Hand Update
The left hand is feeling a bit better each day. The tendon of the middle finger has been enjoying a nice weekend rest. I have been flexing and extending it gently and typing with ten fingers despite a loose bandage on the middle finger (and the palm of course). I am sure that Dr. Puopolo will give the middle finer a good painful flex tomorrow afternoon :). I will find out ten how much he wants me to do before the stitches come out. I actually went to Westhampton Beach this morning–I must be getting somewhat better–and photographed shorebirds for a while with the 800 with help from Long Island friend Michael Lotito. It was so cold and windy that–with my resistance down–I quit early and was headed home before 8 am.
You Be the Photo Contest Judge/Part I: Nature
Below are six images. You are invited to pick the three best images and rank them first, second, and third. The first person who matches my contest picks perfectly 1-2-3 will receive a $10 discount on any item in the BAA On-Line Store. I will post the images that I deemed best in the Connecticut Seminar Contest in a few days. Have fun and good luck 🙂
(For older gear, the Shopper’s Guide links will take you to the current replacement.)
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Bullfrog, Mystic Aquarium, CT. Tamron 18-270mm lens (for Canon) hand held with the Canon EOS-40D. Image Copyright Drea Koval. Note: Tamron 18-270mm lens (for Nikon). |
Without having the latest greatest gear Drea has made a very nice image here.
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Swallowtail Sex. Nikon 4300 Point and Shoot hand held. Image copyright Dianne Roberts. (Dianne has now up-graded to the Nikon D-80, the Nikkor 18-200mm zoom lens, and the Nikkor 105 macro lens.) |
Rather than worry about having only a point and shoot camera, Dianne concentrated on making a good image with the gear she had in her hands…..
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White-faced Capuchin, Punta Uva, Costa Rica. Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens, the EF 1.4X III TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. Gitzo 3541LS tripod with the Jobu BWGG-Pro tripod head. Image copyright David Peller. |
Note: I cannot, in good conscious, recommend the purchase of the tripod head above; every Jobu head that I have tried featured creep and an inferior design. The seemingly similar Wimberley V-2 Head has it beat six ways to Sunday.
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Fire and Ice. Canon 300mm f/4L IS lens with the Canon 12 mm Extension tube and theEOS-1D Mark IV. Gitzo 4531S with the Wimberley Head V-2 head. Image copyright Carole Wiley. |
Note: the Wimberley head is massive overkill for the 300f/4. The Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head is–at present–the ideal tripod head for all intermediate telephoto lenses.
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Fall River Scene, Baxter Stater Park, ME. Tamron 18-270mm lens (for Canon) with the Canon EOS-7D. Manfrotto tripod & ballhead. Image Copyright Drea Koval. Note: Tamron 18-270mm lens (for Nikon). |
Note: I cannot, in good conscious, recommend the purchase of any Manfrotto tripod/ballhead combo for serious nature photography.
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Lizard on Rock, Punta Uva, Costa Rica. Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. Canon 580EX II Flash with Better Beamer. Gitzo 3541LS tripod with the Jobu BWGG-Pro tripod head. Image copyright David Peller. |
Note: I cannot, in good conscious, recommend the purchase of the tripod head above; every Jobu head that I have tried featured creep and an inferior design. The seemingly similar Wimberley V-2 Head has it beat six ways to Sunday.
Please list the names of your 3 picks as follows:
1st:
2nd:
3rd:
The first person who matches my contest picks perfectly 1-2-3 will receive a $10 discount on any item in the BAA On-Line Store.
1. BullFrog
2. Fall River Scene
3. Fire & Ice
All very good but the above would be my choice if I were judging the competion. Color and action around the frog is wonderful, the color and motion in the river make this shot, the color contrast between the butterfly and flower and pleasing background blur look great!! All quite worthy a hard choice for the first three places. Good luck with yours!!
Fred
1. White Face Capuchin
2. Fire and Ice
3. Swallowtail Sex
Glad your hand is feeling better Artie!
1st Bullfrog
2nd Fire & Ice
3rd Fall River scene
1. fall River
2. Bull Frog
3. Fire and Ice
Artie, Thanks for the comments and your time today.
Robert, You are most welcome. Mon pleasir.
These are all great shots and I had to go with my personal wow factor.
1. Bullfrog, Mystic Aquarium, CT
2. Swallowtail Sex.
3. Fall River Scene, Baxter Stater Park, ME.
1st Fire and Ice
2nd Fall River Scene, Baxter Stater Park, ME.
3rd Bullfrog, Mystic Aquarium, CT.
1st. Fire and Ice
2nd. Bull Frog
3rd. White Faced Capuchin
Artie – If you can’t afford a Wimberly or Mongoose Head is there any of “lesser” quality that might work with a 500mm lens?
Hi Katie, There are a few copy-cat rip-offs that are simply inefficient and do not work very well and you save about $100… Your lens cost in excess of $5K; for me trying to save a few bucks on a tripod head is false economy. Don’t forget to include what you have spent on a camera, a laptop, software, cards, and storage. All to what end? To create quality images. Get yourself a Mongoose M3.6–you might be able to find a used one or a used 3.6 on line somewhere but few folks want to part with them once they have tried them….
