Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Morning Rituals


Nikon L35AF, Fuji Reala
A man does Tai Chi on a foggy summer morning at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park.
--Warren

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2 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

I like this photo Warren! Nice touch with the bird on the bench there :) I like the colour combo --green & brown! Works great together here. Very simplistic and earthy colours... very peaceful. No wonder the guy's doing his Tai Chi there!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 7:56:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Thanks Lea! :)

I live in this part of town and our summers are usually cold and gray. It's a challenge to get any sort of color in my photos under these conditions. It sort of forces you to concentrate on making a good composition.

--WT

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 8:47:00 AM PDT  

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Monday, July 30, 2007

A Day at the Zoo...

Lappet-Faced VultureI took our almost-12-year-old nephew Josh, a budding nature photographer, to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore last weekend - I haven't been their since our own kids were younger than Josh. My brother Mark (Josh's dad) decided to come at the last minute, and we had a great boys' day out, roaming around the zoo and photographing the animals.

Of about 80 or so shots I took, most were for the birds, but some photos I took of some birds turned out pretty good. The best was this one of a handsome Lappet-Faced Vulture (Aegypius tracheliotus). This bird, an old-world vulture, is in the African exhibit at the Zoo. He was kind enough to sit still for me while I composed the photo. Who knew that a vulture could be so good-looking?

Mark Rosenbach - Lion of BaltimoreJosh, at almost twelve, is a little to sophisticated to fall for the various kids' stuff spread around the zoo, but 47-year-old dad Mark and his 57-year-old brother me couldn't resist a little childish fooling around. Here is Mark doing a wonderful job posing as a lion.

5 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

A very creative post Steve! Makes me feel like a little kid again looking at that lion painting ;) Those things were always so fun!! lol..

And I guess still are, right? =D

Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 8:01:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

That's a striking vulture shot! You captured some incredible detail on the feathers and beak. Did you use the A620 for this picture?

--WT

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 8:49:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Steve,

How did you get the bird to stay still? I love taking outdoor shots of the various birds down here in Florida, but they move and I don't get the shot. Your shot is great!

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 5:16:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone!

Warren - I took this with a 70-300mm Sigma Zoom on my Canon Digital Rebel

Dolph - the great thing about this vulture is that he didn't move very much at all. He would move his head, mostly, but it would be several seconds even between his head-moves. Very cooperative of him!

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 5:50:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

i suspected that this was taken with a dslr. I would have been blown away if you said that this was taken with your A620 :).

--WT

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 5:59:00 PM PDT  

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Friday, July 27, 2007

A Female Dragon


Forgot to post this one from the retirement party. It's a group of moms who perform dragon dancing. They were good.
Eric

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A Couple of Photos from a Retirement Party



I was at a retirement party a couple of weeks back and caught a couple of fun photos. One was of this musician and the other was of the little boy below with a lion's head.
Eric































2 Comments:

Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Hi Eric - I really like the photo of the musician. It's a very stron composition, and I like the way his colorful shirt jumps out and grabs my eye.

May I suggest that you try a slightly tighter crop - I did it on my end and I think it strengthens and already strong image.

I like the silhouette-like effect of his face and arms - it adds to the composition by emphasizing the composition.

Did you take any close-ups of him too?

Best regards,
SteveR

Monday, July 30, 2007 at 9:31:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Eric said...

Thx Steve. No closeups. Will check out the tighter crop at home.

Eric

Monday, July 30, 2007 at 2:50:00 PM PDT  

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Lost Blog

My blog, Imagine There's An Image is now read-only.

Somehow, I lost all access to my original Google account, meaning GMail, Blogger, and a host of other services. One day, my password just stopped working. I've gone through all of the things Google tells you to go through to recover my access, but to no avail.

I've created 2nd Exposure, a new blog under my new Google account.Charles Lee performs in Baltimore Inner Harbor


As with the old blog, this one will be primarily for and about photography and photographers.

To start things off on a good note (ouch! bad pun!), here's a photo of an amazing entertainer, Charles Lee, taken at Inner Harbor in Baltimore last Friday. Mr. Lee is thrilled us and brought smiles to all of us in the lunchtime crowd with his renditions of Motown classics.

