Printing larger images from the K-7 is producing unpleasant artifacts…. Here is a 100 percent crop of a photo I shot today; note the interference patterns all over the place.

Any idea what’s causing this? It seems to happen at ISO 400 and above. This was shot at ISO 800, high-ISO noise reduction on High.

I’ve been invited to take part in a group show of miniatures that will open in December at the Hult Center’s Jacobs Gallery.

Don’t have a lot of details just yet, but I’m thrilled. It will run December and January.

It will be a perfect place to unveil the small new hand colored digital black and white photos I’ve been working on this year.

The opening will be Friday, Dec. 10. Mark your calendars!

photo: Grape Leaves, hand colored digital black and white, 2010

An example of cheap off-camera flash, as I described this morning in a forum post elsewhere:

Very simple and inexpensive wireless flash setup that works:

Take any two cheap flashes. I use a Pentax AF-280T and a Vivitar 283HV, but the brands are not very important. What you need is  one flash that has an old-fashioned “auto” setting and a way to be controlled by an optical slave, such as a Wein Peanut (about $15). It’s nice if the second flash has tilt/swivel, but not vital.

Set the slaved Vivitar to auto 5.6 (or whatever f/stop works for your photo). Place it wherever you want it to illuminate your scene. Put the 280T on the camera hotshoe. Swivel the 280T so it’s facing away from the subject, if you don’t want its light involved in the photo. (You can also simply use an index card and tape to reduce its power, or a manual setting if it has one.)

Set the camera to 1/180 and 5.6 (or f/stop of your choice, above).

Test.

Fire away.

The old auto flashes are very nearly as accurate in their exposure as TTL of any flavor. And they are much cheaper. You can get 283s for $50 or less.

Been using this for years. It’s very nearly as good as the wireless Canon system I also have, and hundreds of dollars cheaper.

The turkeys are all over our woods, the orchard, the driveway — and the back porch.

photo: Turkey feather, 2010

photo: Fern, digital black and white, 2010