…. on drugs.
G1, kit lens @ 25mm, 1/400, f/8.
Years ago there was this advertising campaign which showed a couple of uncooked eggs in a frying pan (“This is your brain”) and then the same eggs fried (“This is your brain on drugs”).
I was reminded of that when snapping this in Monterey, CA the other day.
The message of that campaign was about as successful as the one here.
A new mural.
I chatted with this worker in the Mission District and he told me the mural was actually rendered using stick-on vinyl and that the store’s owner likes to change it a couple of times a year! In contrast, most murals in San Francisco’s Mission District are either painted or sprayed directly on the masonry.
G1, kit lens @18mm, 1/3200, f/5, ISO 320.
It reminds me of a snap I took on Broadway in New York 25 years ago:
Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Kodachrome 64.
An amazing area.
Whole acres of classic warehouses and administrative buildings have been left to rot. The windows are smashed, barbed wire fences erected to prevent access. Signs warn of danger and forbid trespassing.
This is the area in east San Francisco on the bay known as Dogpatch and Pier 70.
Home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, many having survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, Dogpatch is not what you would call pretty. Gritty and exhausted is more like it. But that in no way lessens the picture opportunities. I spoke with one of the guards and he told me that most of the warehouses date from the turn of the previous century, that the roads used to be made of beautiful cobbles, now asphalted over, and that a light rail line led right into the industrial center of Pier 70.
It’s sad to see all the wonderful potential of these buildings wasted. A less corrupt city would develop these into mixed use housing though the issuance of tax free bonds and enjoy the bounty of property and sales taxes which would ensue. But don’t hold your breath. This is California, after all.
When I first processed these as pretty much straight-out-of-the-camera renditions, I tried them on a friend who advised “This series would suit a more grunge type effect” so I went back, added some contrast, vignetting, vibrance and grain in LR3 and have to agree that the results are far more dramatic and effective.
All snapped on the Panny G1 with the kit lens, ISO 320.
If you find yourself in the area, check out the Hard Knox Cafe on 3rd Avenue – and order their excellent shrimp gumbo with the Hard Knox draft ale.
Snapped on an iPhone 3G.
The interior of this unpretentious place has walls lined with rusted corrugated iron, which perfectly fits the feel of the Dogpatch. They even have half-decent, free, broadband.
Or ‘Panaderia’
Spotted on 24th Street, San Francisco. The mural is typical of the area, with most stores commissioning artists to decorate their facades.
G1, kit lens @ 35mm, 1/60, f/5.5. ISO 320.
Twenty-four blissful months.
As a street snapper I am convinced that someone on Panny’s design team for the G1 shares my avocation. It’s been two years now since I bought mine and the file counter now says 13,566, so I have been averaging over 500 snaps monthly with this little wonder and have never been happier.
Lock-ups? None. Breakdowns? None. Bad exposures? One or two which were my fault. Backache from carrying the camera? None. Obtrusiveness? None.
To see what I wrote after one year of ownership click here. I haven’t checked but can say with reasonable assurance that 95% of those snaps have been made with the splendid 14-45mm kit lens, the rest shared by the Oly 9-18 and Panny 45-200mm optics.
What would I change? Not much. With less than 1% of my snaps being out of focus (I use auto everything except ISO where I mostly use ISO 320) and maybe some of those in poor lighting being grainier than I would like, faster focus and a better sensor is about all I would ask, both claimed enhancements in the G3 body which I have on order. The latter seems to be forever out of stock but it’s not like I am dying without it. I skipped the G2 as I have no use for the movie mode or touch screen and the sensor was unchanged. Indeed, the only time I use the LCD screen in the G1 is to check battery charge status.
These two happy years have proved to this street snapper that the eye and brain are muscles like any other. Use them often and they become sharper, faster, more acute. The fitness for purpose of Panny’s G1 has done wonders for my vision and reactions, taking me back to those early years with the Leica M3 when I was still a young pup making his way in tired old monochrome.
But results talk and BS walks, so here’s a little bit of fun.
Sitting happily in a coffee shop on 24th Street in San Francisco’s Mission District I set myself the task of snapping the next twenty or so interesting passers by while munching my cream cheese bagel and drinking the fine cup of joe served there.
I liked ten of the twenty – all were well exposed and so on, but these have the most interesting faces. A diversity of cultures, styles and dress which makes this vibrant area so fascinating for the street snapper. My window seat afforded me a wide angle of view, making anticipation easier. It’s amazing how fleeting these moments are.
Enjoy, and here’s to the Panasonic G1, the best street snapper yet. Time stamps are below each snap.
12:04
12:11
12:15
12:19
12:23
12:26
12:29
12:32
12:36
12:45
All with the kit lens at 25mm, 1/1000, f/5.6, ISO 320.