20 Minutes of Monochrome Downtown (With just a splash of color)

I have a thought that goes through my head on occasion (usually when I missed a shot because I didn't have a camera with me) that I ought to carry my camera with me more often. So I try, especially when I am going to places that are more likely than the average area in suburbia to present photographic opportunities. You have seen this in earlier posts where I have carried my camera with me to my occasional (PRN) employment downtown. Yesterday was no exception to this desire, and I chose my SMC K 50mm F1.4 vintage manual focus lens as my carry lens. It is a bit long for real easy snap shooting, and needs more studied compositions especially when shooting at f2.0 to 2.8 which is my usual practice with this lens. I am more likely to carry my 35mm f3.5 in the future, or something wider, but more likely than not whatever I carry will be Old, Manual Focus, and a lot smaller than my zooms. This is part of why I love Pentax, small primes. This lens (Pentax DA 21 f3.2 Limited) is my #2 on my lens buying list, and really calls to me. Give me a couple of years and I may be able to save enough to buy it. (Anybody wanna donate?)

OK, on to the fun part the photographs. These shots were all taken in a 20 minute span, with my Pentax K200d, and the above mentioned lens. It makes a pretty compact setup and it very nice handling and fairly lightweight.

I don't know why this caught me eye, but it did, wish I had had my polarizer along... I call this one "Headless Beauty".

The next several shots are all of the same bike, it was sitting in front of the same vintage thrift shop as the mannequin. All shots of the bike were shot in B&W in camera, and only slightly adjusted in Photoshop for exposure and contrast.

Not sure I would want to ride this puppy.

I was now in move mode, I had 25 minutes to get to the bus stop from the Train stop, and had used a bit of time surveying the bike. This was in a back alley I cut through, originally shot it in B&W but went back to the RAW and brought it forward in Color, simply because I missed the rust on the frame.

I wasn't sure why this level of security was needed for this trash container, but I had to admire it.

I shot this from chest level on a split second decision to take it. I almost deleted it, but liked the sense of motion.

This girl caught my eye as I walked past, she was busily primping and working on her hair in the reflection of the Pawn Store window, I didn't get he focus on, but caught the action.

I chose to go back and bring this out in Color as a contrast to the B&W, there is just such a juxtaposition of color and casual unusualness to the scene that I couldn't help myself.

I thought this made a nice end to the series, I am not sure how this stayed here all day, or however long it was there. The tidiness of the made bed in the doorway of a closed/boarded up shop made me stop in my tracks and stare. I really wished for a wider lens to show the people waiting for the bus with this at their backs.

Hope you enjoyed the display of 20 minutes of my photography life, I don't know when I have gotten so many shots I liked in as short of a time period before.

On a clear day I can see downtown.

Been wanting to shoot this area for awhile. This is up on a ridge above my hometown. You can see all the way to downtown 25 miles away. A slightly different cropped version of this is my wallpaper right now!

Takes The Cake....

Had a large painting project in my home so I haven't been doing much photography, but as I went through my memory card I found this from a family outing to celebrate two of my daughters birthday's. this was taken @ f2.8, 1/10 second exposure at ISO 100 with my old manual focus 24mm f2.8. The White Balance was a little tricky and required some fiddling in the RAW editor, I was very pleased with this shot. I love the concept of food photography, it combines several favorite things of mine. Being constructively occupied, making things that smell and taste good, and eating said goodies. This one I didn't make, Olive Garden did. Still tasted pretty good tho!

More Fisheye Fun!!

I haven't had a lot of time to play with this lens since I got it, one trip to the state capitol principally, so I decided to take it with me on my Commute to my Extra Job downtown. This is the job that allows me to even dream of having enough money to buy lenses etc....

I have come to the tentative conclusion that there are really two uses for a fisheye. 1) to simply get it all in and make it look different in the process. Call it "Distort and Conquer" if you will, but the simply different perspective allows for some crazy ways to get different elements in a shot and make them look strange. 2) to isolate a smaller detail in the midst of a larger setting. This is like getting really close to a flower and then letting everything else fall back into the background and look smaller than it is in reality. So manipulating the viewpoint of the lens to accentuate some things and diminish others.

Here are a few more quick shots, most were in some part premeditated prior to starting the day. As in: I wanted to get something like this and looked for the opportunity to get it.

As always click on the photo for a larger version.

I deliberately panned this following the train. I would like to go for lower ISO and longer shutter speed the next time and see how well I can follow the aim point. As it is I still like the feeling of movement of the train, and the disorientation of being up that early around fast moving things.

This is a mild redux of a prior shot but completely different. Wildly different field of view than a 35mm lens.

I love the symmetry of architectural support structures, but often find myself disappointed in photographing them, yet another thing to master. In some ways I like the ability of this lens to change what I see into something new.

I spend a lot of time looking at this when I travel to this job. The parking on the University campus is just atrocious, and after awhile they start to track your license plate and get onto the fact that you are there regularly. They then out a flyer on your car asking you to tell them who you are visiting and or what clinic you have been going to. The parking folks are notorious for being.... persnickity about not paying them, some kind of a power trip thing I guess.

One of the things I love/hate about the urban slot canyons you get in a city, is the strips of sky that you have to look up to see. I generally prefer to have sky framed by Navajo Sandstone... but sometimes I like the city slots too. This is one shot I wanted to try for since I got this lens.

I liked the reflections of the clouds on this building, but wasn't able to really show them. Probably should have gone across the street and tried there too. One of the toughest things about this lens is getting it square to something when you need to. I had to straighten this a bit as the lens was rotated a little. Looked square in the viewfinder....

So far I regard this lens as a cheap gem. It is sharp, has really good Chromatic Aberration control, and is easy to use. I can set the focus at anywhere from 3ft to infinity and have most of the frame in focus. The only time I need to play with it is when I get close. Which I should have done in my stairwell shot. At closest focus and f5.6 or f8 you can have nearly infinite Depth of Focus, though the further away stuff will not be critically sharp. Loving it!

Thanks for looking in!

Grabbing Sunrises....

I have a penchant for looking at things for a long time before realizing that there is a photo opportunity there. I have been driving (or riding) past this Cemetery for almost 6 years as part of my daily commute. I have always been struck by the incongruity of an anti aircraft gun in the middle of it. I had passing thoughts that I really should stop some day and look closer at it, but never thought (what is WRONG with me?) to take a picture of it.

Well I was driving in last week and with the developing sunrise (a scarce thing recently) looking better each moment I had the spark of inspiration to drop in and grab a quick shot or two. Really quick as I was not in a situation where I had a lot of time. Here is what I got, hope I remember to visit it again sometime.

The Sentinel

Aim

Still aiming, hopefully never to be used again.

Last Light of 2010

Not much to say really. The aribtrary sectioning of our lives has decreed that this particular section has ended to be never again. As it closes it is traditional to reflect on the past increment, and look forward to the next. I have had a FANTASTIC year of photography, and have taken many memorable images, and more importantly I have taken them in even better and more memorable company. Friends I salute you! Slainte!

My last two landscape shots of 2010, taken at the lake by my home. 6 degrees F.

Happy New Year!

Peace.

Lloyd

Fading Afternoon Light

Days of gloom, punctuated with only minor breaks of light, weighing down on my soul, light precious light blooms on the mountain. Above the mundane glory.

3 From Today

Been mostly too busy to shoot the last couple of days. Grabbed this one because I HAD too! Haven't seen much blue sky recently and was not about to miss this chance!

Rokinon 8mm
Went to a party for my 18 year old Nephew at my sisters. The cat "Eddie" tends to make a good subject, he lies in front of the fireplace and seldom moves unless my 5 year old gets after him. He definitely has the Regal Air of a cat. Both of these with the Pentax 35mm f2.4 @ f2.4

He got progressively more sleepy it seemed, then he ran away not too long after this shot.

Night Lights in the Rain.

For the first time in my memory the city I grew up in has decorated some trees in the city park. And as usual I have been dying to take pictures of the lights. I have not had an opportunity to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake City yet so this is as close as I have been to anything fun in the snow.

It was actually raining, it had snowed for most of the day then warmed up and changed over to rain, light but enough to make it more difficult to keep things dry than I would have liked.

The light was hard to balance for color, needed to use a Tungsten WB in the RAW converter to get it looking even decent, otherwise it was a orangey/yellow.

The bridge is new and the stream used to be buried, amazing was has happened since I was a kid.

I thought to use my 8mm Fisheye, but it didn't give me the crazy distortion I was looking for, plus that huge front element collected a lot of moisture, I had to spend a fair amount of time cloning out water drops from the image.

These trees on the East side of the park were also well done, but less photogenic with powerlines and cars in the background.

A couple of parting shots on the way out, enjoyed getting wet and cold.

Whoa! I think the tree exploded! Well... actually I just zoomed during the exposure. Kinda like it though!

More Thoughts on the DA-L 35mm f2.4

Having shot just a little more with this lens I am still not even close to making judgments regarding how good it really is, this I can say, it is a really good lens. Had I not bought my beloved 30+ year old SMC (K) 35mm f3.5 Manual Focus lens, I would be hankering for this to be my first autofocus prime. Seeing as the K is pretty decent I am more than willing to wait until one day buying the DA 35mm f2.8 Limited Macro (a 1:1) macro though you have to get REALLY close to get that.

Anyway here are some photos to give y'all an idea of the size of these lenses.
(L to R: DA-L 35mm f2.4, FA 35mm f2.0, K 35mm f3.5)

Front View same order


And a few outdoor shots just for grins, all with the DA-L, it is not the closest focusing lens around but it does OK, and it is REALLY quick to focus, The only problem is that is focuses slightly behind the focus point (BackFocusing) which is a problem at f2.4.

I simply couldn't get the AF to focus on the front of the weed patch on the front R, it blurs the front of it just a bit, could be the older AF on my K200d....

This was shot on tripod at near closest focus distance, and Post Processed a bit, just trying to create a more dreamy shot rather then totally hard edged reality. Kinda like it though.

Playing with more Bokeh...

I did an impromptu Temple Square visit with my family on Monday, shooting a little bit with the DA 35mm f2.4 I have borrowed but found the field of view a bit limiting, but shooting mostly with my 30 year old Manual Focus 24mm f2.8. This year I have become ... enamored? of shooting wide open (meaning that I don't use the aperture to limit the amount of light coming in.) because of the effects on the out of focus highlights, also known as bokeh. This allows me to make some cool looking pictures as well as not use a tripod all the time.

f2.8

This one was deliberately unfocused throughout the frame just to see what it would look like.

I was VERY pleased that this turned out as well as it did, it is not super sharp but is sharp enough for ISO 200 and 1/20s shutter speed. The color of this lens even wide open is really quite good, with decent contrast.

I really love the Tabernacle as well, I have sung there several times in my youth and it is just a special building.

Exit Level 4

Took a borrowed copy of the new Pentax DA 35mm f2.4 (a budget priced new prime) with me to work on Monday. As has been my usual wont over the past while I try to find at least one interesting shot each day. I found this corner of the parking structure I walk through interesting in an Urban Decay kind of way. I went for 3 different approaches and left you with one untouched frame to compare with. Don't know that it really works but was a fun exercise. I have a LOT to learn about street/urban shooting.

This was pushed WAY over the top. Looks pretty freaky.

Untouched, WB as the camera chose on the Auto Setting.

B&W conversion using A/W Converter.

WB set in camera to Flourescent, some tweaking in Photoshop. I kind of like the conflicting lines in this one the best.