Constellation Duck

The corner of Harborplace formed by the two main pavilions is a hangout for these dabbling ducks. They're always looking for a handout from us humans, and they're worth it, as they provide a lot of free entertainment.

This one didn't seem bothered by me at all as I took over a dozen photos up close and personal, down on the deck with my Canon A620 - the articulated LCD is great for this sort of thing.

The green in the background is the historic frigate USS Constellation.

By the way, I can't quite figure this duck out. It looks like a female Mallard, but the beak is yellow, rather than orange and black, and I didn't think the females had any green on their heads. If you know from ducks, please enlighten me.

Double-T Diner

If you're a long-time Baltimorean, you remember the original Double-T Diner in Catonsville. Founded by the eponymous Thomas Doxanas and his partner Tony, Double-T always was the place to go for good food, plenty of it, 24 hours a day.

Since 1987, the diners, of which there are now seven in the area, have been owned and operated by John, Tom and Louie Korologos. The food is still great and an excellent value.

This Double-T is in Pasadena, MD, about 20-plus miles south of Baltimore, on the way towards Annapolis.

Go ahead. Stick your hand inside.

Go ahead. I dare you. It won't hurt.

I took a pic of this a while back. It reminded me of something out of Stephen King's imagination.

Eric

Red Orange Yellow

Autumn approaches!

near my daughter's school

Nice sledding area in the winter. Was taken with a Hexar AF with outdated Longs brand 400 film. Developed to b/w, but blue sky was added with Picasa grad tint.

Governors Island

Sandy and I spent a great two days in New York City this weekend, seeing Mama Mia! on Broadway and doing some sightseeing.

I'll have many more photos and, of course, lots to gab about, when I have some more time later this week.

But meanwhile, if you're visiting New York on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday between now and October 12th, be sure to consider a trip to Governors Island, a former military reservation just off the tip of lower Manhattan that's now a great venue for picknicking and sightseeing.

Panic Button

D100, Tamron 24-135mm

Eric's shadow pattern image (the previous post) reminded of this one that I shot at the Monterey Historic Races. This is a close-up of an emergency fire extinguisher switch located near the windshield of a race car. I thought the shadows, button, and loop retainer made an interesting pattern.  

Would anyone care to guess which race car this is?

--Warren

Another shot of some cables

I saw this on the Golden Gate Bridge also. I liked the the curves of the thin cable and the shadow that it cast.

Eric

Golden Gate Bridge Cables

I went for a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny Saturday and thought I'd see what I could see in terms of shadows and black and white. Caught this shot of some cables.

Eric

Chihuly at the De Young Museum

Canon A570IS, 1/13 f3.2 ISO 200

We went to see the Chihuly art exhibit at the De Young Museum last weekend. This is one of many shots that I took. It was a challenge to get the right angle and to avoid the throngs of people who were also there to see the amazing glass work. Flash photography was not allowed, so I feel that I brought the right tool for the task. The image stabilization really came in handy in this situation. These are glass orbs in a real boat. 

--Warren

Greg at Ferry Plaza

Canon A570IS

An impromptu outdoor portrait of my friend Greg.

The color of his shirt happened to match his surroundings.

--Warren

*edited the picture per SteveR's suggestion to warm the tones a bit. I like it better than the original. Thanks for noticing, Steve!

Kitty (or Gilligan)

This is our cat Kitty, who is about 14 months old. The kids have always called him Kitty, because the shelter we got him from at a few weeks of age called him Gilligan, but the kids haven't seen Gilligan's Island, except for some youtube clips. This was taken with a Yashica GSN at f1.7 or f2 with Fuji 400 film.

I'm sure that whatever kits Warren takes on his trip, he'll return with awesome professional quality photos, but I was thinking about what I'd take, and I think I'd like the novel of a fast lens on full frame for possible low light or shallow DOF opportunities.

Was searching my files for a quick Noctilux f1 or Summilux 75/1.4 photo for you but came across this one first!

Candler Building

I get to go to work every day in this handsome 1930's building at 111 Market Place.

Inside, the building was completely renovated years ago; it's a thoroughly modern and very pleasant workspace. The lobby, complete with marble steps and columns, presents visitors and residents with an elegant welcome.

The architects of Candler Building really knew their stuff when it came to classical lines and proportions, fenestration, and so forth. Mind you, I don't really know what I'm talking about when it comes to architecture; my admittedly untutored view of what makes for good architecture is strikingly similar to Justice Potter Stewart's famous take on pornography - "I know it when I see it."

Lately, I've come to realize one way I can tell good architecture from bad is a simple test: if I find that a building is interesting to photograph, it's probably good architecture. If not, it's probably banal. Or worse.

Although in most areas of life I'm a pretty easy-going guy, architecture is an exception.

I think bad public architecture should be a capital offense (I'm looking at you, Hilton Baltimore Hotel!)

Decisions, Decisions

Hi Folks,

Here's something fun to think about.