Best regards,
SteveR

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Monday, July 23, 2007

Quiet and Overcast Day at the Coast


Nikon L35AF (P&S), Fuji Reala 100 accidentally pushed +2 stops
It was a typically cold and overcast day at the coast near Daly City. This little beach access area is situated on a cliff overlooking the beach and ocean.
--Warren

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1 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

I love the use of a fence in this photo! Starting at that bottom left post, it really makes you take notice of all the different flowering plants on the ground :)

Great pic Warren!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 11:12:00 AM PDT  

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Gaggle of Shower Heads

D200 55mm

Last weekend the old Sheraton Hotel on Miami Beach had a going out of business sale. In one room was this laundry basket with all these shower heads from the rooms. I liked this shot because it was not something you would see every day.

Sorry for not being around, the company I was working for just completed the purchase of another larger company...toooo much work. Now more time for photography.

2 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

This is a very interesting shot of what would normally be very common objects. Do you still use your D70?

--Warren

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 3:21:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Sometimes I carry the D70 when I'm going places that are a little dangerous. If i'm going to be at the beach all day, i'll take the D70.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 5:18:00 PM PDT  

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Antique Bottles, Honomu, HI

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm



--Warren

1 Comments:

Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Nice use of colors. I very much like the mix of greens, blues, and oranges. Did you have a great party and forget to invite us?

Nice work!

Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 11:40:00 AM PDT  

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I Adopted a Nikon FM

Hi Gang,

I've been meaning to post this for six months, but only got around to it just now. I was browsing Craigslist as I usually do about six months ago and I came upon an ad for a FREE Nikon FM body. I know that film cameras have really dropped in value, but this was ridiculous!

I immediately emailed the person who listed it, and I got an immediate response. The camera was in good working condition. The only thing that it needed was new foam light seals and foam for the mirror cushion. This was too good to pass up because I've never had the pleasure of owning a FM body.

Fortunately, the camera was nearby in San Francisco, so I drove to pick it up. I learned that the guy had recently gone digital and he wanted the FM body to go to someone who would continue to make good use of it. I promised him that I would put it to good use. Just for fun, he also gave me the rotted, disintegrated original case for the camera. I thought I'd take a picture of the case and post it here before I throw it away.

After I got the camera home, I checked it out and found that all the functions seem to work fine, and the only major cosmetic problem was a pronounced dent on the prism where it had apparently been dropped at some time it its life. I purchased a foam sealing kit from Ebay but I have not had time to work on it yet.

When I finally run some film through the camera, I'm sure you'll see the results here on the forum.

--Warren

Here's the Nikon FM with my 35mm f2.0 mounted:




Here's the case that has seen better days:



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Savoring the Moment, Lahaina, HI


Sony DSC-P72
Gail looking at the beach and ocean from inside the restaurant where we were having lunch at Lahaina.
--Warren

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Sunday, July 15, 2007

A New Camera




I've been using a Nikon D50 for the last six weeks. I thought I would share some of the photos and impressions with the camera. This is my first digital SLR (yeah, what took me so long!), after using 35mm SLRs for more than thirty years. The D50 came with the 18-55mm kit lens and I've modified some of my old manual focus Nikkor lenses to work on the camera. Nikon AI lenses do not need to be modified. The downside with using these old lenses is that the meter and autofocus will not work.

The first photo was made with a 28mm Nikkor. The second shot is with a 55mm Micro Nikkor.

Here's what's good about the D50: It's got a good sensor. Colors are bright and require little adjustment. If you like saturated colors, this is great! The camera is light and easy to carry. It feels like a Nikon N80 or N8008.

The bad news: The kit lens is cheap and not very sharp. The viewfinder is difficult to focus with manual focus lenses. And as stated earlier, the meter won't work with older lenses.

3 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Hi Martin,

Congratulations on the new camera!

Hey! is that my former 55mm Micro that you used? I can't remember if it was you who I horstraded that lens with for some other camera gear.

Nice shots, BTW.

When I use MF lenses on my D100, I usually rely on the camera's electronic in-focus indicator to help with focusing.

I often use my older lenses on my D100 even though the meter doesn't work with them. The combo of histogram and blinking highlights indicators on the LCD display help to quickly arrive at the correct exposure.

--WT

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 11:03:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Martin,

I always enjoy your work. I look forward to more great shorts.

Thanks for sharing.

dolph

Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 11:43:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Martin,

Welcome to the Dark Side!

You're already putting your new DSLR to great use - these are wonderful photos.

Best regards
SteveR

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 10:32:00 AM PDT  

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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Queen storms out of celeb photo shoot - Yahoo! News

Hi Gang,

here is a relevant article that just popped up on the news. Remember our discussion about Annie Liebovitz?

--WT

Link to article below:

Queen storms out of celeb photo shoot - Yahoo! News

6 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

my initial reaction: hahahhaha

Did they not know what kind of photographer/person she is...??? That's hilarious!


YouTube ----was her photograph too traditional?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlNk1Xq_UO4

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 9:05:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Haha! that was a funny bit on youtube. LOL!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 10:58:00 AM PDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Gang,

Actually, I found a subsequent article (sorry, can't remember where) that explained that AP got the story completely wrong - the footage of Her Majesty "storming out" was in fact taken as she was walking to her appointment with Annie Liebowitz. I don't know how the news media keeps getting so much wrong these days - very amateurish - no, actually the amateurs in the blogosphere are often more accurate, come to think of it.

What do you all think of this photographer, anyway? I just went through her latest book, and many of the photos were essentially snapshots of her family or of her partner, Susan Sontag. Some were quite good, most were very ordinary, some were frankly terrible photos of a quality I would never show in public.

She is obviously a skilled portrait artist, but if her portraits were not ones of John Lennon or Mick Jagger or Bono or whomever, would anyone really notice?

P.S. - somehow I've lost access to my gmail and other Google accounts - I'm still at srosenbach@yahoo.com -- Regards, SteveR

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 7:26:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

hi Steve,

check out the comments on your "Portraits" post. We had some things to say about Annie Liebovitz there.

--WT

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 7:23:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Just a question, you guys might be able to help me out --- Who's an example of a photographer that has become famous for portraits of non-celeb peeps... I just want to compare their work with Liebowitz's.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 9:24:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

hi Lea,

that's an interesting question because I think a portrait photographer might become famous precisely because he/she takes pictures of famous people. I think there are many, many great portrait photographers who are not famous, but are masters of the art of portrait photography.

that said, maybe someone else can come up with some names. Through some casual research, i've come up with some:

- Dorothea Lange
- Helmut Newton
- Anton Corjbin
- Mary Ellen Mark
- Lord Lichfield

just to name a few. Some of these folks also worked with famous people.

--WT

Thursday, July 19, 2007 at 6:40:00 PM PDT  

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Monday, July 09, 2007

Kings Canyon


Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

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Saturday, July 07, 2007

Dragonfly

I spotted several dragonfly at a pool in the Belvedere Vinyards garden just outside of Healdsburg CA, and was struck by the sharp leaves, and translucent wings and red-to-clear color of the insects. The darkness of the water further set the colors off.

Using an 18-125 Sigma set at 125mm (for comfortable, non-intrusive working distance), f9, 1/80 sec. I shot several images, with this one coming out the best composition. Post-production Photoshop cropping and sharpening produced this result.

As this was a handheld shot, I only wished I had a tripod to give added stability and clarity to the image. In retrospect, I also could have gone to 5.6 and halved my shutter speed to further reduce shake without sacrificing much clarity.

2 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Dennis!!! Nice to see you here again!

I really like this picture. You have a steady hand to be able to shoot this at 1/80 at 125mm. I like the vivid color of the dragonfly. the colors of the insect and the leaves are nicely contasted by the black background. I also like how the leaves simultaneouly point to, and frame the dragonfly.

I don't think using f5.6 would be an improvement because it would have caused a shallower depth of field. This would have caused more of the leaves to be thrown out of focus. I think DOF is balanced just right in this shot.

--WT

Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 1:02:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Eric said...

Nice shot, Dennis. Looks like something out of a magazine.

Eric

Monday, July 9, 2007 at 12:03:00 PM PDT  

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Portrait of Gail (from the archives)

Nikon F2


Shhhhhhh!!! Don't tell Gail that I posted this here :).


I like shooting portraits but I don't have a chance to do them very often. I shot this one about 26 years ago and I found it again after looking through some old pictures that I was going through.



--Warren

1 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

She is really beautiful! Cute outdoor portrait with the animal tracks on her shirt :)

Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 9:37:00 PM PDT  

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Monday, July 02, 2007

Portraits

Hi everyone! I'm still alive, lurking in the forum, but just couldn't motivate myself to do much photo-taking or posting until the last few weeks. I finally put this post on my photo-blog and thought I'd share it with you.

I've been trying to work in some informal portraiture lately. Here are two of what I think are my more successful attempts.

Portraits were what originally impelled me to take up photography. That is, I was so dissatisfied with my high school yearbook picture that I was sure I could learn to do a better job. Not realizing that the problem was the raw subject material and not the fault of any photographer, I prevailed on my friend Roger to teach me about photography. Once I got in the darkroom and became fascinated with the ability to make images, any images, I soon forgot about portraiture.

People pictures, other than those of cute, small children, have never been my strong point. I don't think I really want to go through the effort to be a really great portraitist, but I'd like to at least get better at photographing family and friends.

Composition is my strong point, so I've been looking out for opportunities to combine composition and informal portraiture.

John G at WorkI really like this photo of my friend and co-worker John. First of all, I caught an expression that I think really represents John well. He is pleasant to be around, collegial and professional with a good sense of humor - a real mentch. Second, from a compositional point of view, I like the way the swoopy curve of the desk balances the placement of John on the right side of the photo. Overall, I think it turned out to be a decent "environmental" portrait of a happy software developer.

Ben on Lake MuscocaThis next photo is, of course, our son Ben. He's an easy one to photograph, as he usually doesn't mind mugging or posing for the camera. In this case, he was just relaxing on my brother-in-law Peter's boat during our recent visit to Toronto. I thought the boat's wake on this beautiful day was a photogenic backdrop for a portrait, and the way Ben was leaning made for a more interesting photo.

OK, it's not Annie Liebovitz, but a good start.



Speaking of Annie Liebovitz, I recently took a long look at her much-heralded new book, A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. Frankly, at $75, I don't recommend it. Many of the photos, maybe a fourth of them, are quite compelling, but the layout is not very good - many fine photos are splayed across two pages, ruined by the gutter. Further, I question if the other three-quarters of the photo are worth publishing.

Some have complained that most of the photos are just what you would find in a family album - pictures of Liebovitz' parents, cousins, and her lover Susan Sontag, over the 15-year period. I would defend her to an extent here - some of the family photos are excellent, both in the emotions they convey and in their photographic quality. But many, many more are not so good.

There are probably more photos of Sontag than any other subject in this book. A few are quite good, but most seem to be only of personal interest to Liebovitz, perhaps to Sontag's family, and maybe to Sontag fanatics. A number of these are just downright bad photos - blurred or poorly exposed.

The book also includes some landscapes, many spread across two pages. These latter ones aren't ruined by the gutter, because Liebovitz' landscapes, at least in this book, are unimpressive - perhaps they have meaning to her, but I question that they have any wide appeal.

As a photographer, Liebovitz is a bit of a puzzle to me. Here's what I wonder: she is a very talented portrait photographer, but if her photos were of ordinary people rather than celebrities, would we be all that interested and make such a fuss over her?

I'd like to hear what you guys think.

5 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

Nice pics --Great emotion in both of them & interesting backgrounds for portraits! Canadian water too! woohooo :)

As per your question about fussing over Leibovitz, my initial guess is no.. chances are her name wouldn't be nearly as well-known as it is. But that is something that she has made for herself -- her reputation. How did she build her collection? ...That really does say something about her as a photographer too. I don't know that much about her but I think that would definitely be interesting to know!

As with any form of production for others, there is much that goes unseen by the consumer. There is something very untouchable about being asked to photograph the Queen. Leibovitz's fame doesn't come only from getting well-known faces in her shots. She is also well known for working closely with her subjects while shooting. It's hard to separate the artist from their art. Aren't they one and the same? ...a depiction of their imagination & passion? More than likely, fame has been nothing more than a side note to her passion for illustrating famous people...


