April Fools '21 | Talk Thread

So, I made it to the end. I promised a 3 pics a week sequence, I fullfilled the pic-a-day .
Sometimes it was hard, sometimes it went almost automatically.

After a few days I had the idea to make this a complete story, but the subjects were too different for me to make it a consistent story. Maybe next time.

The really hardest part, I mentioned earlier, was to comment the pictures of the other members. I am still reluctant there.

Thank the other people here for their encouraging words when I started to doubt on my own pictures.

What I discovered si that shooting with primes is quite satisfying: you are forced to look better, walk around for the best shot and you discover the limitations of your equipment, i.e. glass. Actually I was already shooting in A-mode, but almost always with my zooms. This month I started in A-mode with primes and my last shot is shot in M-mode and manual focus. Finally I got the right mood to do so. Also, primes are lighter, less in weight then zoom lenses. What a relevation for me.

Thanks everybody!


Wow, my 100st posting on Dyxum...

Edited by Harm vb - 01 May 2021 at 16:26

Thanks for comments on my postings. In response:

alanfrombangor wrote: Day 23 Jozioau : You're getting some impressive detail out of that mirror lens.

I am really enjoying using this lens mounted on my a99ii. As I recall the results on some of my previous a-mount cameras with less sophisticated sensors were far less impressive. The nice thing about it is I can use it as a relatively subtle walkabout lens for street photography, but in any event it's such a compact and light and portable super tele prime with zero chromatic aberration, so it's got lots going for it.

pegelli wrote: More outtake commenting Page 4 Jozioau, splendid fall colours, even though it feels a bit strange for us here on the northern hemisphere.

Yes, I always enjoy the fact that being a worldwide community we can see the contrasting seasons north to south.

pegelli wrote: Jozioau, never heard of the term MAMIL, so thanks for increasing my urban dictionary.

Here, MAMILs on bicycles, particularly those who ride in big groups and take up large parts of roadways, are generally regarded as a bit of an anti-social hazard.

pegelli wrote: Jozioau, quite harsh contrast but it makes the splashing water really sparkle.

My daily entry was taken in overcast light, but then the sun burst through creating the hard contrast. Perhaps I should have used some sliders to take the edge off?

pegelli wrote: Jozioau, nice view but a bit more sunlight would have given it more punch.

Definitely. Also, with fixed f8.0 aperture it's impossible to isolate the subject against an OOF background.

pegelli wrote: Page 5 Jozioau, the re-bar shot is really nice!

Really a bit of a 'desperation' shot.

pegelli wrote: Jozioau, what a strange bird, but well captured.

Very lucky that this Tawny Frogmouth has seemingly taken up residence in my daughter's garden. Nocturnal, rather owl-like, but a member of the Nightjar family.

pegelli wrote: Jozioau, I like the tele compression in these shots and the human element in the second is really the icing on the cake.

Much duller light than I would have liked, but has a softness to it. Usually a very crowded site in Melbourne but not so since borders were closed as a result of Covid.

Fred_S wrote: I'll pick just a few days to comment on. Day 18 @ Jozioau: Nice to see the autumn colors form down under, where we are in spring. Nice work with the AF500 Reflex.

Thanks Fred. A pleasure to use, especially on the a99ii.

Fred_S wrote: Day 21: @ Jozioau: Duck gymnastics?

Remarkable how flexible water birds have to be to transfer oil from their preening gland to all their feathers.

Harm vb wrote: Jozioau: 20: nice layered city view

Teeming rain help create the layering between the foreground and the skyline.

Harm vb wrote: 21: funny position for a duck

Oiling its feathers - remarkably flexible.

Harm vb wrote: 23: wonderful flower

One of the many Banksia family of flowers, named after Joseph Banks who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyage of discovery in 1768.

Harm vb wrote: 25: looks like a grumpy bird

During the day the Tawny Frogmouth rests and sleeps, and then hunts at night for frogs, rats and mice and other prey. When they shut their eyes and take up a certain pose they are almost impossible to detect, looking like a piece of dead wood.

Harm vb wrote: 30: warm sunset

We've enjoyed a few glorious days of "indian Summer" with temperatures in the mid 20s C. Perfect for beachside photography.

Having just had our first AstraZenica Covid shots yesterday, my wife and I have had rather unpleasant side effects but they are gradually settling and proof our immune systems are doing what they are supposed to.
I expect to be pretty well back to 100% by tomorrow, and will get to work on commenting on the final 9 day's of April Foolishness postings.

As always, these Challenges are a terrific motivation to get out with cameras and lens combinations that are perhaps a bit out of the norm, and the results speak for themselves.
Kudos to the organisers who make it happen.




Edited by Jozioau - 01 May 2021 at 08:45

I am done for the challenges. A few difficult periods on the road, but overall fairly happy with the results. I think it was my first time with inly one lens, which was a good experience. Like Harm said before, I used to be much more of a zoom shooter. Sometimes I used APS-C mode or tubes to get a bit more options with the single lens.
Thanks all for your inspiration, contributions and comments. And for Jet and Pieter who made it all possible on this great forum! I hope they have some energy left for a voting thread

OK, now that April Foolishness is done and dusted, time for some selective comments on days 22 to 30, as a finale following onto my Joe's April Foolishness Week 3 comments.

