A new year and a new lens

 I got an early birthday present of a Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM "pancake" lens.  A co-worker had gotten one a few years back and I've admired it since.   It's small, lightweight and has a low profile, making it easy to carry around.

A Ken Rockwell review of this lens gives it good marks.  He summarizes that

The optics of this lens are superb, and its size make it a complete winner. For $150, you can't go wrong.

He's right.   

As a side benefit, the lens is classified as a Macro, but I haven't really taken much advantage of that at this point.  I ought to work dandy with a lens extension tube.

So, here's the moment of truth.  One of my first shots with this lens:

 

It's the back of Woodburn Hall on WVU's main campus.  This is an uncropped hand-held shot, but I did apply lens correction in PhotoShop.  I also ran it through Topaz Labs' DeNoise AI.   For the B&W, I ran this through one of Tim Shields' Lightroom Presets (Cold Tone).  

Ruby Sunset

It's often said that "the best camera is the one that you have on you."

Opinions differ somewhat as to the meaning of this.  For some, it means that any old camera that you have with you is better than none.  For others, myself included, it means that should a potentially good image present itself, you shouldn't be afraid to use what you have on you. Be it a phone or a point 'n shoot, don't pass up a great shot because you don't have your big fancy camera on you.

Wednesday evening was such an occasion.  I had just gotten out from an appointment, and I was struck by the most awesome sky.   "Red sky at night, sailor's delight."   What made this more delightful was the way that the setting sun illuminated a gap between two buildings -- Ruby Memorial Hospital and the WVU Health Sciences building.  The light reflected off of the windows on Ruby, creating an impressive arrangement of leading lines.

Could this shot have been better?  Certainly, if I'd had my Cannon 77D and one of my better lenses, I could have improved on the exposure.  But all I had was my iPhone Xs, and that's what I used.  And as for composition, I couldn't do anything about the white picket fence, which leads the eye away from the other lines.  It's a feature we'll all have to live with.

On a positive note, there was very little lens distortion in this shot, as you can see from the relatively straight vertical lines.  The electric lights are somewhat overexposed but not glaringly so (no pun intended).

Given the technical deficiencies of an iPhone picture, another school of thought would have me concentrate on the artistic nature of the shot.  Yes, I dare to say there is some of that.   So, not to leave well enough alone, I tried simplifying the photo using the BuzzSim filter from Topaz Studio. I saw this mainly as an attempt to smooth over the JPEG "noise" of the original.

Each shot has its merits.  I'll let you be the judge as to which you like better.

Up, Up and Away

It's been a busy week for me and my camera.   Last Saturday, it was Bridge Day and last night it was "night glow" for the Balloon Festival.  Night glow is what they call it when a bunch of hot air balloons fill up at night and light up on the ground.

This year it was at the Morgantown Mall.  I arrived early to catch a decent parking place and some dinner.  The night glow area was roped off between the old Sears (now, temporarily a Halloween store) and Lowes,

Some people started filling up while it was still daylight.  Here's one of them -- a very cool cat.

Once it got dark, they turned off the lights in the parking lot and let the visitors mill around amongst the balloons.  I really like to photograph the red balloon.  Here's a nice view of a number of balloons lined up and lit.  It was a lot like trying to photograph fireflies.   They all lit up and blinked independent of one another.  I had a few lucky shot where I caught several lighting up at a time.

Saving my favorite for last. The flames on these are overexposed, but it's still a nice shot.  I touched it up a little bit with Topaz Studio.

A New Old Lens

A while back, I scored a Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4 lens from ShopGoodwill.com.   It came attached to an old Konica TC film camera, but the camera turned out to be broken.  Still, the entire thing only cost me $20, plus shipping.

I spent a lot more money on a Fotodiox Pro adapter with focus confirmation chip for Konica Auto-Reflex (AR) SLR Lens to Canon EOS.  However, after a little fooling around with that lens, I'm convinced that I got a real gem.

Here's a shot I took a week or so ago:

The shot is a little dark, because I discovered that the camera's built-in light meter was giving me inaccurate readings though the lens.

Later on I tried using the Lux light meter app for iOS.  This proved much more accurate, as demonstrated by this test shot I took from the seventh floor of my building:

This is actually a crop of a much larger shot.   Looking very closely, there was slight chromatic aberration that was easily corrected in Lightroom.  This shot has crisp detail.  In some ways, the lens surpasses my favorite Canon EF-S 17-55mm lens.  I thought that the road signs over University and Beechurst Avenue were more legible.

I can't wait to try this lens out some more!

Variations on a Religious Theme

In the past couple of months, I've made a photographic study of the Forks of Cheat Baptist Church in Stewartstown, WV. 

Like my favorite hill behind the Dent's Run Covered Bridge, I've had a particular affinity to the composition of the landscape.  And unlike previous shots, I actually got a tiny bit of sky color when I shot it on November 4th.

Perhaps it's because of the two coal-fired electricity generation plants that are in the valley behind this hill, but it's been hard to catch this scene with any sort of clear sky.
 
Also, on that same date, I had brought along my Yashica MAT-120 TLR film camera.  This is an uncropped B&W shot from the 2x2 film.

This time, I used a tripod to steady the shot.   Other shots from close up weren't so exciting.  And they only got worse from here:

A couple of weeks later, on Nov. 23, I took another drive out in that direction.  Those shots were also quite nice.  I managed to get even more blue sky:

That one is probably a "keeper."  I like the long shadows case by the late afternoon November sun.

Roller Girl

Last Saturday, I got to sample our local Jingle Brawl multi-league roller derby tournament.  Took my camera (of course) but made the mistake of restricting myself to only one lens (of course).
Still, it was a fun challenge to shoot in a dimly lit arena with a telephoto lens.  This might have been the first time that I shot at strictly shutter priority.

I quickly discovered that it was foolish to try to shoot for high-quality 100 ISO images.

Here's a shot that I liked for overall composition:

I shot that at ISO 400, 1/30 sec at f/4.0.

Later on, I tried to shoot action shots by matching the sweep of my camera with the speed of the skater.  From a lot of shots, I came up with a few keepers.

That one was one of my personal favorites.  Shot at ISO 800, 1/30 sec at f/4.0  Look at how drawn out the faces in the crowd are as I "stopped" the skater in motion.

In the post-processing, I also tried out some Black and White shots.  Here's another one shot at ISO 800, 1/30 sec at f/4.0.

The following was shot at ISO 1600, 1/40 sec at f/4.5:

It's a picture of a "jammer" breaking away from the pack.

Life on Clay Street

This poor building.   In recent years, it's housed a Tex-Mex restaurant, an American-style chop house, a Lebanese bistro, and god knows what else.   Today, it's a pricey place called Morgantown Flour and Feed (lets see how long this link lasts).

The notable thing about this is the signage, which pays homage to the utilitarian past of this building.
The original Morgantown Flour & Feed Co. sign above the second floor has gotten a fresh coat of paint.  I can make out only the major part of the remainder, which reads "Gold Medal Flour."

Built between 1904 and 1906, it was originally the Kincaid and Arnett Feed and Flour Building.   If you really want to delve into the early details of this building, you should check out the National Register of Historic Places form (PDF). 

The warehouse and wholesale business area was once known as Durbannah, named for F.M. Durbin, who first developed this area in the 1840s.

Way Up North

This is the first time ever that I spotted a double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) north of the Florida gulf coast. 

This isn't a great picture of one.  It's just swimming and diving around in the Monongahela river near the Decker's creek confluence.  It has the prettiest color eyes.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site, this bird is well within its migratory range.  It looks like it breeds in Canada, so this one is likely just passing through.

Trillium signs the likes of which even god has not seen

I had seen this stand of white trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) from along the highway for a couple of years now.  Yesterday, I decided to brave the traffic and hauled my camera and tripod out to capture these.

Granted, the landscape leaves a lot to be desired, but I tried to convey the sheer number of these flowers.  Here's a more up-close shot:

According to one web site, Trilliums spread very slowly by underground root stocks, and the seed produced creates new plants even more slowly. From a planted seed, it takes approximately five to nine years for a Trillium grandiflorum plant to bloom. So when you see a massive drift of these in spring, you know you're looking at a bunch of plants that are at least a decade old, probably much older.

Obviously, this stand has been lumbered (at the least), but it's nice to see that such a large growth of Trilliums have escaped the bulldozer.

Spring in the Arboretum

Took a stroll down the rail trail to the bottom of the WVU Arboretum last Saturday.  The highly variable weather we've been having has had a strange effect on the wildflowers there.  I went for the Bluebells, but they weren't anything like what they've been in previous years.

Here's a panorama shot, facing up hill.

What was impressive was the volume of plants like Trout Lily and Wakerobin.

I learned something new about the Wakerobin.  There are a couple of closely related species of it.  I've always thought that this is the red trillium or wakerobin (Trillium erectum), but now I've leaned that this might also be a furrowed wakerobin (Trillium sulcatum), which is more southern and also grows in this state (W.Va.). Although quite similar, you can tell them apart by the smell: Trillium erectum smells like rotten meat and Trillium sulcatum smells faintly musty, like fresh fungus. Sorry to say, but I did not think to smell this.

...And the flag was still there!

The fourth nor'easter in three weeks was hitting Morgantown this morning.

This is a shot from the 7th floor of One Waterfront Place.

Forward, From the Rear

I had to deliver some papers to the Law Clinic at noon today, so I took my camera along for the ride.
The back of the Law School overlooks Ruby Hospital and the football stadium, but the view was far from grand.  Ronald McDonald house takes up the lower-right portion of the picture.

The light gray building above and to the left of the hospital is the old hospital, which has been converted to a life sciences building.  The white building to the right of the hospital belongs to NIOSH.

If only I could have risen about six feet, I could have been clear the the McHouse.

Morgantown from Atop

Saturday proved to be beautiful day, but I hardly had the chance to get out and shoot any pictures.
I did manage to get this panorama of Morgantown, as seen from the University Towne Center behind the Sams Club.

Colors are still drab.  This picture doesn't have a lot going for it, but it provides a nice view of the Coliseum and the Evansdale campus.  It's a BIG valley in this shot.

Here's a closer view that I like better:

Colors are a little wonky, but I like the play of light and shadows on the various campus buildings.  Besides the obvious coliseum, you've got Ruby Memorial Hospital behind that, and the Towers complex on the right.   Behind the Towers, you can make out Puskar Stadium.

Canadian Nationalism

While photographing a Canada goose, I got down low on a rise and shot up.   The results remind me of nationalistic art.

Here it is, goose-stepping:

And here it is in a heroic art pose:

Stranger in a Strange Land

Last night was one of those rare occasions where I possessed a semblance of a normal life.  Wife and I went to see Foreigner at the Creative Arts Center with a friend.

I don't think anyone from original band was there, but you'd never know if from the sound.  No sign of founding member Mick Jones in last night's lineup.

Front row:  The guy on the far left is Bruce Watson.  Next is Tom Gimbel, master of guitar, flute, saxaphone and keyboards.  The new lead singer is Kelly Hansen, who is a fitting substitute for Lou Gramm.  On the bass is Jeff Pilson.
In the back, on keyboard, is Mike Bluestein, and on drums is Chris Frazier.

After the band returned for an encore, they brought on a chorus of kids (don't know if high school or college) to accompany them on "I Want to Know What Love Is."   That was probably my favorite song, although I've been known to bastardize the lyrics to it.

I want to know what love is.  I want you to blow me.

Winter is Coming

The other day, I noticed this woolly bear caterpillar on my back porch.

Kinda, neat, right?  I've never seen an all-black woolly bear.  At least until recently.   A former co-worker of mine, Bob Myers, posted on Facebook his picture of an all-black woolly bear.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac

The Woolly Bear caterpillar has 13 distinct segments of either rusty brown or black. The wider the rusty brown sections (or the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.

Elsewhere in the article, there's this:

there could, in fact, be a link between winter severity and the brown band of a woolly bear caterpillar. “There’s evidence,” he says, “that the number of brown hairs has to do with the age of the caterpillar—in other words, how late it got going in the spring. The [band] does say something about a heavy winter or an early spring. The only thing is … it’s telling you about the previous year.”

Let's hope that the prediction is wrong,

All Lines Lead to Morgantown

Recently on Google Plus, I've been adopted by a group called the Landscape Photography Show. They periodically choose a theme and place a call for shot that fit the theme.   The most recent theme is Leading Lines.

Here's my submission:

We're required to provide a descriptive comment that discusses the challenges we've met.   Does that include waking up?

All lines lead to Morgantown. I've shot this scene a number of times over the years but this was the earliest time (6:50 a.m.) that I've managed. I guess I have to thank a raccoon in my kitchen at 4:00 a.m. for this. But we've got lines up the wazoo here: tree lines, water lines, receding pole lines, dock, fence rails, and the bridge spanning the river. All converge on Morgantown, W.Va. I didn't have my monopod, so I leaned against a fence post for support. ISO up to 400, lens all the way out to f/2.8, shutter at 1/8 sec. Thank goodness for the built-in image stabilization on my lens.

I also want to thank the raccoon for getting me out there early enough to finally catch the WVU Rowing Team at practice.     This has been my Rosebud.  Unfortunately, my Rosebud is a bit of a letdown.

I feel like the dog that finally caught the car.   No doubt about it, I need a better bucket list.

Going Retro

Late last year, I got the itch to go retro and started looking at old film cameras.  On the ShopGoodwill.com site, I took a chance on an untested Zeiss Icon Nettar 515/16.  It's the second one on this page.  What I got for about $22 was a NICE old camera that takes 6x6 cm pictures on 120 film.

Although I wasted no time in getting some black & white film and trying it out, I was slow in finally getting the film processed.  TheDarkRoom.com was a site that came recommended to me, and they are one of the few places that handle 210 film.  Part of the process includes scanning the negatives and posting the images online for you to download.  Price determines the resolution of the scan.  

This camera is seriously manual.   You have to remember to wind it every time you shoot, ergo:

That's the old Morgantown Ordinance Works on the other side of the Monongahela River.   They used to make heavy water there as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II.

Here's one that came out a little better:

Other than a little spot removal, this is pretty much straight out of the camera.  I used Ilford HP5 black & white film at 400 ISO.  I'm sort of familiar with that film, because the Ilford preset is one of my favorite settings in the Silver Efex Pro suite by Nik.  I'm probably being snobbish here, but the real thing is so much better than the simulation.

Now that I've broken the ice, I can't wait to try this camera out some more!

After the Storm

Queue music. Peer Gynt - Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - I. Morning Mood.

Last night was filled with winds and torrential rains.  Temperatures dropped significantly from yesterday.

This was the view from the University Towne (sic on the pretentious spelling) Center this morning at 7:30.  You can see the swollen, muddy Monongahela River slashing through the foreground.

One of the Google Plus groups to which I belong has a periodic landscape challenge.  The current theme is "The Changing Seasons."   I thought I would stick with the current season, but this is something different -- no Spring blossoms here.  Just a bit of greenery and ominous clouds giving way the the morning sun.

Buddy Guy at the CAC

Saw blues musician Buddy Guy perform at the WVU Creative Arts Center last night. I'm sorry to admit that I haven't heard much of his work before, at least nothing that I can recall.  I must correct this oversight.

A Wikipedia article on Buddy says that he is ranked 30th in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.  Last night, he showed how that was earned.

Up towards almost the end of the concert, I had respected the signs that said "No photographs or recordings."   Seeing that it was widely flouted, however, I grabbed a few shots on my old iPhone 5s.

I only wished that I'd had it together to start recording when he took his guitar playing up into the audience, wandering up and down the aisles and interacting with the audience.

He's a seasoned entertainer, chatty and full of quips and anecdotes.

I read that his latest album, Born to Play Guitar (2015) has won the 2016 Grammy for best blues album.   I plan to vote with my wallet and pick that album up sometime soon.