NIGHT, WATER

Not exactly the “perfect storm” … but some lightnings nevertheless!

How clever would you feel in the middle of a storm holding a carbon tripod?
artborghi-lightings-4small artborghi-lightings-3small
The interval timer is a luxury, but setting up the proper exposure time was not easy.

artborghi-lightings-1small artborghi-lightings-2small

Nécessaire for the event:

– plastic bags for head & camera
– tissue to remove rain drops every now and then from the lens
– wide lens to capture as much sky as possible
– interval timer shooting every 13 secs with exposure 10 secs long to have no gaps
– tripod
– memory cards (out of 180 pictures, 4 were with lightnings)
– luck

… maybe the next one will be a perfect storm!

LESSONS

How good is the Lowepro Flipside 400 W with a D800 set? A review after 5 months usage.

lowe pro flipside 400 w

Without a Lowepro flipside bag I would not know how to carry my D800, its lenses and the few accessories. The back side cannot be opened while carrying the bag, this option adds a relaxed state of mind when walking through crowds. My bag has still empty space but my neck payload reached already its limit (approx. 4 Kg). The front side is narrow and easy to open. I leave in nothing more than filters, tissues and so on. Although nicely designed, the Lowepro flipside 400 W has some annoying quality and assembly issues.

lowe pro flipside 400 w issues

a) The front-pouch threads get easily trapped in the zipper and brake.  I had to burn the loose ends.

b) The back-side inner-cover is very soft and breaks just by friction with the camera.

c) The D800 is heavy and a double-layered wall is necessary to avoid the camera falling through compartments.

d) The small element of the chest strap comes out of its track and get lost easily.

Last but not least, the backside is frame-less and nicely sticks to sweating backs. Despite these flaws, without this bag I would be lost. Any alternative suggestion?

LENS TEST, LESSONS

Learn the soft spot of your lens, learn how to use your lens! The case of Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF VR on D800

what is soft spot artborghi

Do you know what the “soft spot” of a lens is?

If you google it you find odd sentences related to soft spot like: “OMG, my lens has a soft spot! I paid so much for it!” or “ I have multiple soft spots! What can I do?“. Forum guests usually reply “Give your lens back, it is defective!”

Is it really so? What I learned a “soft spot” is and what you find in DxO properly described is the following: “It is common to refer to the “soft spot” of a lens, which paradoxically refers in fact to that range of settings where it produces the sharpest images”

Ah! So, now you also know how good the soft spot of your lens is: nothing related to giving your “defective” lens back. Learn how to use the sharpest settings of your lens. Look at the pictures I shot to the full moon tonight (click it to magnify it in a new window). You clearly see that the soft spot of my Nikon 70-200 VR-II (max. extension) on my D800 is around f/5-6.3 – at f/22 we might have also moon shift as time is a slow 1/8

Keep the goodness of the soft spot in mind when you shoot distant objects with details: birds, moon, foliages… it will make *the* difference!

LESSONS, NIGHT

Alps REWIND: a D800 interval-timer-shooting point-of-view

Interval timer shooting seems easy. Just fix the camera on a tripod, switch off all automatic setups, start the program and wait to fill up the card(s).

However, I could not find yet a way to have a smooth from-day-to-night sequence. Whatever slightly overexposed setup for the day I choose, it will be too dark for the night.

I could find no software for auto-toning the whole sequence. Additionally, with too dark pictures colour noise increases and does not look good. Any help is appreciated.

ANIMALS, BLACK&WHITE, LENS TEST, LESSONS, REPORTAGE, WATER

Of sex and birds: a 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR II photo-poem made in Zürisee

I was waiting for you my master …
artborghi-bird-love-0small

Under a curtain of white drops
artborghi-bird-love-1full

I will give myself to you, my love.
artborghi-bird-love-2full

And what you gifted me with your beak (on my neck)
artborghi-bird-love-3small

And what you made me with your feet (on my back)
artborghi-bird-love-5full

Will be lost in time, like droplets in the lake.
artborghi-bird-love-6small

Click here for the full love R-rated story reportage or on each picture for bigger size. About some more feelings, I love this lens. Pictures shot against the sun at 200 mm, f/5, 1/1250, ISO 100.

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