1st: Swallowtail Sex
2nd: Bullfrog
3rd: Fall River Scene
1. Bullfrog
2. Fall River Scene
3. White Faced Capuchin
1st : Bullfrog
2nd: Lizard on Rock
3rd White faced Capuchin
1st: Fall River Scene
2nd: Fire and Ice
3rd: Lizard on Rock
1. Fire and Ice
2. Bullfrog
3. Fall River Scene
First Bullfrog
Second Fall River Scene
Third Fire and Ice
Glad to hear you’re healing. I tore a ligament in my thumb last week and thought I had it bad…NOT!
1. Bull Frog
2. Fall River
3. White faced Capuchin
1.) Lizard on Rock
2.) Fall River Scene
3.) White-faced Capuchin
1st Bullfrog
2nd Fire & Ice
3rd Fall River scene
1. Bullfrog.
2. Fire and Ice.
3. Fall River scene.
1. Bullfrog
2. Mating Butterflies
3. Fall River Scene
1) Bullfrog
2) Fire and Ice
3) Swallowtail Sex.
All great images.
1. Bullfrog
2. Swallowtail sex
3. Fall River Scene
1. Bullfrog
2. Capuchin
3. Swallowtail Sex
Glad to hear the hand is getting better
Yes Joel I am getting there and typing with ten fingers. The expensive oral antibiotics are sapping my strength; I am sleeping a lot more during the day than I did when in the hospital. There will be lots of stretching to do with the involved finger. All assuming no lingering infection :).
1. Swallowtail Sex
2. Bullfrog
3. Fire and Ice
Arthur,
You seem to be (nearly) completely well. I am glad. For IV antibiotics!
/Joel
1st: Bullfrog
2nd: White-faced Capuchin
3rd: Fire and Ice
Thought I would list these again according to your instructions!
Bullfrog
White-faced Capuchin
Fire and ice
1 Bullfrog
2. Swallowtail
3.Fall River Scene
MÂ¥ order of choice is the Bull Frog, Fall RIver, and Swallowtail Sex.
1st: Fire and Ice. I love the background color and artistic composition.
2nd: Bullfrog. Great capture, love the riffles he’s putting in the water. Superb sharpness.
3rd: Fall River scene. Great Light, beautiful saturated colors, intriguing composition.
I didn’t pick Lizard, mainly because of the grass stem, Swallowtail because of the duller undersides of the wings, although it is a very good frame, Capuchin seems a slight tad underexposed in a tough back-lighted shot leaving his right eye too dark.
All of the shots are very, very good. Very Difficult Choices. I can’t wait to see your picks but especially your reasoning for them. Glad you are on the mend!
1-swallowtails
2-capuchin
3-fall river scene
1. Fall River Scene
2. Swallowtail Sex
3. Bull Frog
1 Fall River Scene
2 Bullfrog
3 Lizard
1swallowtail sex
2frog
3lizard
1. Fire and Ice
2. Swallowtail Sex
3. Bullfrog
1st Bullfrog
2nd Fall River
3rd Fire and Ice
1: Swallowtail Sex
2: Bullfrog
3: White-faced Capuchin
Bullfrog
Fall River Scene
Swallowtail Sex
1. Bullfrog. Great subject, composition, DOF amount and placement.
2. Fire and Ice. Great subject and framing, would like more DOF (I know, hard w/ macro)
3. Lizard on rock. Good subject and framing, looses a tad because the tail is hidden, I like the humor of the grass coming out if the lizard’s head.
4. Swallotail sex. Great subject, I wish the photographer had been slightly lower and to the right.
5. Fall River scene. Pretty, but not as interesting as the others to me, lacks a strong mid to back interest.
6. White faced Capuchin. Too busy for me.
1st: Swallowtail sex
2nd: Bullfrog
3rd: Fire and Ice
1. Swallowtail Sex – Better than many could do with a DSLR. Beautiful.
2. Bullfrog – Nice behavior shot.
3. Fall River Scene – Beautiful scene.
1 bullfrog
2 swallowtail
3 fire & ice
1. Swallowtail Sex
2. Bullfrog
3. Fall River scenc
Gald to see you’re back typing and shooting even if for a little while. If you would have been in Florida you would have had no problem with the cold. 🙂
Love ya,
Patty Corapi
Bullfrog
Fall River
Swallowtail
1. Bullfrog
2. Fire and Ice
3.Fall scene Baxter State Park
1.Fall River Scene
2. Lizard on Rock
3. Bullfrog
1) Lizard On Rock
2) Bullfrog
3) White-faced Capuchin
1. Swallowtail Sex
2. White-faced capuchin
3. Bullfrog
My rankings, not sure about Artie’s.
1: Bullfron
2: Rall River scene
3: White-faced Capuchin
1st: Lizard on Rock
2nd: Bullfrog
3rd: Swallowtail Sex
1st: Bullfrog
2nd: Swallowtail Sex
3rd: Fall River Scene, Baxter State Park, ME