We're about to go on our first "real" vacation in a while. We're going on a Mexican Riviera cruise that is roundtrip from San Francisco. We'll be away for 11 nights from 9/21 - 10/2. The reason I mention it here is because I am considering which cameras to bring along on the trip. I know for sure that I'll be bringing my most recent acquisition, the Canon A570IS to take typical vacation snapshots and to bring with me when I don't feel like exposing my "fancy" cameras in certain places at the ports of call. So now I'm wondering what other camera to bring.

Off the top of my head, here are some "kit" choices:

1) D100 w/Tamron 24-135mm, Sigma 15-30mm (full coverage digital slr)

2) D100 w/Tamron 24-135mm, Tokina 17mm (smaller kit, but almost same coverage digital as above)

3) Nikon F4, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm (full range, but bulky and heavy film kit)

4) Nikon F4, 24-135mm (larger range, but smaller package than #3)

5) Nikon F3HP, 24mm, 50mm, 85mm (manual focus, film slr kit, prime mf lenses, this used to be my main configuration for vacations pre-digital era)

6) Voigtlander Bessa R, 35mm and/or 50mm (rangefinder, more discrete and compact than the slrs)

7) Yashica T4 or Olympus XA2 or Nikon L35AF (minimalist film approach, ultra compact, all w/35mm lenses)

If I go the film route, what film should I use?

    1) Fuji color print, ISO400 (good all around)

    2) Ilford XP2 Super ISO400 (b&w may miss some tropical color opportunities, but have digital P&S for that)

    3) Kodak Tri-X, ISO400 (see #2, but b&w will give a different "look" to my film shots, more expensive to process Tri-X)

    4) Slide film of some sort, ISO100 (if I go with slide, I'll need to order asap, don't have any at home at moment)

    5) A variety of films listed above.

We've never been to these places (Mazatlan, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas), have any of you been there before? How safe would it be to be shooting with "attention grabbing" gear, like the D100, F4, or F3HP? I imagine that if we go into an iffy area, we'll just use the Canon P&S if we'll be shooting at all.

Any thoughts on the kits listed above?

--Warren

Tech Tuesday: Is That Too Much To Ask?

When I bought my Canon Digital Rebel almost five years ago, it came with a "kit lens", an 18-55 mm zoom. That's roughly equivalent to a 28-90 mm zoom on a 35 mm camera - moderate wide-angle to short telephoto.

The Digital Rebel was the first DSLR under $1000 ($999.95, to be exact, when I bought mine at Best Buy,) but now there's lots of competition at even lower price points, and most of these come with an 18-55 mm zoom (or it's four-thirds equivalent.) Nowadays, a zoom in this range is cheap to make, and besides, pretty handy. The wide end of the range is wide enough to be useful, and the telephoto end is great for portraits.

But the long end just isn't long enough for me. So when I take out my DSLR (now a 4th-generation Digital Rebel XSi,) I also schlep along a 70-300 zoom. And it usually turns out that whenever I change lenses, I see a shot that needs the lens I just put in my bag.

What I really want now is a walk-around-all-day lens like the  Sigma AF 18-200mm DC OS . Now that's the 35mm equivalent of a 28-320 mm zoom, and with that kind of range in one lens, I could probably leave my other lenses, and the whole camera bag, for that matter, home. So that's what I'm saving my DSLR pennies for now.

But who wants to carry a DSLR around every day, even with a light and compact zoom like the Sigma? That's why I have my take-along-everywhere-everyday camera, a Canon A620 that I bought in early 2006. The current model in Canon's lineup sells for about $175-200, and it's a good everyday digicam. You can't carry it in your shirt pocket, but it will easily fit in most pants pockets or even a small purse. Me, I just through mine in my take-to-work backpack along with my lunch and a book to read on the Light Rail.

Now what I really want in an everyday digicam is something with the lens range of that Sigma 18-200mm lens. As I said, it would be the 35 mm equivalent of a 28-320mm zoom. But while you can get digicams with 10X or more zoom ratios, they all start at a 35mm or 37mm equivalent, and that's just too narrow for my wide tastes.

So here's what my specs are for my next digicam:

• Lens with zoom range equivalent to 28-280mm and optical stabilization
• 8 to 10 Megapixels. More than that doesn't make sense for tiny digicam sensors, and it would just increase noise levels. Besides, I get decent 13x19 prints from my 7MP A620.
• 2.5" or 3" LCD

Now is that too much to ask?!

The closest thing I've seen so far is the new Canon Powershot SX110 IS - the lens is equivalent to 35-360mm, more than enough on the long end but not nearly wide enough on the other side. Discounted to around $275, it's a very attractive package, but I'm not buying another digicam with such a "normal" wide angle end of the zoom range. I want wide, baby, wide!

Anyone at Canon listening?

Just Legs

Canon A570IS

This was taken on a warm, sunny day at Union Square.

--Warren

Car Legs

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

I get a "deja-vu" experience when I look at this because I think I got a very similar shot at this same event from years ago.

--Warren

Automotive Art

Nikon D100, Tamron 24-135mm

Maybe a couple of fuel lines?

Orcas off the San Juan Islands

These small Orca's were off of the popular Lime Kiln park/viewing site off of the San Juan islands last week. Photo was taken with a Panasonic lumix fz3 at a 35mm focal length equivalent of 420mm, f4, 1/500th, at ISO 80.