Spiders, flies and flowers

[clovishound]

I did a lot of B&W so film and processing wasn't as big a deal. I even tried doing bulk B&W for a while. I would still use preloaded B&W for the important stuff, but the 100 ft rolls were pretty cheap, and it was easy to load cartridges. Of course, that only really worked if you processed your own film. Chemistry and paper wasn't too expensive back then either, although digital blows that out of the water, cost wise. I do, however, spend nearly as much time editing a days shoot's pictures as I did processing a couple rolls of film. OK, perhaps it took more time with the film. For one thing, I usually developed the film one day, and let it dry at least overnight and printed the best of the roll another day, unless it was something I really wanted sooner. I did have a home made drying box with a filter and fan. I could put a light bulb by the intake to speed things up.

One HUGE advantage to digital is that I get better pictures than I ever did with film.

[dave77]

I started out in the late 60's with B&W, also did some bulk loading but Plus-X and Tri-X film was pretty reasonable, had a small darkroom in my Mom's basement and did a bit of experimenting with B&W printing.

I tried doing my own color printing but the system I got was very complicated with test prints to get the right filter combination. Also you had to keep the color developer at around 80 degrees which was a pain, had to set the pan with the developer in a larger pan with warm water running through it.

I had a good friend that was also into photography and for a few years we turned his whole unfinished basement into a dark room, we had lots of room, had trays big enough to develop 11x14 prints.

[clovishound]

Went over to another local park this morning to play around with the flash and close up lens. I have a lot to learn.

I tried my hand at focus stacking. You can set the camera to take a series of images with different focus points. When you get home, you can merge them all with Photoshop choosing the sharp sections from each image and stitching them together. It will give you depth of field that would be impossible with a single image.

This is my first one. I didn't start the first image with the focus close enough, so the petals close to the camera are out of focus. Still the rest is sharp, and I don't think I could have gotten that much depth of field even with the smallest aperture available.

_DAB2548.jpg

Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.

_DAB2541-2.jpg

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks for sharing your excellent photos along with sharing information about your processes and learning curve. I'm totally enjoying it.

[BrokenolMarine]

Man, I love the Wasp (?) picture. Great shot.

[clovishound]

Yep, it's a wasp. We grow em big here in South Carolina.

[BrokenolMarine]

You might remember I said two of my rules were have a camera and get lucky. I was out on the deck one morning and spotted this guy...
I had my camera and I was very lucky. How often do you interrupt a meal?

hey im eating here.jpg

I always labeled this one, "Hey, I'm Eatin' Here!"

[clovishound]

Great picture.

[Hatchdog]

You might remember I said two of my rules were have a camera and get lucky. I was out on the deck one morning and spotted this guy...
I had my camera and I was very lucky. How often do you interrupt a meal?


hey im eating here.jpg


I always labeled this one, "Hey, I'm Eatin' Here!"

Wow, you’re getting a dirty look for interrupting the meal. Great shot.

[Hatchdog]

Went over to another local park this morning to play around with the flash and close up lens. I have a lot to learn.

I tried my hand at focus stacking. You can set the camera to take a series of images with different focus points. When you get home, you can merge them all with Photoshop choosing the sharp sections from each image and stitching them together. It will give you depth of field that would be impossible with a single image.

This is my first one. I didn't start the first image with the focus close enough, so the petals close to the camera are out of focus. Still the rest is sharp, and I don't think I could have gotten that much depth of field even with the smallest aperture available.


_DAB2548.jpg



Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.


_DAB2541-2.jpg

Wonder if that Wasp will be part of today’s UFO hearing. Looks a bit alien to me. Great shot, great detail.
Got pretty close up on this wasp. Not entirely happy with the angle, but like the detail on the insect.