ice and snow after thanksgiving

a close up of some ice on some pine needles. Taken with a Canon A550, 1/125, f2.8, ISO 80 in macro mode.

Alley Tree

Canon A570IS

A little fall color seen in downtown Petaluma.

--Warren

A River Runs Through It

Canon A570IS

Gail and I had never been to downtown Petaluma until that day. We ended up there after our day trip up the coast to Tomales Bay. This is downtown Petaluma which is right next to the Petaluma River.

--Warren

Trees Please

It was refreshingly sunny one day last week and I decided to get a few tree shots before all the leaves disappear... Quite honestly, I had a very sore neck afterward from all the looking up =P But in Seattle, you have to take full advantage of a November blue sky while it lasts!

I liked this one because the trees to me look like they're in a fantasy land, dancing to some crazy autumn chant... heh.. a tree party.

Ginkgo Fan

Yes, you could say I'm a ginkgo fan.

I never really noticed their elegant, fan-shaped leaves until I worked in Towson some years ago on a three-month contract. It was fall, and Pennsylvania Avenue in greater downtown Towson is graced with quite a few ginkgo trees. Even then, I didn't notice the leaves until they started to turn color and fall.

The ginkgo tree, Ginkgo biloba, is itself quite intersting. Among plants, it is sui generis, being the only species in the genus Ginkgo, which is the only member of the family Ginkgoaceae, in turn the only family in the order Ginkgoaceae, itself the only member of the class Ginkgoopsida, which is, you guessed it, the only member of the phylum Ginkgophyta.

Even among trees, ginkgos are especially long-lived and have been around longer than any other species - over 200 million years.

For this photo, I made use of a photographic axiom I learned years ago:

"Get close... then get closer."

The macro mode of my digicam (Canon A620) let me "get closer," and some nice late-afternoon sidelighting contributed to make a dramatic image.

Tomales Bay

Bessa R, 50mm J-8, Fuji 400

View of Tomales Bay from Nick's Pier.

--Warren

Fishing Floats, Nick's Pier

Bessa R, 50mm J-8, Fuji 400

Fishing floats are always a nice, colorful subject. These were seen at Nick's Pier, Marshall, CA, at Tomales Bay.

--Warren

Flying A

Bessa R, 50mm J-8, Fuji 400

A vintage gas pump seen at Marshall, CA, at Tomales Bay.

--Warren

A Peaceful Place

Voigtlander Bessa R, 50mm J-8, Fuji 400

Sometimes we all need that special, peaceful place to unwind.

We came upon this scene in San Anselmo, CA

--Warren

Man in Bistro

My brother Mark and I went to DC Sunday afternoon to have lunch with our cousins before their return to Israel. As we were being seated, I noticed this elegant gentleman deep in thought (or maybe just studying the menu) by the window.

I normally stay away from stealing moments like this, because I'm too slow and fumble-fingered to be a good candid photographer. But this gentleman was an interesting subject, and I really liked the lighting coming through the window, lighting half of the man as well as the bright red shirt behind him, while leaving the other half of him in shadow. So I grabbed my camera and channeled Henri Cartier-Bresson for a minute:

"What is best in photography is that you are catching an instant that will disappear. The photographer is like the voleur, the thief; he steals a moment, a fleeting moment and then he runs away with it in his camera. Being a photographer you have to be quick, quick, quick; you have to be like quicksilver, yes, like a tightrope dancer with death at the end.”

Well, I wasn't quick, quick, quick, but as this gentleman seemed to be concentrating on something else, I was quick enough.

Leaf on 21st Street

Our wonderful Israeli cousins Tammy and Itzik were in Washington this past week, and we drove to DC to pick them up at their hotel and spend the day with them. Mindful of the dictum, "it always pays to schlepp one's camera, I grabbed my Adorama Slinger as I headed out from home.

With the exception of our recent Shutterbug Excursions outing to Great Falls, I hadn't taken any decent fall foliage photos... and no fall close-ups or macros at all. But after I dropped my gang off at the hotel and parked my car around the block on 21st Street, I found this classic autumn leaf laying around in the curb. Moving it to the nicely-bricked sidewalk, I saw this ready-made frame and snapped a few shots.

This may have to do for Fall 2008. The leaves are still colorful on the trees, but there aren't too many left.

"Help Me!"

Voigtlander Bessa R, 50mm f2 J-8

Unintentionally artistics swirls!

--Warren

A Bus Ride in Puerto Vallarta

Yashica T4, Tri-X

Gail reviewing a shot on her digicam:



Fellow passengers:



Local scenery:

Singing for tips:

Cold stare:

Fast Food Poster:

--Warren

Announcing Viewfinder - SF

Hey folks, I embarked on a new project. I decided to create a "true" photoblog and use it to focus on my San Francisco pictures. True photoblogs are the kind that show one picture per day (vs. gallery style or text blog style). So the focus is on the pictures. I chose to use aminus3.com which is a free Photoblog service that is international in scope.

Link:

Viewfinder-SF

Since I just started a few days ago, there are only a few pictures on there. Let me know how you like the format.

--Warren

Sunday Bridal Group

Nikon FG, 50mm f1.8 E, Fuji 400

This couple could not have picked a more beautiful October day in San Francisco to get married outdoors.

The ceremony took place at the public beach at Crissy Field.

--Warren

Sunday Chat Group

Nikon D100, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N

The lake side was calm and serene until I came upon this group of Russian folks having a lively but friendly conversation in front of the closed Stow Lake Boat House.

--Warren

Lonely Trike

Nikon FG, Nikon 50mm f1.8 E, Fuji 400

I saw this classic little red tricycle sitting there all by its lonesome at the beach. I didn't know where its owner went.

Did any of you ever have one of these when you were a kid?

--Warren

Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Mazatlan

Canon A570IS

Inside the cathedral in Downtown Mazatlan, Mexico.

--Warren

Tres Gatos - Acapulco

Canon A570IS

These three cats were camped out at a fishing pier waiting for some fresh fish from the fishermen. We saw them as we walked out near the cruise terminal in Acapulco, Mexico.

--Warren

Chinese Pavilion at Stow Lake, Nov. 2008

Nikon D100, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N

I've been out to this location countless times, and I enjoy the challenge of creating a new, unique take on a very familiar scene each time I go there.

You may remember seeing some of my previous photos of the pavilion that I posted here. If you want to see those, do a search on this blog for "Chinese Pavilion" or "Nikon L35AF".

I was hoping to be able to show you some pictures from a newly acquired Canon T-70 35mm slr that I was testing at the same time as when this picture was taken. I talked about what happened in this post on my personal blog.

--Warren

Open for Business

Nikon FG, Nikon 50mm f1.8 E, Fuji 400

Neon red is the predominant theme of this scene.

--Warren

Crissy Field Beach

Nikon FG, Nikon 50mm f1.8 E, Fuji 400

It was a perfect, crisp, and warm Sunday in October in SF.

--Warren

Marina Blvd., San Francisco

Nikon FG, Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E, Fuji 400 film

This is looking east from the end of Marina Blvd., in San Francisco's Marina Disrict. The steps in the foreground lead to a small beach that overlooks the boats docked at the St. Francis Yacht club.

I took my newly acquired (free!!!) Nikon FG out for a test run. The Series E 50mm f1.8 lens is very compact and seems to be very sharp. While the Series E lenses were known for being the "economy" line of Nikon lenses, I find that its build quality seems superior to the modern Nikkor AF lenses. As a bonus, I think this is Nikon's most compact 50mm lens.

This FG was supposed to have a stuck or jammed shutter. I believe this was Nikon's first slr body with Programmed auto exposure. It turned out that all it needed was new batteries. I had no problems wth the shutter while shooting this test roll.

--Warren

Halloween!

My fav of the night...
It's peanut butter jelly time!!!

Sunday Ride in the Park

Nikon D100, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N

I used to ride here when I was a kid!

--Warren

Pavilion Roofline

Nikon D100, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N

I simply liked the shape of this, so I photographed it :).

--Warren

fall colors

This vertical landscape shows some nice autumn colors from an afternoon walk. The weather folks had predicted rain, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to photograph some dry fall areas in Eastern Washington before the rains and snow.

Stone Bridge, Stow Lake, GG Park

Nikon D100, Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N

I went out to do some shooting with a couple of pieces of new equipment today. The first is a Canon (gasp!!!) T-70. It's a 1980's vintage 35mm Canon film slr. The T series was the last of the manual focus slr bodies that use the old FD mount lenses. I'll tell you more about this camera later.

This was taken with a newly acquired Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AF-N that I got free! This is a non-D Nikkor lens. It's one of the first AF Nikkors, and it did not include the D feature (distance data). I've been missing a 28mm Nikkor ever since I stupidly sold my old, 28mm f3.5, which I later found out was one of the best of the 28mm Nikkors.

Anyway, I really like this lens so far. On my D100, it gives me a very useful and just a tad different 42mm fov.

--Warren