Official Photography Thread

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Torquemada 1420
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inactionman wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:41 am Nice - I love owls, amazing creatures.

I've found the AF can get confused by background with birds in flight, so anything flying against trees has never worked well for me - which is unfortunate as anything above treeline is generally too far away.

In general I've rarely had much joy with birds in flight, and not all can be laid at the feet of the equipment. I know my technique requires a lot of work, as I tend to lose the bird when panning and by the time I've regained the framing and the AF has invariably hunted in and out and I've lost the shot. This is one area where I've found M43 really tricky, as anything that drops out of focus (at least on the early model OM-D EM5 and the GH5) would completely disappear from view, so once it's lost it's truly lost. At least with my Pentax DSLR you can still perceive the bird even if blurred, it's more that the AF would really struggle to lock - I may give MF a go.

The EM1-Xs are starting to come up a lot cheaper used, and I'd be interested to give one a go to see just how much tracking has improved. Cameras like the R3 are well outside of my price range (well, my wife's point of forbearance).
Yeah: I don't have an answer to the "too far away bit". That's unresolvable. You are stuck with big lenses, which are
- then heavy making panning hard
- with narrow fields of view and slow apertures
- and AF being useless for moving subjects like birds
I simply abandoned that end of picture taking. If I went on a safari, I'd possibly hire a lens for the duration or rely upon the drone to get close.

I learned panning as kid going to dozens of airshows but planes are a helluva lot more predictable in flight than birds as well as being a lot bigger. So I doubt any of us is any better than you at this!
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vball
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I have Olympus E-M1X and on the OM Systems, OM-1.

I used the E-M1X while in Botswana and used the bird in flight tracking. It had as many hits as the Canon R5 and R6 being used next to me.

Not done a full test with OM-1 yet, but from a little try, it was extremely good.
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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laurent
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vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:01 am
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:56 am It's an EOS R3 I am in full subject /eye tracking it still does 30fps (at the price I payed I would expect it).
Does the R3 have Subject tracking in terms of people? I know my Olympus does birds, animals ... trains, but not people. I do not use Tracking either, just the Continous AF. But then again, it is not a R3 !!
Subject tracking human, Animals with eye tracking, it does motorsport tracking too... The new generation of kit is just crazy.

This one also has eye tracking: follows your eye in viewfinder to determine the subject (works quite well).
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vball
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laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm
vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:01 am
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:56 am It's an EOS R3 I am in full subject /eye tracking it still does 30fps (at the price I payed I would expect it).
Does the R3 have Subject tracking in terms of people? I know my Olympus does birds, animals ... trains, but not people. I do not use Tracking either, just the Continous AF. But then again, it is not a R3 !!
Subject tracking human, Animals with eye tracking, it does motorsport tracking too... The new generation of kit is just crazy.

This one also has eye tracking: follows your eye in viewfinder to determine the subject (works quite well).
I sold my 1Dx and all my Canon lenses 3 years ago., Might need to sell a kidney to get one ....

My photo guide I had in Botswana, Janine Krayer (check her images) had a R3 and she said it was out of this world.
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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laurent
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vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:41 pm
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm
vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:01 am

Does the R3 have Subject tracking in terms of people? I know my Olympus does birds, animals ... trains, but not people. I do not use Tracking either, just the Continous AF. But then again, it is not a R3 !!
Subject tracking human, Animals with eye tracking, it does motorsport tracking too... The new generation of kit is just crazy.

This one also has eye tracking: follows your eye in viewfinder to determine the subject (works quite well).
I sold my 1Dx and all my Canon lenses 3 years ago., Might need to sell a kidney to get one ....

My photo guide I had in Botswana, Janine Krayer (check her images) had a R3 and she said it was out of this world.
it's a crazy camera.

I would not have sold a 1DX (Wanted a mark II but thankfully Covid and various lockdowns destroyed my plans to get it)
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SaintK
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vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:41 pm
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm
vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:01 am

Does the R3 have Subject tracking in terms of people? I know my Olympus does birds, animals ... trains, but not people. I do not use Tracking either, just the Continous AF. But then again, it is not a R3 !!
Subject tracking human, Animals with eye tracking, it does motorsport tracking too... The new generation of kit is just crazy.

This one also has eye tracking: follows your eye in viewfinder to determine the subject (works quite well).
I sold my 1Dx and all my Canon lenses 3 years ago., Might need to sell a kidney to get one ....

My photo guide I had in Botswana, Janine Krayer (check her images) had a R3 and she said it was out of this world.
I worked for Canon for nearly 30 years. Saw what must have become the R3 in R and D in Tokyo some years back before I retired. In fact I saw some astonishing things all round most of which probably haven't seen the light of day as a consumer products!!!
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vball
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laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm

I would not have sold a 1DX (Wanted a mark II but thankfully Covid and various lockdowns destroyed my plans to get it)
Getting old and weak. Olympus with, in 35mm terms, 80-300mm F2.8, I can hold in one hand. Even with 600mm F4 it is so light. OK around rugby pitch where I used a monopod, Canon was OK. But going after wildlife in the hills, the Olympus is so much easier.

Willing to try a R3 though !!!
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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laurent
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vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:40 pm
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm

I would not have sold a 1DX (Wanted a mark II but thankfully Covid and various lockdowns destroyed my plans to get it)
Getting old and weak. Olympus with, in 35mm terms, 80-300mm F2.8, I can hold in one hand. Even with 600mm F4 it is so light. OK around rugby pitch where I used a monopod, Canon was OK. But going after wildlife in the hills, the Olympus is so much easier.

Willing to try a R3 though !!!
Lighter than 1D's it's a good bit smaller 1015g against 1530 ... I think it's lighter than my old 7DII with grip.
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Torquemada 1420
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vball wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:40 pm
laurent wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:21 pm

I would not have sold a 1DX (Wanted a mark II but thankfully Covid and various lockdowns destroyed my plans to get it)
Getting old and weak. Olympus with, in 35mm terms, 80-300mm F2.8, I can hold in one hand. Even with 600mm F4 it is so light. OK around rugby pitch where I used a monopod, Canon was OK. But going after wildlife in the hills, the Olympus is so much easier.

Willing to try a R3 though !!!
Just be careful with how low weight is achieved. I ran my Contax S2 Titanium for years because it was light but because of the materials used. Have to be careful with modern bodies if you bash your kit around a bit because some are pretty flimsy and/or have poor weather proofing.
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vball
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The Olympus EM1 range and OM System OM-1 are well build and capable of a good bashing. The EM5 and 10 are not so. But a fair point.
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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Guy Smiley
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Perspective and lines is a thing in a lot of my shots...

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Guy Smiley wrote: Fri Sep 23, 2022 3:52 am Perspective and lines is a thing in a lot of my shots...

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Nice. Location?

Recent one of old dock area of Manchester
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Guy Smiley
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Taken on an altitude acclimatisation hike above Dingboche... the hill is called Nangkarshang, I think. The view is looking up the Kumbhu valley in the general direction of Everest, which is actually a little to the right of the view but obscured by the mountains and valley wall... in a straight line I'd guess this is something like 15-20km from the mountain itself, and this viewpoint would be around 4800m or so up. It's somewhere I found incredibly challenging, physically... spending days in thin air above 4000m is no picnic, but I'd go back tomorrow and suffer it all again if I could. Magical place and incredible people.
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out on the lash in London last week, view of St Pauls from the top of the Ned via my phone.

PXL_20220916_181509161.jpg
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Torquemada 1420
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Guy Smiley wrote: Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:54 am Taken on an altitude acclimatisation hike above Dingboche... the hill is called Nangkarshang, I think. The view is looking up the Kumbhu valley in the general direction of Everest, which is actually a little to the right of the view but obscured by the mountains and valley wall... in a straight line I'd guess this is something like 15-20km from the mountain itself, and this viewpoint would be around 4800m or so up. It's somewhere I found incredibly challenging, physically... spending days in thin air above 4000m is no picnic, but I'd go back tomorrow and suffer it all again if I could. Magical place and incredible people.
That altitude is when I start to regret being into photography!
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Insane_Homer wrote: Sat Sep 24, 2022 5:58 pm out on the lash in London last week, view of St Pauls from the top of the Ned via my phone.


