My Entries for the 2026 Iowa State Fair Photo Salon are …

Competition Season is upon me. It has arrived. And I’m nervous as hell with my entries. Last year wasn’t the best Competition Season … I stiffed at Iowa, I stiffed at Altamont, I stiffed in Syracuse, and it took the Big E to actually help me win something. I do not like Competition Season moments…

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“Scalpel … forceps … wiping fluid … oops …”

I’ve owned my original Nikon Df for the past thirteen years. A couple of years ago, I had it modified as a dedicated infrared shooter. And with warmer sunny weather on the horizon, I took it out a few weeks ago for a photo shoot. This was part of my integration of the Nikon Df…

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I should not own this film. ็งใฏใ“ใฎๆ˜ ็”ปใ‚’ๆ‰€ๆœ‰ใ™ในใใงใฏใชใ„ใ€‚

Five years ago, Fuji discontinued sale of their Velvia 100 film in the United States due to a compound in the film being designated as toxic. Personally, this sucked eggs. I liked the daylight color balance of Velvia 100, and if I couldn’t use Kodachrome any more (discontinued in 2010), this would be my next…

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An Ektachrome Run: Three lenses and Nikon Athena

With this upcoming Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” photo shoot on my mind, the last thing I want is a malfunctioning or misfiring camera. I also want my gear to operate at tip top shape. So I’m doing a test right now. And that “test” is to break out my Nikon F2S camera (“Nikon Athena”)…

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Submitting for the ultimate gallery goal

Someday, if the planets align perfectly, I’ll have one of my artworks hanging in a gallery in New York City. That would be an amazing personal accomplishment. Then reality sets in. And so does disappointment. At one point in time, I was happy when one of my artworks made it to the walls of an…

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So the Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” Eastern tour schedule is …

Well, I now have confirmation of what will happen with the Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” train as it crosses the Eastern time zone. And … well, here’s the New York stretch of this trip. So what am I looking at here? Well, there’s plenty of opportunities to photograph this monster steam engine as it…

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The Bradford Pear Tree Blossoms of Green Island

Sometimes, if you look around the neighborhood, you can find beauty in previously undiscovered places. And as I’m testing out this R1C1 lighting macro system on my Nikon Df camera, I worked that hypothesis by walking around the Town and Village of Green Island. Apparently Green Island has plenty of flowering trees at this time…

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Where are the cars?

With sunnier weather in the forecast, I wanted to test out the new custom-cut Kolari filters for my Nikon Df infrared modified camera. Some time ago, I asked Kolari to modify a set of internal filters for my Zodiak 180-degree lens (a lens originally set for my Pentacon Six TL). Now it’s time to take…

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The Big Boy Project … beginning to start the initial planning stage

The more I think about this Union Pacific 4014 “Big Boy” crossing into New York State for America’s 250th birthday, the more motivated I am in preparing to photograph the train. Now I could do a dedicated “chase the train from here to there” run, but I’m not thinking that way today. If I get…

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More R1C1 tests: 8+10=pole

I’m still testing out this new-to-me Nikon R1C1 macro flash system, which could give me incredible detail in macro photography, and offer me a more flexible option than my “needs an external power source or lots of batteries” medical Nikkor glass. So over the weekend, I set up my Nikon Df with my manual focus…

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