Day 22:
@Fred_S - a very aesthetically pleasing image, again created by you out of the commonplace. Something out of nothing.
@AsD - lovely use of selective focus on the aged gate, leading the eye into the OOF background beyond.
@Onsplekkie - I guess it's a safety thing, but that caged dog looks a bit less than impressed.
@mikey2000 - lovely telephoto snap of this harbinger of Spring.
@nadk - the quote marks around "new" are very appropriate. A bit of home improvement ahead for your friends...

Day 23:
@gregja - another attractive abstraction of the everyday. Surprised at the shallowness of the DOF at f8.0?
@rovhazman - are those tyre tracks I see on the beach?
@pegelli - beautiful hand crafted jewellery, beautifully presented. Danielle deserves success.
@alanfrombangor - another rather bleak remnant of former industry. Are such sites just left the weather down to nothing? Being built of stone that's going to be for a very long time.
@Harm vb - curious cows can be a bit intimidating. Hardly a stampede, but trust you and your gear got away unscathed...
@fennetje - looks very good with the square crop, the very narrow focus and softly rendered Bokeh.
@AsD - another fine image with subject sharply focused and the OOF leading lines of the fence trailing into the background.
@mikey2000 - like the contrast between the fine strands of web and the hard edged machined parts.

Day 24:
@Rovhazman - Sabbath on the beach obviously attracts quite a crowd. Pity it's all pebbles rather than fine sand, but I guess everyone is thankful for having a beach on the edge of the desert anyway.
@Fred_S - well spotted, cropped and presented. Looks good.
@pegelli - that's some very weird Bokeh happening there. Must say I'm fonder of traditional smooth creamy variety, but hats off to those Dyxumers who are trying exotic lenses on their cameras.
@alanfrombangor - simple, minimalistic yet appealing. The angled lighting is a major enhancement.
@mikey2000 - that's the epitome of dog tired if ever I saw it.

Day 25:
@Harm vb - could be part of an instructional book on how to do macro.
@pegelli - those anemones just jump off my screen. Super realistic and vivid, and beautifully shot and presented.
@fennetje - great shot in square format with your photogenic model set against the trees springing into leaf.
@rovhazman - the look of the sign is far more sinister than the translated text. Looks like nothing much there for the picking other than stones, and the skull and crossbones in the warning triangle looks like something you'd see at the edge of a mine-field.
@Phil Wood - interesting looking "bumblebee" train.
@mikey2000 - most impressive full moon shot. Need to add camera and lens details please. Interesting that the 'melon stem' crater is in the lower part whereas in the Southern Hemisphere it's in the upper.

Day 26:
@AsD - simple subject, often photographed, but very well done by you. Great macro work.
@gregja - great selective use of the sun glare to light up this street scene. Tricky lighting but well exposed.

Day 27:
@gregja - wonderful and very appealing image of these simple domestic objects.
@Fred_S - captured the essence of 'Dutchness' here. I know it would not have been possible from where you set up, but I would have preferred if the riders were not against the windmill background.
@addy landzaat - looks like a recreation of a lifestyle advertisement from the 1960s.
@onsplekkie - rather difficult for me to read, but appealing nonetheless.

Day 28:
@Harm vb - nothing wrong with an occasional bit of desperation when it leads to that sort of result.
@pegelli - again, an image that leaps of the screen in its vidid presentation. Beautifully focussed.
@fennetje - love the dying light at that time of day. Still plenty of detail in the buildings, plus the busy sky and reflections in the water.
@Phil Wood - perfectly panned depiction of speed and power.
@alaanfrombangor - that's one lairy keyboard - I'd think it would be a bit exhausting on the eyes.
@rovhazman - not really a comment on the image, rather on the sad story that's behind it. This visionary electric car system with replaceable battery packs was going to take on the world and help turn it green...

Day 29:
@gregja - quite a departure from your thematic abstracts. Wonderful image of nature in all its glory.
@Robbie - real classic mid-Century Modern.

Day 30:
@gregja - normal transmission has been resumed with this attractive image.
@pegelli - don't know why there's a perverse attractiveness in ruin?
@rovhazman - a nice counterpoint and bookend to your set.
@mikey2000 - lovely bluebells, beautifully shot.
@alpha_in_exile - good capture of this piece of high tech, perfectly framed.


Will add comments as images are added.


Another fabulous April Foolishness Challenge thanks to the Mods/Admins who made it happen, and got the participants out and about with their cameras and nominated lenses for the month. An excellent motivation that otherwise wouldn't have been there, nor generated the images we've all enjoyed creating and seeing.










Edited by Jozioau - 02 May 2021 at 06:12

Jozioau wrote: Day 23: @alanfrombangor - another rather bleak remnant of former industry. Are such sites just left the weather down to nothing? Being built of stone that's going to be for a very long time. Day 24: @alanfrombangor - simple, minimalistic yet appealing. The angled lighting is a major enhancement. Day 28: @alaanfrombangor - that's one lairy keyboard - I'd think it would be a bit exhausting on the eyes. Another fabulous April Foolishness Challenge thanks to the Mods/Admins who made it happen, and got the participants out and about with their cameras and nominated lenses for the month. An excellent motivation that otherwise wouldn't have been there, nor generated the images we've all enjoyed creating and seeing.

Day 23: Yes, generally left in situ which I'm happy with as a reminder of industrial history.
Day 24: The door to a shed belonging to our neighbouring farmer, must haave walked past it hundreds of times but only the pic-a-day imperative caused me to consider photographing it.
Day 28: Works really well for me, since my eyesight is poor. One key toggles the lighting so my wife doesn't have to use it, and the effect is more severe in darkness.

I echo your appreciation to the organisers aand to you for your commenting.