Was hoping for a clear night to begin the study of time lapse and star fields....but it was a striated cloudy moonscape.

One still taken out of the time lapse sequence. The time lapse aned this still via the a77 and Sigma 20mm

First attempt at time lapse from the back yard.....something tells me there will be more attempts.

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I took a picture from this same spot over 30 years ago and it was much better :( But that was with an F2 Photomic and of course film.

Looking into TN.

Early morning on Round Bald

Exploring the HDR painting setting on the a77.

This is the NC panoram

This is the view into NC from Round Bald.

Drop Box

Was a bit nippy on Round Bald but I took down pants and a pad to work from.

Up at 0400 and headed to Carvers Gap....camera in tow.

Mildred's Locket

The Sigma 20mm is no macro but the Tamron 90mm AF is. I'm finally getting a recipe for the stacking process....took long enough.

The router and the torch.

This was an exercise again with the 20mm Sigma that turned into a lesson in HDR, tone mapping, and adding a dose of Topaz Deluxe. I use Topaz primarily for de-noising but what it can do with a raw HDR is impressive.
To see the detail this lens is capable of click on the picture, it will load in Picasa, look for a magnifying glass and a plus sign near the upper corner of the pic....click it and zoom in to your hearts content.

Just a highschool gymnasion? NO! It's my first night time shot with the Sigma 20mm F1.8. This shot came in at F2.0 with an ISO of 1600.

This one might be a repeat? Some pics make me think back, this one most forward.

Looking forward to more of this in September

Bee face

Blogging this bee to motivate me to go for another round with the 5:1 Nanoha macro lens.

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Christmas day walk, 2.5 dreary miles but Nik and some applied filters brighted up things a bit. Nex-5 wi the 18-55mm.

Drop Box

Today's walk. Nex-5 16mm.

Thinking of Newtown CT

The Flag at half mast.

Night Tree

A very very early walk with the 5

Sida Wolka

Someone has to help develop the photos :) Using the SAL70400g withe the a77.

Sitting on the hammy self-portrait

The more I play with DXO the more I like it....there's no 'manipulation of objects like in PS but for transitioning the .raw it is really intuitive. This self portrait, obviously handheld, and using the Nex-5 with the 16mm and fish-eye adapter.

Trail crossings.

Mostly I play with Photoshop (CS6) and the Nik Software plugins. This pictured was rendered via DXO Optics Pro 8.0

Brave buck

Not a great pic but you do with what you've got and a 16mm was not the best lens!

Very mobile Motel 6

If you've seen any of my youtube vids you know we sleep in hammocks when backpacking. What you see in this pics are hammocksocks, the hammocks obviously are inside the socks....the socks provide weather protection for the hammock-they are made from waterproof/breathable material and you can fully close them up.

GSMNP CS #18

One of the creeks beside campsite 18 where we camped.

View from Bote

The view while climbing the Bote Mountain Trail. So I'm pleased with the 'backpackability' of the Nex-5. It is more
expendable in mishap than my Nex 7 and far lighter than the a77.

One of several pics for this weekends hike.

West Prong Trail GSMNP

Can you tell we spent the weekend hiking in the Smokies?

If your hiking in the woods and see this banner you've found me.

Blogger self-portrait :) This one wont make you think twice, but do look twice :)

Nex-5 working against the sun! This was from two weeks ago in the Park....packing up this morning for a return except this time hiking out of Tremont.

I was shooting for a 50s era expedition look. Reality is a b/w conversion and a crop from this summers Alaska trip

Here's another from this morning. If pressed to say which is my favorite between landscapes, macros, astros it would be hard to say.

Watauga in the morning.

Night sky at Ripshin

Most astrophotographers hate it when a plane comes through the field! I don't mind. In this shot you can see the power line more clearly and to the right of it and the plane trail is the Pleides

High ISO on the dock

The Little Dipper is just peaking out of the low level clouds......and there is a power line in there too :(

Lake sky stars

Here is the star field looking across the lake. The glow is Elizabethton about 10 miles away

Cold night on the dock

Last night I got to know the ISO. Which is to say I experimented with different ISO settings on the A77 while collecting star fields.

12 12 12

The walk of 12 12 12. This via the Nex-5 and the pancake with the fish-eye adapter.

McAfee's Knob

One more from the old days of film. It's fun seeing what 'restoration' I can now do with software.

Trip back in time

Who remembers film?

It's just a nest in the Uwharraie

Freedom Hall Civic Center

This is the course.

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Today's walk felt like Hitchcock.

Drop Box

One more expression from Lake Marion.

Cypress Expanse

Just thought of Lake Marion and the cypress gardens there.

The local skate park

Walking by the local skate park.....and a performer. Nex-7 with the 18-55 on continuous burst.

Drop Box

How high can you go, can you limbo. This is the last in the macro efforts for the day!