PXL_20220916_181509161.jpg
It's the view across the atrium that picks up the parasols and palm tree which gives a certain discordancy
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Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sun Sep 25, 2022 11:43 am
Guy Smiley wrote: Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:54 am Taken on an altitude acclimatisation hike above Dingboche... the hill is called Nangkarshang, I think. The view is looking up the Kumbhu valley in the general direction of Everest, which is actually a little to the right of the view but obscured by the mountains and valley wall... in a straight line I'd guess this is something like 15-20km from the mountain itself, and this viewpoint would be around 4800m or so up. It's somewhere I found incredibly challenging, physically... spending days in thin air above 4000m is no picnic, but I'd go back tomorrow and suffer it all again if I could. Magical place and incredible people.
That altitude is when I start to regret being into photography!

A friend of mine went to photograph the Aurora Borealis and said he kinda regretted becoming a photographer at -60°C.
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Torquemada 1420
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troglodiet wrote: Sun Sep 25, 2022 5:06 pm A friend of mine went to photograph the Aurora Borealis and said he kinda regretted becoming a photographer at -60°C.
FM. I've done below -30C in Siberia. I await the invention of weightless glass.
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Niegs
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I was reminded by facebook that, on this day today seven years ago, I was in a pub in North Wales... :grin:

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Insane_Homer wrote: Mon Oct 10, 2022 9:07 pm Moon_2022-10-10-2.png
Very, very nice.
“It was a pet, not an animal. It had a name, you don't eat things with names, this is horrific!”
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laurent
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Going to be a lot of Dragonflies and damselflies coming ...

https://pixelfed.fr/i/web/post/589347585941784929

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vball
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laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:58 pm Going to be a lot of Dragonflies and damselflies coming ...

https://pixelfed.fr/i/web/post/589347585941784929

Image
Nicely diffused background. What did you use and the settings? I have tried macro and can never nail the focus when I get nearer 1:1 magnificstion.
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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Torquemada 1420
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laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:58 pm Going to be a lot of Dragonflies and damselflies coming ...

https://pixelfed.fr/i/web/post/589347585941784929

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Broad bodied chaser (male)
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Female is orange like OS
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Torquemada 1420
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vball wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 4:45 pm I have tried macro and can never nail the focus when I get nearer 1:1 magnificstion.
Because your depth of field diminishes to f**k all. Basically down to a matter of mm as can be seen here.

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I always go for getting the eyes in focus at the expense of all else.

If you get side on, you can get much more in focus
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but that's not always interesting
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Even then you have to have the steadiness of a fossil
- best to use a remote release (I often have the wife operating the shutter on command)
- bracketing helps. I try to move in slowly taking several shots. You will be lucky to get 1 in 10 as being useful
- luck. Lots of luck.
Last edited by Torquemada 1420 on Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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laurent
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vball wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 4:45 pm
laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:58 pm Going to be a lot of Dragonflies and damselflies coming ...

https://pixelfed.fr/i/web/post/589347585941784929

Image
Nicely diffused background. What did you use and the settings? I have tried macro and can never nail the focus when I get nearer 1:1 magnificstion.
It's a 100-500mm (at 500 F7.1) on my EOS R3 (you don't need that camera for macro).
this is at 1600 ISO 1/800 of a sec (I use auto iso most of the time so this changes).
I don't shoot much with macro in mind for these (you don't need the 1:1 as they are relatively large.

The depth of field narrows the closer you get, as Torq says focus on the eyes the rest is almost secondary. and if you feel you lack depth of field then close your aperture as much as possible given the light.

I have some crazy backgrounds coming as most of the pictures are taken in a small river branch covered by trees.
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laurent
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Torquemada 1420 wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:30 pm
laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:58 pm Going to be a lot of Dragonflies and damselflies coming ...

https://pixelfed.fr/i/web/post/589347585941784929

Image
Broad bodied chaser (male)
Image

Female is orange like OS
Image
Not really (no yellow patches on the body, no color at the base of the wing and yellow wingtips yours looks like Libellula depressa (Libellule déprimée) I believe the one I took is Orthetrum coerulescens (Orthétrum bleuissant). sorry not familiar with English names...

