Got My Mojo back?

I hate the "s" word (Slump) but have I felt that with the weather and the insanity of my schedule I have not had the chance to just go out and "discover" the world recently, I need the relaxation of focusing, being in the moment, and looking for the details and patterns around me. Took a few minutes at lunch and then after work to just allow the crisp fall air to empty the cobwebs from my brain. Well worth it, though I didn't take a "WOW" photo, I found myself 'seeing' again at long last.

That seeing helped me to finally find this shot, for some reason this staircase has frustrated me, I like the looming knife edge of the cancer center but I could not blend that with the staircase in a way I liked. I'm still not sure I am done, the railing is almost too obvious of a leading line, however it is better than what I have done. (24mm @ f8 K200d)

Wide open at 24mm and f2.8 this leaf was caught against the fence at the train station, blown in from however far away, what was it's journey?

24mm, .5 seconds at f16, I wanted to capture the movement of the train, the power and speed.

Switching to my somewhat neglected (until recently) SMC 135mm f2.5 I got off the train at the Library station and crossed the street to the Salt Lake City/County Building, a really COOL old building that has also frustrated me, the longer focal length allowed me to look more for details than a wider lens, rewarding me with the texture I was looking for. This may even be a candidate for my SMC 200mm f2.5 Rhino Beater.

At first I hated this shot, then it kinda drew me in, the shadows and colors... the texture of the weathered sandstone.

While I am not a fan of lawbreaking, tagging and the accent it brings to run down urbania does make for interesting photos at times.

Somehow I have missed this wall before, what cool oozing mortar frozen in time. Will definitely revisit I think.

And my old friends the flying weathervanes at the light rail station. The color was not there yet (never did really come...) but I just loved the feeling of the clouds being pushed away as the top figure speeds through the sky.

All in all, a good afternoons shooting. Glad I could share it with you!

Sometimes you just have to have a camera WITH YOU!

Sometimes having a camera in hand that may not be the BEST camera ever made or a lens with you that may not be the SHARPEST lens ever made, but that is WITH you makes all the difference. I have taken the habit of trying to keep a camera with me when I am commuting to work. Sometimes I forget and I hate myself, and sometimes I take it and nothing photo worthy ever shows up. 

I luckily have two DSLR bodies. My oldest and first one is a Pentax K200d. This is still a great camera. AA batteries, and a sensor that just renders colors very very nicely. It also pairs well with my older lenses, as much as I love them I realize that they may not resolve quite as well as more modern lenses and using a 10MP sensor camera allows them to perform reasonably well. I have been carrying three lenses recently: Pentax SMC 24mm f2.8, Pentax SMC 50mm f1.4 and the Pentax SMC 135mm f2.5. I find I use the 24 and 135 more. All of these subsequent shots were taken with one of those lenses, some are panoramas stitched from multiple shots, others HDR. But they were all grab shots that I got ONLY because I had a camera in hand. Funnily they were all taken within 1/4 mile of each other. Near or at the light rail station in Daybreak Utah.

This is a 6 shot Panorama, though it could have been done with less, I just tend to be extra careful in case I have to discard an image because I had shakey hands. This looks over the Utah Valley and Mount Timpanogos with the Point of the Mountain in the foreground. I loved the layering and the color. Some of my FAVORITE panoramas are ones taken with a telephoto lens that compress the distances and show the world a little differently than you see it with the naked eye.

These two were taken 2 days earlier also with the 135mm, but they are single shots, and somewhat cropped. I was walking to the station and saw that the sun was just about to come up. I had to rush to get the camera out but I got it done. I just love mornings don't you?

The rays coming off of the sun are caused by the aperture blades, in this lens there are 8 rays because there are 8 blades. Funnily, other lenses have different patterns, lenses with odd numbered blades have twice as many rays as they have blades, but even numbered blades only give you the same number of rays as blades. I have no idea why they just do. Interesting eh?

11 shot panorama here all with the 135mm again, It is not super sharp at 100% I was breathing kind of hard, but it gives me ideas for the future, shooting off of a tripod. ;-)

Now, here is where I had a lot of fun, I like HDR, I really like altering reality to make it hyper reality, not as crazily as some people but I do like it. I was shooting with my SMC 24mm f2.8 right as the sun came up. Shooting directly into the sun is hard, exposure is tough to guess and often the meter gets it wrong. I tend to bracket like crazy in these instances and either merge them or just pick the exposure that has the best potential. I shifted a little between each exposure or set of exposures. So exact comparisons are not valid, but I still think it is ok to compare at least the first to photos. The first is a HIGHLY tweaked single exposure. The Second  is a HDR pushed a bit, and the third is a different set of exposures merged in HDR but with a much more reasonable bunch of settings. You can decide which one or ones you like the best.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the single image and what I was able to do with it.

Just... Stuff...

I try to not take the same shot over and over, but sometimes you have to until you get it right. I have been playing with the trains as they arrive on the light rail platform trying to get the right shot. This first one is close, but needed the shutter started a second later, or open for a second longer. Considering I had the camera sitting on a trash bin on the platform I will take it but I can do better. (Pentax K24mm f2.8 on K200d)

I have heard of the tradition of doing this on a bridge in Paris, but apparently it is starting to be done here in Daybreak by the lake. Interesting. (Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 on K5)

I loved the delicacy of the last light on the higher clouds, I had to work to bring the shadows up a bit without it looking like crud, but while it is not amazing, I like the choices I made with the light that was available.

A few minutes later than the shot above at the lake the sunset was heating up. I'm a sucker for them. Total sucker! Sunsets that is. (Also Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 on K5)

More trains, This one was stopped for a few seconds while the shutter was open, really need to take the old tripod with me and make a serious effort to get this concept right. (Rokinon 8mm f 3.5 Fisheye on K5)