Odor Abatement Program

Annapolis Running Shop on Main Street sets a cheerful example by recycling old running shoes as an outdoor display.

Dahlgren Hall: U.S. Naval Academy

A mid crosses in front of Dahlgren Hall at the U.S Naval Academy.

Naval Academy Chapel Dome

Looking up at the inner dome of the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis.

Photography with Warren's Nikon F2

I finally took the Nikon F2 that Warren generously gave me a few years ago out for a shoot. Here are some images from a roll of Kodak Gold 200 taken in Annapolis last Saturday afternoon. I took the roll to Costco (Price Club) and they developed and scanned the negatives for me (the scanning resolution works out to 19 megapixels!)

I used a Nikkor 43-86mm f/3.5 zoom, a classic lens, the first version of which is reputed by some to be the worst lens Nikon ever made. This one is the 11-element 1976 AI version. I rather liked its performance, which was limited anyway by my presbyopic ability to focus properly without a prescription eyepiece.

I made some very slight adjustments for exposure and color temperature in Adobe Camera Raw, then added a very little bit of sharpening in Photoshop to get these end results. I'm very happy with the colors, but the grain of the film is very apparent, even at less than 50% magnification in Photoshop (hard to see in these 800-pixel, web-sized images.) I attribute that to the film itself, and will try Kodak Ektar 100 or Portra 160, both of which are said to be much better in terms of grain and suitability for scanning.

In any event, I am enjoying displaying and using these classic cameras. With my recent attack of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS,) I've already acquired far too many classic SLRs in the past month or so, but at least they'll keep Warren's two Nikons company. I'll be shooting most of them over the next few weeks and months and will report back on them as well.

Thanks again Warren!

Up Against The Wall: Dogwalking on King George Street

Here’s a trick that I often find useful – find some scene that I like – then using it as a background or backdrop, wait for someone to walk into the scene. You need something photogenic to use for the backdrop… a handsome or unusual building, a path in a park during autumn, or, as in this case, a nicely-textured wall.

This kind of thing is an example of the whole being more than the sum of the parts. The building, wall, or whatever may be attractive, but by itself, will seem too static. On the other hand, a person walking by an uninteresting, distracting, or ugly background probably won’t be an image worth a second look. But combine an engaging background with passerby, and you often get something compelling.

I had driven by this wall on King George Street in Annapolis some months ago. It was early morning, and I really liked the way the directional light brought out the textures of the wall. Filing the scene away in my sieve-like memory, I resolved to return with my camera to catch some passers-by.

Finally, last Saturday morning, I packed up my camera bag, drove back down to Annapolis and walked to that spot. Stationing myself across the street for over an hour and pre-composing my shot, I snapped away in machine-gun mode as various individuals and groups happened by.

This one is my favorite out of those hundreds of images. It’s my new acquaintance, Keri, and her two fine dogs Big and Murray. Actually, Keri was walking on my side of the street, and, after explaining what I was after, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind making a pass with her dogs against this wall.

I got five shots of her walking by. I like this one the best because of the way she and Big fill the large space between the windows, while Murray, in trail, tucks in nicely under the leftmost one.

Sorry I've been AWOL here. I have lots of photos that I've taken this year (mostly already posted to my new blog) and I'll start posting them here as well.

Helios: Last-Minute June Project Entry

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

State House Night

Under the wire!

Here's a Maryland landmark - the State House in Annapolis. It's the oldest state capital building still in use, dating back to colonial times. During the Revolution, Congress met there a few times.

Shutterbug Excursions

ShootingUp_0734
Originally uploaded by Steve Rosenbach

I just copied this from my blog - I found this group a few weeks ago on meetup.com, and we had our first "meetup" last Saturday.

If you live in the Baltimore-Washington metro area and are looking for a lively group of fellow photo-enthusiasts, you couldn't do better than the Shutterbug Excursions Meetup Group.

Our fearless leader, Lyn, organized the group on Meetup.com just a few weeks ago, and yesterday, we had our very first meetup in Annapolis.

We met at City Dock Café and headed out along Ego Alley, then over the the Naval Academy. From there we walked over to one of the many old street that have picturesque houses along the way, like this one.

By then, we had been out and about for over two hours, and most of the gang bid each other goodbye for the day. Three of us, Lyn, Tracey, and I, decided to soldier on, and we walked back to City Dock. After a few minutes of snapping photos around the Alex Haley memorial, we were treated to a full-scale hailstorm.

No problem, we just ran across the street and took shelter in Market Place. By then, we were hungry anyway and took advantage of the food concessions inside. Once the storm passed by, we had the best lighting of the day; by then it was getting on towards 7pm, and sunset, I knew, would be around 7:15.

We took more photos on the Spa Creek Bridge and around the Eastport end of the bridge, continuing well past sunset. Here's photographic proof of our steadfastness; the picture of Lyn and Tacey is timestamped just before 8 pm.

For a bunch of people who had never met before, we all got along really well and had a lot of laughs.

as you can see, I was outgunned by all the Nikonians, most with high-end cameras. Fortunately, they all accepted me despite me being Nikon-challenged

Happy July 4th!