Saturday, July 31, 2010

Night Portrait at Peace Pagoda

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

I thought that the base of the pagoda would make an interesting location for a portrait so I asked Gail to pose there for me.

--Warren

Labels: , , , ,

2 Comments:

Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Warren,

I really had to look at this. It almost looks like she is floating. Nice use of light and lines.

**Dolph

Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 5:57:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

That's awesome!! Great portrait idea. Love the lines and lighting. I agree, it does look like she's levitating!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 4:11:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Gail at Victoria Bakery

Nikon D100, Nikkor 50mm f1.8d

Natural, ambient window light is always a good source of lighting for a portrait.

--Warren

Labels: , ,

1 Comments:

Blogger Dolph Brust said...

You captured the Gail I know; it's not just a picture.

**Dolph

Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 5:56:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Friday, July 30, 2010

July Project: Otakon 2010

It's that time of year again in Baltimore, when waves of young people arrive at the Convention Center in amazing costumes for Otakon

I brought my Big Gun camera with me today so that I could try for some interesting shots during lunch. Here's my best one - a lucky grab shot that seems as if it were perfectly composed!

This one is almost straight out of the camera with just a tiny bit of fill light in Picassa. It looks pretty good in B&W as well, but I'll wait til I get home and use Channel Mixer in Photoshop to do it right.

Labels: , , , ,

1 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

Coooool, what an icy stare! Nice one!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 4:08:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

July Project - Abu the Flutemaker

Here's my new friend Abu, playing a saxophone-like contraption that he makes out of plastic pipe and fittings. Now here's what I find amazing - it sounds pretty good - at least when he plays it.

Abu is a street entertainer, licensed by the city of Baltimore. Besides his music, he has a bright and happy personality. While we were with him, he gave me and another admirer each a straw, then proceeded to teach us how to "play" it, including showing us several ways to get various sounds out of it.

Abu entertains at the nearby Medical Center Plaza each Tuesday; I'll try to catch him for some more photos in the coming weeks.

Labels: ,

5 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Nice shot, Steve. He looks like a DPW worker smoking a hookah :P.

--WT

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 8:22:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Dan,

I was thinking the same thing as Warren....government worker taking a break and getting high. Couldn't you see this in the Bay Area and the lights going off. ;)

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:38:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

You guys are right! In fairness to Abu, I should take some more photos ;-) I sent him the 3 I took, and he was very happy with them and said I could take more any time.

It turns out he's famous in Baltimore - he makes instruments out of just about any discarded old thing. His biggest pleasure is speaking and demonstrating to school-age children to get them interested in music.

Here's a 12-year-old article I found about Abu - it's really heartwarming.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 11:24:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Very cool portrait! People are amazing! :)

Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 4:46:00 PM PDT  
Blogger dan in marin said...

Nice streetcape capture Steve. The tightness of the image really works

Dan

Friday, August 6, 2010 at 7:04:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Monday, July 26, 2010

Guitarist

Nikon D100, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

This guy must have chosen this spot for the acoustics. He was in front of a concrete tunnel in Golden Gate Park.

Interestingly, the gate and tunnel appear to be a black & white picture, even though I did no post processing to make it so. :)

--Warren

Labels: , , ,

4 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

The space above him works so well here.. Could be his thoughts, could be his music, could be his fears, or comforts... So good. Really like this one :)

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 12:36:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Warren,

Great use of the light on the back of the performer. This really communicates to me the musician is playing for his own entertainment. Doesn't really care if anyone else hears the music. I can hear the music bouncing off the walls.....

Great composition.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:36:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Wish I had taken this one! :-)

Friday, July 30, 2010 at 3:53:00 AM PDT  
Blogger dan in marin said...

Warren

Almost appears that you created a composite of b & W and the musician in color. Very nice

Dan

Friday, August 6, 2010 at 7:02:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Dahlia, 2010

Nikon D100, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

Indescribably beautiful dahlia at the Dahlia Garden in Golden Gate Park near the Conservatory of Flowers.

No tripod and no fancy technique here, just handheld @ 1/1000, f2.0, slight levels adjustment, and a square crop.

--Warren

Labels: , ,

2 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

Whoa! Warren, it's gorgeous! Magical.. mesmerizing.. and Awesome! Great colour and focus! I really like out of focus petals.. they make the center catch your eye even more! Every which way you run, you get pulled to the middle again :D Woo!

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:03:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Warren,

Very nice picture....outside your normal picture choice. Lea said it best, "mesmerizing."

