Endeavour Flyover on 9/21/2012

Hi Everyone, I tried to post these photos before.  These are still from the video I took of Endeavour on 9/21/2012.  Not artsy, just the Endeavour is fascinating.

Incense

Leaf's Lullaby

Southern Layers

Nikon D200, Tamron 24-135mm

Looking south from the Marin Headlands, you can see (through the haze and fog) from foreground to background: Lincoln Park/Legion of Honor, the Richmond District, Golden Gate Park, Sunset District, Daly City, and Pacifica (Mori Point).

--Warren

The Golden Gate

D200, Tamron 24-135mm

Marin in foreground, San Francisco in the background, this is not my usual style (or is it?), but I had an idea to try this when I was standing there looking for a shot :).

I would appreciate your comments on this one. Does it do anything for you?

--Warren

Evening Light

I thought the sunset resembled a pumpkin, seen like this. The vines or roots are super small. This was one of my free-lensing shots, with a 4/3 macro 50mm.

Is it Easter

I was very surprised to find these very colourful berries growing on vines. I don't know what they are called but... they're pretty psychedelic and Easter-like.

I have been doing "free-lensing" lately with garden things to create some fun abstracts. This and the previous post are free-lensing with a lensbaby Composer. Extra macro precision and blur.

October Awaits

I found this purple BAT in the garden today.

Yep, I can't wait for Halloween already...

Kristin

Lumix LX5

This is Gail's cousin Kent's adorable daughter, Kristin. We saw them at a party last Sunday. We sat at a table next to some large windows so there was plenty of good, ambient daylight for candid portraits.

So we're continuing to put the LX5 through its paces, and so far I have been very pleased with its performance, considering that it is a small-sensor compact.

I took a series of pictures of Kristin and this is the exact expression that I was after. I finally got it on the fourth shot. Children are so difficult to photograph. They are in constant motion, but when you tell them to smile and pose for the camera, you will often get a forced smile. I prefer a pose like this one, with a natural, relaxed expression and big eyes looking directly at the camera.

The LX5 was set for totally silent operation, no focus confirmation beep, no simulated shutter sound. That's how I like it. Because the camera has no mechanical shutter, its operation is totally silent, and unobtrusive which is an advantage in certain situations like this one.

In my opinion, the image held up very well to some significant cropping that I had to do in order to remove some distracting objects from the shot. The LX5's auto-exposure was very close to spot-on so I did not have to do much editing on this at all, except for the cropping, some color temperature adjustment (as per usual with Lumix images) and a little noise reduction from the RAW output. The big issue that I had with other tiny sensor P&S cameras is that some only save files in .jpg, with the resulting compression artifacts visible in even the lowest ISO settings. By using RAW output, the resulting files are really nice and workable. In the LX5's case, it seems that its RAW capability combined with excellent optics make for a very good combination.

--Warren

big red round sun

pretty sun this morning, but moderate to poor air quality from fires.

A Road Runs Through It

Nikon D200, Tamron 24-135mm

Looking north from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands. I like 'meandering road' landscapes, as you can tell by this and some of my previous posts over the years :).

--Warren

Bay Bridge Twilight

Lumix LX5

This was taken from AT&T Park last Saturday evening. This view of the Bay Bridge can only be seen from the top level of AT&T park. 

Most people would not know or care about this, but the LX5 has a true multi-aspect sensor, meaning that it shoots in full, 10MP resolution in all aspects (4:3, 3:2, and in this case, 16:9). There is a handy switch on the lens barrel to select aspect ratio. 1:1 is also available, which is useful for composition but 1:1 is cropped (not full-res).

--Warren

i love garlic & my rx100!

Girl at Marin Headlands

Nikon D200, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

I was sitting on a bench taking a break from shooting the fog pictures when I noticed them standing in front of me. The little girl was not interested in the view and more interested in looking at me.

--Warren

Impromptu Portraits

Lumix LX5

I had a coffee break with Greg this afternoon and I took a couple of informal outdoor portraits of him while still gaining experience with the LX5. For some reason, the color balance/white balance from the LX5 seems a bit wonky, requiring a lot of correction in post processing. I'll need to experiment with various settings to see if they have an effect. I shoot RAW only, so not sure if changing settings in-camera will do any good. Also, I would have wanted a little less DOF for a portrait, but this was already at widest aperture at longest zoom (f3.3 @ 90mm equiv) shooting in "A" mode. In other words, this is as good as it can be due to the small sensor size.

--Warren

Summer Fog #2

Nikon D200, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

The view changed by the minute. Here the fog parted briefly to reveal part of the headlands and a little more of the bridge's north tower.

--Warren

Dandelion Studies

Lumix LX5

We went for a walk at the reservoir in our neighborhood around sunset time. I turned around to look at the setting sun, and I saw some dandelions glowing from the sunset light, so I decided to try out the close focusing capability of the LX5. I took the four shots below. 

Which one do you like best, and why?

--Warren

#1

#2

#3

#4

Parrot in Tiburon

Nikon D200, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

Gail and I were in Tiburon on Labor Day and we saw this parrot on the public fishing pier. She belonged to a Mexican family that was fishing there.

This is an interesting contrast to Ted's picture of slate, yet both animals are in roughly the same pose.

--Warren

Slate close up

This was taken with a nex 5 with a '70s Hexanon AR SLR 57/1.4 lens. The image is unedited out of camera, and was taken at about .5m, at 1/10th, at 1.4.

Secure?

Lumix LX5



--Warren

Learning Wall Mural

Lumix LX5

This was seen at the back of the old SFUSD building.

--Warren

Head Butt at City Hall

Lumix LX5

I found a deal on a used LX5. I took it to work with me to try out on the streets near my office.

It's a little early, but so far I am pleased with its performance. The controls and menu are very similar to my other Lumix cameras, so there was practically zero learning curve needed for this little P&S. Another great feature is the fact that the LVF-1 EVF for my GF1 also fits onto the LX5.

--Warren

Last of the Summer Fog

Nikon D200, Nikkor 85mm f1.8D

Well, it's probably not the LAST, but I liked saying that in the title :)

We happened to be up in the Marin Headlands yesterday near the same place as Dan's recent post. The blanket of fog was very interesting.

--Warren

Nikkormat FT

Panasonic DMC-G1, Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AIS

Here is a picture of the Nikkormat that I mentioned in my previous post. I got the camera and lens via the local Freecycle network. The person offering the camera only said that the meter was inoperative. In reality, the camera has seen better days. The shutter is barely working, meter is broken, counter is broken, mirror foam is non-existent, corrosion is suspected because the DOF preview button is frozen. So, I'll probably not deal with the Nikkormat body for now (if ever). You never know how something from Freecyle will turn out. I have gotten some very nice, working cameras from there and I've also given away some nice things as well. My first serious camera was a Nikomat FTn, and I was hoping that this Nikkormat FT would be fully functional, but it wasn't meant to be.

 However, I've always wanted to try the Nikkor-H 50mm f2 lens because I read many rave reports about it. The only problem that I can see with the lens is the large dent in the filter ring at the 5 o'clock position (see photo). The glass is relatively clean, and focusing is a little stiff but smooth. The aperture blades still work fine, and are oil free. My first few shots with the lens on my G1 turned out very nice. I'll probably shoot some film through the lens on my F2s one of these days, just to see how it does with real film.

--Warren