Monthly Archives: February 2013

On display

Photographs

In the alleyway.

Spotted in an alleyway off Post Street in downtown San Francisco.

Nikon D3x, pre-Ai 28mm f/2 Nikkor at f/2.8.

My mint example of this superb optic is a joy to use, and ideal for city snapping in tight quarters. Mint pre-Ai examples can still be found for around $250 if you shop around, but get to it because word is getting out, with dealers asking twice as much. Conversion to Ai and addition of a CPU are both very simple. New HN-1 period lens hoods are still listed at B&H! These sport a matte finish which is wrong. The true aficionado will seek out a mint original with the glossy finish that matches the lens.

Macworld

Computing

Some interesting things.

My son wanted to visit Macworld so we went along yesterday and found it surprisingly interesting. I write ‘surprisingly’ because we both expected the usual masses of iDevice cases/covers/holders/schikza, being fondled by guys with beer and pizza bellies and sporting unkempt beards that the iDevice/computer genre spawns like flies, but once you looked elsewhere there were some fine things.

First I picked up a new Glif for my iPhone 5, the previous iPhone 4/4S model no longer being the right fit. Thanks again, Apple, for making a toy phone replacement for one which was a classic of design. The show price of $15 was right, however.

There was one brilliant iPhone application which displayed the sort of innovation and originality which used to be the province of Apple:

You record a bird’s song and the application recognizes the song and returns a picture and lots of data on the bird in question. Genius, and a sure hit with children. The large booth was very popular.

Another similarly brilliant idea was for an iPad application which would turn the music score to the next page when it saw that you were playing the last notes displayed on the current page. A ‘Why didn’t I think of that’ inspiration. Congratulations to Musicnotes.

One of the most compelling demos was of a waterproof iPhone case. The iPhone, thus encased, was displayed in a fish tank and would play back your image in real-time. Here Winston gazes at the device while I snap behind him:

There are many to be found on the web but this demonstration from Seidio was inspired in its simplicity. They claim the phone’s functionality is unaffected and the asking price of $80 actually strikes me as reasonable for what it offers, which includes claimed impact resistance.

There were those of the computer persuasion aplenty, but I’m not about to call them nerds or geeks. As Bill Gates once said, “Watch out whom you call a nerd. You might end up working for one.”

Ethnic color was not wanting:

I would suggest these chaps add a bit of color to their headwear for marketing punch! They were marketing useful file format conversion utilities.

This bow used an iPhone to view the image and for aiming. Kind of neat – a solution looking for a problem – but I imagine it would get old very fast. Here Winston does the deed, shortly before giving it a ‘meh’ rating:

At $230 for a device somewhat lamely claiming to be an exercise machine I would pass on the Bowblade.

Digital artist Corliss Blakely was demonstrating one of the many stylii and painting apps on display, this one named ArtStudio, with the results also displayed on a large screen LCD. Lovely work:

One superficially attractive device was a fuel cell battery which uses fuel cell technology to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in water, using the former to provide electrical power. Named the Powertrekk its appeal quickly fades when you look at the high price asked, $229, and the fact that a part has to be replaced at $2 a pop after just two recharges of your iPhone. Sort of blows the whole eco-friendly claim in my mind.

HyperDrive’s CameraMator is a device which attaches to your DSLR and makes it possible to wirelessly transfer images to an iDevice. This intriguing hot shoe mounted accessory transforms your iPhone or iPad into a live screen previewer, like a remote digital back, and also permits the camera to be controlled remotely. I hope it supports RAW+JPG shooting as only the latter is what is needed on the iDevice, as a RAW file is simply too large to transmit and store. The maker claims 1MB/second transfer rates, which would be fine for small JPGs. Further, small files are dictated if using a cellular wi-fi connection, to keep use within monthly data caps imposed by our ethically challenged phone companies. B&H carries it at $300, which seems like an awful lot, but it may be a viable alternative to slow EyeFi cards and the like, which only come in SD-sizes. No CF which is what many Nikon and Canon DSLRs use. Availability is early March, 2013. B&H state the transfer speed is 20MB/s which conflicts with the maker’s 1MB/s claim. Believe the lower number. There’s a video on the maker’s site which is so poor that you have to think they do not want to sell the device. Not only is the moron on that tape incapable of pronouncing the device’s name properly, he prattles on for 65 second (any video which starts with “Hi there guys” is generally not worth viewing – last I checked half the world’s population was female) after which you know as little as when you started. Don’t waste your time watching it. Not the sort of thing to fill you with confidence. I’ll wait for the reviews.

All in all, a fun time.

Taken on the Nikon D2x using a pre-Ai 24mm f/2.8 multicoated Nikkor at full aperture. This combination yields a nice 36mm FFE focal length on the D2x’s APS-C sensor. All at ISO800.

The Golden Gate Bridge – Part III

Photographs

Getting to grips with it.

Part II appears here.

