Neal Osborn
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Thanks again to everyone who came to the Smokies. It was certainly chilly and the fishing was slow but a good “first annual” IA conclave. This trip was all about Bob Riggins – what a recovery he has made from the hospital this February to combat fishing in the Smokies the same year. Also, he custom built a rod for the trip! Hats off everyone!!!
Way to go Bob!
Bob brought some gear porn along for the trip 😮
I had the honor of largest fish caught – a respectable wild trout ;D
Some shots of Deep Creek
We managed to get up early this morning in time to catch the sunrise at Clingman’s Dome. That was breathtaking!
Obligatory IA food shots (Bar-B-Que)
I am looking forward to the next IA-Clave!
More pictures on my photoblog http://homepage.mac.com/nealpod/Sites/iaclave/index.html
the policeman discovered another man smoking and spitting repeatedly on the floor
quote from that link above.
This is one of those threads that deteriorate quickly.
I’m getting excited now!!!! Just finished moving in to the new house and let me tell you the new construction in the area is like a combat zone. I can’t wait to hear running water and smell morning dew instead of that Bobcat noise and dust powder. Freedom at last.
Haven’t even finished unpacking the house but at least my fly fishing gear and camera equipment are all out in the open and ready to pack. Here we go. See you all on the water this Friday.
Creepy – nice theme for the Halloween season.
I hope the buzzards flying around a fishing boat isn’t a signal of things to come 😕
If you need a fishing license . . . either North Carolina or Tennessee will be valid in the park
Purchase a North Carolina fishing license here ($30 + $10trout) http://www.ncwildlife.org/fs_index_01_license.htm
Purchase a Tennessee license here https://www4.wildlifelicense.com/tn/
Mike A –
I love the crop of the ants, do have other shots?
John B –
Your pictures are just simply inspiring.
Lee C –
Nice shots! Just goes to show what can actually be done with any equipment. Good eye.
Macro has been my focus lately. Getting better every day and the R1C1 setup has been very beneficial, especially the SB-R200 flashes.
NealPod
Halloween
Herbs and Spices
this was taken at dark with a lantern glow for lighting
Dizzy –
I am only an amateur photographer but recently upgraded my equipment in hopes of capturing shots at work that could be sold for medical publications. Thus I have been in your position recently and here’s how I put the puzzle together – remember this is just my analogy and in no way a scientific review.
Think of photography in relation to fly fishing for a moment.
We all know that one guy who only owns one 5wt rod and one double taper fly line and his box is mainly parachute adams and a few hare’s ear/PT nymphs. Sure enough he is most likely a great fly fisher and able to catch fish most of the time. In fact, he might very well be a great fisherman because he has paid the price and knows exactly how to use the basic equipment under certain conditions and he knows how to read the water. In this example, the fisherman is the photographer, the rod is the camera and the flies are lens. More importantly, the conditions and the water are the “principles” of photography such as understanding depth-of-field and lighting and knowing how to harness their properties to make a certain outcome. Catching the fish is like taking the picture and landing the fish is like post-production in Photoshop. There are many many factors that go in to actually landing the fish (the final outcome) or printing/publishing a picture.
Let’s take another example – you know that guy who has multiple rods, say 3,4,5,6,8,10,12 wt rods and about 10 fly boxes and multiple lines and leaders and he obviously spent some money getting his setup in order. One of two outcomes can happen, either this guy is really really good and knows exactly why he has each piece of equipment (e.g. saltwater, lakes, river, ponds, or specific fish like carp, bonefish, bass, trout) and he can use each setup like a precision instrument to land a fish. Or the other outcome might be that he doesn’t know exactly why he has each setup but rather went and bought each piece because he read an article or heard on an internet blog that each individual piece was important. The second guy might not actually catch more fish (or more importantly land more fish) but he certainly has the gear to grow.
At the end of the day we all want the same thing – to take good pictures (land fish). The key is knowing WHY you want something and HOW you are going to get it.
Zoom lens = a general 5wt workhorse fly rod. Advantage; very versatile, allows you to get multiple focal lengths with one lens, generally less money. Disadvantage; the glass is not always as good and the inner workings of the lens have multiple components, and at the extremes of the zoom (all the way out or all the way in) it doesn’t produce as well. However, it will allow you grow and take many different pics and learn. I actually still use my 18-200 zoom lens most of the time because I know it like the back of my hand and it is my go-to setup.
Prime lens = fixed focal length, no inner zoom mechanism. These are like a fast action saltwater 8wt rod or a 3wt bamboo rod. Advantage; they are killer lenses in general (depending on the f stop but I will avoid that topic for now – just know that some people call low f stop lenses “fast glass”, they mean the same thing but it has to do with shutter speed in low light,). These are the lenses you save up for and pull out when you want to create a specific outcome/picture. It is out of my skill level to comment further, but I will say that prime lenses are addictive and the ones you usually like to “brag about” and pull out at night just to look at. They are also the ones you don’t tell your wife about, hahaha. like fly fishing, these are the “hot topics” and often discussed on internet sites and have that “gotta have it” factor.
Macro lens = Switch rod. These are lenses that do multiple things. In general they are all prime lenses since they don’t zoom (ie fixed focal length) BUT they have little gears inside that allows the lens to focus up close and get great 1:1 shots that look more “real”. Macro lenses can also be used as a normal/prime lens – see my recent post about using the macro lens for portraits (think of it like using your 8wt saltwater rod to go bass fishing on a lake).
Telephoto lens = Shooting head setup for distance. Allows you to grab a subject far away and pull it in closer to the image plane.
Fisheye lens = one of the new bluegill or bass fly rods. Very niche but can do really interesting things in certain situations.
Tripods and heads = skiff boat or casting platform. They allow you do your job better and are accessories. Sure we can all wade fish but having a boat allows you get places and do things.
Filters, flash, tape, reflectors, etc = tackle. They allow you fine tune your image to get that shot you visualized in your mind’s eye.
Photoshop and post-processors = well, you get the picture.
A lot of the guys on this board often discuss fancy things they are doing with their gear. It’s like saying hey look what I can do with my spey rod or watch me bonefish with a 3wt. However, once you understand the basics you will see that there are some AMAZING photographers here who are doing awesome stuff with their gear and pushing the envelope. That’s what makes it so fun. I just caution people not to get caught up in the advanced skills until you are comfortable with the basics (i.e. don’t try and compete in a fly fishing distance tournament if you can’t double haul). But it sure is fun to watch and dream.
Remember, photographers are just like fisherman, they have lots of gear and equipment, their clothes have many pockets, they are obsessed with technology, they travel, they study, they practice. We all have more toys than we need but only a few people really understand the equipment they have. When you first started fly fishing the language and terminology seemed daunting but now you can actually carry on a conversation with any fly fisherman once you get the basics.
Are all those shots taken with a Macro Lense and/or macro settings on the cameras???
My pics are all from the Nikon 105VR. The intent of the post is show what CAN be done with a macro lens. Quite honestly, it took me a long time (and a great deal of reading) to understand the basics of lens design. I’m still learning! For example, I struggled to understand why a macro lens like the 105mm was also called a “telephoto”. Originally I thought that macro meant that you had to be close up and that telephoto meant far away like in sports photography. As you know it is very very very difficult to get a straight answer on the internet and the more I read the more confused the subject became. Then the light-bulb turned on and it finally started to make sense – the three basic categories of lenses are simple – wide angle, regular, and telephoto and that is just in reference to the focal length (wide is wide, regular is like what human eye sees and telephoto is narrow angle but pulls the subject in closer – forgive me for my basic analogy). However, the “macro” part is like adding an adjective to the sentence – it is just an additional design feature that allows the lens to focus in close like 1:1 or greater.
So I have two macro lenses – Nikon 60mm f2.8D and the 105mm VR. I did the homework and took a bunch of shots and sure enough both lenses will take great macro up close (e.g. flies, flowers, eyes, and for me medical lesions). But both lenses still take respective pictures at their focal length, thus the 60mm is like a 60mm prime lens (more like a 90mm on my D300) and the 105 is in fact a great medium telephoto lens (more like a 130mm on a non-FX camera). I am NOT advocating everyone rush out and buy a macro lens, it is still a niche piece of equipment. I am just glad that I get to use my macro lenses to take non-macro for now because it saves me having to buy additional lenses. That will come in time.
The real test for me comes in the form of medical photography. If I use the 60mm I have to get the lens basically right up on the subject and that tends to make people uncomfortable. However, with the 105mm I can stand back a foot or so and get the same 1:1 macro image simply because of its focal length. Same goes for shooting bugs, you can use a 105mm or 200mm lens and stand back a ways and still get macro without scaring the subject.
Some additional shots with the 105mm showing the versatility of the lens.
Keynote is part of iLife http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/. It is Apple’s equivalent of PowerPoint and it is awesome. I do all my professional lectures on it (Al Gore made the movie Inconvenient Truth on Keynote). Great transitions and sharp themes. People in the audience are always asking me “how did you do that” because the program just works. However, you could do the same thing in Office for Mac or whatever program you have. The difference is that the Apple remote control actually advances slides and plays videos in Keynote from across the room and allows you to walk around and interact with the audience.
One of my favorite features is the Auto Alpha which allows you remove picture backgrounds and make them “blend” in with the talk.
