Japanese Garden Doorway

Took this photo of a doorway in a Japanese Garden outside of LA. I thought the texture of the wood against the layout of the rock wall was interesting.

Eric

Jar of Honey

I was having breakfast last Sunday morning and saw the sun shining on the jar of honey.

Eric

Merry Christmas!

This was taken last Saturday at Union Square, San Francisco.

We wish you a wonderful New Year too!

--Gail & Warren

Forked Branch

A couple of years back, I took a photo of a strange forked branch while hiking in an Audobon bird sanctuary in Natick, MA. It was strange because it was the trunk of a tree. I believed I used a Yashica FX-3 body, a Carl Zeiss 35 mm lens (care of Warren Tang), and some Ilford 400 b&w film.

Eric

My First Decent Point and Shoot

I wanted to just put up a quick shot of this because Warren's posting of the Nikon he bought for $1.75 brought this to mind. Back in the 1980's, my brother and sister-in-law got me this Nikon Fun Touch. I forgot all about it. It took some rather nice photos. Took it with me to China when I went to see some relatives in 1990. Didn't want to fool with an SLR and this camera did a nice job. Wow, seems I'm gonna break it out again. You can see by the plastic on the top that it went thru a lot of wear and tear.

Holiday Lights

Most homes in my neighborhood don't put up Christmas displays but I spotted this one. Have a GREAT holiday season everyone!

GG Park/Stow Lake Series with Nikon L35 AF

Nikon L35AF

The following three pictures were taken at the Golden Gate Park Stables. The facility has been closed since 2001, and is awaiting restoration. I try to come here every morning to practice my Tai Chi.





I don't understand how people can be so inconsiderate and simply leave garbage in the park like this.



The following pictures were taken on a cool winter morning at Stow Lake.



Red blossoms in winter? I wonder what kind of tree this is.



A nice stone bridge connecting Strawberry Hill (island) to the rest of the park.







Here's the familiar Golden Gate Pavilion. it's located on Strawberry Island. You'll see it up close in the following series of pictures. The pavilion is a friendship gift from San Franciso's sister city of Taipei, Taiwan.













Huntington Falls on Strawberry Island. You may recall a wonderful picture that Martin posted a while back that featured this falls.



----------------------------------------------

So, what do you all think? Not bad for a 22 year old, (supposedly) obsolete, point & shoot film camera, eh? :D

Actually, I think calling this camera a P&S is not really accurate. I think it's more accurately called a compact, automated 35mm, fixed lens camera. You can't really just "point and shoot" because you still need to understand how to set focus using the focusing brackets in the viewfinder, then recompose the shot while holding focus. This simple little technique is often overlooked by novice or casual shooters which usually results in out of focus pictures. When used correctly, this classic gem is capable of amazing results.

--Warren

100 E. Pratt

I'm always looking for interesting patterns as I walk to and from work. A few days ago on a sunny morning, the waffle-like pattern of 100 E. Pratt Street jumped out at me. I had walked by there literally over a hundred times, but just didn't "see" this image.

100 E. Pratt is an odd building. This heavy masonry facade is only a few stories tall, but stretches for the entire block along Pratt Street. Behind and attached to this blocky structure is a 28-story steel-frame tower. On top of the tower is a "hat truss" from which - get this - hangs another structure, a 1991 addition to the original (1973-1975) building. The addition is almost as tall as the tower and the same width, but it looks to be only 1 office deep. You can get a better look at this whole affair An Engineer's Guide to Baltimore. This website notes that the whole weight of the addition is suspended entirely from the "birdcage" truss at the top of the tower; that is, there's no foundation holding it up.

Those are brave people sitting in those offices!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you and your loved ones!

You are a great bunch, and I'm proud to be associated with you (and thanks, Warren, for starting this group blog and asking me to join.)

We're off to visit the out-laws in Oakville, Ontario (suburb of Toronto) - wife Sandy and daughter Leah (24) and I are flying out of BWI. Son Ben (20) is flying out of Philly - he's between quarters at Drexel University.

I'll try to take some photos while I'm up there - if so, I'll Blogger them to you in a post.

Meanwhile, wishing you all the best.

Pikaichi!!! Another Classic Compact

Pikaichi means "Top Notch" in Japanese. Nikon had so much confidence in it, that they named the L35AF, Pikaichi, in the Japanese market version of its very first compact, AF, P&S. You may remember that I mentioned a dead Nikon L35AF that I got as part of a barter deal that included that incredible Olympus XA2. I was really hoping that the Nikon would be functional because I was very curious to see how it performed.

The L35 was introduced in 1983, and it became a huge success. The external design of the L35 was done by the famed Italian industrial designer, Giugiaro. Giorgetto Giugiaro was hired by Nikon in the early 80's to design their flagship professional slr, the Nikon F3. Subsequently, Giurgiaro had a hand in designing every significant Nikon slr (F3, F4, F5, F6, D1, D2, D200, etc.). Giugiaro was also named the car designer of the century in 1999. You'll recognize the names of some of the supercars that he designed: BMW M1, Lotus Esprit, De Tomaso Mangusta, De Lorean DMC-12, Ferrari 250GT, Maserati Bora, to name just a few. You can see the signature Nikon red stripe on the front of my L35.

After being tantalized by holding and examining the broken L35, I decided that I needed to find a working one so that I can judge for myself why this camera is so highly regarded. This is reportedly the ONLY Nikon compact that is of any interest to collectors. Well, I'm happy to report that I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay, and that I won the auction for the ridiculously low price of $1.75 (!!!). Yes, you read that right, $1.75! Not only that, the seller was local, so I went to pick it up directly from the seller and saved the trouble of packing and the shipping cost.

The L35 is not a shirt pocket camera, it might fit in a large coat pocket. Instead, it reminds me a lot of a slightly undersized rangefinder of classic proportions. Nikon chose a rugged, but slightly weighty design of plastic body over a metal chassis. This design is unheard of in a P&S camera, and Nikon discontinued this practice in subsequent versions. That broken L35 that I got must have been used and abused pretty badly. The L35 looks, feels, and handles like a "real" camera. Interestingly, the L35's appearance reminds me a lot of the Konica Hexar AF, which is something of a cult classic. The Hexar also had a fixed, 35mm (f2.0) lens (I wish I never sold mine).

Following are some significant features of the L35:

- Very accurate, IR active autofocus system
- Reverse Galilean Viewfinder with floating framelines
- Mechanical AF indicator in viewfinder for focus verification (no other P&S had this)
- Programmed auto exposure with +2 stop exposure compensation lever for backlit situations
- Fixed focal length, 5 element/4 groups, high quality, coated, 35mm f2.8 lens
- Motorized film advance
- Motorized film rewind that leaves the leader out
- Built-in, automatic, pop-up flash
- Outdoor fill flash capability
- Self timer
- Threaded lens for 46mm filters
- Manual ASA setting for ASA 64-1000 (late models like mine have this expanded range)
- Uses 2 AA alkaline batteries (commonly available)

So did I finally get a working L35AF? The answer is a resounding, YES! I will post a series from my first roll through his classic camera a little later. For now, here are my first two shots. Film used was Kodak SG400 color print film.

(Self Portrait) Frame #1, oops! It's not a good idea to use the flash directly in a mirror but it does make an interesting picture, no?



(Self Portrait) Frame #2, okay, this is more like it :). Please excuse the messy background :).



I hope you enjoyed this little classic camera review. My recommendation for the Nikon L35AF is the same as my recommendation for the Olympus XA2, if you see one at a yard sale or Craigslist, by all means, buy it and use it.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

--Warren

Frost in the City, Part Two

Nikon D100, Tokina 17mm f3.5

Hey, it kind of looks like snow :).

On this unusually cold S.F. morning, I had to stop here to take some pictures. You can see a pair of softball diamonds in the far background.



This man was sweeping the bleachers at the softball diamond. I don't think he was a park worker, he may be someone who just likes to keep the place tidy for his own reasons.



The sun was starting to come up here, and the frost was beginning to melt off of the railing. The little droplets were catching the light from the sunrise.






--Warren

On This Night, Let Us Light...