On this outing I made for the north tower, pulling off the Bridge at the last Vista Point right before the Alexander Avenue Sausalito exit. Get a load of this! There’s an ancient walkway/tunnel under the bridge approached through unmarked stairs made from old railroad ties. You walk under the bridge, the walkway shakes like the devil and the whole thing is major league spooky.

I have embedded a brief video which shows this tunnel, together with purple haze from the iPhone every time it gets close to the sun, a serious flaw denied by Apple, of course. If the video does not appear, refresh your browser page.



Purple haze courtesy of Apple.

I sent this video to a friend occasioning this hilarious response:

“Hitchcock would have you inch your way on the lower steel support until you were way out over the ocean. Then you would slip and fall but you grab the support with one last lunge of your left hand. Your shoulder bag comes off and the movie camera watches it descend out of sight. The villain (Alan Rickman) now carefully inches his way out, mocks your vulnerable position, and starts stomping on your fingers. In desperation you grab his leg, he loses his balance, falls, and grabs your foot at the last second. Now you’re both hanging as you struggle to hold on. He tries to pull his way up when your pants come off and there is a long scream until he hits the surging water below. Just then, a USCG helicopter arrives, lowers Alfred Hitchcock wearing an orange suit and helmet, and he straps you to his rescue harness. As you pull away and head for land, the entire GGB suddenly lurches, begins breaking apart, and disappears in a thunderous roar under the Bay.

Cut… wrap…..send to post production.”

Poking the lens through the old wires purportedly offering safety to those foolish enough to try this traverse, I got this:



Working on the GGB.

On weekdays there is abundant parking on this Vista Point and views of the Bridge and City par excellence.

That other Depression Era masterpiece, the Oakland Bay Bridge, is also visible:



Oakland Bay Bridge from the GGB northeast Vista Point.

Exiting the Vista Point back onto the Bridge, I took the Alexander Avenue exit to Sausalito then turned left on Danes Drive/Bunker Road, through the single lane tunnel (“Red Light up to 5 minutes”!), then left and up McCullough Road, left at the roundabout to Conzelman Road and up to the GGB overlook. Forget doing this on a weekend. Parking is impossible.

This is the long way around but worth it for the many great views.

Now some serious photographic opportunities presented themselves. The Bridge is backlit by the sun at this time of the year from this location, making for dramatic lighting. I had taken the 16-35, 50, 85, 180, 300 and 500 lenses but in the event nearly all the snaps were made using the wonderful 180 because, as everyone knows, it’s impossible to take a bad image with that optic.



Only one chance to get this one.


Mother and child.


Passing by.


Pacific mist.


Umbrella.


Sweet memories.

Wait long enough and you will catch a moment where there are no cars on your slice of roadway. The superb 300mm Ai-S ED IF Nikkor MF excels at this sort of thing, rested on a convenient park bench in this case.



Empty roadway.

The original roadway was made from reinforced concrete, replaced with asphalt-coated steel plates a few years ago. These are so much lighter that the roadway rose twelve feet!

As I was taking this a young couple approached me and the man said “That lens must be older than I am.”

I replied with an insouciant “Yup.” The duct tape on my beater lens adds that Kerouac quality.

“Manual focus?”

“Yup. My subject is not moving today.”

“So how long have you been over here, then.”

“Most of my life. I keep the accent as it connotes a level of intelligence I do not possess.”

Quizzical look. Goodbye. Back to business.

Battery Wallace overlooks the GGB and is another abandoned concrete plateau, replete with cannon emplacements, the cannon sadly long gone. It makes for some surreal scenes:



Battery Wallace.

Hose the camera around and there’s Alcatraz, in all its grim magnificence. Time we reopened it as a hostel for America’s CEOs who refuse to pay their country taxes which are rightly due.



The Rock.

For lunch after so visually rich a day I recommend Sausalito, just down the road. Taste of Rome does an excellent sandwich with a nice choice of California beers. Sausalito is tourist hell at weekends, lovely on weekdays. Sit on the sidewalk. A lamb burger, salad and beer ran me $16 with tip.



Taste of Rome.

Garish sky courtesy of the iPhone 5. If Ansel Adams was making images today, this over-saturated garbage would be perfect for his oeuvre.

All images except the last made using the Nikon D3x.

Greens

Dining, Photographs

A fine vegetarian experience.

Greens Restaurant has been doing business at Fort Mason since the Fort was opened to the public in 1976. There’s no table service on Mondays, but you can simply take your food to any one of the tables overlooking the boat marina and have at it.



Click the picture for the website.

As you can see, the setting lacks nothing. The Golden Gate Bridge is in the background.

I had a cup of chili, a tomato and mozzarella on Panini sandwich and an iced tea for $14.

The Dutch-school lighting in this interior is to-die-for gorgeous:



Vermeer light.

Nikon D3x, 20mm f/3.5 Ai-S Nikkor.