Delayed reaction

Lots of new stuff, no new blog posts. A whole lot of stuff around Baltimore, driving less enjoying the photography more. A number of smugmug posts, links below a representitve shot, well one of the better ones that happens to be representitive.

No link on the image, links belowThe first link is to a rolling 2014 gallery so only the images at the end are new...

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/Pseudo-Mr-Bill-2014/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/Todays-Sept-28th-Mr-Bill/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/Schizophrenic-Houses/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/Ethnicity/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/Emissions-Test/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Mr-Bill/October-Morning-Early/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Baltimore/The-Dubs-of-Butchers-Hill-/

http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Baltimore/Greenmount/

 

Holy shit!

The first words out of my mouth and truer words have never been said. While Baltimore does great fireworks, tonites replay of the 1814 repulse of the Brits, was without peer, at least in my experience (and I have seen a fair number of these things) and truely over the top. Five barges, from Fort Mc Henry to the Inner harbor (normally we get two) plus stuff firing off buildings downtown. Simply spectactular.

Two galleries, one with a normal focal length (45mm) from the Sony A7r and a 70-300 on the Canon 5D Mk III. Could have used more cameras, although tonite, the Canon had a mind of its own, choosing settings I didn't know it had. So I couldn't handle two much less five.

As is usual on this blog click the snaps below to see all of the rest on Smugmug.

Pow! Bam! Kaboooom!

Oh, as nice as tonite was, today was pretty non-conducive for much of an airshow. Blue Angles on again tomorrow, plus a ton of other stuff in Patterson Park (the Gov and his Irish Band, Navy Sky Divers, ...). So more posts will be forthcomming.

45mm — Ft. Mc Henry on the left70-300mm

On the Avenue

No, not that avenue.  Not really even actually an avenue but a street — 36th Street in Hampden, its sobriquet being "The Avenue". Up early for a holiday, not many others out. Since this wasn't meant to be a people kind of street excursion, it was good. Once again the A7r with the Nikon 20 in pursuit of formal composition. No shortage of leading lines.

Click on the snap below to see the rest on Smugmug.


The quintessential Hampden establishment

OCD? Perhaps...

Yet more snaps — the third post and fourth gallery of the weekend. Short drive today, Mount Vernon and Station North Neighborhoods. Actually, the only images in Station North are from Graffiti Alley. Once again working lines and layering the bad on the good. Not going to get too many architects calling with comissions — quite all right with me. A7r with the Nikon 20 f/2.8 AIs again. This combo is likely to be the go to configuration until I get a prime in the 16 - 17mm range for the A7r.

Time to cut mats and foam core for four more snaps to join the eight already done in 12 Ikea 20"x20" Ribba frames. Well at least the frame and the glass is cheap. The rest is archival, Rising Museum Board with the prints on Canson Platine Rag. Tomorrow will be a blast hanging them all — six each on each side of the LR fireplace.

But for now, as soon as the mats are done, a Hendricks and tonic awaits — in a glass designed and sized for Guiness.

Click on the snap below or here to check out the rest of the snaps on smugmug.

Preakness Saturday

Has nothing to do with the race, only the date — thanks to Butts and Bettys for the reminder. Still working in the neighboorhood which seems to be evolving into the area south of East Baltimore Street, west of Patterson Park Avenue South, North of Aliceanna and east of Broadway. All with the Canon 14 although I am not sure that is going to yeild the quality of results I want until there is ultra wide native eMount. Maybe it is still my focus skills but I am not sure, missed several shots I was retaking — all becasuse of poor focusing. Lens or me? May need do more with the Nikon 20, although that seems too narrow.  

Snaps from Durham Street are ok though and that is the origin of the one below. Rest of them in smugmug here or click on the snap below.

Prints of these are working well at 15"x15" in 20"x20" frames. I especially like the latest ones on Canson Platine Rag. More printing on the agenda for this evening.

