Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR

Finally a good shot of my Sony Alpha SLT-a77V. I'm liking it so far. Camera: Minolta SRT-101 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.2 lens Film: Fuji Film Neopan 100 Acros 35mm black and white Aperture: F/16 Shutter Speed: 60 secs. Date: April 5th, 2014, 11.29 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A. Developing chemicals at 68 degrees: Developer: Ilford ID-11 - 10 minutes Stop Bath: Ilford Ilfostop - 1 minute Rinse: Water - 1 minute Fixer: Ilford Hypam - 7 minutes Rinse: Water - 5 minutes Minolta SRT101 Acros 20gf

This tiny beetle was sitting on a daffodil that was about ready to bloom. Believe me, I almost overlooked it because it was so small. It was less than 1/64 of an inch long, less than two millimeters! Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.2 Lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/4 Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 12.29 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.2 lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/4 Shutter Speed: 1/2500 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 12.42 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.2 Lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/4 Shutter Speed: 1/2500 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 1.35 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.2 Lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/4 Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 1.57 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

I was chasing some wild turkeys through the woods to capture them on film when I ran into this guy. I think I surprised him. And then a fox ran in front of me. Never did manage to catch up with the turkeys, though.

Another also-ran for The Sunday Challenge group's theme of "shallow depth of field." This was a fresh-made loaf of deli rye bread that I baked on April Fool's Day. Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.2 lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/1.2 Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 4.24 a.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

I was told that this was an Ornamental Pear Tree. Does anybody recognize if this is so? Update: Thanks to Pam J below, this has been identified as a Bradford Pear. Camera: Minolta XG-1 Film: Kodak Gold 200 ASA Lens: Vivitar 28-210mm zoom lens Date: March 24th, 2007 Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A. XG-1 06ef

My Bradford Pear tree is starting to bloom again. I just love these tiny little delicate blossoms.

A contact of mine on Ipernity commented on how some weeds look as beautiful and that if you tried to cultivate them, then they'd die. But, when you don't necessarily want them, they flourish. I don't know what these little flowers that grow down among the grass are called, but I think they're pretty. Update: My cousin has identified these as Wild Grape Hyacinths.

Taken today, April 13th, 2014. My Tulip tree is really in bloom these past couple of days.

Another also-ran for The Sunday Challenge group's theme of "shallow depth of field." I really wanted to use this one, but as I was a new member of the group, thought I'd better feel my way before going too risqué. Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-A77 (from 2013) Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.2 lens (from 1978) Converter: Minolta 2X M-A Converter-S ISO: 800 Aperture: F/1.2 Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec. Date: April 1st, 2014, 5.51 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

I think aliens invaded my neighborhood this afternoon.

I was out shooting Mars tonight and happened to aim my camera at the moon and got this shot. For this image, I had one of my old Minolta film camera zoom lenses on my Sony a77 digital body, so the equivalent focal length of this shot would have been 1260mm. This is 210mm x 2 from the Minolta adapter I employed to use a film lens on a digital body. That equals 420mm. Kick in the 2x digital zoom the Sony a77 body employs and that raises the focal length to 840mm. And then multiply the focal length by 1.5 to equal the equivalent of a 35mm camera and it brings the final focal length to 1260mm. Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR Lens: Minolta MD Zoom 70-210mm Adapter: Minolta 2x M/A converter Shooting Mode: Manual ISO: 400 Aperture: F/16 Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec. Date: April 8th, 2014, 10.37 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

This is the best shot I could get of Mars tonight using the setup I had: Sony Alpha SLT-a77V digital slr body, Minolta MD Zoom 70-210mm lens, a Minolta 2x M/A converter, (to allow a film camera lens to attach to a digital camera body), and then the Sony's built-in 2x digital zoom feature. Camera: Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR Lens: Minolta MD Zoom 70-210mm Adapter: Minolta 2x M/A converter Shooting Mode: Manual ISO: 200 Aperture: F/13 (approx.) Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec. Date: April 8th, 2014, 11.18 p.m. Location: Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

I posted a black and white shot for a challenge group I belong to, (The Sunday Challenge), and I though people might be interested to see what this monument looked like normally.

Tonight's dinner was a treat. I started out with this, which is Pho Ga. Translated it means Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. It has bean sprouts, rice, noodles and jalapeno peppers, among other things.

I followed up the soup course of my dinner with this - Chatuchak fried rice, a dish from Thailand. It has peas, carrots, mushrooms, diced tomatoes and bean sprouts I added chicken to it to make it a stir fry kind of dish.