Sports Cars

Panasonic DMC-G1, Leitz 50mm f2.8 Elmar

This is post #8 for the June Project (reflections). This is a picture of the back of a classic, vintage, 1969 Fairlady 2000 (Datsun), with the reflection of a modern, late-90's Ferrari 550 Maranello exotic sports car.

I attended the annual Palo Alto Concours (car show) last Sunday. It was HOT there, as usual. I had the Leitz Elmar mounted on the G1 when I first got there, but after two shots (this is one of them), I decided that there was not enough room to work that focal length at the event, so I swapped it out for the Lumix 20mm f1.8 for the rest of the day.

--Warren

Yosemite Squirrel

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 14-45mm

I saw this little guy stuffing his cheek pouches full of corn kernels. It looks like someone left the kernels out for the wildlife to find. This was just off the Mist Trail on the way up to Vernal Falls. I got pretty close to him, and he didn't seem to mind.

--Warren

Helios: Last-Minute June Project Entry

The stern of Helios, a sailboat docked in Eastport, makes for lovely reflections early on a sunny morning.

Urban Alpenglow

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

Alpenglow doesn't only happen in the mountains :), it can occur in the city too. Well, it's kind of faint, but it's there.

The sun was setting towards the conclusion of our City walk.

--Warren

Covered Walkway

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

This is the covered walkway in front of the Federal Reserve Bank building in downtown SF.

--Warren

Deep Conversation

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

Three elderly friends in deep conversation at Victoria Bakery. This is an Italian bakery at the edge of North Beach, right next to Chinatown so it gets a lot of Asian customers.

--Warren

Chinatown in a Windshield

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

This is my post #7 for the June project (reflections).

This was taken on busy Stockton Street in Chinatown.

--Warren

Building in a Building

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

My post #6 for the June project (reflections).

This was taken in downtown SF.

--Warren

Self Reflection

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

My post #5 for the June project (reflections).

--Warren

Busy as a Bee

The bee had just stopped at this flower as I was photographing it. But it's departure was too quick and I ended up with this image... which I liked quite a bit anyhow :) bzzzzz

Floating Mountains

Loved the height, varying distances, and especially the floating Olympic Mountains!! It's the city of Seattle between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, seen from about 4000ft elevation.

Under a Pier

Panasonic DMC-G1, Leitz 135mm f4 Tele-Elmar

Exploring under the commercial fishing pier at Avila Beach. If you look closely, maybe you can spot the two sea lions swimming around in the water.

This is my post #4 for the June Project (reflections).

--Warren

Russian Naval Ship

The Russian sailors seemed to enjoy the city and all we have to offer in light of the number of bags they were toting back to their ship.
Security would not let you get too close, but even from the distance I took this image it was a very intimidating vision. The tubes on the ship are cruise missile launchers.

Dan

Walking in SF from Russian Hill to Russian Ship

Decided to walk in the City from Russian Hill to see the Russian Warship docked down by the Bay Bridge.

This was the first Russian Naval vessel in SF since the 1860s. For some reason some of the architecture struck me as appropriate

Father & Son on the High Line

The High Line is Manhattan's newest park, built on a section of the former elevated freight railroad along the lower west side of Manhattan.

When I was there in mid-April, I saw lots of families out for a Sunday stroll. The design of the park is very innovative, including what looked to me like oversize chaise lounges on flanged wheels set on areas of renovated track.

There are great views of New Jersey, just across the Hudson River, as well as the many buildings that border the High Line.

As of now, the High Line runs through the old Meatpacking District, from Gansevoort Street to about 23rd Street. Eventually, it will continue through Chelsea and terminate at West Side Yard in the lower 30's.

Chinese Pavilion at Stow Lake

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

One of my recurring subjects, someday I'll get it right :)

--Warren

Empty Dock

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

Twilight at Stow Lake, this is the empty boat rental dock (when the boats are taken away for the night).

This is my 3rd post for the June Project (reflections).

--Warren

Boats at Rest

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

Another twilight at Stow Lake, with rental boats at their evening mooring spot, resting up for their next busy day on Stow Lake.

This is my post #2 for our June Project (reflections).

--Warren

Central Park Lamppost

You can find these lampposts throughout Central Park. Not only are they attractive, they can help you figure out approximately where you are. Look for a small metal tag near the base with four numbers, for example "7624". The first two numbers signify the street (in this case 76th) that is directly outside the park to the east or west of your position. The second two numbers seem to be arbitrary, but are unique to each lamppost along that east-west axis.

If you ever find yourself in an emergency in the park, you can call the police and give them the 4-digit number of the nearest lamppost; they'll know within a few dozen feet where you are.

The blossoms just beyond the lamppost in this photo are cherry trees in full bloom in mid-April. I used Channel Mixer in Photoshop CS3 with the red filter preset to convert the image to black-and-white and bring out the blossoms.

Checking The Ride

A mechanic carefully checks a ride on the morning of opening day.

I took this one at Moreys Piers Amusement Park in Wildwood, NJ early this past April.

Three Boats

Panasonic DMC-G1, 135mm f4 Tele-Elmar

Switching gears for a bit, we recently went on a road trip to the central CA to attend my cousin's wedding in San Luis Obispo. I'll get back to the recent North Beach Festival shots soon, but I just processed one shot from the road trip just because I was curious how the Tele-Elmar performed there.

This was taken at Avila Beach from the commercial fishing pier. You'll see more shots from here later.

--Warren

Venice Carnival in North Beach

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

A couple of women dressed for the Venice Carnival at the North Beach Fair last weekend.

--Warren

Alley Sign

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

Yes, I know, yet another view of the Pyramid. :) I couldn't resist. The Chinatown and Financial District have lots of old vs. new photo opportunities.

--Warren

Columns at Embarcadero Center

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

--WT

East West

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

Picture #1 for the June project (Reflections).

--Warren

Street Artist

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8D

For about three months, my D100 sat idle as I concentrated on getting to know the Lumix G1. Yesterday, I took the D100 out with us on our usual City walk/photo excursion. The North Beach Fair was on, and there was a section of a street that was roped off for the street artists to do their work.

I like to work with prime lenses, and yesterday I chose to use the Nikkor 50mm f1.8D exclusively.

Maybe it's because I've had the D100 for so long, but even though it had been three months since I last used it, the camera was instantly familiar, like meeting an old friend :).

A lot of people on the camera forums have written off the D100 as hopelessly obsolete, but at least for me, that is simply not true. :)

--Warren

Me I'm Just A Lucky Guy...

Our daughter Leah, son Ben, and soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Megan (aka "Number 3") with our niece Olivia.

Beatles fans will recognize the title as a line from the middle eight of Things We Said Today.

Taken with bounce flash in Mom's dining room against an off-white wall.

Ocean Beach After Sunset

Panasonic DMC-G1, Leitz 135mm f4 Tele-Elmar

This was taken about 5 minutes after sunset at Ocean Beach. It was cold and windy, but people were reluctant to leave.

--Warren

Seal Rocks Sunset

Panasonic DMC-G1, Leitz 135mm f4 Tele-Elmar

It was a cold, windy, and clear night at Ocean Beach tonight.

I was very pleased with the Leitz 135mm f4 when I used it on our trip to San Luis Obispo. I decided to bring it out again tonight, just in time to catch the sunset.

--Warren

Goodrich River Delta

On a trip to Cape May back in April, I did a double-take as I passed through Elmer, NJ. Doubling back a few hundred yards later, I stopped in front of Fred Harz & Son, a full-service tire dealer.

Mr. Harz and progeny must have known a crazy photographer would be passing through that Saturday, as they had a neat stack of imposing, giant tires, treads nicely whitewashed, in front of their place. The old black tires, whitewashed stripes, and strong midday sun cried out for some photo-fun. I got several good views of parts of the stack, all with my pocket-sized Canon S90, and I'll put up some of the others over the next few blog posts.

Meanwhile, here's my favorite. The zigzagging channels reminded me of a river delta, hence the title of this post.

For those who are wondering, here's the "civilian" view of what I was shooting at.

Hanalei Bay - Part 2

Ok, the first photo of Hanalei Bay was too small. Here's a bigger slightly different version. Aloha.

In A Land Called Hanalei

In the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon", it said that he frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Hanalei. Well, this is it. Hanalei Bay in Kauai. This is the place to which Peter, Paul and Mary were referring. Puff must've been one laid back dragon. He probably subsisted on Spam Musubi, Moko Loco, tropical drinks with red umbrellas, and some pakalolo. Aloha.

Sitting on a Reflection

Actually took this in May but I thought it was a nice one for this month's project! Hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to get some new ones =)

Band and Audience

Koni Omega Rapid 100, 90mm f3.5 Super Omegon, Kodak 400CN (expired 5 years!)

I was given a Koni Omega 100 to try. It's a medium format, 6x7cm, interchangeable lens, rangefinder camera. This KO has the 120 film back. I think this camera is about 30+ years old. At 6x7cm, you get 10 shots per roll of 120 film. It's a total beast of a camera. It was built super tough, truly like a tank, but it was a lot of fun to use it. On one of our walks downtown, I decided to take the KO out for a test session at Union Square.

I got a lot of funny looks when people saw me using this vintage press camera. Even though it is big and heavy, the controls are well laid out, so I had no problems at all using it as a street shooter. The biggest drawback was the fact that I only had ten shots per roll, and it was so fun to use that I shot the two rolls of 120 film that I brought with me in no time at all!

I found out that the one major problem area on these old KO camera is the winding mechanism. Frames are prone to overlap because the film advance mechanism would malfunction. Sure enough, my KO has this problem. I was disappointed to discover this when I got my two rolls back and looked at the scanned images.

Nevertheless, I was able to salvage this image from the roll of expired Kodak 400CN film. There was a high school marching band playing at Union Square. I liked how the kids at the front of the stage were watching the band so intently. This is cropped to a square format from the original because there was some overlap on the two ends of the 6x7 frame.

I carefully lubed the wind mechanism, and now it seems to work better. I might try another roll just to see if it cured the problem. The camera also came with a 60mm wide angle lens that I didn't have a chance to try yet. I'll keep you posted on the results if I ever take it out again.

--Warren

Potbelly Chair Shadow

Walking eastward on Pratt Street after work today... the sun was just right to cast fabulous shadows from these wrought-iron chairs outside the Potbelly Sandwich Shop.

Wish I had taken this last month! ;-)

Lines and Shadows

I was sitting in a park today, enjoying the sun that has finally arrived... spotted this very square-ish plaid-like design. The shadow is made by some rails keeping me from falling into Lake Washington! Thought I'd share.. :)

Solomons Sunset

Nope, I'm not missing an apostrophe in the title - this is sunset over the Patuxent River as seen from Solomons, MD.

Solomons is at the very southern tip of Calvert County in Southern Maryland, at the mouth of the Patuxent River. Just a short distance East is the Chesapeake Bay.

In the background of this photo is the locally infamous Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge. Built in 1977, by 1988 it developed dangerous cracks in its elegant structure. While being repaired, many commuters between St. Mary's and Calvert counties had to take a shuttle boat provided by the State for the duration. This lead to jokes and even t-shirts around the theme of "the Boat People" of the two counties.