Natural "J"

Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

I was shooting a field of green leaves because I liked how the leaves were lit. Later, when I was reviewing the picture, I noticed that a shadow made the letter "J".

--Warren

Bin of Tomatoes

Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

This was taken yesterday at the local Farmer's Market.

--Warren

More Nikon FM Photos...

Just after I took a few snaps of the gentleman, this beautiful young woman stepped in to pose in front of the vintage bike. I think she looks like a young Joan Collins... maybe even more lovely.

The other photo is an abstract of shadows of the cast iron railing on the steps of a brownstone on W. 15th Street. The brownstone was indeed brown, and I gave it the sepia treatment.

These were taken with the Nikon FM that Warren generously gave me!

Vintage Model, Vintage Film Nikon

I kibbitzed my way into getting a few shots of this photo session last Saturday in Central Park, NYC.

Now this is pretty special, because it was taken on actual film with one of the actual classic Nikon SLRs that Warren generously sent to me a couple of years ago. This was a long time coming, because I promised Warren that I would use these beauties, but this is the first time I took one out for a spin... my apologies, Warren... and I'll try to make up for it in the next few weeks by shooting more with them!

For the record, I took the handsome black Nikon FM with me, mounting a 50mm f/1.8 Nikon Series E lens that belongs to a Nikon EM I bought in 1983. My film was Kodak Gold 200 (less than six bucks for 3 rolls at Target!) I took the roll to Costco tonight and had them develop the negatives and scan them. For about four bucks and change, I got the processing and a CD with 5444 x 3658 .jpg scans of the 24 negatives. Now, if my math is correct, 5444 x 3658 pixels comes out to about 19.9 megapixels - not bad!

I'll spend some more time with Photoshop CS5 to see if I can squeeze more performance out of these scans, but meanwhile, this image is "processed" in Picassa version 3, the free photo editor from Google. The scans all seemed a little overexposed, so I used the shadow slider in Picassa to darken a bit, corrected a little blue cast, and then converted this image to sepia, which seems to me to fit the subject.

I wanted to take the Nikon F2 Warren has also sent me, but at the last minute, I realized I never got split-rings for it so I could attach a proper camera strap (the snap-swivels on the straps won't fit through the strap lugs on the F2 body)... and I wasn't able to get the triangular split rings off of the FM or any of the other SLRs I now have. I'll take a trip to my local Ace Hardware this weekend and get several sets, one of which I'll attach the the F2's strap lugs.

Warren, thanks again for these wonderful cameras - I'll be finally putting them to good use over the next few weekends. In particular, I'll take them into Annapolis and shoot some scenes that I've already done digitally, so I can do some comparisons. I have a 43-86mm Zoom Nikkor that I snagged for a good price on eBay that's going on the F2 - I think it will looks especially cool with that classic lens (it's the newer, 11-element version.)

I have several more photos to post from my NYC trip, taken with the FM, that will follow this one.

Dutch Windmill, Golden Gate Park

Voigtlander Bessa R, CV 35mm f2.5, Ilford XP2

My Most Haunted Picture EVER

I visited an abandoned insane asylum with some friends recently. The asylum has been torn down and replaced by a memorial. The old barns that the patients worked in are still standing however, as well as the cemetery.. in which buried patients had been given numbers rather than names. They are currently in the process of matching newly engraved headstones with the proper details on them with these other nameless numbers on the ground. Walking around here, I was hoping to find something that felt eerie, something for Halloween, something which could be seen as symbolic of the controversial history here...

Well among the many fascinating sights in this place, I came across this startling "face" beside the broken window. I froze as I saw it and knew this would be the best one for me for the day. I took three photos of it and moved on but seriously I got goosebumps from this. And again as I viewed it the next morning on my computer, alone...

It's made from the grain of the wood, not graffiti. Maybe it is the restless soul hoping to have a name soon. To be known. To be recognized. "I was here." Ooof it still gives me goosebumps just thinking of that.

Ok that's all for my Halloween post. Definitely my most Haunted picture EVER.

Spider Won't Fall

I don't know what kind of spider this is, but it was big and kinda scary. I loved the details on its leaf home and tried to capture the colours and veins as well as the web. I have been a shallow dof junky for some time now and am trying to relax out of that... Normally I would have just used F2.0 as that is the smallest with this lens but this is F3.5. Probably could have gone even a bit wider... o'well.

Layers

Window shopping in an aimless way sometimes reveals more than you originally compose.

Mamiya 7ii, 65mm, f4 Illford 100

Dan

Twilight View of San Francisco from the Marin Headlands

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 14-45mm

This is historic, my first stitched panorama shot!

This is a 7 shot stitched panorama. The shots were handheld. I used my EVF's grid line display to aid with positioning the horizon in each of the 7 shots. In post-processing, I am trying out a program called Autostitch. It was ridiculously easy to create the resulting image. Blogger has a 1600 pixel width limit on images, so unfortunately you won't be able to see all the details.

I also tried a 6 shot series in portrait mode that worked well, but this series was a more dramatic example.

--Warren

Uplifting

Was trying to give Warren a lift back from this Pier.

Mamiya 7ii 65mm f4.

Dan

Tracks to Memories

Warren and I were on a walk from N. Beach to the Wharf and we both took several images of this Pier.

Mamiya 7ii, 65mm f4, Ektar 100

Dan

Anyone Know this Car?

For many of us in the Bay Area, this car and driver are very familiar.

Leica M6, 50mm summicron f2, Ektar 100

Dan

Bridge and Clouds, Seal Point Park, San Mateo

Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 14-45mm

The clouds shifted, and revealed an amazing similarity in shape between clouds and the bridge between Seal Point and Ryder Parks.

--Warren

Dramatic Sky at Seal Point Park, San Mateo

Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 14-45mm

Reflection on a Pond at Lake Tahoe

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

I don't really like the rounded corners on the border, but it was a way for me to get the thin borders that I wanted using only Lightroom (the After Crop Vignette tool).

--Warren

Occupy SF Encampment

Visited San Francisco's version of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in front of the Federal Reserve Bank. Cops and campers seemed to be in a very cooperative mood.

Leica M9, CV 35mm f1,2

Dan

First Images CV 35mm 1.2

Took a walk yesterday with my new CV 35mm 1.2 on the Leica M9. IMO this lens performs as advertised and compared to the Lux 35 ASPH is 25% the cost.

Dan

Smoky Forest

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 45-200mm

Smoke from a controlled burn adds drama to the Lake Tahoe scenery. This same smoke can also be seen in the previous picture that I posted.

--Warren

Lake Tahoe Twilight

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

Nikka and Simon

Panasonic DMC-G1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

We visited Nikka and Simon last August in Pacific Grove. You may remember my other pictures of them that I posted over the years.

--Warren

Nikka:


Simon: