It’s summer, the COVID situation is looking better, and I am making some changes. Here are the updates in a nutshell. I linked this summary so you can skip ahead if you want to.
- Website has a new, lighter look — thanks Fujicast
- Making new images nearly every day, and sometimes more
- Have enough images to start making new galleries more regularly
- Tried seascape photography for the first time
- Instagram account looks ready to clear 1,000 followers — an important milestone
- The Ektoplasmar projection lens conversion project has created some images that I am really pleased with
- Added a zoom which has added a lot of capabilities
- Bug macro rig is nearly complete — and it’s small which is welcome
Lighter site
I like the Fujicast with Kevin Mullins and Neale James. It’s two wedding photographers who switched to Fujifilm talking about what you would mostly expect: Fujifilm, wedding photography, and photography more generally. They’re interesting on photography, and that’s what I listen for.
But they occasionally get into digital strategy stuff — SEO, email, web design and stuff — and it’s sometimes quite helpful. One thing that seemed clear after they mentioned it: people respond better to lighter background.
So, here it is! The difference is (almost literally) black and white. Technically very dark gray to very light gray. Comment with your reponse. If there aren’t any comments, then it’s all for naught. And I will probably blame the Fujicast. (Kidding!)
Photography every day
As I’ve mentioned, gently emphasizing quantity and letting quality follow has worked well at getting my limbered up again. I set out to take pictures about six days a week when I started. But there were times in the early spring and late winter that were pretty dreary and when I was pretty busy with other stuff. Selling off old equipment; starting work on the Ektoplasmar converted projection lens project; checking, checking, checking to see if Fujifilm had released the 70-300mm zoom yet and how it reviewed; learning about flash photography and other things discussed in this post.
During that time photography slowed down a little. Or sometimes the only images I made were lens tests. But now I am back out shooting daily.
More Galleries
After nearly a year of making images very frequently, I am able to collect some of them into more gallery posts — like latest gallery featuring images of common flowers.
Seascape photography
Windy days are one of the hardest common conditions for outdoor photography. But, living on the Great Lakes, makes it possible to do some dramatic seascape photography on those days. I’ve nearly frozen my fingers off once, but it was fun! And I like the mood these shots tend to have.
My Instagram looks set to clear 1K during the summer
Not a huge fan of Instagram, tbh, but it is helpful for keeping short accounts with making images. It’s like soft deadline. So, since I’m on it, it’s nice to see the account is growing steadily. Often social media is a little more motivating with enough followers.
(Help out if you don’t mind, and Follow me on Instagram.)
The Ektoplasmars are creating some nice images
The Ektoplasmar projection lens conversion project continues apace. Well, not exactly apace, I was held up by slow shipping from China and by some technical and mechanical challenges. More detail on that process coming soon. So close I can taste that smooth creamy bokeh… so to speak.
I added a Fujifilm zoom
The Fujifilm 70-300mm has added some nice capabilities. In particular, it seems like a great addition to daily camera gear with good uses in landscape, wildlife, and even some borderline macro work.
This is a focal length range that I like so much that I’ve technically had four lenses in this category within the last year. An old AF Nikkor 75-300mm, a Tokina AT-X 100-300, and Canon EF 70-300mm. Of these, I have now sold all but the Canon.
The Canon EF 70-300mm with the Viltrox adapter, which made focusing and stabilization theoretically possible, but autofocus was basically impracticable.
Bug macro rig
One of the most exciting summer changes is something that I worked on starting during the winter. I started researching and building a bug macro rig with a lens, flash and flash bracket that enables handheld photography of insects, spiders and other small things. The nicest thing about it, is that it seems to work without creating the two-suns highlight effect that some configurations create.
The second nicest thing about it is that it’s fairly compact and easier to maneuver than I anticipated. This is largely because required flash power is minimal so the flash can be quite small.
I like bug macro photography during times of year when other subjects aren’t as abundant. For me this often seems to start in mid- to late August. Flowers are getting done. Leaves are looking a little tattered. Fall color hasn’t set in, but there are plenty of bugs around.
So those are my summer changes. Sometimes, when it feels like not much is happening, it’s great to write about it!
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