"...six little Hanukkah candles."

That's from a song that Jewish kids sing in Nursery School to learn about Hanukkah. And tonight, we will light six candles for the sixth day of this eight-day holiday.

Today's photo of glass dreydles was part of a self-assignment to make photographs for Hanukkah three years ago.

I'd never seen little glass dreydles like these before that time. They were at the annual Hanukkah Bazaar run by our Synagogue's Sisterhood. I asked the "sisters" afterwards if I could borrow their stock for some photos.

The don't spin worth a darn, but they sure are nice to look at.

The Hanukkah dreydle has on its four sides the Hebrew letters, Nun, Gimmel, Hey, and Shin. This stands for the sentence, Nes gadol hayah sham, which means "A great miracle happened there."

The "there" means Israel, or more specifically, the Second Temple in Jerusalem. And the miracle refers to the miracle of the little jar of oil, which should have only been enough for one day but lasted for eight.

And that's why we celebrate Hanukkah 2,171 years after the event it commemorates. The miracle of the oil is why we light candles for eight nights, and, by the way, why we eat oil-fried foods on Hanukkah.

Ashenazim, Jews whose more recent ancestors lived in Northern and Eastern Europe, eat potato latkes, or pancakes. Sephardim, Jews whose families lived in places like Iberia, North Africa, Italy, or Turkey, eat sufganiot, which are donuts.

Wherever you live and wherever you are from, Hanukkah, the Festival of Light, is a time of miracles - may you each be granted a miracle of your own!

Frost in the City

It feels like winter!

I took these this morning in front of our house, just before sunrise.

I'll post a series of shots that I got at a frosted over softball field a little later. Stay tuned.

--Warren

(Nikon D100, Tokina 17mm f3.5)

Winter Trees in Massachusetts

As nice as living in San Francisco is, I miss winter - sometimes. I can do without all the snow shoveling. Anyhow, here's a photo I took while in Massachusetts a couple of years back.

Eric

What's On Your TREE This Year!

Abraham Lincoln Bust

I caught this bust of Abraham Lincoln in Balboa Park, San Diego. I think it was a good statue of Mr. Lincoln, one of my biggest, if not my biggest, hero. I read about him and the man is nothing but inspiration to me. It would've been something to have known him.

Eric

Stow Lake Photo Series with XA2

The day after I got back from the Vegas trip, I wanted to finish off the roll of Ilford XP2 in the Olympus XA2, so I went to a favorite spot, Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. It was foggy and rainy that day. I shot the XA2 one handed while I held my umbrella with the other hand. You'll see the familiar Chinese pavilion that often appears in Martin's and my pictures.

--Warren

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Las Vegas Photo Series

All shots were taken with the Olympus XA2 and Ilford XP2 Super film. I really enjoyed using the XA2. Its lens has interesting characteristics. Let me know which pics you like in particular.

BTW, I used Walgreens to process the 36 exposure roll for $6.75 total, no prints, scanned to CD only. The scanning job was mediocre, but adequate for showing the pics on the web. I can always scan the negatives on my film scanner for more critical usage.

--Warren

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greg and Curtis. We just checked into the hotel, relaxing a bit before going out again:



View from our hotel room at the Aladdin:



Las Vegas "Great Santa Run":



"Up Escalator" I was intentionally going after a blur effect:



Walking through an older part of Vegas towards the "strip":



Older part of the "Strip", I'm not sure what happened to the picture just above the "Ace Pawn" sign. I think it may be a result of the mediocre scanning job by Walgreens:



Pedestrians dwarfed by the Riviera:



Coffee Break at the Wynn: (Ray, Greg, me, Dennis, Curtis)



Steath shot taken at the Sports Book area (no cell phones or recording devices allowed):



Stealth shot and partial self portrait at the Sports Book area. I braced the camera on the chair and estimated the framing. Note the alien being over my right shoulder :)



Wedding Ceremony at the Venetian:



Grand Canal replica complete with Gondolas at the Venetian:



The Plight of the Air Traveler. This is a shot of Ray and Greg waiting with me at the terminal for the flight home. Our flight was delayed for three hours, and we were trapped there: