Tag Archives: photography

Snow

Lots of snow in an alley behind my buildingI’ve temporarily lifted the focal length limit for this month due to historic snowfall.  Popped on the zoom lens and got busy snapping pictures, although I can already see that it’s made me a little bit lazy in terms of getting things set up and thinking things through before I shoot.

I see far too many outdoor shots where the ISO is inappropriate because I neglected to change it after shooting indoors.  And snow during the day just overexposes everything so it wasn’t necessary.

To counteract that I think I’m going to shoot manual for a while and get back into the check settings, compose, and shoot workflow that I had when I didn’t worry about focal lengths.

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Just another day

It’s a day off from work, not for travel or a vacation.  But it’s a day off nonetheless.  The reason is that no one can get their car out of the snow.  Side streets are equally impossible.  I realize, midway through the day, that I’m out of toilet paper.  Not the last sheets on the roll, but I’m out of the supply in the closet.

So out I go, not out of panic or snow related emergency, but just because it’s time to pick up toilet paper.  It happens from time to time.

Checklist.  Snow boots, jeans, parka, hat, empty backpack, camera.

I take a lot of pictures this errand.  Most unusual for picking up toilet paper at the CVS down the street.  Usually I don’t take any.  But today is different.  Today the district is still digging out from two to three feet of snow in some places.  And tomorrow, there will be more snow.  I will bring my camera and take pictures of whatever catches my eye.

There are a few things.  Icicles three feet long hanging from the eaves of the retirement home.  Plowed snow taller than I am.  Cars still entombed in snow.  Improvised snowmen on the corners.

But I need toilet paper, so I get in line at the drugstore and get it.  Then I walk home.

It doesn’t feel like history.  But I guess it never does.

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At the very least, it's something

The snow was packed mostly in the street, but there were uneven spots that made me weary.  I didn’t notice until he and I were passing each other.  He was headed uphill, from the direction I had come.  We passed within five feet of each other, silent.

His clothes were from a more civilized era.  H’s wearing a waistcoat, tie, a proper hat and an overcoat.  Also, galoshes.

I’m wearing a pair of North Face snow boots and jeans, my “comrade” hat and a parka.

What catches my eye is what he’s cradling in his arms.

A film camera, wrapped in leather, hanging directly from a small thin strap.

My hand subconsciously drops to my DSLR, hung to the side of my waist by a strap that goes across my chest.

I take a few more steps then turn around.  He’s turned to look at me as well.  I wave and he waves back.

“Enjoy!”  I say.

He nods.  “I will.”

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Snow

There is only so much you can do when there is about twenty four inches of snow on the ground.  So far today has been filled with reading, drinking various types of hot beverages, eating when the mood strikes, and lazing abouts.

There was a bit of time when I did go shooting though.  Lots and lots of nearly overexposed pictures.  Hoping that tomorrow is a warmer, more accessible experience.

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The 75mm

This month is a new lens.  I’m shooting with the 50mm f/1.8, which is functionally a 75mm equivalent with the 1.5x multiplier for the DX format for Nikon cameras.  I’ve found it to be a different experience than my 52mm equivalent lens.  It’s the field of view.

With the 75mm, what I’m capturing is a lot smaller.  I know exactly how much of what I can see is going to be recorded to the sensor.  In this case, if I extend my arms directly in front of my shoulders and make a frame with my thumb and forefinger on each hand, that’s how much the D70 is going to capture.

It’s kind of amusing.  All this time I thought people were just being pretentious when they did that.  Now I know they were just seeing how much they could get with an 80mm lens.

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