Previously, Zoom I.
Tag Archives: urban landscapes
Zoom I
On my way back from performing with Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band at The Steampunk World’s Fair, I detoured to Staten Island to visit my best friend and her (three month old!) daughter. My route back up to Boston skirted around the city, so what better to do than stick the camera out the window and trip the shutter a couple times?
Insta Cityscapes
I’m moderately surprised at myself for posting these on the blog, but I like how they turned out, especially of the Zakim. Taken with a really crappy cell phone camera and processed by Instagram. Observational powers and photographic concepts all by me, though! :)
Messy
Approaching the City
(Leica M4, 50mm Summicron-M, Tri-X 400, through a rainy windshield)
Spring in Central Square
I’m not dead, I’ve just been concentrating on film and my darkroom course at the SMFA lately. I’ll give you this though – a slice of springtime in Central Square
Boston Scenes
Selections from walking to/from a friend’s gallery opening last night:
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8
A while ago I had rented the Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. Why? I wanted something fun to play with, and had always been curious about the TS/E lenses. The 90mm also had a reputation for being very sharp (which it was!) and it had a high maximum magnification as well.
The tilting mechanism was what I was most interested in, and was also the weirdest thing about the lens. The plane of focus does *not* stay parallel to the lens as you tilt it. It also moves as you focus the lens in addition to as you tilt it. It’s still usable hand-held but when it’s absolutely critical you nail the plane of focus, a tripod is in your future. A good explanation of how tilt works can be found here from Northlight Images.
When you abuse the tilt, you can blur the heck out of an image like so:
Determined
I haven’t given up on getting good photos out of the T. Can you spot the self-portrait hiding in there?
And for lack of a better place to put them post them, a couple of shots on the way to/in the North End:
On an equipment related note I picked up the battery grip for my camera a little while ago – while it makes it a lot more bulky it fits my hands and handles much more nicely. It also makes my camera bag quite cramped, I might need a bigger one soon (any suggestions are welcome). I’ll also be renting the 90mm T/S-E lens this week, so expect to see some experimentation from that in the near future!
Boston Public Garden
Scenes over the past couple of weeks from the Boston Public Garden. I’m actually really looking forward to winter and hopefully getting some decidedly different shots then!
Most of these were made with my favorite lens, the 100mm f/2.8 USM macro; the exceptions are the first and last photos. Personally, I’m rather pleased with the B&W skyline shot, and the duck has a peculiar attraction as well.