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:32:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Two Months' Projects in One

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 14-45mm

Does anyone remember Cousin It from the Addams Family? :)

--Warren



Labels: , , ,

3 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Gail and had fun doing this picture. It was July 4th and there was a band playing outside at Pier 39. The woman outside the window here was bouncing around to the music. We noticed that the light was perfect for a reflection shot of Gail's face buried in the woman's hair. It was a challenge to catch the woman mid-bounce in just the right position. Well, we thought it was cool, anyway :)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 7:16:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Warren,

Yes I do remember cousin it.....when I saw this and knowing it was from the Bay Area......Janis Joplin's has returned.....

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:29:00 AM PDT  
Blogger dan in marin said...

Gail, had to explain your use of reflection in this to me Warren, I truly thought you go her to wear a wig. Nice image for the monthly project

Dan

Friday, August 6, 2010 at 7:01:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Gail at a Rocky Beach

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

I forgot to note the name of this rocky beach. We found it somewhere between San Francisco and Morrow Bay off of Highway 1.

Gail was exploring the area where a creek empties into the ocean. The moss growing on the rocks in the stream caught my eye.

--Warren

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

Great pic! A variety of rocks and green colour. Lovely! How did she cross back?? It looks deep.

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 2:55:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Thanks Lea :).

Gail is actually standing at a spot on dry land near the edge of the stream. Yes, parts of it were deep.

--Warren

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 3:03:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Too bad it was deep; looks like it would have been fun to hop around the rocks a bit. Hope you two made it out with dry feet!

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:05:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Warren,

The angle of the shot gives me the impression that I am a child looking for my mommy and scared by the size of the rocks. Everything is so large. It is what a child would see.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:26:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Action Sports

This was my first attempt to capture action images and I have a new found respect for sports and wildlife photographers. I was using the canon 5d with a 300mm f4 with stabilization. Shooting with a shutter speed of 360 at f11 forced me into a relatively high iso of 1250 as the evening progressed. The pros I watched were using faster lenses and faster higher iso bodies. Of course they get paid and we just have fun. All in all this was really a great experience. The women on the course are all nationally ranked with some Olympians in the field.


The winner she really dominated the field.













Dan



2 Comments:

Blogger Lea said...

Wooo! Love these.. Cycling is such an *intense* sport! I enjoy watching them race. Such respect. And I always love peloton shots.. Especially liking your second and last shots here. I can hear the riders breaths and whiz of the wheels! :) Also a great third shot.. It really shows the cramped riding position.

Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 10:58:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Dan,

I enjoy how you have captured the competitive nature of the sport through the faces of the riders. I like the shot of the "winner" where she knows that she is the best. The least picture shows the understanding of following the rider into front of you to reduce drag.

Really nice!

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 6:22:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

My First Camera

Sounds like something from Playskool! But it was actually my Dad's Kodak Retina I, a little Stuttgart-made 35mm folder with a decent Schneider lens.

Along with a 1948 GE light meter, a gift from my friend Roger Wesalo, I was in business. With a camera as basic as this one, I had to learn all the basics. I even had to get good at estimating distances (in meters) because there was no rangefinder - just scale focusing. So that lead me quickly to understand depth-of-field.

My college friend Ed Hollingshead took this in NYC in Central Park sometime in the fall of 1967, our freshman year at Stevens Tech in Hoboken. I used to poke fun of Ed because of his left-handed, East German Exacta SLR. Little did I realize then that years later, I'd be a collector of Commie Cameras!

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Zipper!

ZipperMidsummer in upper Anne Arundel County means the Earleigh Heights VFC Carnival. I haven't strolled through while it was operating for six years, so I decided to take my camera one night this week.

Shooting these rides seems really hard, at least for me. I did manage to get three or four decent photos, and I'll post the others over the next few days.

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Doing the Portraits.. on my phone! crazy.

I went to an Andy Warhol exhibit a few weeks ago at the Seattle Art Museum and, although I had heard of him before and read a little about his works and his life, I found the museum experience somehow SO MUCH more engaging. Since my visit, I have been on a makeshift Warhol Warpath.... He really liked the photo-booths at theme parks because it softened people's skin with so little effort. He was all about minimal effort with this and his silkscreens - repetition was simple, and the technology was easy. And I found out that there is an app on the iPhone called IncrediBooth which gives you this same experience (even minus the $4 per shoot!). I was playing around with it and another one called Diptic (reiterating our March 2010 diptych/triptych project with a new aspect) which allowed for a whole lot of "little effort" fun... and still working on this month's project --Portraits! So yes, there is a 'decreased quality of photo' due to the phone's camera but it is all part of the fun that Warhol inspires (in my mind anyway :). Enough caution notices now.... Here they are:






Labels:

6 Comments:

Blogger dan in marin said...

