I helped out fellow photographer CK Sandberg with his booth at Como Park this past Sunday. Toward the end of the day we walked around its beautiful Japanese garden. Here are the pictures I managed to snag before we were ousted by a cranky park official:
Browsing Posts in Random Photos
I’ve passed this barn many times on the way to visit Heather’s parents. That day, the owner of the property was mowing, so I was able to achieve permission to go onto his land to get some pictures. Here is the best shot:
Signs, signs, everywhere the signs
I have many more photos to post; hope to get to them soon.
A few months ago, a colleague at work gave me a 1950s Ansco Speedex camera he purchased with a lot at an estate sale in the Portland, Oregon area. About a week later I took the camera to Indian Mounds Park, which overlooks the St. Paul skyline. The resulting pictures were heavily underexposed and were damaged due to not being wound tightly enough (according to the unknown developer to whom Ritz Camera sent it).
I tried a second time a few weeks ago and the results were much better. I used ISO 3200 B&W film and tried a variety of apertures and shutter times. I also brought along my Nikon N6006 and shot a roll of ISO 1600 B&W.
E-6 Lab developed and scanned the photos. I was extremely happy with their level of service and communication and I highly recommend them.
The first three pictures were taken with the Ansco and the last four with the Nikon:
On the following Ansco shot, I double-exposed the moon where I -thought- the sky might be in the first exposure, and it ended up, well…a little lower:
Slideshows of the complete set of pictures for each are here: Ansco and Nikon.
Today, I bought a used Nikon N6006 35mm camera with Vivitar 75-205 manual focus lens from a gentleman on Craigslist, went into Target and bought 3 rolls of Kodak 400, and immediately went out and took a variety of shots with the Vivitar, Tamron 70-300, and Nikon 50 f/1.4 lenses:
The above pictures were scanned by Walgreens as part of their photo CD option, so the quality isn’t fantastic. (I attempted to scan in the 4×6 prints on my HP Printer/Scanner/Toaster Oven but the results were pretty awful.)
My father had a Nikon 35mm that I used in high school and on a few rare occasions in my 20s. Judging by the pictures I found online, I believe it was the Nikon EM as I clearly remember the light meter in the viewfinder. I have asked him to try and find it.
Until today, my film SLR experience started and ended with the Nikon EM. For most of the 1990s and 2000s I used a Canon Sure Shot 80 Tele 35mm point-and-shoot and a Kodak DC3200 digital camera, both given as gifts from my father over that time period.
I love the fact that I can use several of the lenses I’ve gathered while venturing deeper and deeper into the Nikon Digital SLR world on the N6006. Long live the F-mount!
Sometime this summer, I plan to shoot a roll of B&W 35mm on the N6006 and have them professionally developed (read: not at a pharmacy). It’s been a very long time since I’ve shot B&W film, and I’m really looking forward to it.
I credit my original interest and instruction on photography to my father (Thanks, Dad!) and credit my wife for jump-starting my current interest with her encouragement (and chunk o’ money) toward the purchase of the Nikon D60 in 2008. I think it’s safe to say I’m doomed, now…
Update: Dad said he junked the Nikon EM as no repair shop indicated it’d be worth the effort to fix. Must…resist…finding…one…on…eBay…
Ate a tasty brunch at Fabulous Ferns today (recommended) and then went for a walk around Selby Street and Western Avenue in St. Paul. Here’s the butler statue in front of the Cheeky Monkey Deli (also recommended) using the Expodisc Neutral to get a good white balance:
Snooty Butler @ Cheeky Monkey
Okay, odd, but not too creepy. Prior to that, I caught this chef:
Still not too creepy. That said, on Friday night my band played up in Superior, Wisconsin. I took this picture during our dinner:
auuuuuuuggggggh!
…what the Holy crap! It’s like Geordi La Forge took off his visor during his own exorcism.
If you’re ever plan to go to the Anchor Bar, consider yourself warned.
I’ve had the recent pleasure of learning from Evan Uribe of Lumen Photography during what he refers to as “Street Walking,” or taking pictures while walking around in an urban setting. The first six photos below were taken this past Saturday with Evan:
The statue photo was taken outside of Buca di Beppo in St. Paul, MN. The others were snapped at various locations in St. Paul. Several were cropped but only the bright red/pink crabapple tree was altered in Lightroom Beta 3 to enhance the colors.
All taken with the Nikon D200 with a mixture of the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens, Nikon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 (I forgot my Tamron 17-50 in Minneapolis and had to make due with the 18-55), and the Nikon 50 f/1.4 lens (the tulip photo shows the power of the f/1.4).
Heather and I took a walk around Como Lake and snapped several pictures. We had the Nikon D200 with a Tamron 17-50 and 70-300, and Nikon D60 with 50-200 and Circular Polarizer.
In order, left-to-right, top-to-bottom:
1. A great shot of Heather with lots of contrasting colors. I didn’t modify in post. (Justin/D60)
2. Nice shot of bark on a tree. (Heather/D200)
3, 4. I ripped off Heather’s idea. (Justin/D200)
5. More bark. (Heather/D200)
6. A tree had been (somehow) pulled back and frozen into the lake. As the lake thawed, it created the slice as it returned back. (Heather/D60)
7, 8, 9. Ducks. (Justin/D60)
10, 11. Duck, gull. (Justin/D200)
12. Lake shot through the red. (Heather/D60)
13. Lake ice/water. (Heather/D60)
14. Lake water. (Justin/D200)
15. Car zoom! (Justin/D200)
16. Our outdoor cat, Rose. (Justin/D200)
Took a few pictures on a Spring afternoon at Cleary Lake:
…and then converted it to “Antique Photo” in Lightroom Beta 3:
Minnesota isn’t particularly known for photogenic pre-Springtime.
Most of the tips I found online about shooting hockey games involved the use of a 70-200 f/2.8, which I don’t (yet) have. I thought I’d wing it with my 55-200 f/4 and 70-300 f/4, and got, well, the results I expected (and feared). Some toying around in Lightroom Beta 3 helped a bit in post, but it’s pretty much a fact — you need fast zoom glass to capture hockey. Here’s one of the shots:
Others are available here.
I treated the shoot as a pure learning exercise, so from that standpoint, I wasn’t too disappointed. I used 4500 Kelvin on the white balance, which worked well for some shots I took with a 17-50 f/2.8. I neglected to re-white balance for the other lenses, so results definitely varied. The plexiglass was pretty badly scuffed up, so I took the pictures from above the glass standing on the bleachers, so the 17-50 was just too limited for that distance.
If I get another chance to do hockey, I’ll probably rent a 70-200 f/2.8 and see about incorporating the SB-800, now that I have a handy Justin Clamp.
One of Heather’s cousins is working on a school project referred to as “Flat Stanley.” We were given a cardboard cut-out to dress up and pose in areas around our community. Heather dressed up ours as a Minnesota Wild fan:
And here are a few of the photos I took of our brave friend:
