Slide Photo

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec, ISO200
“Slide” Cedar Park, 2020

On my desk here at home is a little box of slides from when I used to shoot slide film with my old Minoltas. I’m not sure where this photo was taken, but it appears to be from just after we moved to Texas from Japan. That would be about 21 years ago. How time flies!

Anyways, I was using my old light-box (22 years old!) as a back-light to I could try taking a photo of it using my Fujifilm X100T. The result wasn’t too bad, but it can’t compare to a scan from my Epson 4490 scanner.

I hope you had a good day!

Suburban Stars

Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 0mm, f/0, 13 sec, ISO3200
“House and Stars” Cedar Park, 2020

I managed to take this photo before turning in for the evening (I sleep so early these days!). This 9:15 pm photo still shows a little glow from the sun, but the lack of a moon and the less-polluted skies allow for some decent star photos, even from suburbia. That bright star in the center is actually the planet Venus. Super bright as usual! This is a 13-second exposure using a Sony NEX-6 and Sigma 10-20 mm lens, at a 15 mm full-frame equivalent focal distance, ISO 3200, with a quick edit in Adobe Lightroom 5.7. 🌌

Lucky Shot 🌠

Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 0mm, f/0, 13 sec, ISO3200
“Lucky Shot” Cedar Park, 2020

The early-evening moonless sky was pretty clear so I decided to do a little astro-photography out on the back deck. I used the Sony NEX-6 paired with the Sigma 10-20 mm lens to take a few RAW snaps, and when I got to editing in Adobe Lightroom, I noticed that I managed to capture a shooting star. 🌠 Lucky!!!

Photo details:
ISO: 3200
Shutter speed: 13 seconds
Aperture: f/4
Post-processing: Adobe Lightroom 5.7

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

Backyard Stars with the Fujifilm X100T

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 19mm, f/2, 13 sec, ISO800
“Starry Night” Cedar Park, 2020

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening the skies in my neighborhood were relatively clear so I set up my Fujifilm X100T in the backyard to do a little astrophotography time-lapse. I got started a bit late, and it was very cold, so I only let it run for about an hour. Still, I am pleased with how it turned out. Please take a look:

Speaking of cameras, the Fujifilm X100V was announced recently, and I am almost positive that I will be upgrading from my X100T. The new model will be a huge step up for me since I will be skipping a generation (X100F). As far as time-lapse capabilities go, the X100T’s longest shutter speed while using the electronic shutter was only 1 second, thus forcing me to use the mechanical shutter which causes a bit of flickering. The X100F fixed this by maximizing it to 30 seconds. Also, the maximum number of exposures using the interval timer has changed from 999 on the X100T to “infinity” on the X100F. This will be key for creating longer time-lapses without having to babysit the camera. Exciting!

The only thing I still wish for is the ability to lock down the aperture during the time-lapse. The way it works with the T is that the aperture re-adjusts every photo, so there is a slight difference in each exposure which causes flickering in the time-lapse. This forces me to shoot wide-open, which isn’t always the best… However, the X100V has a new lens design which makes shooting at f/2 much sharper. All-in-all, the X100V will be better for time-lapse photography, and I am looking forward to it!

Sunday Snapshot

Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO100
“Awesome Clouds” Cedar Park, 2019

On the way back from In-n-Out Burger, Koa and I saw this amazing cloud. I had to pull over and make this snapshot with my phone. In the past, I’d use a Sony NEX-6 which I kept in the car, but Bay needed it at school to take photos of his architectural models, so I’ll have to make do with my Motorola Moto G6. A little post-processing in Lightroom goes a long way! 😆