Theme # 348 "Vapor"

Now this is what I call a "One In A Million Shot", Taken today by me at the Air Show at Jones Beach, Long Island, NY. Before I go any further here is an explanation of what and why's of this vapor plume.Quote: At sea level a plane must exceed 741 mph to break the sound barrier, or the speed at which sound travels. The change in pressure as the plane outruns all of the pressure and sound waves in front of it is heard on the ground as an explosion or sonic boom. The pressure change condenses the water in the air as the jet passes these waves. Altitude, wind speed, humidity, the shape and trajectory of the plane - all of these affect the breaking of this barrier. The slightest drag or atmospheric pull on the plane shatters the vapor oval like fireworks as the plane passes through it.This plane is a Navy Super Hornet F/A-18F Jet stationed at NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Va. I got three shots of this jet with the plume in various stages of shapes and sizes. The actual speed of this plane according to the MC was 2 mph less then required to break the sound barrier. If the pilot was going just a little faster we would have had a lot of broken windows in the area. I wonder what effect that phenomena has on my camera lens glass ?Here's a link (a must read) on what happens but also how lucky I was in capturing this shot.http://www.rense.com/general8/boom.htm There is also a prize winning photo of the plume and my image is almost as good (IMHO). I'll bore you with the details as I am soooo excited. I used my AF-S VR Zoom Nikor 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6 G IF-ED lens. I had my focus set to continuous which means that the camera will try and maintain focus if the subject is moving and believe me the subject was moving. I did not use burst release mode but single -frame release mode. So in essence I squeezed off three shots of this bird in three seconds according to my exif data. The reason I used single-frame release mode is because I shoot in RAW and I did not want a couple thousand shots.

Here is the exif data. Nikon D90 2009/05/23

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: VR 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 G

Focal Length: 270mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/640 sec - F/11

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-C

The three images above are Photo # 2, 1 and 3 in that order.

Exif data shows the times for each shot are as follow:

Photo#1 May 23, 2009 @ 13:09:35 (Middle photo)

Photo#2 May 23, 2009 @ 13:09:36 (Top photo)

Photo#3 May 23, 2009 @ 13:09:38 (Bottom photo)

Sorry for the confusion but when I posted the images they got out of order and I had all the typing done and I did not know how to fix it up. I like The last one #3.

Theme # 177 "Looking Down"

These swan's are swimming in the Peconic Bay located right behind Main Street, Riverhead, NY. Probably about 100 yards to the right is where the Peconic River empties its water into the bay. This area is affected by the normal tidal action of the bay. This family of Swans were on the other side of the river/canal and I kept calling them softly and throwing pebbles into the water hoping that they would come closer. But they would not follow my lead. I went back to my car to get my big glass (70-300mm) and a bunch of kids came over and started making a whole lot of loud noise and the Swans came right over. The Moral of the story is that Swans are hard of hearing so yell louder. They came to my side and I almost had to look straight down at times as the dock is say 6-7 feet above the canal. Cute little family aren't they?

Nikon D90 2009/05/17 16:50:19

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G

Focal Length: 22mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/30 sec - F/11

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-C

Theme # 33 "Break the Rule of Thirds"

I was in Riverhead today taking pictures and I spotted this restored 1933 Packard in absolutely mint condition. These old spoked wheels enticed me to take a few shots but here is a good example (IMHO) to break the rule of thirds, golden ratio or the golden spiral. Are not these wide white walls the neatest. I had a 1949 Ford coupe in HS with wide white walls like this. I know I'm dating myself, but I truly love the old stuff.

Nikon D90 2009/05/17 17:27:43

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G

Focal Length: 35mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/25 sec - F/6.3

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-S

Theme # 199 "No Exit"

The location is Meeting House Creek Dock, Aquebogue, NY.

What you see is a natural tragedy which happens every once in a while. These fish, Atlantic Menhaden commonly called "Bunkers" are on the food chain for Striped bass and Blue fish. The bunkers travel in very large schools measured in area (miles/km's) and most likely were being chased by Blue fish and ended up the creek with no way out/no exit. Due to the size of the school and quantity of bunkers, no exit, no oxygen they die. It is such a shame but sometimes nature in its purest form is cruel. Meeting House Creek empties into the Peconic Bay which is in the upper most part of the image. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_menhaden

Nikon D90 2009/05/17 15:21:45

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: 12-24mm F/4 G

Focal Length: 12mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/125 sec - F/16

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-A

Theme # 340 "Fowl"

This is the infamous "Big Duck" which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places located in Flanders, New York. In 1931, Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer and his wife Jeule decided to construct a giant duck-shaped duck shop. They hoped to sell the Peking ducks they raised to passing motorists who would surely be drawn to the striking form of a "Big Duck" along Riverhead's West Main Street. The Big Duck roosted at this location till 1936 until it was relocated to Rt 24 in Flanders. Long Island duckling can still be found as a menu offering at the finest restaurants around the world. Here is a little more trivia about Mr. Big Duck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Duck

Nikon D90 2009/05/17 14:53:30

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G

Focal Length: 27mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/250 sec - F/8

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-A

Theme # 154 "Humor"

This one half of a "Tin Man" was found at the junk yard where I took the picture of the VW posted below. As you can see I cropped the lower extremities of Mr. Tin Man off in order to not violate the regulations of posting X-rated material on this blog. Need I explain any further. When I first saw this creation I could not stop laughing. The artist certainly had a sense of humor. It's mounted and chained to a trailer that can be towed by a car or whatever. It appears that he has three kegs of "Beer" hoisted above his head and he is showing off his masculinity, male proneness and strength. I would love to know where this was displayed and what for. My DW said this was x-rated and could not post it. But with my sense of humor I could not help myself and had to just show a portion of the piece of local folk art. I will find out the history of this piece of local folk art and update the post.

Nikon D90 2009/05/06 16:15:27

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: 12-24mm F/4 G

Focal Length: 18mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/50 sec - F/20

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-A

Theme # 28 "Blue"

This junk yard is right up the street from the old church in Yaphank which I posted below. Nothing special just an Old Blue VW dating back to the mid-fifty's. The battery was still there and it was 6-volts and the tail lamps were the very small ones which dates this VW back to the 1950's. Back in 1960's I had a 1956 VW Bug and used it to commute back and forth to work.

Nikon D90 2009/05/06 16:14:27

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: 12-24mm F/4 G

Focal Length: 20mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/50 sec - F/20

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-A

Theme # 235 "Place of Worship"

This quaint little old church resides in the town of Yaphank, NY. It is right up the street from the old garage that I posted earlier in April. The little town of Yaphank was settled in 1726.

The Yaphank Presbyterian Church had its beginnings according to church and county records in the late 1700s. In 1817 the local Millville (Yaphank) schoolhouse on Sundays hosted a Sunday School mission of the Middle Island Presbyterian Church. After a number of years of worshipping in homes and in the schoolhouse, the present church was built as a chapel in 1851. In October 1871 the Yaphank Presbyterian Church was officially recognized as an individual church by the Long Island Presbytery.

After days of rain I could finally go outside and attempt something for the blog. This is basically a straight forward shot meaning I just got out of the car,got my camera and took a few shots. I purposely used the tree branches (on top and right side) and the bush on the bottom to sort of frame the photo for me. I used Lightroom for PP and PSE-7 for the frame and also the removal of lens distortion(both vertical and horizontal). I very rarely will shoot a building straight head on as I like to see the perspective and depth of the building. If you have been following my exif data in my posts you will notice that 90% of the time I shoot in Aperture mode and set my f/stop to give me that good DOF. I focused on a spot of grass on the left side in front of the church. That way the bush on the right and the whole church was in acceptable focus. I also used my circular polarizer in this shot and it is quite noticeable.

Nikon D90 2009/05/06 15:53:36

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: VR 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 G

Focal Length: 18mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/30 sec - F/22

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

Hand Held

Theme # 285 "Silver & Gold"

Well I back to post another one. Have not had the time for an outside shot so since it rained all day I got my home made light box out and snapped a few. This is the result of about four attempts. I tried using some of my wife's jewelery but the DOF is so short that half was in focus and the other half out of focus. The gold cross is thin enough to give me a little play. I used two lights mounted on the sides of the Light Box with 60 watt bulbs. Even with this much direct light the shutter speed as you can see was pretty slow. I also tried putting more lights on the top of the Light Box but this added too much glare. I used a tripod and manual focus. PP in Lightroom and added the frame in PSE-7.

Nikon D90 2009/05/03 21:59:09

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: 105mm F/2.8 D Macro

Focal Length: 105mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/4 sec - F/25

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: Manual

Tripod

Light Box