 

 

Going formal with a fourteen

Well the 20mm is wide enought left to right but not top to bottom when cropped square. Need a 17 but the only one I have is on a zoom — I am too much of a prime snob to use one of those for this. There are only a couple of workable 17mm choices at the moment for eMount, including adapted, and they are either very pricey or very big. I think the right strategy is to wait until Zeiss says what it is going to do with FE later in the year.

The Canon 14 will do for now with the idea to work on the formal aspects of the snaps. Particularly minding the lines; curb lines, grout lines, fence lines, cable line, power lines, shadow lines any kind of lines but especially those awesome cable and power lines. As it is written, "if you can't fix it — feature it". Although it is more than that with cable and power lines — more like seek them out. No cable or power lines on the street in this neighborhood, they are in the alleys, so the alleys are fertile ground.

From around a little bit of Butcher's Hill's alleys, early this afternoon — plus one from the Canton Dock Area from a late afternoon trip to Harris-Teeter. Click on the snap or here to see the rest. All square, all B&W, all with the A7r and the Canon 14 f/2.8L @ f/11. Turns out the A7r has a grid overlay that provides an interpolatable square - makes it easy to see the frame. Between VSCO Film and Keys in combo with Lightroom's "paste", post processing, including consistent cropping is a snap.

BTW, yesterday's cruise up US 40 to Elkton was pretty much a waste of time and gas. Well maybe not entirely, there is a Wawa in Northeast that mandated a sub stop.

That SoBe look

Yet another first weekend in May item

A lttile OCD this weekend with the Nikon 20mm f/s.8 AIs. Back out again trying to deal with the OOF foreground. Got that solved at the expense of distant focus. Just need to backup I guess - most people don,t get close enough — I can't seem to back off enough. 

Afoot again. This time 2 blocks north, one and half west and half block east. All A7r, all Nikon 20mm. Feel like I might actually be out of energy — so the last item for the weekend. The other four below. Clicking the snap below brings up the smugmug gallery (again more contact sheet than gallery) as does clicking here

No Mark V for me

Trying walking distance only for a while. Fills the rehab gap and moves the focus to taking shots rather than researching and driving road trips. Down the hill toward but not to Fells Point. The A7r and the Nikon 20 f/2.8. Still getting some close in stuff OOF — more practice needed. Again more like a contact sheet than a gallery. Cut by the raw haul slightly by more than half.

Posted at 2:42PM while the snaps are uploading - likely to take another hour or so to get them all on smugmug. Click here or on the Mark V to replace boredom with snoozing on a long flight.

This is the fourth post since Friday night so this weekends WIP is spread between this item and the three below.

Kinetic Sculpture Race

The AVAM annual race.  Starts in Federal Hill in the AM gets to Patterson Park after lunch for the sand and mud pits. As usual I go to the sand pit. Snaps to from and at the parade in the gallery. A couple of the architectural dig going on in the park re: War of 1812. Same camera configuration as the earlier-in-the-day alley snaps.  I think I should have switched to the 28 the 20 was too wide or at least it was too wide for me doing this kind of stuff.

Big flurry of new blog items here since Friday night, this is the third, so there might be some ones unseen in the two below. Per usual click here or on the snap to see the rest.

Back in the alley again

Humming to the tune of Autry's Back in the saddle again. Redux of last evenings passes through the alley behind Maderia and then north on Maderia. This time with the the Nikon 20mm f/2.8 AIs on the now almost ubiquitous A7r. Still trying to use formal elements in ways that make the photos seem informal. Poles, fences and the bane of the landscape photographer, those wonderful power and cable wires.

The red gate is one again the entry way in to the sliced-in-half galery.  Click on the snap or here to see the rest.

If you are not so quick looking after a blog update message you may need to look at the item below too, posted late last night.

 

Controlling OPEX

Have often stated that the most material OPEX line item in Digital Photography is gasoline. So focusing on controlling the OPEX after three trips to NY, one upstate, two to the city. Targeting what can attract around here. So far two trips to Dundalk, Camden Yards via the Water Taxi and tonite one block south, one block north and a half block each east and west. Given that Friedlander's Sticks and Stones continues to be top of mind, tonite's look shouldn't be surprising. The 28mm Canon FDn for all on the A7r. Should Fedex do better tomorrow than UPS did today, will go wider in the afternoon with the inital deployment of the Nikon 20 f/2.8 AIs on some sort of an adapter.

A red fence to attract a click that heads to the once again, lightly edited, smugmug gallery or click here.

Stick to your kniting

Not one to shy away from something new but this afternnon was a clear sign that sometimes it is better to stick to your kniting. Water taxi and then over to Camden Yards in front of the O's game with KC. Maybe it was the sun, maybe my longstanding aversion to baseball, whatever it was, without exception, the snaps were awful. So none posted here.

Had to pick up an Rx in Harbor East so walked from Camden Yards to Exeter Street got the Rx and it isn't incrementally all that far to walk from Exeter to Fells Point, where the water taxi stops en route to Captian James. It was pulling out as I got there so... well the walk from Fells Poiunt to Captian James isn't much more either and then on up the hill home. So about a three mile walk all in. Good, because something usefull needed to come out of this afternoon — it certainly wasn't the Camden Yrads snaps.

Further reinforcing my 'tude that B'more is not fertile ground for stranger photography, but a reminder that is is great for structures. So here are some structures to and from the ball game — plus one other. Cick here or on the snap to see them. All with the FDn 28 f/2.0 on the A7r.

Generally feel a closer affinity to Friedlander than Winograd so maybe that isn't just feel.

Some Oban

High eighties a couple of days ago — high forties today and a bit raw in the late afternoon. Some snaps followed by a stop in Salt for some Oban to drive away the chill.

At the moment heavily influenced by Frielander's Sticks and Stones.  Maybe not so completely because were are some color snaps harvested today. Well given the technology they are all color until they are made B&W. So two galleries one color one B&W.  Some in both, some only in one. The on-the-way-back snaps all in B&W as the street lights here are awful — LED versions on the way.

All with the A7r and the new/old Canon FD 28mm f/2.0 refurbed and converted to EF by Eddie the Lens Doctor in Scotland. Attached to the A7r thru the Metabones III. Much better manual focus solution than the EF 28 f/2.8 IS it relegates to use only the on the 5D Mk III.  Click on the images below to see the rest in the smugmug galleries.

Protect your kettle

 780-FLUSH

Uncurated

Today resulted in 498 images without the usual bracketing — a whole lot of snaps.  I had planned to go to the Museum of Industry but figured I would be in and out in an hour or so.  For some reason I was up early, early enough to park just off the Lincoln Memorial Circle just before 7:30.  The natural first stop was the Lincoln Memorial looking for shadows, that was followed up by the Korean, FDR, Jefferson, WW II, Vietnam and a revist to the Lincoln. After that it was a visit to the two Union Markets, the one missing letters in its sign and the one that got lost on its way to New Caanan, CT. After grabbing some lunch and a loaf of rye, Charlotte got pointed north to Museum of Industry. The earlier prediction was right about an hour stay — possibly abetted by free admission becuase of the prescense of a robotic contest.

The 498 images didn't get cut by much and I am not feeling very ruthless and the Florida/UConn game has just started. As usual I am recording it but I am not inclined to get too far behind tonite. So 200+ images from all the venues all stuck in one giant sized smugmug gallery. The intention was to shoot strangers but I wound up with some of them, some statues and some museum exhibits.  There are no cherry blossom snaps for two reasons (i) they aren't out yet and (ii) I wouldn't shoot them even if they were. There are plenty of other people shooting them — if you are interested try Flickr. I am only interested in the cherry blossoms as fly paper to increase the number of strangers around DC strreets and the mall.

This time of year is also when the honor flights come to the mall bringing vets to visit memorials. I happened across a groups of Korean and WW II vets.  The shot below was taken going into the Pacific end of the WW II Memorial.  The guy's name is Frank Mastrella, he is from Rochester, NY (from his name tag). The woman told him that she was sorry he was going home becuase other wise they had a date tonite. I blew getting the shot of her planting one on his dome. For sure it is the best shot of the day.

Lots of narcissism in this gallery with a pretty large number of shadow selfies ala Lee Friedlander. Click here or on Frank's snap below to see the entire uncurated bunch. All in B&W — too many Friedlander books I guess.

Best I can figure, that was an interracial, same sex marriage at ~ 8AM at the Lincoln Memorial.

Now that they have uploaded, it is clear I need to scrub out the dupes and the out-of-focus snaps.

Frank Mastrella, Rochester, NY Honor Flight Mission 33

 

Poltergeist

Snap below almost home after hastily departing the bar at evidently haunted Birroteca this cocktair hour. Stopped on way back from picking up big print from post immediately below in Hunt Valley. Also had one done from the Ransom Notes flight. Click here or on the snap below to see the apparitions.

Along East Pratt

The day before Paddy was stretched...

or something like that. Was hoping for a replay of yesterday's gorgeous weather. Got into Charlotte and quickly discovered all the windows down and the sunroof open which were quite inconsistent with this afternoon. Off to Harbor East for some casual architectural stuff with a planned foray over near the aquarium. Turns out B'more celebrates St. Patricks Day with a parade today - presumably because Philly's was yeterday, freeing up a large number of string and High School bands to travel an hour and half south.

So took some architecural stuff (mostly the black and whites) and the parade (largely the snaps in color). Wrong camera for the parade, the A7r,  the 5D Mk III would have been a far better choice but then who knew about the parade. Once again travelling light and once again started out with the Canon 28 f/2.8 IS and moved on to the FE 55.  The FE 35 once again just filled my pocket.

Wasn't the niceset weather, got pretty raw by the end, knocked the chill off with a visit to Paco and some Hendricks.

Half a hundred or so on smugmug, click here or on the parade snap below. For those of you just getting around to looking after Saturday's email alert those snaps are below — was a prolific weekend.

Completely wrong color for a March 16th parade.

Graffiti Warehouse

meetup.com surfing uncovered a photo event today at Grafitti Warehouse here in town. There is an ally behind the building where it is legal to paint grafitti. A lot of the snaps and I think the best of them came from the ally. Inside, more grafitti and sudios — today a model/photographer event. Turns out I was more interested in the structure than the models. At $20 it is cheap by inside building access for photography standards. Lots of dude photgraphers and a few dudettes all with pretty much the same stuff taking the same shots of the same models (looked like a different version of the eagle shooters at Conowingo). I always try hard not to do same. So no flash and no tele lenses — not that I actually own a flash. Turns out it is pretty boring, very unlike street photogrpahy no adrenline rush — like shooting fish in a barrel. Also, a gazzilion photographers... along with doing something different I prefer to do it alone. Lastly there is the creepy feeling. Not likely to do this kind of stuff again. First time = last time.

Anyway, some interesting snaps of the alley, parts of the building, the expected stuff and some street-like shots of the players, the later being the most fun to shoot.

Was going to haul a lot of stuff with me but in the end went light, the A7r, Canon 28 f/2.8 IS on the Metabones, the FE 55 and the FE 35. The 35 never made it on the camera. Started out with the 28 and the snaps on the way in were with this and a few early ones inside. With photographers all over the place I needed more length to keep them out of view (pretty rude bunch stepping in front too) so on went the 55. A good chunck of the 55 snaps were with the Zeiss Softar I soft focus filter attached, they are pretty easy to spot. As usual one snap here, the rest on smugmug.  Click here or on the snap below to head off to the gallery.

Ingress

The ice finally...

subsided enough to brave the sidewalks. Quick trip up Jones Falls, then the sculpture garden at the BMA (which was closed), back to east pratt.  Just enough to possibly quell cabin fever — then again maybe not. All with the now almost ubiquitous A7r — this time with the Canon 135 f/2.0 via the Metabones. As usual click here or on the snap below to see the rest.