more from the desert

[quester]

Some more pics from where I like to take my walks.

I hope other PX users will post landscape shots - all of mine lack sharpness and I'd like to see if this is characteristic of the PX.
Have to sharpen them all with Picasa (and I guess it shows...). I suppose that's the most the small sensor can do.

I am waiting for the price of the Sigma DP1-M to be announced. My next camera will be this or the GXR with 28 module.

 

[Blow-in]

I guess that you don't bump in to many people on your walks. Stunning scenerary and I think that your composition and the natural light is getting the best results from the PX. I'm on the water tomorrow with some kids sailing and plan to get my PX wet....if anything looks reasonable I will post it.

Your next camera sounds like it will be a big leap forward in all regards. I cannot comment directly on either of your shortlist but the GXR does have the benefit if being fairly dust proof which might be significant in the desert.

Any rain in those clouds?

 

[quester]

Blow-in, thanks very much!

Yes, please post whatever landscape shots you get at the wide end (5 mm.). I'd really like to know if the lack of sharpness is something I'll just have to live with until getting a better camera.

About bumping into people - well, yesterday, when the photos were taken, there were about 100 people right beside me !I joined a friend who had come here with a big group, as this is just 2 kilometers away from where I live.

And rain? Actually yes - later in the evening there was a spattering. Very rare here - our yearly average is only about 15 mm.

 

[petach]

Your eye for the shot is the 1st thing I see. Lack of sharpness?.........way.....way down on the list.

 

[Gab]

Nice pictures and impressive place Quester... How you manage the water with these few mm of rain during the year?

 

[quester]

Thanks very much Peter and Gab!

@Peter - about sharpness : yes, in landscape shots I have come to see that I value this. First of all, because I am mainly interested in recording the beauty of what I see in a realistic way, and this means capturing the most possible detail relative to the means I have. And secondly, and this is completely subjective, I don't like feeling that I have to make an effort to see things I know are there - you won't find me groping around in dim light, I will always prefer to put on the light.
So after BEING in a place and SEEING its richness, it's a bit disappointing for me to get back and see these soft images.
Of course, I also like to capture a pattern or something interesting in the view other than just detail....

@Gab : Surprisingly enough, there is a lot of underground water here! Some sources are desalinated for drinking and domestic purposes, others are used for agriculture (for crops that can be grown on relatively salty water). There is also recycled sewage water from the nearest town - this is also used for the irrigation of many date orchards.
We are happy to see rain here when it arrives, but more than 15-20 minutes for us is a catastrophe ! We are not prepared - everything is left outside and gets wet!

 

[uKrris]

Hi quester,

Deserts are very interesting places, imo. I have enjoyed your photographs; very nice framing and light. The sharpness is not an issue for me.

 

[quester]

Thank you Chris!

 

[Genster]

Fantastic photos quester.
RIMG4294.jpg is my favorite

 

[quester]

Thanks Genster! I think I've taken photos of this tree from every angle possible...I drive by it on my bicycle every day on the way to work!

 

[Marcus E.]

Every time this thread comes up I look intimately at every image. I find them quite captivating. Many aspects involved there, composition, lighting, depth, subject, etc.
I can see how sharpness would just add another dimension. Seems to me when you get your hands on a new and better camera you'll have quite a few of us even more entranced with images of your beautiful surroundings. Wonderful. Looking forward to more, Quester.....

 

[quester]

Thanks very much for looking and your observations Marcus.

 

[Athena]

WOW! These are fantastic! The lack of sharpness actually adds appeal. There's a dusty haze in some of the pictures, which may be due, in part, to the lack of sharpness. This enhances the desert atmosphere in the pictures, and helps one get a sense of what it may be like to really be there. The pics with one tree in them are special, and are the stand-outs for me. Well done indeed .

 

[quester]

Thanks very much Athena!

 

[Orol]

Quester, like Genster, I also like most the #4294 shot for a contrast between the sunlit foreground with tree and the dark sky.

Peter