Friday May 04, 2012

St. Louis, Part 2

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 17-40mm f4L at 17mm f11 1/400th sec ISO100. Gateway Arch-Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

The Saarinen Arch represents the westward expansion of America across the Mississippi and the optimism of the American Century.  It's also amazingly timeless for its graceful, minimalist design.  This image surprised me in that the texture and colour of the stainless steel plating of the Arch came across with a hyperrealism:  It reminded me of CGI in a modern Hollywood blockbuster, except that texture came from reality.  This one just turned out wonderful.

Thursday May 03, 2012

St. Louis, Part 1

Canon EOS40D/EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS at 130mm f6.3 1/80th sec ISO200

Sunday March 25, 2012

Food

Canon EOS350D/Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF at 33mm f8 1/1000th sec ISO200

Thursday March 15, 2012

Brick

Canon EOS350D/Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD IF at 43mm f2.8 1/1600th sec ISO100

For the amateur photographer, is there a lens which could be an ideal second lens after the kit lens? Something that covers wide to medium focal lengths, with a large aperture, and optimal image quality, and most importantly won't break the bank?

Most of Canon's lenses are medium aperture, at f3.5 or f4.0 (15-85mm IS, 17-85mm IS) or really expensive (EF-s 17-55mm f2.8 IS).   Though many of the recent models are well known for being sharp (the 15-85mm and the 17-55mm), they are still expensive.  If purchased separately, they list for $1000 and $1100 respectively.  Canon's L series are similarly high quality, but even more expensive.  They're also designed for full frame bodies, which means they're usually too long given a crop frame sensor.

Well, the general consensus is that the best low priced, high quality lens out there is the Tamron 17-50mm.  Regular price? $470.   Every enthusiast photography forum offers the Tamron 17-50mm as their best choice for price, size and quality.  So I decided, in the spirit of trying to find a nice small lens to go with my old 350D, to buy one of these and see if the hype is what it's made out to be.

Wednesday February 15, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 8

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS plus big pane of thick glass at 200mm f3.2 1/125th sec ISO800

Sometimes I wonder why I bring the bag of heavy lenses.  But then you end up finding a situation like this...and it really makes your day to get a workable image.  This little guy was in an incubator display at the Museum of Science and Technology in the genetics area.  The official reason from the museum for this exhibit is that the hatchery illustrates animal development and answers questions.  I think it's pretty clear the real reason is that little baby chicks are adorable.

Tuesday February 14, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 8

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 17-40mm f4L at 17mm f7.1 1/125th sec ISO800. Chicago Board of Trade Building.

Sunday February 12, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 7

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at 24mm f8.0 1/200th sec ISO200. North Columbus Drive Bridge, Chicago.

Sunday February 05, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 6

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at 24mm f5.0 1/25th sec ISO800. North Wabash Avenue, Chicago.

Saturday February 04, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 5

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at 60mm f8.0 1/100th sec ISO200. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

We really lucked out on the weekend we chose to visit Chicago, because that Friday morning, the sun was beautiful and the wind was quite calm.    This is the Wrigley Building, in front of the new Trump Tower along the riverfront, basking in that winter morning sun.

Friday February 03, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 4

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at f5.0 1/8th sec ISO800. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

I think I had this propped up on a newspaper box or something, because it's sharp.

Thursday February 02, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 3

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at f2.8 1/25sec ISO800. Art Institute of Chicago.

I have to stop assuming that the 1/focal length rule applies to a large sensor.  This image when magnified is actually blurry, not due to focus, but due to camera shake.  I think the chance of that increases as the pixel density increases as each vibration in your hand covers more pixels to be out of alignment as you take the shot.

Wednesday February 01, 2012

Chicago 2011, Part 2

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at f2.8 1/60sec ISO800. Art Institute of Chicago.

Chicago 2011, Part 1

Canon EOS5DMkII/EF 24-70mm f2.8L at f2.8 1/25sec ISO800

In November of 2011, Siobhan and I went to Chicago for a weekend trip.  We didn't go for very long, so I didn't send up daily updates or journal entries while we were gone.  I'm uploading them now, so you can enjoy them every day or two.  This was actually the first time I'd taken the 5D2 on a trip and the second major project I'd shot with it, the first being Iain's wedding.  

This is the famous Bean sculpture out in front of Michigan Avenue in Chicago.   When I saw this image, I thought, wow, that 5D2 puts out smooth noise, it's like ISO800 on a 5D1.  Now I realize it's actually at ISO800. Oh well.

Saturday December 31, 2011

Europe 2011: Day 8

Day 8

The last time I was in Rome, I didn't get to take a tour of the Vatican Museum or the Sistine Chapel.  I got there quite late in the day and while I enjoyed taking pictures of St. Peter's Basilica at dusk, I missed actually visiting the museum and seeing the ceiling.

Today we took the Rome Metro to the Vatican and attended a tour Siobhan had organized.  She had researched ahead and booked a tour from the Vatican Museum, which allowed us to go past the thousand-person long line up and walk right in.  I'm not sure why, but I always expected the Sistine Chapel to be a round library.  The inside of the Sistine Chapel is initially underwhelming, perhaps given the amount of hype leading up to it.  When you walk in, it is dark and echoing, kind of like the gym in a summer camp activity hour where the counsellors are stuck for an activity and tell the campers to sit very still in the dark.

However, after second look, the detail of the ceiling is in fact quite astounding, as every surface is painted on and tells a story of the heavens.  The ornate paintings show a mastery of context given their size.  The paintings use the trompe d'oeil style which makes it difficult to determine what is flat and what is actually protruding.  It is that historical "high definition" that perplexes and intrigues, not as solely image capture, but as storytelling and imagination.  The guards continually berate those taking photos with shouts of no foto and siliencio, the latter of which is pertinent as we are in a church after all, a holy place.

After walking to the main courtyard outside St. Peter's, we continued after lunch to the Spanish Steps and along to the Trevi Fountain.  While I have seen these before, it was nice to sit down and take our time to enjoy the place and context instead of snapping photos then moving on.  As I write this, I am sitting in the Pantheon, enjoying the rumble and echo of this great domed structure.

Tonight, we walked back from dinner aiming to visit the Roman Forum ruins and the Coliseum, only to find that the area had been cordoned off for New Year's celebrations.  Such is the life of traveling during the holidays, many things are often closed or at reduced hours, making it a bit more fun.  You get some things like nativity scenes and decorated train station conductor booths, Christmas Markets and general merriness.  And you get closed restaurants you walked half an hour to get to. 

What was really interesting tonight was all of Rome was out to party.  Tens of thousands of people were in the streets, walking along like plankton drifting towards the mouth of a giant whale, many carrying bottles of wine or champagne, ready to have a good time.  At one point, we were walking along an unlit alleyway with a thousand people, which was a bit scary but exciting.  In the subway, patrons cheered on incoming trains as they came to whisk them off to parties.

Europe 2011: Day 7

Day 7

Bologna isn't much of a tourist town, but perhaps this simple nature is its best characteristic. Its streets are lined with porticos that cover the sidewalks and leave the buildings with no setback from the street itself.   Walking along the main thoroughfare, the Via dell'Indipendenza, there are shops and bars as you head to the Piazza Maggiore.

Today we took a bit of time to walk around Bologna during the day.  Our first visit was to the giant San Petronio Basilica, one of the largest in Europe.  Left undecorated, this huge, cavernous church sits on the south end of the main square.  We then walk towards to the Towers of Bologna, two tall brick towers remaining from the medieval ages where a hundred towers surrounded the city.

I have a fondness for ascending towers and churches, perhaps because they represent the state of the art in engineering in those times.  Usually you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the organic layout of a city below.  There's no light show, virtual reality or audio guide:  Just a typically rickety set of stairs and the top with a view.  The towers here are exactly this, you pay three euros and climb up.

Bologna, still new to potential tourist interests, is delightfully old school:  the tourist map shows tortellini as one of the potential highlights of your trip but also fails to identify the names of historic sites marked on the streets.  As we leave for Rome, we bid it farewell and remember to return:  the food is good, the streets are filled with locals and the countryside of interesting stories.

Rome, two hours away on a brand new ETR600, styled by Italian design house Pininfarina, is an altogether different animal.  The train station is busy and crowded, the streets nearby are narrow and dirty. Tomorrow we will finally see the Sistine Chapel, after missing it five years ago!