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Paul Duncan

~ photography and other stuff

Category Archives: Photography

Round About

16 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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As a little photography experiment, I set things up so I could back-light a couple of round objects to force the background to pure white.  One of Lori’s most recent pottery pieces, fresh from the kiln, was a very nice plate with interesting patterns and beautiful glazes. We’ll use part of this image on an updated set of business cards for her.

Next, I used the same setup to try my hand at an effect I saw in a gorgeous set of photos in “Gather”, Corning Museum of Glass’s member’s publication. In this case the background light refracted and reflected through the patterns of my grandmother’s cut glass bowl, one of her wedding presents way back when.

Fall 2018 Slinks Out

04 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by Paul Duncan in Outdoors, Photography

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Autumn 2018 colors in our neighborhood have been notably subdued, more of a stumble than a Fall. We’re on the brink of perma-brown taking over as rain and winds wash away, during the next several days, what little color we had.  Today, however, Lori and I were able to enjoy a comfortable sunny walk in Sweedler Preserve, one of the many gems within easy reach of our place.

Fall 2018 in our neighborhood
Waterfall on Lick Brook in Sweedler Preserve
Lori at Sweedler Preserve

 

Halloween photo from the family archive

29 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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From and black-and-white 8 X 10 print made by William Duncan c. 1960.

Over 50 years ago my father made this photo of 4 of us dressed up for Halloween. As I recall, our trick-or-treating consisted of visiting the Douglas family home in Hawkeye, NY–there were no other reasonable nearby options but we made out just fine.

The photo, shot with my father’s beloved Kodak Retina II A on Plus X film, was developed and printed to an 8X10 in the kitchen/darkroom. If memory serves, a light bulb on an extension cord placed inside the pumpkin provided the spooky light.

My Photography Reaches New Heights

29 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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East end of house
West end of house
West end of house from above
Aerial view of house
House looking to the east

I’ve acquired a new toy tool.  It’s been fun playing with utilizing it for a new perspective on things. I’m shooting for a higher standard in hopes that my photos achieve new heights.  I could tell you more about it by I would just be droning on.

Adirondack Vacation Video

14 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by Paul Duncan in Outdoors, Photography

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Yikes!  A vacation video: with a post title like that, I wouldn’t blame you if you ran in the opposite direction. If you suffer through it however, you’ll see my first attempt at video production using footage from the Sony DSC-RX10 iii camera. I’m impressed.  Some clips are shot at ISO 1600 and you can’t really tell easily from the results. I obviously have to work on technique and get a bit better at editing but not too bad.

Hornbeck Canoes in the Adirondacks

29 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Paul Duncan in Outdoors, Photography

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There are three things in common with the group of images below:

  1. All were shot in the Adirondacks of upstate New York State.
  2. All were shot of or from Hornbeck ultralight New Tricks double-paddle canoes. (On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HornbeckBoats/.)
  3. All are cropped frame grabs from video clips.

While on vacation we paddled a total of about 20 miles on 9 ponds and 2 rivers and thoroughly enjoyed our canoes.  They’re easy to manage, very maneuverable, a pleasure to portage, and just right for the mix of ponds, lakes, and waterways in the Adirondack mountain area.  We don’t miss our big heavy touring kayaks (although they handled camping and nasty weather beautifully).

I was a bit surprised how nicely the video frame grabs came out.  You wouldn’t print large from the size but it has plenty of resolution for Web use. Video clips were shot from a Sony RX 10 III working out of a Pelican case sitting in my canoe. It worked out rather well although there are tweaks I’ll be trying in later efforts.

Lori paddles the Osgood River
Lori paddles the Osgood River
Canada Geese along the shore of the Osgood River
Canada Geese along the shore of the Osgood River
A woman at one with her Hornbeck canoe
A woman at one with her Hornbeck canoe
Loon on Osgood Pond
Loon on Osgood Pond
Heading home after a day's paddling
Heading home after a day’s paddling
Heading into canal between Osgood and Little Osgood Ponds
Heading into canal between Osgood and Little Osgood Ponds
Paddling the canals between Osgood and Church Ponds
Paddling the canals between Osgood and Church Ponds
Evening paddle
Evening paddle
We portage between Copperas and Whey Ponds
We portage between Copperas and Whey Ponds
Lori paddles on Black Pond
Lori paddles on Black Pond

Sixty Shmixty

05 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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Lori relaxing with cigar and bourbon

Lori’s 60th birthday celebration picture with bourbon and cigar.

Lori has been a bit distressed about marking her 60th birthday: she’s reached middle age.  (She plans to live at least until 120.)  I wanted to commemorate it with a photo that emphasizes the spirit of how I would like her to approach it: with equanimity or indifference.  She’s too busy enjoying life to pay much attention to arbitrary chronological milestones.

I was a bit surprised when she agreed to the concept as I described it. A cigar and glass of bourbon were always part of the narrative but the venue changed from field of daisies to woods due to uncooperative weather.

A moderately wide aperture reduced depth of focus. A low ISO and 1/250th shutter speed enabled darker tones in the woods so that some lighting would help bring the subject out a bit more.

Lighting was via two studio strobes.  One was camera left in a pan reflector for a slightly diffused overall subject lighting.  Another strobe in a grid high camera right behind Lori brought up a little separation on her shadow side. Both were at very low power because of the wider aperture.

We are pleased with the results.  At least photographically.  We got many good poses to pick from.  Unfortunately the cheap cigar made Lori ill and it took her the rest of the day to recover from all the puffing to bring the shot to life.

So, aside from poisoning my wife on her birthday, I would say things went pretty well.  Lori may differ.

 

Divestiture

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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I’m consolidating and getting rid of decades worth of photographic gear, partly to simplify, partly to raise some cash to cover the cost of my new system.  (More on that later.) My best option is to sell on eBay but it requires a bit of homework to make it worthwhile.  I have to do the research to find the value of each item and then prepare photos and descriptions of each one for sale.

Preparing the photos for sales is relatively easy and a little care makes the results more appealing than most other eBay posts.  It seems a bit odd when people put fine photographic equipment up for sale with crappy pictures–it affects credibility.

After a little tinkering, I settled on a lighting setup I can use for a variety of product-style shots that look good for the eBay listings.

Lighting setup diagram

Lighting for product photos of items being placed for sale on eBay.

I use two LED light sources.  Key light is through a diffusion panel camera left and a background light below the table is reflected off a white fabric panel behind the table with the subject.  Items are placed on a piece of white tile board allowing for a plain background letting the eye concentrate on the actual items for sale.  An aluminum foil reflector, camera right is used for fill.

The setup is in a corner of our basement and allows for the tedious but efficient processing of the photos required for the listings.

Two lights (LED at left and one below table reflected off white panel behind) is used to light items to be sold online.

Two lights (LED at left and one below table reflected off white panel behind) is used to light items to be sold online.

The results from this particular setup shows how the items for sale are featured without any other distractions and the lighting shows off the items in enough detail to illustrate the condition.

The image shows the effect of the simple 2-light setup to light photography equipment for sale.

The image shows the effect of the simple 2-light setup to light photography equipment for sale.

Here’s a sample of some of the images made with this simple but versatile setup:

Nikon PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED lens
Nikon PC-E Micro Nikkor 45mm f/2.8D ED lens
Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera
Nikon Nikkor 14-24mm lens
Nikon Nikkor 24-70mm lens
Tamron 150-600mm lens

In addition to shooting some decent quality images for the sales, I had a few other things going for me:

  • Most of the items are higher quality and performance with well-known specifications and track records.
  • I’ve taken very good care of all of them; they’re in uniformly excellent condition.
  • I’ve researched selling prices for each one and assigned reasonable prices near the upper end of used market selling prices.
  • I include bonus items when it makes sense (e.g. lens plates, memory cards) and I offer free shipping to keep the transactions simple. (I build average shipping cost into the asking price.)
  • I strive for accuracy on the descriptions including being meticulous about any flaws like scuff marks, missing peripheral pieces, etc.

So, how is it going so far?  I posted the first 5 items (4 lenses and a camera body from the sample images above) and sold 4 out of 5 within 24 hours and the fifth in less than a week.  I’m maxed out on my eBay selling limit for a month but have the next batch queued for listing in the next cycle.  I’m divesting my unused equipment and buyers are picking up some excellent quality items at reasonable prices. So far so good.

Controlled Focus Stacking

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Paul Duncan in Photography

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Alstroemeria blossom

Twelve focus stacked wide aperture images create an in-focus blossom with an out-of-focus background.

Combining focus-stacking with wide-aperture (shallow depth-of-focus) images can create some nice effects.  I wanted this alstroemeria blossom to be completely in focus but the background blurred.  By using a wide aperture (f/2.8) and 12 images varying the focal point, the stacking operation enabled nice crisp focus on the entire blossom but the out-of-focus background remained soft, almost watercolor-like.  It’s a combo you won’t be able to get with a single image.

Rechargeable Hand Warmer

03 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by Paul Duncan in Outdoors, Photography

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MJ Gear Rechargeable Hand WarmerOutdoor photography on a cold winter day can be challenging trying to balance keeping hands warm but allowing the dexterity to work the seemingly-ever-shrinking controls on cameras and lenses. I picked up a couple rechargeable hand warmers to try and they’re working out great.  I keep a warmer in a coat pocket along with a spare camera battery.  Wearing light polypropylene glove liners, I can work the camera with little trouble and then just slip my hand in the coat pocket and grasp the warmer to get the fingers toasty in no time. Keeping the spare battery warm in the pocket keeps the camera battery viable when it needs to be switched into duty.

The MJ Gear warmers I picked up are rechargeable via USB.  They have some extra features that are handy as well.  You can use one as a source of power to recharge your cell phone or other USB-rechargeable device, it has two power settings for the warmer (I’ve found the low setting is all that’s needed most of the time), and it has a powerful little LED light that could come in handy.  This combination of features makes these hand warmers more appealing than the chemical pack or lighter-fluid powered alternatives.

Frostbite and photography don’t work well together–hand warmers keep things comfortable on those cold outings.

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