Astro minimalism - I like it !! Makes a pleasant change from huge gas clouds and skies full of millions of stars (nothing wrong with them, but I do like variety). Had to look hard to find Antares in the first one, then convince myself it wasn't just dust on the tablet's screen .

Please don't tell me it was just luck, you were walking outside to put some trash in the trash can (am I speaking the right language here??), just happened to notice Antares disappearing behind the moon, rushed inside to grab the camera and the first was a quick point 'n shoot grab shot...

Steve

Yes, of course. As long as it's a Pentax .

Steve

Some people like using fancy cameras, perhaps other people like dressing up as Darth Vader ... :

Steve

I used to say that, too. But my photographic cupboard tells a different story...

Steve

The K3ii doesn't have built-in wifi so wificommander won't work with it. The only wifi tethering option is a Pentax FluCard which is a wifi-enabled SD card, now discontinued but used ones can sometimes be found for sale in the usual places. I don't use it very often now as it's slow and not exactly the slickest bit of software out there, but you can control the camera with it and it does what it claims to do.

Steve

Is this the sort of tethering software you want? link

I've not used it myself so can't comment on what it does and how well it does it, but K3ii is in the list of supported cameras.

My own approach to close-up/macro in the field with a K3 (original) on a tripod is to frame and focus using the viewfinder (with or without right-angle finder as needed) then use a wireless remote to fire the shutter. For desktop macro, the K3 is in live view, tethered to a PC via USB to see the live view image on a big screen (using OBS Studio on the PC), focus adjusted manually (by focus rack), shutter fired by wireless remote. It works for me at least.

Steve

Methinks that's another one for a gallery wall, Gareth !

Saving to the wrong file format and no way of going back?? I suspect we've all done that - I certainly have . But starting from scratch if you want to tweak it might actually be to your advantage as it will be more of a creative process again rather than mere tweaking and who knows where that might lead.

Steve

And a Happy New Year to HG and all other forum members.

Just watched the Attenborough programme on the newly discovered fossilised pliosaur skull. Superb, watch it it you haven't already. It was removed from a cliff not far from me. And I had no idea that it had happened until seeing the trailers for the programme.

Steve

Mrs L and I visited the donkey sanctuary at Sidmouth on what turned out to be a rare dry day (once the rain had passed). As expected given recent weather, the donkeys were in or near their shelters rather than in paddocks and fields. No problem in principle, you can get close to them. However, we arrived just as the donkeys' bedding was being changed - a major operation involving tractors and trailers. Then when the bedding was in place and the donkeys allowed back in, they all stuck their heads under the straw (hay?) to eat it from the bottom up. And all we could see of most of the donkeys was their rear ends. Hardly photogenic!

However, a few donkeys obliged by keeping their head above bedding level. Here are some of the best shots. The first is hardly a competition winner, but shows what was going on. The third is a crop to remove an out of focus hand holding the Wonky Donkey book which a mum and young child were reading to the donkey. The donkey in the last one looks like how I have felt for a lot of 2023...

All taken with K3iii + DA 16-85mm.

Thought, comments etc. welcome as usual. And may 2024 find you as happy and contented as a donkey with new bedding .

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Steve

The first one is definitely the one I'd hang on my wall because it's both attractive and restful. But the 3rd is my favourite because I'm attracted to structure of all sorts and this is almost pure structure - there's beauty there in the same way that light reflecting from chaotically wavy water can be beautiful. I feel that I ought to like the 2nd but can't. Perhaps it's because the tree doesn't stand out enough from the background, a shaft of sunlight illuminating just the tree would make all the difference. But clouds and sun will do their own thing - and of course that is usually not what the photographer wants...

Steve