PU Southern Meet 16 Aug 09 Stowe

There were five of us Pentaxians at Stowe yesterday; myself and (from left to right) Fiona, Dan, Vic and Danny.




The weather was fantastic and there was plenty to photograph from architecture...




...to landscapes...




...and even wildlife (but before Dan and Danny upload their dragonfly shots I thought you'd like a "making of" preview).




A great day all round with almost too many photo ops to choose from, so some of us went for speed...




...while others were a lot more methodical in their approach (looking forward to seeing how all those in-camera HDR shots came out Dan).




The venue was a photographer's dream and well worth a visit if you haven't been before. I'll be popping back soon for sure!

These are great, thx Hefty!!

Looks like you had a nice for it and got some nice images

Some great shots, nice to see the guys all taking an afternoon nap Glad you all had a good day.

Well, it was a warm day and we'd been out a few hours...

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Bunch of paparazzis tryng to get the pictures of the cartoon star "Z" from the cartoon "Antz". Looks lik anice day.

It was a nice day, pity there weren't more of us there (yourself excused, Estonia would have been a long way to come ).

Well, here are some more of my shots, not including the damselfly I was taking above. I've got loads more, but I think this should do it.



K-7, DA*55mm, ISO 1600, 1/3200s @ f/4




K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 100, 0.8s @ f/11, tripod (HDR)




Vic with his hotshoe mounted 'Danny Head'.
K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 100, 1/200s @ f/6.3




K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 800, 1/100s @ f/6.3




K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 100, 0.6s @ f/9, tripod




K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 400, 1/50s @ f/6.3




K-7, DA*55mm, ISO 100, 1/25s @ f/16, tripod




K-7, DA*300mm, ISO 100, 1/500s @ f/4, tripod




Shadows of pillars.
K-7, DA*300mm, ISO 100, 1/125s @ f/11, tripod




K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 100, 1/6s @ f/9, tripod




Hefty!
K-7, 35mm Limited Macro, ISO 400, 1/60s @ f/5


Most of the HDR ones I took left me cold to be honest, just the lack of contrast doesn't do anything for me, so I think I'll just carry on choosing scenes with enough, but not too much , contrast.

The K-7's spirit level worked pretty well, any straightening I've done has generally been less than 1 degree. Still need a hotshoe mounted one though if you want the camera level in two directions, ie. side to side and up and down.

RAW files from the K-7 seemed softer at ISO100 than what I'm used to with the K10D, but some I took at ISO320 had a bit more 'bite'. Nice camera though, enjoyed using it, so thanks to Chris at SRS for letting us (me! ) have it for the day.

Dan

That last one reminds me of why I stand *behind* the camera...

Gotta get myself one of those hotshoe-mounted Dannys!

Can't tell you anymore I'm afraid, I'm just the secret product tester!

is that what Dan and Danny were doing then? I really thought they were enjoying an afternoon nap on that nice cool looking grass

Might as well post these here as well, keep 'em all in one place!

Will try and get some more done tonight!

Not if I get to the mac first!!

Laying on the ground has become one of my newest postions...Wow its been fun getting into this Love it as you all do

And of course, there's the industry secret - Vic's 55-Danny lens!




Ok, not quite as good as Hefty's.

Fiona

p.s. sorry I haven't posted my shots on this thread, just felt there were too many!

Unlocker's penultimate pic is a corker.

And this seems to have been a very productive day. Nothing like an inspirational setting to get the creative juices flowing.

G