Single In Single in September (SiS) 2023 - discussion

[theoldsmithy]

I've discovered two things so far. Firstly my theme may not last much longer as I'm running out of subjects. So it may be more of an aspiration than a commitment (to borrow language from politicians). Secondly I do like a wide angle lens. I also like this Ttartisan 25mm but I find myself getting too close to the subject all the time and having to take 2 steps back. I suppose that's one of the points of the challenge, to do something differently.

 

[mpeterson]

For the sake of sticking to the character of the challenge, I'd try to stick to the chosen combo pure and simple. Doing this isn't exactly bending or breaking the rules, but it's definitely watering down the key concept: restricting the options. What I'd do: Carry and use the extension tube, use it - but also use the camera without it to have an image or three to choose from for the challenge. I often carry a second camera during these challenges to be able to cover for more opportunities; interestingly, this time around, I haven't felt the need so much ...

Thanks Matt. I simply found myself in a situation yesterday where a few cm’s of closer focus would have made a pretty cool image. The composition was not quite possible without a tube (or a different lens). But I just moved on, feeling that putting on the tube was not truly within the spirit of the challenge. I posted the question really just for the sake of discussion. I’ve set aside some time each day to go out and make my SiS photos, and when I do, my SiS camera and lens are all I carry. No distractions.

 

[donlaw]

Looking back, Nice set of images for Day 7!

 

[davidzvi]

This is turning out to be harder than I thought but, at the same time, very rewarding. With my job it's quite difficult to make sure I get a good shot for the day but when I manage I feel great. I'm bummed that I've missed two days but also proud that I've made it 4 days. Hopefully my average continues to improve.

I'll echo @MoonMind, safety shots. You'll see shots of all kinds of foods, household appliances, etc. over the course of the month. I'll probably at least have a picture of my cat, pizza, and pancakes. I've shot my coffee maker and glasses of wine. I think my favorite last-minute shot might have been from this past February. Granite countertop, under cabinet light, and Hershey Kisses.

Thanks Matt. I simply found myself in a situation yesterday where a few cm’s of closer focus would have made a pretty cool image. The composition was not quite possible without a tube (or a different lens). But I just moved on, feeling that putting on the tube was not truly within the spirit of the challenge. I posted the question really just for the sake of discussion. I’ve set aside some time each day to go out and make my SiS photos, and when I do, my SiS camera and lens are all I carry. No distractions.

Take the shot with and without the tubs; post the without in the daily thread. Post the other one in the outtakes thread.

 

[JensM]

Just stumbled over the tid-bit of info that the Olympus EM-1 OG was released on this day 10th of September, 2013. I hadnt latched onto that fact, but it would have influenced my choice of camera, if I had known/thought about it beforehand. Peter Forsgaard has done a youtube on it: Oly EM-1 10 years anniversary!

 

[rayvonn]

And well done for getting through the first ten days everyone. It’s hard, even if you do shoot daily but especially if it's your first one. Get through the next ten days and then after that it becomes easier.

 

[MoonMind]

And well done for getting through the first ten days everyone. It’s hard, even if you do shoot daily but especially if it's your first one. Get through the next ten days and then after that it becomes easier.

I can only echo what Tim said - impressive performance, everyone, and a body of work we can really be proud of! Let's keep it up!

M.

 

[agentlossing]

I've got a couple days now to post, which will have to come in late if today (really busy few days).

 

[rayvonn]

The secret for doing this (well for me at least) seems to be ensuring one gets their shot(s) no later than early afternoon, it all seems so much harder once the clock goes past 5pm.

 

[The Electric Squirrel]

It's been my first partaking in this kind of a challenge, and it's been a roller coaster ride thus far. I basically have two modes or styles of photography I do. The first is a more deliberate style of mainly landscape and nature photography, where I might contemplate a composition for quite some time, wait for the light and so on. It also sometimes involves getting to know the location through the seasons. The other one is a more reactionary style, quicker takes and simpler compositions. See stuff, take picture.

As life has it I've been quite busy lately. The missus went back to work after her maternal leave this august, and I've had much less time for the more deliberate style of photography. So most of my images have been of the second variant - just quick notes of life and the world. So far I've found time to take two dedicated photography trips during this challenge. That means I've been forced to hone those more reactionary skills, "seeing more quickly". I've also learned that in the end of the day having a lot of shots only makes things more difficult. There's no time to separate the wheat from the chaff, so just shooting a lot isn't really an answer to keeping the quality up.

At times I've felt quite "meh" about what I've posted in the end of the day. Maybe that's partly just because I've been just generally exhausted. Or I might be expecting too much of myself. After all, it's hard to get one brilliant image every month, let alone rise above lower mediocrity every day. But try one must.

If I say it's been fun, I'd be lying. It's been challenging, and nothing in life worth anything comes without struggle. Maybe it's just a little struggle, but a push nevertheless. So far I've had an image to show for every day of the challenge despite working 13 hours on my working days and doing two hours of commuting on top of that.

I most likely will be taking part in the next "single in". I also think that I'll have to print out all of my participant images in the end - at least on 10x15cm (4" x 6") paper if nothing else. I never stated a theme for my images, but I have largely followed the idea of observing the turning of the season from the verdant to the somnant. We'll see if that lasts until the end.

Oh well. Just some midway reflecting. Carry on...

 

[MoonMind]

Half time! I've enjoyed it quite a bit so far - even though I had a couple of rough days because of workload and marginal weather (I could handle each of those separately, but if they combine, it's getting really tight at times).

For me, having to shoot a restrictive, but rewarding setup is really making this a nice "Single in" so far - I'm really quite impressed with what the little old lens I chose puts out. That said, I won't be sad to give it some rest at the end of the challenge (the lens, not the camera or shooting in general) - it forces me to slow down even more than I usually would want to; that in itself has its benefits, but I had to let a couple of shots pass I'd have attempted with a different setup.

But first and foremost, I've had a lot of fun looking at all the other images - it's a very varied groub this time, with people from many places and with different approaches to shooting.

Congratulations, everyone - let's make the second half a success as well!

M.

 

[AndyMcD]

Sorry, I won’t be able to post for a day or two, but I am taking pictures and will catch up tomorrow or Sunday

 

[drd1135]

One great advantage for me has been the "enforced" practice with the X-T5. I'm working out making many kinks with the control dials and my personal style. For example, I evidently keep double clicking the AF point joystick, which switches the active card slot from 1 to 2. It doesn't affect my getting a shot, but it does become annoying trying to process the shots later. Now that I understand the problem, I've learned to be more careful. Overall, I'm getting comfortable with the camera more quickly than I might have otherwise.

 

[MiguelATF]

I'm discovering... or rather, rediscovering, something I think I've known or suspected for awhile-- that so-called 'wide angle' lenses often seem normal to me. The 15mm micro four thirds lens I'm shooting with has an FOV of approx 30 degrees shows me the equivalent to what a classic 30mm lens might 'see' - wider than Henri Cartier-Bresson's 35mm, but not as wide as the ubiquitous 28mm that Daido Moriyama always carried on his small Ricohs (and which one sees on so many excellent smallish compacts these days). And the images my lens is producing don't seem all that w-i-d-e to me. Next to them, the so-called normal FOV of the shots I've been taking with my smallish 35mm 'Fujicron' - whose perspectives are close to those of the 'normal' 50mm lenses I used on my film Pentaxes for years - now sometimes seem like telephoto shots to me.

The funny thing is, I like the Fujicron's tighter perspectives just as much as the wider ones I've been getting this month with 15mm on my GX9.

Fortunately I've got a few more weeks to figure out what it all means. The interpretation that makes the most sense to me right now is: I'm full of contradictions. But at least contradictions are never boring...

 

[gordo]

Shooting with the 21 on the K-3IIIM is reinforcing that I really don't like wide angle lenses. Especially for most landscapes I can do where I'm at currently. Some place with an unobstructed view and interesting foregrounds would change that equation. Today's shots are a good example IMHO.

 

[donlaw]

Using the monochrom almost exclusively has been a treat. Makes me remember why I bought it in the first place.
That experience of trying to preconceive an image in black & white like I did in the film days with Ilford films.
Of course the live view option is a major help that we couldn't have back then.

And there is no complaints with the Zeiss Biogon. However like Miguel, I probably would have preferred a 28mm vs the 35mm focal length.
Really fun so far even with just a few safety images that were thrown together.

 

[agentlossing]

I think I'll add to Miguel's observation about the 30mm-equivalent lens, and Don's observation about a 31.5mm-equivalent lens, with my own about a 31mm lens. I'm not finding it as satisfying to shoot in a daily-life, diary-esque way, and I'm not sure whether it's the focal length or the lack of close-focus capability. When you have a lens that's in wide-angle territory, you have to either get expansive shots with a lot of environment, or get close to the subject. But the 31mm Limited doesn't allow for the latter, if your subjects are small things - which most of mine have been so far by necessity, when I'm not able to get out and about to get something more interesting. I really enjoyed the GRIII's close-focus ability, since the 28mm-equiv was fun for taking shots with a small main subject that was made larger by the characteristics of the lens.

The 31mm makes for a fantastic landscape lens, but it's maybe not an everyday-carry kind of lens. It just adds enough weight to the Pentax K-1 that I resist lugging it places with me. It's like the complaints about DSLRs in general are resurfacing... but I will enjoy getting back to putting a small 50mm on the Pentax. For some reason, a fifty is always more satisfying on full frame.

The decision I'll need to eventually make is, will I get enough value out of the 31mm to justify the high cost of this lens? It's either one I need to look at very carefully, or one which I need to treat as if its value is permanently removed from the photography assets, and just not let myself think of moving it along. Not sure which way I'll go yet.

 

[Alberta Dave]

We are two weeks into challenge now and I'm enjoying using the TT Artisans 28mm F5.6 lens along with the EM5 mk2 body. The biggest drawback is that it has quite a long minimum focussing distance, around 6 or 7 feet I think so basically anything really small is not really photographable. Using it on the Olympus body gives me a 2X crop so really it's like shooting with a 56mm lens which is a little longer than a "standard" focal length. It is a nice lens to use and looks pretty "funky" on the body and I've had a couple of comments along the line of "what lens is that?" so does generate some attention.

With the adaptor - Leica M to Mu43 it is quite heavy and the body has a Olympus BCG-2 grip as well so it quite a chunky/heavy camera to use but the EM5 mk2 has a really nice sounding shutter mechanism so I can live with the weight for another couple of weeks.

 

[Glennn]

Love / hate is too strong of a term. I think I have a like / dislike of my 14mm lens. As @agentlossing mentioned, I'm finding that there's no middle ground. It's either tight and close or a big wide expansive view. It's one of those things where just when I'm ready to write the lens off, I'll get something that is great. It's like a specialized tool, but I still don't fully understand it's job.

The challenge itself has been interesting. I struggled with SIF. On this go my mindset has been different and with less worry about getting the best shot and more of a just do the thing proposition. A majority of my submissions have been either last minute quick setups or short photo walks using available time. It's been working out fairly well.

 

[AndyMcD]

Had a proper disaster yesterday at the Collingham Show.

I was having a cheeky lunchtime pint in the beer tent and I texted my wife about the cute ponies at the show and she asked for a picture. I'd only taken pictures with my Fuji, none on my phone so in a moment of total madness I decided to try the all new Fuji phone application. Eventually it connected and I got the picture off the camera onto my phone. I put the camera back in my bag and finished my beer then met up with a friend from camera club and we settled down at the arena area to take some pictures.

Only my camera wouldn't turn on.

I tried taking the battery out for a few seconds and thankfully that worked. BUT the camera was asking me to enter the date/time - ALL settings lost!

Eventually I got enough entered to start shooting (including spending fully 5 minutes hunting for the "Shoot without lens" option). After about an hour I realised that the Fuji default is JPG only . Also, my preferred file prefix was lost so the pictures are all out of sequence in my file browser. I can't be certain that the Fuji app caused all of this, but I have now deleted it off my phone!

But, on a brighter note I found the 35/1.2 to be a good companion for the day - works reasonably well close up and after a lot of trial and error I was getting a reasonable hit rate of sharp pictures at the pony racing. It still isn't my favourite focal length but I am slowly warming to it.