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

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.

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

Newport to Jamestown

... a bridge symbolic of a transformation. Ride along or surf flickr.com. Haven't been happy with where I have been so where I am going had better be differnet. Completely enamored with Friedlander's alchemy turning shinola into to magic. Also continuing to be enamoured with 2010 serendipity, which it appears can not be outdone or undone. All fine with me.  The first step in next steps starts here. Click here (or on the snap below) to go there with me. Should you chose not to follow there is always flickr.com.

If you can't fix it feature it!

Pere McK was likely PO'ed

Once again a rainy day...

today worse than yesterday. The camera into a taped and rubber-banded baggy pending the arrival of a more official and costly wrapper. Was counting on the dog owners to need to go to the park. Only a few out but almost a 100% of the encounters although I botched most of them with lousy camera settings. Didn't spot anybody else with a camera — going to figure out this "get what nobody else gets" sooner or later. Today's experience would say you don't need to go to Patagonia to snap solo.

Took only the "weatherized" A7r with a 35. Just that and one of those $200k umbrellas. Despite or maybe in-spite of limited personal precautions — soaked again. Nothing a bloody won't fix.

Prepped camera

The only color snap, the gallery is all B&W.  Click here or on the snap below (clearly the best of the lot in color or B&W) .

Prepped umbrella

Two more galleries

A combo plan — so I don't set any expectations by having three blog posts in a day. So if you are looking at this becuase you got a blog update notice, check out the next item down as well.  

So after the last post, Loch Raven, &c. it started snowing, so back out with the A7r and the Canon 135 f/2.0 on the Metabones.  Shot wide open on the way out, at f/8.0 on the way back. A twenty-five minute walk to the park and back. Can't resist playing in the snow. Things haven't changed much since the six slid over a digit to the left. The gallery is shown by clicking here or on the christmas tree lights below.

The other gallery is one of those expiramental things — created in lieu of making new snaps yesterday. Saw a blog that had lots of these, by a local who supposedly has some chops, so... despite KHH's dis of the same on Insta, I gave it a shot anyway. For sure will be the subject of considerable dissin' myself. Hah!  So for the seudeo artsy gallery click here or on Domino all the way at the bottom.

Tis the season

Fake real art

Before the games

Watched a tutorial last night by a frenchman named Jean Michel Berts.  Loved his B&W approach. Tried it on some back catalog items and then ran out just before the Denver Vs. New England game.  Here, next door, across the street, back in.

Click here or on the 2223 sanp below for all five.


Here at Club 2223

Talk about lazy...

it has been a while.  More than a while, months.  Lots of new snaps, a new camera with a couple of new lenses too. Todays snaps all done with the new camera, a Sony A7r, and it seems somewhat unusally the FE 55mm f/1.8.  Lots of A7r owners seem to be heading toward vintage lens adaption. I am doing some adaption, but generally only where it leverages the strength of the camera, which for me is mostly with the Canon 24mm TS-E II f/3.5 and the TS-E 45 f/2.8.  The Sony articulated LCD and focus aids make it a hellofalot easier to focus than the 5D Mk III.

So this morning it was foggy, really foggy and a fog warning in effect until 11AM. Figured I head to Fells Point. But, in an contuation of the car follies that began last Saturday, Charlotte wouldn't start.  Another call to Mercedes Roadside Service — at least I am home this time. 

By necessity then, todays snaps were from around the 'hood.  I'm happy with the outcome.  Click here or on the snap below to wing over to smugmug for the gallery.

A favorite Pratt Street doorway. Never before seen open.

Drunk man walking

Not drunk but camera on manual focus.  Anyway corner of Pratt and Collington Streets, outside of Salt.

Oh! Almost forgot first blog post with the 5D Mk III, produces really nice snaps.  This with the 35 1.4L at f/1.4 and ISO 4000.  Not sure what it is but they are just better looking than the 5D Mk II. Never would have considered ISO 4000 with the Mk II.

Stiched foggy morning

No clever comments for this just the specs, actually, 17 shots, Heiicon Focus focus merged, front to back twice, then stictched in to a pano.  Although with the 45 TSE-E rotataed because the shift was in use to keep the camera level.  Need to use the macro slide to get the entrance pupil correctly positioned.  Practice, practice — tuning up for the North Dakota workshop.  Quite large if printed at 300ppi ~ 39" x 12".  5D Mark II, 45mm TS-E f/2.8, ISO 100, f/5.6, +1 EV, 1/100 on the Gitzo.

So here is the redo with the macro slide and the no-paralax (aka, entrance pupil, nodal point) set correctly. Gitzo lowered to eliminate the need to shift with the 45mm TS-E but the composition could have dealt with the rail better.