 21 and did post on Instagram about it because Zucc won't rest until he consumes us all that's the age we live in.  Apparently a shot I took in 2006 is featured in it.

Instagram ruins the shot, as it does to all things including the mental health of anyone who uses it.

The original isn't bad, if I do say so myself.

 

So, did they actually ask permission, or was that in some ToS that you signed away everything years ago?

Also, did they let you know, or just... you found it?

[blessingx]

Been rainy here, but trying to record the rapidly disintegrating, once great Alviso next door (I've mentioned before). Almost no remaining connection to the surrounding Silicon Valley (Polycom and TiVo once had their HQs there), except the tech bros/brogrammers who visit the TopGolf near the town border. This time with a Hassy 500cm, II 50c back and Zeiss F4 Distagon CF T*.

 

Edited February 23 by blessingx

[Torpedo]

The images are sad, but I like the photos.

[Knuckledragger]

On 2/6/2025 at 3:29 PM, MexicanDragon said:

So, did they actually ask permission, or was that in some ToS that you signed away everything years ago?

Also, did they let you know, or just... you found it?

The first part is a good question, fathead.  Since I took and uploaded that photo, the ownership of Flickr has changed at least twice and the ToS has changed I have no idea how many times.  I learned about the photo being featured because someone commented on it ...on my Flickr page.

Also, I've been up to a lot here.  I can scarcely get into it now.  The woman who had the pile of Canon gear sold off some of it while I was out of commission due to covid (I can hardly blame her) but she recently contact me about the rest.  She still has the 7D II (shrug), the 24-70 F/2.8 II (great daily driver) and the 135mm F/2L (endgame lens for certain lunatics.)  Stay tuned.

I attended two talks by a local photographer who shoots medium and large format black and white film.  He captured the covid pandemic era of life on the Vineyard and did an exhibition about it at the MV Museum.  He doesn't GAF at all about exposure or lens use, but is greatly concerned with the subject in frame and to a lesser extent the date the photo was taken.  I could probably learn a lot from him.

I've been busy with my 300mm, capturing local fauna and even some skaters on our pond.  More on that later.

[MexicanDragon]

Hmmmm... 7D II was on my radar for a while, since most of my lenses are EF-S these days.

[blessingx]

Not likely for anyone here, but…

 

[blessingx]

I suggest this standard for all future lens tests. 

 

[jpelg]

^"Image quality is clean as a germaphobe's cellphone. Or a nice-guy's empty online-dating in-box" 🤣

[Grahame]

On 2/23/2025 at 9:32 PM, blessingx said:

Not likely for anyone here, but…

 

After a hands on, you don't need this, right, @blessingx ? 

 

[blessingx]

Nah, no need to order, 'cause I already have.  The reviews on this one (not above) have been pretty depressing. That said, of course, it's not for most with no manual shutter, no viewfinder, no flippy screen, and not video focused (as someone who makes a living in video, hybrid video specs discussions are the worst) or an "only body". I'm already in the M/L-mount space so worth a try. With them reportedly only milling 7-9 a day, if interested best to jump now and pull out later. We'll see, especially on that electronic shutter. My experiences have been poor, though with older and larger size/slower readout sensors. I'm curious how many will be released before they kill the model. Sony/Nikon/Canon are probably not under threat. And yes, I almost bought a Leica TL2 at one point too.

Sigma is my favorite failed cameras company (still have two Foveons). 

 

 

Edited March 14 by blessingx

[Knuckledragger]

The lady I mentioned a few pages ago with the pile of Canon gear to sell has been pestering me, which means she's a motivated seller.  Now maybe she'll face up to the fact that her prices are retarded come down a bit.  I really want that 135L.  I would make much better use of the 24-70mm F/2.8 II (which is a pro grade workhorse of a lens.)  I dunno what to think of the 7D II.  I learned quite recently that Canon R series mirrorless bodies can use EF and EF-S lenses with the same adapter.  Neat.
I swear I used to post photos in this thread.

Last December, right before I got covid, I took the 50D and 35mm F/3.5 Takumar out for a stroll.

I have a bad habit of taking photos of the same thing over and over again.

 

Since I took this photo, both the house (built 1940) and barn no longer stand.  The EDG Yacht Club bought the property as-is for over $1M and bulldozed the whole thing.  They're butting in high density housing for their staff because no one can afford to live on this fucking island.

Cannonball Park, looking quite cheery on late fall.

This is what the houses of MV residents who are still hanging on by an economic fingernail look like.

Same idea, but after it's been sold to off-islanders who then dump a fortune into renovations.   In this case, I'm not talking shit.  The new owners did a really nice job with the house.  It's too bad they stay here like 2 weeks a year at most and the rest of the time the place is empty.

 

Until quite recently, this house belonged to the descendants of my great aunt.  It's an old house that sits on a double lot, across from Cannonball Park.

Sweetened Water Farm's horse barn.  One of the most famous views on MV.  It's a 5 minute walk from my front door.  I really should bitch about things less.  I will literally never stop.  Mr Norton, the owner, died last month at 95 years old.

Back in the creepy woods.  It's not actually creepy at all.

 

Tune in next time for a frozen pond and 300mm prime!

[blessingx]

Fuji’s small, fixed lens, medium format camera is out. 

 
https://www.engadget.com/cameras/fujifilms-gfx100rf-is-a-102mp-medium-format-compact-camera-110044609.html 

https://www.theverge.com/news/633093/fujifilm-gfx100rf-camera-features-price

https://www.shopmoment.com/products/fujifilm-gfx100rf-mirrorless-digital-camera 

 

Edited March 20 by blessingx

[Torpedo]

Fixed lens? 🤔

[padam]

I'd rather have an RX1R II, much smaller, wonderful f/2 lens. I have to say, I miss it despite all the issues, hard to find now for a good price.

On the other end of the spectrum: "Say hello to my lil’ friend!"
Otherwise known as Nikon 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR

One way to make use of all the noisy planes distracting listening is to shoot them.
All handheld from my window, this is FF on a D3s, no crop:







Maximum reach on a D200 with the 1.25x teleconverter (1500mm equiv.):



1200mm equiv:





Hopefully one day, I can find a much better locaton, maybe a Z8 to make use of all its performance.
Or maybe I will revert back to something reasonable, this is cumbersome to transport, very big and conspicious... good workout though.

[blessingx]

1 hour ago, padam said:

I'd rather have an RX1R II, much smaller, wonderful f/2 lens. I have to say, I miss it despite all the issues, hard to find now for a good price.

Yeah, but 42MP is the bare minimum for Insta. 

Nice shots. 

[mikeymad]

Friday Volcano check...

Yup, still there.

[Grahame]

Louis's characteristic NSFW comments in the audio. 

 

Edited April 17 by Grahame

[blessingx]

Apes, toilets, conflicts and cowboys: Sony World Photography awards
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/apr/17/apes-toilets-conflicts-and-cowboys-sony-world-photography-awards-in-pictures 

[Knuckledragger]

I keep my (now nearly 20 year old) Nikon D200 and 300mm F/4 on a lowboy chest in the kitchen, ready for whatever fauna shows up.

Mr. Cardinal, being his usual show-off self.

 

The pond froze for a preciously small period of time.

Missing from these photos is the excited "roof roof roof!" noises that green sweater dog kept making. The sounds echoed off the ice and trees surrounding the pond. It was quite a scene to behold.

Tune in next time for a 2006 logging camp!

[blessingx]

Mr. Polaroid 

 

[blessingx]

A Long, Hard Look at America 

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/critics-notebook/a-long-hard-look-at-america 
 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/feb/12/rijksmuseum-amsterdam-american-photography

“For them the big names – Edward Weston, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Richard Avedon – they are part of the history of the country, they are part of the image culture of the country, and for them these names are the same as Rembrandt and Vermeer for us Dutch.”

Edited Saturday at 12:18 AM by blessingx

[Knuckledragger]

In the summer of 2006, I got my first DSLR: an EOS 30D and its "better" kit lens, the EF-S 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM (which shit the bed on me like 3 years later.)  I went on a road trip with a friend from scenic western MA to southern Vermont.  VT is a beautiful state, and I have many happy (if, ahem, somewhat hazy) memories of attending college there.  I took along my shiny new camera and snapped a bunch of shots.

I had no idea what the fuck I was doing.  The photos were terrible, largely because me having not understanding exposure.  I uploaded a few at the time, but ignored the rest for 18+ years.  I revisiting them this past January and applied some modern editing tools and 20 years of photo editing experience.

The view I had every day at Landmark College in the mid 90s.  I had no idea how good I had it.

 

Same view in 1996, taken by my then-girlfriend.  Did I ever mention I had a red haired girlfriend from Maine?  I still have at least one from her...

We then went on and saw a logging operation that was on the VT/NH border.  It was quite a spectacle of machinery, dust, smoke, sprinklers and of course huge piles of logs.  I took a bunch of shots and they more or less all came out terribly.

I particularly like the puff of smoke on this one.

For all of these shots, I loaded them into Luminar 4 and spent quite a bit of time working them over.  Luminar 4 applies pseudo-HDR math, but with careful tuning, it's possible to keep it out of the cartoonish territory most smartphone cameras reside in.  For just about all of them I also applied a lookup table.  I did some final edits in Photoshop and in a number of cases cropped them to 16:9.  I am an absolute goose stepping Nazi about aspect ratios and 16:9 is not one I normally use.  With that said, I didn't like all the empty space above in many of these shots.  I did much of this work while still recovering from covid, which might have had some effects on my decision making process.  In the end, I'm quite pleased with these edits.  The old "F/8 and be there" adage looms large here.  As long as a shot is even halfway framed and exposed correctly, it can probably be salvaged in editing.

Tune in next time for more of the same, but with hot air balloons!