All posts by James O'Keefe

Latest 1/2400 Viking Forge Ships

Every week I plan to post the best pictures from a manufacturer of the latest crop of 1/2400 modern warship miniatures pictures I have gathered. There are about eight months more of pictures.

This week the miniatures are from Viking Forge. Painters are included in the description. You can find the whole archive at When Imagination Fails.

German DDG Lutjens by gak8346
PRC LPD Yuzhao (Type071) by gak8346
PRC DDG Guangzhou (Type052B) by gak8346
PRC DDG LuyangII (Type052C) by gak8346
PRC FFG Ma’anshan (Type054) by gak8346
PRC FFG JianghuI (Type053H) by gak8346
Soviet SSGN OscarI by gak8346
US Coast Guard Cutters by Tabin Beckett
US LSD Whidbey by gak8346
US LPD Nashville by gak8346
US LSD Portland by gak8346
US CGN Truxtun by gak8346
US CGN Texas by gak8346
US CGN California by gak8346
US CG Belknap by gak8346
US DDG Burke I by gak8346
US DDG Adams by gak8346
US DDG Coontz by gak8346
US FFG Brook by gak8346
US FF Garcia by gak8346
US AOE Sacramento by gak8346
US AD Samuel Gompers by gak8346

Latest 1/2400 Superior Ships

Every week I plan to post the best pictures from a manufacturer of the latest crop of 1/2400 modern warship miniatures pictures I have gathered. There are about eight months more of pictures.

This week the miniatures are from Superior. Painters are included in the description. You can find the whole archive at When Imagination Fails.

ESSO Tanker by Bill Wright
French CV Clemenceau by Dan Arute
Random Ships by sulaksfzoo
Spanish FFG Baleares (Knox-class) by gak8346
Soviet Assorted Ships by bootsbootscollectables44
Soviet CG Slava by thingz.u.want4
Soviet CVH Moskva by Steve Jolly
Soviet FFG KrivakII by dethkor
Soviet LST Alligator by gak8346
MS Atlantic Causeway (SD14MS) by Bill Wright
US CVA Kitty Hawk by gak8346
US CVN Enterprise by gak8346
US CV Forrestal by gak8346
US LHA Tarawa by gak8346
US LST Newport by thingz.u.want4

Thinking Ahead

I am going to be at the Kristen Hersh Electric Trio concert at ONCE later in the month and I need to decide what lens to bring.

I have two square posters of the cover art from the Throwing Muses Hips & Makers album that I have framed and which I want to hang with the above picture of Tanya Donelly (I realize she isn’t on the album, we do with what we have) and a new picture of Kristen Hersh.

Kristin Hersh - Hips and Makers.jpg
By Source, Fair use, Link

I photographed the Tanya Donelly concert there back in 2016 and I looked at the focal length, f-stop, shutter speed and ISO setting of the photographs I shared:

Tanya Donelly 9/30/2016 ONCE Somerville Concert

I used my Nikon 55-300mm and tended to take pictures from the back or the front sides. Most of the pictures I shared had a focal length of between 55mm and 120 mm. Must suffered from slow shutter speeds and high ISO settings.

I need to use a faster lens to get the shutter speed up and ISO down for sharper pictures. I have two possibilities. One is a wide angle zoom lens outside of the range of focal lengths I used. The other is a telephoto prime within the range of focal lengths I used. Neither is ideal and having to swap between them would be a pain. Another possibility would be to rent a fast zoom lens.

I may go to another show at ONCE before and test our how my lenses work, as well as try some composition ideas, before deciding which option to choose.

Latest 1/2400 Modern Ships

Every week I plan to post the best pictures from a manufacturer of the latest crop of 1/2400 modern warship miniatures pictures I have gathered. There are about eight months more of pictures.

This week the miniatures are from PFC C-in-C, Sea Battle and Sea Wulf. Painters are included in the description. You can find the whole archive at When Imagination Fails.

PFC C-in-C

US BB New Jersey by Scott Price
US CGN Virginia by thingz.u.want4
US CG Belknap by thingz.u.want4

Sea Battle

US AO Willamette by mygirlbree

Sea Wulf

UK DDG County (Exocet version) by gak8346
UK DDG County by gak8346

Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular Exhibit

Last weekend we visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, specifically to see the Gender Bending Fashion exhibit. We also visited the Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular exhibit which is at the MFA until June 19, 2019. The Gender Bending Fashion exhibit, which I will post pictures from later in the week, ends on August 25, 2019.

Here are a number of Frida Kahlo‘s paintings the exhibit displayed such as Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) – 1928:

Two Women (Salvadora and Herminia) - Frida Kahlo 1928

Self-Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace – 1940

Self-Portrait with Hummingbird and Thorn Necklace - Frida Kahlo 1940

Still Life with Parrot and Fruit – 1951

Still Life with Parrot and Fruit - Frida Kahlo 1951

Girl with Death Mask (She Plays Alone) – 1938

Girl with a Death Mask (She Plays Alone) - Frida Kahlo 1938

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale – 1939

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale - Frida Kahlo 1939

The exhibit displayed works of her contemporaries as well such as this painting by María Izquierdo: Cupboard – 1947

Cupboard - María Izquierdo 1947

Gabriel Fernández Ledesma: Girl – 1925

Girl - Gabriel Fernández Ledesma 1925

There were personal items of Frida Kahlo’s as well as articles of clothing that matched those she wore:

Blouse (huipit) - Front
Shawl (rebozo) - Front

Photo of a photo of her pain medicine:

Frida Kahlo's pain medicine

Finally, on the way out I came across this Picasso:

Standing Figure - Pablo Picasso 1908

Or if you want it without the frame:

Standing Figure - Pablo Picasso 1908

My whole photo album of the exhibit including a few pictures that are not displayed here:

Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular

I alternated f-stops between f/1.8 and f/5.6. In general, f/3.5 to f/4 is probably ideal considering the circumstances of limited time in front of each work of art and lighting conditions.

LBJ (DDG-1002) Christening

I attended the christening of the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) at Bath Iron Works in Maine. The LBJ is the third and final Zumwalt-class destroyer. It was christened by Johnson’s daughters, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson and a variety of public officials, both civilian and military, spoke.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

Manufacturing each ship costs over $4 billion. $12 billion dollars was spent on R&D for the class. Originally 30 were planned.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

It has two specially designed 155mm cannons that were designed to attack land targets in support of amphibious landings. However, since the cost of each shell is $1 million, the Navy has decided not to procure this ammunition leaving the ships without any way to use their cannons. The Navy is looking for a new future for the three ships.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

The bow uses a tumblehome design that adds to the stealthy quality of the ship…

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

…as does the shape of the superstructure.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

They are still working on the LBJ and it is expected to be at Bath Iron Works for at least another year. At least four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were in various stages of construction with the Daniel Inouye the furthest along. The production process is quite modular.

The ceremony was live streamed and is available on-line. You can also view larger versions of my photos.

MoS Butterflies

In early April, we went to the Museum of Science. There we visited the Butterfly Garden.

Here are the pictures I am most pleased with. Some were very patient, others weren’t. Focus on the patient ones and play with your f-stop and composition. A decent macro lens can really help, but oh how the depth of field can be thin if your f-stop is to small. A place like the Butterfly Garden, which has a decent amount of light, helps.

Butterfly @ Museum of Science
Butterfly @ Museum of Science
Butterfly @ Museum of Science
Butterfly @ Museum of Science
Butterfly @ Museum of Science

Latest 1/2400 GHQ Ships

I haven’t posted the 1/2400 modern warship miniatures pictures I have accumulated in a while. Since it has been over half a year and the number of pictures is so large, I plan to post the best pictures from a manufacturer each week.

This week the miniatures are from GHQ. Painters are included in the description. You can find the whole archive at When Imagination Fails.

JMSDF Hyuga by gak8346
PRC CV Liaoning by Pete Skaar
PRC FFG JiangkaiII (Type054A) by gak8346
US CVN Ford by rriggles
US LHD Wasp by gak8346
US LPD San Antonio by gak8346
US DDG Burke IIA by gak8346
US FF Knox by gak8346
US LCS2 Independence by gak8346

Several Random Photos

Usually when I am going to/from work, I don’t take my camera, but rely on my mobile phone to capture things I run into in my travels. I cannot say any of them are good, but the more times I get to play with composing photos, the better I’ll get hopefully. Enjoy!

Inspiring hope and fear

My aim was to capture the graffiti on the ground with the wall art. The people in the top left were a bonus. It would be a more compelling composition if I had captured the backs of the people closer to the graffiti on the ground.

Inspiring hope and fear

Abandoned gloves

With Spring upon us, someone discarded their gloves in an office stairwell. I decided to play with the perspective.

Abandoned gloves

Shadow within a shadow

The harsh morning light, seen in the top right, reflected off of the glass building behind me to cast me in shadow within the shadow of the building in front of me.

Shadow within a shadow

Reflections in Glass and Wood

Another photograph playing with reflected light. I liked the way the light reflected off the glass window as well as off the wooden counter and then off the glass window.

Reflections in Glass and Wood

All rolled up with nowhere to go

A job left undone.

All rolled up with nowhere to go