Identifying these can be a nightmare (I spent my evening yesterday try to identify some of my shots (the Blue Agrions are too many to be confident)
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Torquemada 1420
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laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:55 pm Not really (no yellow patches on the body, no color at the base of the wing and yellow wingtips yours looks like Libellula depressa (Libellule déprimée) I believe the one I took is Orthetrum coerulescens (Orthétrum bleuissant). sorry not familiar with English names...

Identifying these can be a nightmare (I spent my evening yesterday try to identify some of my shots (the Blue Agrions are too many to be confident)
Mine is indeed Libellula. We do have Keeled Skimmers (Orthetrum) but I've never seen one.

Damsels are an even worse nightmare but easier to photo since they sit still. Skimmers and Chasers are among the few dragons that will make it easy to snap.
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laurent
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Torquemada 1420 wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:00 pm
laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:55 pm Not really (no yellow patches on the body, no color at the base of the wing and yellow wingtips yours looks like Libellula depressa (Libellule déprimée) I believe the one I took is Orthetrum coerulescens (Orthétrum bleuissant). sorry not familiar with English names...

Identifying these can be a nightmare (I spent my evening yesterday try to identify some of my shots (the Blue Agrions are too many to be confident)
Mine is indeed Libellula. We do have Keeled Skimmers (Orthetrum) but I've never seen one.

Damsels are an even worse nightmare but easier to photo since they sit still. Skimmers and Chasers are among the few dragons that will make it easy to snap.
Damsels (calopteryx) are ok to ID (only 3 types in the area I was it seems with one not found in northern France)
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Torquemada 1420
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laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:47 pm The depth of field narrows the closer you get, as Torq says focus on the eyes the rest is almost secondary. and if you feel you lack depth of field then close your aperture as much as possible given the light.
The danger there is if you go into high f numbers, you are into a serious risk of diffraction.
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laurent
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Torquemada 1420 wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:22 pm
laurent wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:47 pm The depth of field narrows the closer you get, as Torq says focus on the eyes the rest is almost secondary. and if you feel you lack depth of field then close your aperture as much as possible given the light.
The danger there is if you go into high f numbers, you are into a serious risk of diffraction.
correct as high as possible :p
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Torquemada 1420
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St Michael's Mount English version:

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Torquemada 1420
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Southern Hawker (female)
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vball
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Went to Elephant Plains in Sabi Sands last week ..... horrendous flight issues from UK, but when were in South Africa, nothing was impossible. All companies/people did everything they could for us. Tremendous customer service.

Anyway ... blue eyed leopard
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Mohawk
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Warrior
Image
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
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laurent
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boasting about taking invisible things ...

any way no snow leopards for me

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vball
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Good video of Mongolian landscapes .... the early morning shots with the long lens were superb.

I was in Glencoe in Scotland 2 weeks ago helping a friend on a workshop and we got some really nice colours for sunrise and sunset. Picking out the pinks on the tops of the hills. A great time to be outside tbh.
Romans said ....Illegitimi non carborundum --- Today we say .. WTF
troglodiet
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vball wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2023 11:13 am Went to Elephant Plains in Sabi Sands last week ..... horrendous flight issues from UK, but when were in South Africa, nothing was impossible. All companies/people did everything they could for us. Tremendous customer service.

Anyway ... blue eyed leopard
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Mohawk
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Warrior
Image


You probably have no idea just how much I hate you right now.

Especially with the Leopard.

I've been living in this country for 52 years and spent an enormous amount of time in game parks, and not 1 photo of a leopard.

I've never had even one opportunity, not even with a 600mm f/4 lens and 2x converter. Seen them a couple of times but photos would have had a "Where's Waldo" vibe to it.
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Tichtheid
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The photography in this thread is terrific.

vball, that "warrior" one looks like the pic you see of "you should see the other fellah" from the mohawk guy.

Where is Torq these days?
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