Sorry for being a bit long-winded, but it was an intriguing question Steve! :) And again --great pics here!!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 7:04:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Hi Steve! It's great to see you here again. Thanks for a very interesting and thoughht provoking post!

I think both portraits are very successful. I like the fact that both of them have the "SteveR signature vision" backgrounds. You also captured great expressions on your subjects which is not surprising considering your relationships with them. John's picture can very be in a company newsletter or brochure. If there was one nit to pick (minor one), I would have moved the trash can out of the way :). I love the way the s-curve of the desk is reprised and continued by the brown curved pattern on the floor.

I was going to post something about Annie Liebovitz a couple of months ago after I saw a PBS documentary about her. Thanks for the review of her new book. I really didn't know much about her until after I saw the documentary on TV.

As for the question of whether or not Liebovitz would be fussed over if her portraits were of ordinary people, I think probably not, but I think she does deserve all her accolades because she made the most of it when the opportunity to photograph famous people presented itself. So, Liebovitz's fame are a product of her own talent and skill as a photographer combined with the unique circumstances of her job.

--Warren

Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 9:19:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Steve,

Question: Was John's portrait planned, or was it spontaneous/impromptu?

I find the all the colors in the frame (including John's shirt) to be very pleasing and harmonious.

Thanks,

Warren

Thursday, July 5, 2007 at 5:41:00 PM PDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Lea and Warren - thanks for your comments!

Lea - BTW, the Canadian water in the background behind Ben is Lake Muscoca - have you been there?

Warren - I didn't notice the trash can, even after editing the photo of John for about 15 min. to take out some stuff on the desk. Good eye - that's the kind of thing I would like to be aware of doing this kind of photography.

The photo was not really planned - I had my little A620 out for some other reason, and decided to snap a few "at work" photos of John. At one point, I held the camera high over my head, making use of the articulated LCD screen, and suddenly saw those curves in the desk and the floor - then just asked John to look up. It was OK but not all that great - but I thought that viewpoint had potential - then we did another take about a minute later, which was this one. I also complimented John on his fortuituous choice of shirt that day ;-)

Your part of your comment about the "SteveR signature vision" made my day! :-) :-)

I'll look for that documentary on Annie Liebovitz - that may soften my opinion

Best regards,
SteveR

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 6:34:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

No I haven't been to Muskoka --my sis was up there this summer though, visiting relatives who live up there. I've heard & seen many a good things :D

Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at 9:18:00 PM PDT  

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Canada Day Fireworks!



I like the abstract design of it all :)

4 Comments:

Blogger SteveR said...

Oh Canada we stand on guard for thee!

Hi Lea - you did an excellent job capturing this burst at just the right time. I think it's a great abstract.

Best regards,
SteveR

Monday, July 2, 2007 at 11:15:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Eric said...

Good shot, Lea! It's a fun shot and it reminds me also of some subatomic particle photos I've seen.

Hope you had fun on Canada Day. What a great country. Gotta get up there soon.

Eric

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 9:48:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Nice abstract patterns, I feel like I'm there!

--WT

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 2:32:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Thanks! Yes, it's a terrific country :) I had a great time with friends & family for the long weekend! And happy July 4th to you all!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at 5:34:00 PM PDT  

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Buddhist Temples, Honomu, HI

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

We were on our way to see Akaka Falls near Hilo, Hawaii. This little town called Honomu was on the way to the falls so we stopped for a look. It was a beautiful, warm, and crisp day and there was a feeling of peace in the air. The main drag of the town is only a block long and there were few people around. Where did everyone go?

I later found out that the town was once the hub of a very busy sugar industry on the Big Island, but is now just a sleepy town of just 541 residents. It was interesting to see these two Buddhist temples just a half block from each other, but I suppose they used to serve a much larger population. I found the architecture of the temples to be very interesting.

By the way, July 4th is coming up in a couple of days. Why don't we go out that day to shoot some patriotic themed pictures and post them here?

--Warren





1 Comments:

Blogger Eric said...

How interesting. I was expecting some traditional designs. These are like a combo of old American design and old temple design. I've never seen anything like these.

Eric

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 at 9:50:00 AM PDT  

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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Hidden Observer


Nikon F4, Tri-X
Sometimes, you would never notice something, unless you look up...
--WT

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