Photos of the distance. (Telephoto lenses)
#1
Posted 31 July 2008 - 08:41 PM
This shot is with my Rebel XSi with a Canon 400mm 5.6 and a Canon 2X converter on my tripod from my 34th floor balcony of my place in The Tower.
I took these pictures yesterday when I got home from work as the storm was approaching from the Northwest. At that point Fort Worth and Arlington was deep within the clouds, but Dallas was still bright and sunny. really stratified the landscape by distance. I like the effect. And though far from "Tack sharp" gets me pretty close to Dallas. Closer than I would have imagined without using my telescope. The near foreground is the Loop 820 area (See Luby's on left) the intermediate ground is North Arlington and then of course Downtown Dallas. Take a look.
- tarAddese, staisfand, Kibespoiserry and 9 others like this
#2
Posted 31 July 2008 - 08:51 PM
#3
Posted 31 July 2008 - 09:55 PM
#4
Posted 31 July 2008 - 10:31 PM
I am thinking it would be in this shot I it can be seen in this set. Stand-by for some good shots in the fall as the north wind and rain blows the particulates down to Houston! Now what I really want to do, is go to Dallas and find a tall building I can get outside of, and take a picture of Fort Worth! My guess, is I can't be stopped. (Do you know where I can get those big suction cups for climbing up the side of tall buildings?)
#5
Posted 01 August 2008 - 11:08 AM
Tripod
Camera remote shutter release cable
and set the camera for "Mirror Lock UP" position. The shutter will just accept the image without the mirror moving.
no wind
See if that helps
Dave still at
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#6
Posted 14 September 2008 - 05:28 PM
I Used it and liked it, but had this question that I could not find an answer to. Rather than turning my 400 into an 800 with my 2X, might I be better with just my really high quality 400, and then crop to twice the size? I looked hard for an answer and found none. I finally did my own test. I think it a good one. I think a fair one. I took 3 pics in a row of 3 different things in the distance. (Courthouse, up high, Courthouse clock and the cab of the crane at the TCC site. ) I then put on my 2x and took the same three pictures. Same time of day. same lighting, wind etc...
I then left all un-adjusted in ANY fashion. Did not tweak contrast, color or sharpen etc... I then cropped both sets of pics to just get down to an area of interest. (Learned this from the Photo sites that compare big lenses etc...)
The punch line to all this... 2X YES!!!! Far better quality than no 2X and cropping to double size. Included here are my originals and side by side comparisons I did in Photoshop. I am presenting just 2 of my 3 tests as the third test seems repeditive. But same result.
360Texas, put away your graphs and gamma correctors... this is a down home newbie eyeball test. (BTW, 360 has pointed me in the right direction all along my young photo obsession.) He is why I have my current lenses, why I do mirror lockup etc, etc... Here are the test photos. And I do know there me be other variable that could skew the results, like amount of light, availability of a good tripod etc... That's OK as far as I am concerned because the 2x wins by a large margin.
Original with 2x on. (no cropping or adjusting)
Extreem crop of Courthouse clock side by side
Original pic of crane cab with the 2x on. (Close up)
Test results. Look at A/C vents! And wiper blades!
#7
Posted 14 September 2008 - 09:02 PM
#8
Posted 15 September 2008 - 07:19 AM
With camera, 2x, long lens. Find a well lighted object. Manual focus. manual settings. On a sunshiny day like in the above images, 1/125 sec take sequence of images from Wide Open 5.6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20. Concept: open all in photoshop zoom to 100% then visually judge which fstop setting at 1/125th combination is the sharpest. One setting combination will be your lens 1/125th "f/stop" sweet spot.
If you are using a Canon (unless its a full frame sensor) you camera/lens combination for the 400mm L is already a 400 x 1.6 crop factor = 640mm. A 2x doubler makes it a 1,280mm but also reduces the f/stop light passing through the lens by 1 or 2 f/stops? IF you do some cropping.. take the cut from the center axis of the lens area. Outside the center, the lens probably is experiencing issues with sharpness and contrast towards to outer areas where the glass meets the metal housing.
Dave still at
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#9
Posted 15 September 2008 - 09:09 AM
First, for those that might not know what a 2x adapter is, it doubles the focal length (power) of your lens. So when I say, "with the 2x" I am talking about after I screw on the "2x doubler" which goes between the camera and lens.
By "Crop to 2x size", I mean adjust the picture not using the 2x adapter to equal the scale of the pics that use the 2x. For example, the cab of that crane should be the same apparent size in both pictures to make a fair comparison.
I am really happy to find the answer to my riddle. Yes. Use a 2x adapter rather than use a smaller lens and "blow up" electronically. (Crop) Or... buy a smaller cheaper lens plus a quality doubler. You then have 2 great lenses for less cost!
BTW. I am enjoying photography so much more than I thought I would. If times were tight for me financially I would sell my car and walk to work before I sold my camera. I am hooked good!
#10
Posted 15 September 2008 - 11:37 AM
#11
Posted 15 September 2008 - 11:54 AM
My thoughts exactly! I have lots of Downtown Dallas pics (100 I took this morning as the sun is coming up through downtown Dallas) and surely somebody in Dallas has sunset pics of Fort Worth. I have been thinking about joining the Dallas Forum long enough to get somebody to trade pictures. I would entice them with my best Dallas pics with a big grid over it or something. (Rendering unusable)
I have all my best Dallas pictures taken these last 2 days in the Hurricane washed air, now on my hard drive while figuring my strategy! I will let them out of the bag in a few days or sooner.
Pretty crazy, but from Downtown Fort Worth, the sun comes up with Downtown Dallas in the background just 2 days! (it travels an apparent several blocks a day from my viewpoint through magnification.) Stand by on those!
#12
Posted 15 September 2008 - 02:46 PM
"The Canon EF 2x II Extender mounts between the compatible lens and body, and multiplies the focal length settings of your lens by 2. That's the good news - the bad news is the 2x decreases/narrows your lens' aperture setting by 2 stops. The lens aperture still opens to the same width, but the ratio of the aperture opening to the focal length is reduced - by 2 stops.
For example, the Canon 2x makes a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS Lens into a 140-400mm f/5.6 IS lens - and yes, IS still functions normally. A Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L Lens mounted over a 2x becomes a 140-400mm f/8 lens. A Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS Lens becomes a 600mm f/5.6 IS lens."
The above is true if you were using a full 35mm frame sensor with those lenses. However, [yet 1 more math trick]
You are using a Rebel XSi with a Canon 400mm 5.6 and a Canon 2X converter. You might also have to start at the beginning.. and use the sensor crop factor of 1.6. then add in the affect of the 2x making your set up an overall whopper 1,280 mm combination. A stable tripod and Mirror UP combination is required to get sharp image.
I wonder what your 1 single image EXIF meta data files are reading... for focal length and lens mm. Photoshop [INFO} can show you that information.
Dave still at
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#13
Posted 15 September 2008 - 09:05 PM
#14
Posted 15 September 2008 - 09:50 PM
Was looking for a blimp but did not find. As it is a windy night, the Tower is on the move limiting my ISO choices to 1600 or 1600. (And even still a 3 second exposure.)
Therein lies my dilemma. The skies are clean when it is windy, but when it is windy my building is swaying. Life is tuff. I guess I will just sit back and enjoy the clean view.
#15
Posted 15 September 2008 - 09:58 PM
#16
Posted 16 September 2008 - 08:30 PM
Sorry. Have posted many pics of a distant Dallas. Will just post improvements and I think this is one.
My first picture of Midlothian TX. (These are the famous pollution plants we hear about frequently.)
#17
Posted 16 September 2008 - 09:49 PM
#18
Posted 17 September 2008 - 08:47 AM
The tiny blueish lights below are flourescent.
Noticed that most all the lighting seems to be incandescent "orange". Wonder what the orange lights would look like if you set the camera's white balance from auto to incandescent?
Not done with camera.
Dave still at
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#19
Posted 17 September 2008 - 11:11 AM
I just got my SLR camera and lenses in April so this was its first cool weather. Could it be a little dew on lens? It was chilly on the balcony last night. (Factor in a 25mph wind)
#20
Posted 17 September 2008 - 05:06 PM
There is just one minute every 6 months that this picture can be taken. (Today it was 7:14) Next time will be in mid April. If it is cloudy that day? Next September 17th is the next time this shot is available.
From my location in Downtown Fort Worth, the Sun crosses downtown Dallas in about 4 days all together. (Sunrise tomorrow will not be near Reunion Tower)
The Highway is Interstate 30 (30/820 area) filled with people heading to work.
Building on right is on Lamar in Arlington. (Merrill lynch/WBAP, I think)
I have taken hundreds of pictures of the sun behind Dallas this last four days. All of them better than this one. (Stand-by)
#21
Posted 17 September 2008 - 10:07 PM
I just got my SLR camera and lenses in April so this was its first cool weather. Could it be a little dew on lens? It was chilly on the balcony last night. (Factor in a 25mph wind)
I'm certainly no Dave360, but I'll put $5 on "Aperture Blade Diffraction". I'm guessing your aperture has 8 blades and your were at an eensy f-stop like f/32 or something.
#22
Posted 19 September 2008 - 11:20 AM
Gdvanc - right on spot. 8 blades intersecting cause 8 spiked light burst.
My Sigma 8mm f4.0 fisheye does the same thing with the SUN.
Dave still at
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#23
Posted 19 September 2008 - 08:22 PM
I have two identical pics here. One higher resolution and one the size of a paragraph in a Word DOC. The little one I have an annotation on. It is a circle around some object. I would like for somebody to tell me what that is I am looking at. Strange shape/ size/ location.
Here is the higher resolution photo. (Sept. 17th, 2008)
Very low resolution for your homework.
#24
Posted 19 September 2008 - 08:39 PM
Bruce Burton
#25
Posted 20 September 2008 - 05:38 AM
Let's take a look. Shall we?
#26
Posted 20 September 2008 - 10:09 PM
As far as the mystery object maybe it is a flag next/in front of an object?
#27
Posted 22 September 2008 - 07:58 PM
#28
Posted 26 September 2008 - 09:56 AM
I have a few hundred from this series. (My wife is looking for my meds.) First Sun. Let's take a look, shall we?
#29
Posted 01 October 2008 - 10:16 AM
2 shots. (Sun is behind the CB building) As always with my sunrise pics, colors are not enhanced.
The left side of the Carter Burgess Building
Rights side of the Carter Burgess Building (that stadium is UTA's in Arlington)
#30
Posted 01 October 2008 - 11:37 AM
#31
Posted 01 October 2008 - 12:18 PM
No. It is right behind the Carter Burgess building for me. It is really frustrating for me. I can see Texas Stadium fine. (Just in time for it to become a huge flea market or whatever)
I would love to get up to the Petroleum Club in the Carter Burgess Bldg. to see what the view of the new stadium would look like for me, and take some pictures. As I don't have a membership I may have to pull that "Get on my City of Fort Worth Firefighter costume on and be looking for smoke, routine."
#32
Posted 01 October 2008 - 03:55 PM
#33
Posted 01 October 2008 - 04:45 PM
Fantastic! Would love to get inside your building (One of my all time favs) and would love to get a shot of the stadium. Would very much appreciate a shout. Could be there with my junk in 5 minutes notice.
Any evening!
#34
Posted 02 October 2008 - 08:04 AM
#35
Posted 02 October 2008 - 08:11 AM
#36
Posted 02 October 2008 - 09:22 AM
Great idea for sure. I am not sure where it would be from, however. Would have to get up pretty high to see Dallas I think. There are a couple of those 10 story kind of buildings along I-30 West of Downtown. From the roof of those would be my only possibility that I can think of. (An airplane would be of little use... if I think it is tricky taking telephoto shots in the wind because my building is swaying think about doing it from and airplane) Sure I could get a snapshot of both but that isn't really what I am looking for.
I am going to need to get friendly with someone in one of those I-30 buildings I think. I have previously posted pics of downtown from the new Museum Place building and I know it is not tall enough. 7 stories?
Now 7 stories may work if it was a mile further West. If I was far enough West, the buildings in Dallas would appear (rightfully) taller than the buildings in Fort Worth. If the tallest building in Dallas was a side of a right triangle, the ground a side, and the hypotenuse a line from the top of Dallas's tallest building to a point West, at some point on the ground side, the buildings in Fort Worth would be the same height as the buildings in Dallas. I would need to be further West than that point to see Dallas and Fort Worth buildings. Unless of course I moved North or South and had Fort Worth on the left or right. I wonder if anybody out in West Fort Worth can see Dallas? Like from the Air Base area? I ponder.
#37
Posted 02 October 2008 - 09:39 AM
Apparently it is. Our host John has such a photo linked off the main site:
http://www.fortworth...dfw-distant.jpg
--
Kara B.
#38
Posted 02 October 2008 - 08:47 PM
#39
Posted 02 October 2008 - 11:28 PM
#40
Posted 03 October 2008 - 01:18 PM
Streets other name is "Fairhills" . The intersection is:
32° 46' 45.15" North 97° 32' 58.02" West
Intersection Elevation is about 906 MSL
Downtown Fort Worth shows Elev 560 ft above Sea Level
Or a about 350 ft rise over 13 miles Crow flight distance
Dave still at
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#41
Posted 03 October 2008 - 02:00 PM
Streets other name is "Fairhills" . The intersection is:
32° 46' 45.15" North 97° 32' 58.02" West
Intersection Elevation is about 906 MSL
Downtown Fort Worth shows Elev 560 ft above Sea Level
Or a about 350 ft rise over 13 miles Crow flight distance
Thanks 360 (and CBELLOMY)!
I am now on an irretrievable mission to get a good shot of Dallas and Fort Worth, both up close. Without such picture, my life on this planet will have passed without any great meaning.
My only real shame is that TEXASTRILL thought of this photo idea (Which of course, I will claim as my own). 360, I am plugging your coordinates in this evening. Stand-by...
#42
Posted 04 October 2008 - 07:47 PM
#43
Posted 04 October 2008 - 09:20 PM
Thanks John. If the atmosphere is acceptable tomorrow, I am taking a drive out there. I will try venturing a bit further west also.
The sky will need to be clean enough to get a good shot of Dallas, from many miles further west then I am used to. I am going to take some pictures anyhow just for target practice even if I have to return at 4AM three weeks from now when the sky has been washed clean by a good old fashion Norther. (And I think one is inbound!)
#44
Posted 05 October 2008 - 12:10 PM
However, farther West on White Settlement Road 1.5 miles beyond Cattle baron road find road called Tiara Trail at 32 46 57.88 N 97 34 17.06 W
turn North through fence/ open gate road Elevation 1004 ft on east side of Tiara Trail road.
keep in mind.. your personal GPS milage might vary because these are Google Earths coordinate system.
Dave still at
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#46
Posted 05 October 2008 - 09:55 PM
#47
Posted 06 October 2008 - 06:52 AM
Thanks
Dave still at
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#48
Posted 08 October 2008 - 09:40 AM
Wanted to last night but had a 6pm meeting with the Downtown Fort Worth Inc. boys. (Andy Taft) as we are forming a Downtown Alliance of HOA's. Nine downtown HOA's and the Business sector communicating. Gee, what a good idea.
Was wishing I was in West Fort Worth this morning about 20 minutes before sunrise when I took this picture. (Cropped wide)
#49
Posted 08 October 2008 - 10:58 AM
Dave still at
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#50
Posted 08 October 2008 - 02:33 PM
Shot one is DFW Airport. With Northeast Mall in the foreground.
Here is a shot of Cedar Hill TX with Fort Worth, Grand Prairie and Arlington in the foreground.
(mist comes from the Village Creek, Lake Arlington Valley.)
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