Category Archives: fish eye

Doors

Posted by Mike on

As a follow-up to our week of churches we decided to stay with the theme and go with church doors. I went with the decision to use my fish-eye lens for this week. I thought it would give me a unique perspective on the doors and also allow me to get in tight, removing quite a bit of the distractions around the doors. Not sure it worked but maybe I just need to pursue this theme longer and work out the bugs.

Using the fish-eye for architectural subjects is definitely harder than for a nice landscape. Position of the focal plane, orientation of the camera all come into play and when they are off it is really noticeable. I think the small inconsistencies with each image are what has me second guessing what I captured. OK, that seals it, I just need more practice… so you will have to put up with more church doors in the future. 😉

St. Peter's Gate Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {10, 15 & 25s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

St. Peter’s Gate
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {10, 15 & 25s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

Zion Episcopal Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {3, 6, 13 & 25s bracket}, f/11, ISO 200

Zion Episcopal
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {3, 6, 13 & 25s bracket}, f/11, ISO 200

Camroden Church Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {1/3, 1.3 & 5s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

Camroden Church
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {1/3, 1.3 & 5s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

Holiday Bed-n-Breakfast

Posted by Mike on

I should probably label this a test as I hope to return on a not so snowy night to get a clearer image of my neighbor’s bed-n-breakfast. I was walking down to the corner to get an image of the historic church’s front door for the latest theme but I couldn’t pass up this view. I forget how nice my neighbor decorates his house for the holidays. Too bad there was some flurries in the air but I’m sure I’ll be able to get a better night to improve this image.

Holiday Bed-n-Breakfast Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {20 & 30s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

Holiday Bed-n-Breakfast
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {20 & 30s bracket}, f/11, ISO 100

Holiday on Display

Posted by Mike on

Thursday evenings trip into Rome, NY for my images of churches reminded me of the holiday displays the city assembles. Although the temperature was not as pleasing last night I couldn’t resist making another trip into town to see what I could capture. I also decided to leave the fish-eye lens on the camera and attempt to capture as much of the lights as possible.

Holiday Street Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1.3s, f/16, ISO 100

Holiday Street
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1.3s, f/16, ISO 100

Holiday on Display Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {1, 2, 4s bracket}, f/11, ISO 200

Holiday on Display
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, {1, 2, 4s bracket}, f/11, ISO 200

My Playground

Posted by Mike on

This is one of my playgrounds with the camera. The trails along the barge canal provide great opportunities for images. This is a wide angle view of both the Utica Marsh and the Barge Canal from the Route 12 bridge. It still amazes with how much scenery the 8mm lens can capture!

My Playground Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/400s, f/8, ISO 800

My Playground
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/400s, f/8, ISO 800

Graffiti/Mural/Building Art

Posted by Mike on

This week’s theme for our photography adventure is graffiti, mural and/or building art. I was fortunate enough to get out on Saturday while the weather was still fantastic. I had planned on venturing out to a few locations over the entire weekend but Sunday decided to rain on my parade. Luckily for me, my exploring Saturday afternoon provided plenty of image options.

Although I fell back on a familiar location for these images (the barge canal) I tried to compose differently than I normally do. I’m not sure I completely succeeded but I am happy with the results. The hardest part was narrowing down my choices to just three images. I did consciously decide to only use single exposures for this week’s images. I had already explored the HDR method last week…

The barge canal trail in North Utica has been a great location for my photography exploring. The Utica Marsh is accessible from the trail as well as numerous trails along the canal. This first image is off the bridge supports for Route 12 as it crosses the canal. As you can see they provide a large canvas for artistic expression.

Under the Traffic Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/125s, 38mm, f/4, ISO 400

Under the Traffic
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/125s, 38mm, f/4, ISO 400

This second image is a detailed look at one particular piece of graffiti. I felt it wasn’t a very strong composition if I only included the artwork but the juxtaposition of the calm, sunset look of the canal enhanced the art. It was a thought…

Peeking Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/400s, 24mm, f/4, ISO 400

Peeking
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/400s, 24mm, f/4, ISO 400

To really jump outside my normal methods I threw the 8mm fish-eye lens on for the last few minutes of sunlight. I did manage to capture a few more images of the graffiti on the bridge supports but they are similar to the last image in composition. Although the fish-eye effect does add to the image I wanted to include something different.

This last image is a spotlight on one section of an on-ramp for Route 12. The canal trail winds right along the road and this large section of concrete appears to be another favorite area for expression. The 180 degree field of view and the normal distortion from the lens definitely enhances the look of this robot.

Robot Surrender Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 800

Robot Surrender
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 800

Dig Deep

Posted by Mike on

Sunday morning was just a great autumn day. I had to stop into work early but by 8am I was walking along the barge canal with the camera. I tried something a little different yesterday. I used one lens on the walk out and then switched to the 8mm fish-eye lens for the return trip. I wanted to try ‘seeing’ differently with that big wide angle lens. I actually captured a few interesting views. This crawler excavator turned out to be one of my favorites.

Dig Deep Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/640s, f/11, ISO 400

Dig Deep
Nikon D5100, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5, 1/640s, f/11, ISO 400