Way cool. Kind of like using the Russian 35mm cameras. I am a big fan of Iphones and all of the apps. I will be posting some images of a professional bike race I attended and saw some of the pros photographers using apps on their Iphones for composition decisions.

Nice Lea

Dan

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 7:11:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Lea, very nice work! Your creativity is very refreshing :)

--Warren

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 5:00:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

A great effort in capturing the Warhol presentation. Some of us remember when he was the center of the art world. Very Nice Lea.....

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 5:00:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Thanks for all the comments! @ Dan: That's pretty awesome the pros are using the iPhones too!! :) @ Warren: w00t! Glad you liked it! @ Dolph: I wish I had a time-machine...

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 6:31:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Ted M said...

Lea, these are great! The first one has great vintage looking colors. I like the 2nd one with 4 verticals, those are the formats I most remember from the machines we used as kids. Great shots!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 9:22:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

Thanks Ted! :)

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 2:56:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Monday, July 12, 2010

Treyf* Alert!

I drove to Crofton the other day to deliver photos I took for a bat-mitzvah a few weeks ago. On the way back, I spotted this little ornament hanging near the entrance to Fat Boy's Crab Shack. The colors and shape helped me overcome my genetic disinclination to come within 20 meters of anyplace crabs are served.

* treyf = Yiddish for food that is not in accordance with Jewish dietary law, derived from the Hebrew terefah (טְרֵפָה‎)

3 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Christmas colors :)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 9:15:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Warren, you're right! I was a typical hot & humid Central Maryland July day, and that didn't occur to me.

Eric, none of this for you, either! ;-)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 11:47:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

There is a definite 3D flatness going on.. a little trippy! :) Cool composition.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 6:59:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Me and My Koni

Actually, I'm just posing with a Koni-Omega Rapid M camera that we had on the shelf at Stansbury Photo. I'd say this is in 1970.

I don't remember ever using the Koni, but it was a favorite of wedding and event photographers in the 60's and early 70's. It used 120 or 220 roll film, for 10 or 20 2-1/4" x 2-3/4" negatives per roll. It was very robust, built like a tank, and in a pinch, you could swing it to use as a formidable weapon. Besides all that, it had excellent, interchangeable lenses available. To top it off, each lens has its own leaf shutter, like the Hasselblad 500, which means flash synch up to 1/500 sec. For event photography, it was much cheaper than the Hasselblad and far easier to use.

I was going through hundreds of old photos today and found this one. Warren's recent acquisition of a slightly newer model Koni prompted me to post it on FPCF.

5 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

I like the James Bond look :).

--WT

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 9:15:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

JB: Do you expect me to talk?

GF: No, Mr. Bond!... I expect you to shoot with that Koni!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 11:46:00 AM PDT  
Blogger dan in marin said...

Steve, I too like the blues brothers look

Dan

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 7:13:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

The side burns are classic for a few years ago.

***Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:56:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

Dan - it *is* a Blues Brothers look, isn't it!? That never occurred to me before. I think it's the skinny tie that cinches it.

Plus, at the time, I wasn't married, which means I was a Sole Man

Ouch - sorry for that terrible pun!

Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 7:42:00 AM PDT  

Post a Comment

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Portrait


At the beach, thought this was a cute one.. It reminds me of a squirrel.

Labels:

3 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

LOL, this reminds me of my Yosemite Squirrel. :)

--WT

Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 8:25:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

:-) Very imaginative - my Big Smile for today - and a nice portrait.

Friday, July 9, 2010 at 10:23:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

That is very funny looking.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:52:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Main Street shops in Kalispell, MT

8pm or so, but still a lot of light out. Small friendly town, live music in the park, mostly tourists. Lots of things to do within an hour or so - wildlife, Glacier National Park, Flathead Lake, Missoula, MT is about 2 hours south.
Posted by Picasa

2 Comments:

Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Ted,

This picture has some great pieces. I had to enlarge to find all the wonderful advertisements and details.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:51:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Ted M said...

Thanks Dolph, the town had a lot of Cowboy/Cowgirl feel to it. We even got some relatives some "Cowboy Bubblebath" souvenirs (beans ;)) at a shop!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 8:22:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Monday, July 05, 2010

More Sand Creatures

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

The intense blue color caught my attention. I'm not sure if it is something special in the Leitz lens or not, but I wanted to make sure that I had a pictures of the elephant seals with beach and the blue surf in the picture.

