GENERAL NOTES (Parking, etc.)
This was one of the rare times I got myself to go out during COVID. It was a windy day near the beach at Des Moines Marina, and my hat (and mask, hanging off my ear) kept blowing off! Another thing that was interesting, was I was sitting there and a truck pulled up and started driving on the beach. This wasn't something you would see every day, but I've talked with people who live on the beach, and they're allowed to drive on it (because there is no other access, besides steep, sloping stairways). I have a video of it on my YouTube channel (from my lens testing). I didn't log the exact tripod height (but I remember that the legs were adjusted at different lengths to accommodate the uneven terrain). The lens was the heavy Sigma ART 18-35 1.8 (on a Nikon F/G to M43 TILT/SHIFT adapter) which was a bit precarious. The camera was the Panasonic LUMIX GX85, which has excellent in-body image stabilization, which kept this heavy lens in check. I used my custom (lens-sensor specific) camera settings AND my custom LUT to finish the image. This image is a frame taken from 4K video footage.
*As A.I. (artificial intelligence) started sneaking into the photo & video production industries, I decided to go for 100% realism in my work. What this means for me, is to shoot for realistic-looking photos and video content. My approach includes using custom, lens-sensor specific CAMERA SETTINGS (and sometimes lens-sensor LUTs when needed). I never use A.I. to generate images, and I don't do tricks using Photoshop. There are adjustments I make to produce more accurate PRINTS but my goal is to limit editing as much as possible.