Your Best Photo, Week Ending 17 June 2018

Sometime before midnight (whatever time zone you are in) this Sunday, 17 June 2018, post the best photo you have taken this week. Any subject, any style—just give us your best shot.

If you can, list your EXIF info and any special lighting setups you may have used.

First I want to say thanks to Nicole for keeping this going.  I enjoy the weekly best that everyone posts.  I only wish more would join in.

My submission this week is from Shenandoah National Park again.  I can't help it.  It's close to home and usually offers something share-worthy.  My wife and I went up to the park last night for the sunset.  It's not unusual to see groups of cars stopped on Skyline Drive watching something.  Sometime it's just deer, but the biggest groups gather when a bear can be seen.  Sure enough, we came upon a group of stopped cars watching a mama bear with two tiny cubs.  The cubs couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.  We had just stopped at an overlook where I had taken a few shots of distant mountains in bright evening sun, so my settings were way off for bears in the shadows.  This shot required some extreme measures with the sliders, but came out pretty good considering how badly I had screwed it up.

D500, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 @ 190mm, f/11, 1/200", ISO100

This is what I had just shot prior to seeing the bears.  We don't get a clear view of Old Rag Mountain very often.  It's usually much more hazy.

500_9283.jpg by Mark, on Flickr

D500, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 @ 102mm, f/11, 1/250", ISO100

And this was our reason for going to the park yesterday evening.  It wasn't the most spectacular sunset we've seen, but it wasn't disappointing either.

810_0519.jpg by Mark, on Flickr

D810, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 62mm, f/11, 1/100", ISO64

We headed for home when the colors in the sky faded.  Along the way we saw lots of deer, a couple of raccoons, and an owl sitting in the middle of the road.  All in all it was much better than spending an evening in front of the TV.   

Beautiful, beautiful work, Mark! Wow--what a privilege to live so close to such a gorgeous place. Glad you caught the bear though, even if you had to save the shot in post. No shame in that! It turned out great. And that sunset--lovely. The tree really makes it a compelling composition.

First I want to say thanks to Nicole for keeping this going.  I enjoy the weekly best that everyone posts.  I only wish more would join in.

 

Ha--I wish more would join in too, but I'd be a hypocrite if I complained since I haven't been contributing much either for the last year or so. Wish I had more time for photography, but alas...work has taken over my life. I am incredibly grateful to those who do participate--it's very inspiring to see what everyone is up to and all the wonderful images you all are producing. I am frequently blown away by the caliber of work produced by the folks in these forums.

After a very long time, I have taken a few exposures again. Additionally to not having had any practice with my camera, I just found out that I have also forgotten how to use Flickr (and was somewhat overwhelmed with all the data sharing info due to the new owner of yahoo). So, sorry for not being able to embed the images directly. If I find out (again) how this works, I will edit this post. ... Edit: Yeah, it seems to work now.

https://www.flickr.c...57629143817044/

Helical art with artificial bird 1

Info:

D3100 with Sigma 10-20 mm F3.5 EX DC HSM @ 10 mm

1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100

With polarizing filter (but no lens hood, which I simply forgot)

Some meddling in post with LR4, Sharpener Pro 3 Raw Presharpening and Dfine2

https://www.flickr.c...57629143817044/

Helical art with artificial bird 2

Info:

D3100 with Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105 mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED VR @ 105 mm

1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Some meddling in post with LR4, Sharpener Pro 3 Raw Presharpening and Dfine2

Edited by Malice, 16 June 2018 - 12:14 AM.

Not much from me this week.  We did have one day of no sunshine, was supposed to rain but didn't happen.  Took some long exposure shots of a local man-made waterfall.  Yesterday was the usual hot and sunny.  Stopped alongside the highway to shoot some sunflowers.  Very windy both days.

1) D750, Nikon 105 macro, ND filters, iso 50, 30sec @ f16.

2) D750, Nikon 24-70 @ 66mm, iso 50, 1/320 @ 4.5  

Sunday, I went to a cultural event by lake Ekoln. Among the happenings was a poetree.

PES_2018-06-17_15-01-44_17mm_ by merco_61, on Flickr

Model: NIKON D7200
Lens (mm): 17 (Tamron 17-50/2.8 non-VR version)
ISO: 1250
Aperture: 7.1
Shutter: 1/500

Picture Control: [LS]Landscape

ADL: Normal

WB: Cloudy

Photo SOOC.
 

So, I am VERY late with this one...

I managed to surprise myself - not with the images as they aren't anything to write home about...rather it was the fact that I woke up in time to see a nice sunrise getting started AND the fact that I took the time to go downstairs and outside to grab a few images at that time of the morning!  I then went back to sleep and my wife stayed up long enough to see the sun rise above the trees before giving up her viewing of the sunrise.

Nokon D4, 24-70 @70, f4, ISO 200, 1/500

Heading back down on Thursday and hoping to get out on the boat with the cameras for the first time this year...and maybe some good sunrises and sunsets again!

Beautiful, beautiful work, Mark! Wow--what a privilege to live so close to such a gorgeous place. Glad you caught the bear though, even if you had to save the shot in post. No shame in that! It turned out great. And that sunset--lovely. The tree really makes it a compelling composition.

 

 

 

Ha--I wish more would join in too, but I'd be a hypocrite if I complained since I haven't been contributing much either for the last year or so. Wish I had more time for photography, but alas...work has taken over my life. I am incredibly grateful to those who do participate--it's very inspiring to see what everyone is up to and all the wonderful images you all are producing. I am frequently blown away by the caliber of work produced by the folks in these forums.

Nicole, we are all most impressed by your talents and abilities.  I can honestly say that you and your work are greatly missed.  Come back soon.  tony

Nicole, we are all most impressed by your talents and abilities.  I can honestly say that you and your work are greatly missed.  Come back soon.  tony

Thank you so much, Tony. I'm working on it...