--Warren

Labels: , , ,

1 Comments:

Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Nice use of conflicting lines between the way the seal are laying and the line of the ocean. The ocean color offsetting the grey beach also really adds to the picture.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:48:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Sand Creature

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

An elephant seal snoozing in the sand. This was taken on our drive down Highway One last month.

--Warren

Labels: , , ,

2 Comments:

Blogger Steve Rosenbach said...

He looks very comfy!

Great shapes & shadows here, Warren.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 1:58:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Great use of Black and White. I don't think that the picture would be as good in color, nice choice. The quality of the picture shows very nicely the texture of the seal fur as compared to the sand. Like Steve said very nice use of the shadows.


For me the Seal looks to be saying "just let me sleep."

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:45:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

West Marin Funky Parade


When the word funky came into the vernacular, our parade was listed as an example of what it truly means. All in all about an hour of folks celebrating the day and having fun.

Dan


The band was playing all James Brown

He just finished chugging a beer, don't know how he kept it down though.



He actually was a retired circus performer.

3 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Testing comments...

This reminds me of the St. Stupid's Day parade in SF :)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 1:47:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

That bicycle is amazing.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 3:51:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dolph Brust said...

Looking at this give me a neck pain.

**Dolph

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 4:39:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Soldiers at Work in Arlington


D200 18mm

The Guards of the Unkown Soldiers at Arlington.  The marks on the ground are from the guards marching in almost the exact place every 20 seconds, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Labels: ,

1 Comments:

Blogger dan in marin said...

The superwide really shows this image off Dolph, nice!!

Dan

Monday, July 5, 2010 at 7:45:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Reflections of Windows in Windows

Reflections of Windows in Windows

While walking around the Foggy Bottom part of Washington D.C. this reflection of windows fit almost perfectly within these windows.

June Reflections

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Men at Work

D200

While at Arlington most people see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldiers. We had the opportunity to watch the detail perform the lowering of the flag.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Reflection at the National Cathedral


Often we are looking up and in front.  At the National Cathedral the floors are very polished and the sun was making a nice reflection on the floor.

June Projects

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Future President

D200 / 18-200mm

I was out one morning taking some pictures.  I caught this boy setting on the Lincoln Memorial looking towards the Washington Memorial.  I spoke with him for a few moments...smart..nice..good looking....future president.

June Project

Labels: ,

3 Comments:

Blogger dan in marin said...

...but what party will he run under Dolph? Very comtemplative image and great light.

Dan

Monday, July 5, 2010 at 7:47:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Warren T. said...

Dolph, I think this is one of the best shots that you've ever posted here! The composition and the subdued lighting are great. You're telling a story in a picture. Marvelous!

--WT

Monday, July 5, 2010 at 10:03:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Lea said...

I think you've got two types of reflection: in the water, and self-reflection of the young boy. Neat!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 3:53:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Washington Memorial for the 4th of July


This was taken from the step of the Lincoln Memorial, hand held.

(June Reflection Project)














This shot was also from the Lincoln Memorial but off to one side. You can see the capital building behind the Washington Memorial.

(June Reflection Project)

Labels:

1 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

Both very interesting night shots. I like the 2nd one, it's a little sharper, and I like being able to see the capital building.

--WT

Monday, July 5, 2010 at 9:57:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Deck Charis - July 4th Morning on the Magothy

Unfinished words
flying like birds
high in the sky
above my deck chair

Labels:

1 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

nice, colorful abstract, Steve.

Did you notice that the pattern is broken at the end of the lineup? :)

I wonder if it does anything to the viewers' mind subconsciously, or if it would be even more pleasing if that last set of three colors were in the right order. hmmmm...

--WT

Monday, July 5, 2010 at 9:51:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Friday, July 02, 2010

President Lincoln Memorial

D200 / 18mm
Lincoln Memorial early one morning.  I picked up a great all purpose lens just before the trip 18-200mm.

(Reflection 2)

Labels: ,

1 Comments:

Blogger Warren T. said...

hi Dolph, thanks for contributing to the June project. Nice pictures! I think Benson also has the 18-200mm. It seems like a nice travel lens. How do you like it?

--Warren

Friday, July 2, 2010 at 10:16:00 PM PDT  

Post a Comment

Reflections in a Window

D200 18mm
I was standing outside one of the museums in Washington D.C. and the mid day sun made for an interesting shot.  In the window you can see the stairs, with the art piece behind me, the cable type car, and one of the Federal buildings.

(Reflection 1)

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment