The Warehouse

This is the warehouse where I work as we were shutting down for the night.  I just really like how this photo framed itself and the way everything in the image is squareish.

The New Camera

Here are a few shots out of my new camera.

One of each resident of our home (other than myself).

Stephanie:


Feina:


Miss Daisy Mae:


Ramses:


A few notes:
1) I really like this lens. All of these photos were taken in less-than-ideal lighting conditions, so the 1.4 aperture combined with the camera's shake reduction made for some great shots.

2) I'm going to really like using this camera.  I can tell already. The fact that it's compatible with all of my other lenses and gear is just icing on the cake. Once I master a few of the bells and whistles, my results will improve.

3) The new camera is a Pentax K-3II. The only complaint I have is that it lacks a flash. Pentax opted to add a GPS to it instead. Which is ... cool. I guess. If a bit weird.

I Gave My Camera Away

I've been awfully quiet here, lately. It's because it's been a while since I broke my camera out.

Sorry.

I ordered a Pentax K-3II this week. It's compatible with all of the same lenses as my K10D was. But it also has a few features that I look forward to fighting with.

The K10D found a good home - one of my co-workers is one of those Outdoors types, and he was bored with his point-and-shoot.  So I gave it to him, along with two lenses.

Since I last posted I've ... not taken many pictures, actually.

Or, more accurately, I've not processed many photos.

And I've definitely failed to share a bunch here. I promised a friend this summer that I would work on that. And now I'm promising you that I'll be working on that.




The Lytro has had a good workout with board games. I's share them, but Lytro's gallery page seems to be down at the moment. I liked it enough that when the Illum dropped to under $500, I snagged one of those, too.

I won't have weekly posts, or a regular schedule, but I do intend to post more here. Because I definitely plan to put my cameras through their paces.

Phone Call

I still think that this is one of the most perfect photos I have ever taken.  The light, the framing, the bokeh ... it all just works in this shot. Yes, the background is just a hair overexposed - but I like the finished work.



This is Amy, the wife of a good friend of mine.  A mutual friend was in town (a rare occurrence at the time), so we gathered to play some games and have some BBQ.  It was the kind of bright and sunny day we just don't get in the Seattle area (which is a large part of why I live here, honestly).

The kind of day that many photographers love, really - and if I could get results like this more consistently, I would probably like them more.

This was shot via my Pentax K10D with its kit lens, BTW.

Oh.  Um ... I'm back. It's been forever since I updated here - and I can't promise regular updates, either.  But I'm going to try.  Especially now that I'm shooting more and more film again.

Lens Caps

As you know, I have some really wonderful cameras, but I'm sometimes hesitant to take them anywhere, as I want to be able to protect their lenses from damage with - say - a lens cap.

The camera I have had the most trouble obtaining a lens cap for is the Komaflex-S.  It's a wonderfully fun camera to use, but I can't just toss it in a bag. And wrapping it in a sweatshirt or something is not exactly practical, either, most of the time.

So in May of this year (seven months ago, for those of you keeping score), I went to a local camera shop to pick up a lens cap for it.  It turns out, it takes a 37mm cap.  "We don't have one," I was told.  "Why don't you check [other local camera shop]?"

So I did.  And they didn't have one, either.  But, I was told, they could special order one for me.  I would just need to pre-pay and it would be all good.  They should have it within a week or two.

It was under $10, so well within my budget.  So I paid, left them my phone number for contact, and went back to work. Two weeks came and went, and so I wandered by on my lunch break again. "Hmmm," I was told, "That's odd.  Let me make some phone calls and I'll let you know."

Later that day, I received a call back.  "Our purchaser is trying to track down a 37mm cap. So far, he's not having much luck - do you just want a refund?"

"No," I said, "I'm in no hurry.  Take your time. I'll get it when I get it."

And then I forgot about it.

In September, I was cleaning out my wallet when I found a receipt. For the lens cap. I had completely forgotten about it!  It'd been four months - maybe I should go and check on the cap.

So I did.  I was greeted as soon as I entered the shop, and asked if I needed any assistance. "Yes," I said, "My name is Eric Franklin and I special ordered a lens cap a few months back - I just wanted to make sure that you were still working on it."

The gentleman behind the counter grabbed a notebook and flipped through it.  "When did you order it?" he asked, "Because I don't see you in The Book."

"May."

He stopped.  Looked at me.  "May?  As in Four Months Ago?"

"Yes."

"Let me ... let me grab the Old Book, then."

Apparently they'd changed systems for special orders.  Happens.  My order was ... still in the Old Book. Along with a series of hand-written notes and some very old-looking Post-It notes. And my order was the only one in the book.

"It looks like we're having trouble getting this - looks like we're still trying, though.  Do you just want to take a refund?"

"I'm in no hurry."

Fast forward to just over a month ago.  October.  My phone rings.  It was the camera shop, conceding defeat. "If you want to come by tonight or tomorrow, we can get you all fixed up with a cash refund."

And then work exploded and I completely forgot.

Today, my phone rang.  "Hi, Eric, this is [PERSON] from [CAMERA SHOP].  We have your lens cap - and, as an added bonus, it's less expensive than it originally was, so we can even give you some money back!"

So I now have a 37mm cap for my Komaflex-S.

What changed in the last month or so? 

Apparently Micro Four Thirds camera systems are suddenly very popular. And a number of those use ... you guessed it ... a 37mm lens cap.  So the third-party manufacturers are once again making 37mm lens caps.

So new technology has saved my old camera from (effectively) living in storage forever.

New Toy

... and it really is (at this point) basically a toy.

 I got a Lytro. It arrived today, and I've done a bit of monkeying with it. So far, I really like it.

 A lot.

 

No.  Really really a lot.

I don't think it'll ever displace any of my other cameras, but I'm seeing potential for this little thing.

I have a few complaints with it, but nothing major - the image is awesome, but the quality is only so-so, for example (I think I read somewhere that it's the equivalent of a 5MP camera, which is not bad, but it's also nothing particularly special).

I can export the images to .jpg, but I don't know that I'd ever want to.

Honestly, at this point, it's a gimmick and not much more.  It's a pretty neat gimmick, mind you, but ... I don't know how far it'll go.

The form factor is interesting - I have trouble hitting the shutter without bumping the zoom, for example.  And I'd have put the shutter on the side and moved the touch screen to the top, personally.  It would make the device a bit more flexible.

Transfer from the camera to the computer is also ridiculously slow.  But that might be this particular computer - I'm not sure if it's connected to USB 2.0 or 1.0.

Some of the normal rules of photography need to be adjusted for this thing, too.  Shooting through something like a fence is tacitly encouraged, because the fence will give you another plane of interest instead of just being a vaguely-blurry foreground thing.  In fact, the more focal planes you have with interestingness, the better your photo will be overall - which is a change, because "normal" photography, you don't want blurry activity distracting from your intended focal point.  In theory.

Either way, you'll be seeing occasional shots from the Lytro here.  Enjoy.

Oh - and you can watch this space for more.

Airplanes

I love airplanes.  I have always loved airplanes.

Ever since I was a little kid.

One of the earliest photos of me that exists has me standing out on the front porch, pointing at an airplane.

Because of this, the greater Seattle Area is an excellent place for me to live. Because we have a major airport and quite a bit of manufacturing, as well as a great deal of history with airplanes.

All of this means sights like this are not uncommon:

Well, other than the (mostly) blue skies.  But that's another subject for another day, I think.

This area is also home to the Flying Heritage Collection. I managed to snap a few shots a few months back - and learned a bit about photographing airplanes in the process:

1. If you don't include something in the background, it'll look like a toy.
2. If you don't slow your shutter down, then the propeller will be "stopped" and will look odd, which adds to the "toy" look.
3. Remember that objects in shade are 3 stops brighter than objects in the sun. The bottom half of an airplane in flight will nearly always be in shade.

I snapped a full roll and a half of film and a couple of dozen digital shots.  I don't have all of the film processed, yet, but this is the pick of the digital shots:

I'll let you know if any of the film turns out better. And - by the way - this is the sky I'm used to seeing in this area.