Self-Indulgence II
In an earlier post I wrote: “How does one define self-indulgence in a photographer? Perhaps = “succumbs to the allure of a new lens”? That was me today.”
Well, it happened again, with another second hand lens. This time it is a wide angle zoom – the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8 L USM. As you can see I have once again tested a “new” lens in the Chinese Cemetery.
More than a year ago I was given some money for photo gear, the idea at the time was I was going to buy a micro 4/3s camera for my pocket to have with me all the time. As it turned out the small film cameras I am using have fulfilled that need, so I finally spent the money on a lens which I have had my eye on for months.
This is my first zoom lens; I have been living with primes for the past three years (well actually, the past 40 years except for a point and shoot digital when I first abandoned film). This has not been a hardship by any means. However, when it came to my go-to wide angle prime, a 40 year old Nikkor 24mm/f2.8 lens, I was having chronic issues with its adapter. First among those was having to program the chip multiple times which was interfering with bracketing, and sometimes messing up exposures. It is a very nice lens and I will continue to use it for time-lapse and video and other applications which benefit from a manual lens. And it is a lot smaller too so sometimes it will come along just to reduce the load. This lens also overlaps with my Takumar 35mm/f3.5 which I really like and which is very small. It too will go on being used for video and the like, it is a lovely lens. Having this new lens which is faster and more modern in important ways is going to mean that how and when I use the older primes will become much more specialised.
Please Park Your Facilitator Around Back
This sign looks temporary, which might mean this guy was only welcome on a trial basis.
I don’t like to generalise (is that a generalisation? or even true?).
But surely this guy has just the right amount of cheesy smarm to confirm a stereotype.
As to “think….space”? What the heck does that mean?
Was he facilitating a clutch of orthodontists thinking about correcting crowded teeth?
Or a brace of executives and their work-force-adjustment strategies for emptying overcrowded work sites?
Castings
Another more point and shoot picture from my summer work on Quadra Island. These castings are on the forecourt of a (the) petrol station.
Normally for shots like this I prefer the black and white, but this time I think I vote the colour shot.
One Way Out
More from my Olympus XA2 in an underground parking garage that I was using as a short cut.
I thought the lower and artificial light levels would be a good part of my camera tests.
I quite like these pictures, but because of the nice clean graphics, which may not be enough to make a photo.
I find it interesting how on the top corner of both arrows one can see the circle,
with a slight indent showing how it would continue into the white part of the arrow.
You don’t see this on the bottom corners.
I am thinking it must be a small defect in the stencil perhaps emphasized by an optical illusion.
If so, then the stencil would have been flipped over between signs, with different lettering applied afterwards.
Is that kind of thinking essentially archaeological?
Alley Views V
In Alley Views II I showed a part of this mural. Later I found part of that shot painted over, as you can see here.
On my first visit I was with Melinda Green Harvey and she took a shot and posted one of this spot too. I like hers the best. Her beer bottle makes all the difference.
Terrific comments on that post too – you won’t regret checking them out for a solid dose of humour.
And to cut to that chase, this awesome comment riffs on a list of BC beers that appear earlier in the comments.
Clean Street Photography
Nothing like a clean street if you are a photographer. Surely that isn’t a tattoo of the Canadian Prime Minister?
Of course it was the back-lit spray in the shot below that caught my eye. Unfortunately it was absent from the action shots of the cleaner.
He stopped to let me pass dryly, but I pointed at my camera and he kindly carried on so I could take photos.
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