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*** May 2026 Image & Video Thread ***

So far… I’ve been in Kansas City Union Station; also the ones in St Louis and DC, tho they’re more event space/shopping malls than stations by now. (So is KC, tho at least I think it’s closer in touch with its heritage.) Been through NYC’s Grand Central a couple of times; also been through the post-teardown Penn Station, the abomination buried beneath Madison Square Garden that was aptly compared to a rat warren. Haven’t been there since they turned the old post office (designed by the same architects as the original Penn) into an entrance hall; would like to see it.

Chicago’s Union Station is one I might have a chance to visit; I’ve been thinking of making a train trip up there for sightseeing among the Chicago architecture. (The last time I was in Chicago was almost 20 years ago, and driving through where I couldn’t find a reasonable place to park and walk around.) I saw Detroit’s old Michigan Central last summer, but only the outside as it was closed when I went by. Might have a chance to visit Indianapolis Union Station when I’m out there next week. That’s the main ‘big ones’ I can think of with a reasonable chance to visit in the near future.
Amtrak's Southwest Chief would be great to ride to Chicago. I'd love to do it all the way from LAX. I occasionally watch it on Virtual Railfan from their fixed cameras along the route.
 
Two intermodal trains passing at Junee, 485 km south-west of Sydney.

I was shooting into the sun for this photo so had to do some pushing in post.

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Wow, an amazing shot George!

Good to see you were at 600mm. With a black bear staring at me and drooling I'd have wanted at least 1200mm. :eek:
In Canada I took a picture of a black bear on the roadside from an open car window with a 80mm :-) just a few meters away. And the low-fuel sign was on... was on vacation with a friend, young and naive first oversees vacation ever, and driving 37 south from Watson lake (Yukon). Full tank, no spare... never occurred to us that there was NO gasstation along the way :) on the last fuel-fumes we arrived at a gas station at Meziadin Junction (look at google maps), and drove the 37A to Hyder, Alaska to stay over in a Motel). 1998 :) only paper maps back then.

Anyway, never occurred to me that it was a dangerous thing to do. Really need to digitize those pictures. Was planning to photograph the negatives 1:1 with the 100mm macro. Have a lighting kit for it, and tried it, and works fantastic, but did not find time to do so.
 
In Canada I took a picture of a black bear on the roadside from an open car window with a 80mm :-) just a few meters away. And the low-fuel sign was on... was on vacation with a friend, young and naive first oversees vacation ever, and driving 37 south from Watson lake (Yukon). Full tank, no spare... never occurred to us that there was NO gasstation along the way :) on the last fuel-fumes we arrived at a gas station at Meziadin Junction (look at google maps), and drove the 37A to Hyder, Alaska to stay over in a Motel). 1998 :) only paper maps back then.

Anyway, never occurred to me that it was a dangerous thing to do. Really need to digitize those pictures. Was planning to photograph the negatives 1:1 with the 100mm macro. Have a lighting kit for it, and tried it, and works fantastic, but did not find time to do so.
Ha ha! That was very brave, or foolhardy!! :eek:
 
In Canada I took a picture of a black bear on the roadside from an open car window
You were in a car??? Hah. One stab of the throttle and you are safe.

LOL joking. One swipe through the window and you would be one sorry individual.

But yeah, it’s easy to underestimate the unpredictable nature of wildlife, regardless of species.
 

Sorry for my failed attempt at properly embedding a Flickr image into the forum post.
While I was heroically fighting with tiny preview windows, mysterious links, and my complete lack of forum wizardry, the edit timer expired… and with horror I realized that I still have much to learn.
I promise to improve my forum survival skills.The photo was taken today with a Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Panasonic 24–105mm lens.
Thanks for your patience — and for not revoking my posting privileges just yet.
 
A few images of birds from my afternoon walk today.

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Had never got a shot of a hummingbird that wasn’t near a feeder before. Note that that particular image was heavily backlit, hence the lack of green glow in the feathers.
 
Shot on Panasonic S1R + 100-500mm at 500mm, f/11, evening atmosphere mode enabled by Mother Nature.

The air was full of heavy haze, evaporation, and probably a little bit of magic too. At 500mm the scene looked like I was shooting through a cup of hot tea.

Yesterday I also tried the High Resolution mode (8 shots combined into one monster file). Well… let’s call it a scientific experiment. The result was a beautiful 187MP collection of blur and softness.

I’m starting to think diffraction at f/11 is simply too much for High Res mode. Probably the sweet spot should stay somewhere around f/5.6–f/6.3. Unfortunately, the 100-500mm doesn’t magically become an f/2.8 lens at 500mm, so physics won this round.

Funny enough, the regular single-shot 47MP images actually look sharper than the fancy High Resolution files.

Sometimes one honest frame beats eight confused ones.
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I’m starting to think diffraction at f/11 is simply too much for High Res mode.
Yes, I have found that true as well. At least, on the “R” sensors. Further, the diffraction correction I have access to (in Capture One) does not work well with HR files. At least, it didn’t a few years ago, the last time I checked.

HR mode will exaggerate any lens aberrations, or, as you’ve found out, atmospheric haze, as well. So yes, pick an aperture that gives optimum lens sharpness, assuming you can get away with it from a depth-of-field perspective.

Finally, be aware that HR raw files need more sharpening than the default amount - even with a super sharp lens and minimal atmospheric effects. Don’t be shy about getting aggressive with the sharpening sliders with HR files.
 
Ah, the sweet, sweet irony of uploading these particular images to a Wordpress server, and then linking to them here. :rolleyes:
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Frames grabbed from h265 "6K" video shot with my S5iiX with Kolari OLPF installed, 7Artisans AF 24mm f1.8 lens at f1.8, Hoya ND 1.2 filter and an ancient vari-ND filter. Sure, the result has issues, but the 3D pop is kinda fun. Cheers.
 
Sorry for my failed attempt at properly embedding a Flickr image into the forum post.
While I was heroically fighting with tiny preview windows, mysterious links, and my complete lack of forum wizardry, the edit timer expired… and with horror I realized that I still have much to learn.
I promise to improve my forum survival skills.The photo was taken today with a Panasonic Lumix S1R and the Panasonic 24–105mm lens.
Thanks for your patience — and for not revoking my posting privileges just yet.
Been there, done that …
 
it's not uncommon to see wildlife - like bears and cougars - wander into Boulder, it's a bit more rare (but not unheard of) out where I live in Erie.
It is pretty common to see wildlife where I live. We are close to the wilderness. Here is a picture from the local newspaper late last week of a bear just a few blocks from where I live. I was out of town and missed it, but I know the reporter that wrote the story. She always carries a camera.

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Note he has a tag on his left ear, but as far as I know he does not have a tracking collar. He has been seen on the other side of town this week but I don't think they have been able catch him and move him out of the area. As I've mentioned black bears are not considered very dangerous. Just stay out of their way.
 
It is pretty common to see wildlife where I live. We are close to the wilderness. Here is a picture from the local newspaper late last week of a bear just a few blocks from where I live. I was out of town and missed it, but I know the reporter that wrote the story. She always carries a camera.

View attachment 17590

Note he has a tag on his left ear, but as far as I know he does not have a tracking collar. He has been seen on the other side of town this week but I don't think they have been able catch him and move him out of the area. As I've mentioned black bears are not considered very dangerous. Just stay out of their way.
Yup. From what I’ve been told, however, if a black bear does charge you, you are more likely to be in a world of hurt. It’s unlikely that you will get charged, but they are serious when they do. Whereas a grizzly is more likely to bluff charge, but of course the hurt is even worse when they are serious.

There were two black bears in somebody’s yard in Colorado Springs the other day. Bent the chainlink fence when they crawled over it.

This article explains why we are seeing more black bears in neighborhoods this year in Colorado:
 
This article explains why we are seeing more black bears in neighborhoods this year in Colorado:
Thanks for the good article. California has 50,000 to 80,000 black bears so your chance of running into one here is pretty high. And yes, we have the same warm winter and drought conditions as Colorado, which is likely to get more bears into our neighborhoods. Take care for sure.

I know I tend to minimize the danger from black bears. Part of this is because I have lots of experience with and photographing grizzly bears, and I have much appreciation for the danger from these animals. In Alaska where both brown (grizzly) and black bears co-exist there are incidents every year with browns, and few to none with blacks. Most of my direct grizzly experience has been on Kodiak island in Alaska, when they are feeding on salmon to fatten up for the winter. I've only done this with an experienced guide. When these bears are catching fish they have no interest in people. They know you are there but they are only interested in fishing and in teaching their cubs to fish, so you can be very close with no danger. It is, I think, one of the most exciting and interesting things you can experience in the animal kingdom. You get to know the personalities of different bears, to understand their intelligence and the ecosystem they are born into and how they cope and adapt to it. You also learn how fast and strong these bears are, and how vicious their claws and teeth are. You know if you were a target, if a grizzly were to charge you, you would not stand a chance.

My other experience, I have flown my plane over the northern Canadian and Alaskan wildernesses. A fear is I might get forced down, a problem with the aircraft or with bad weather, and that I survive an emergency or crash landing, only to be faced with brown bears looking for an easy meal. I've carried lots of survival gear, and that includes a bear gun. If a bear were to start a charge I would not hesitate an instant before shooting it. This may seem inhumane, but I've seen bears.

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