Nothing beats a good bitter.

Though I may have brought in five successful zinfandel grape harvests from my vineyard in years past, I confess wine does nothing for me. I like the gross profit margins of the growing business but do not care to consume the product.

No, when it comes to a favorite dinner drink, a nice pint of warm English beer hits the spot chez Pindelski. This snap is from the nautically themed Crown and Anchor pub in Monterey, a town I became familiar with a while back.

Crown and Anchor. G1, f/5, 1/3, ISO400

The city of Monterey may be distinguished by some of the worst summer weather on the California coast and maybe that’s why it is such a magnet for expatriate Englishmen. I don’t miss the weather but I do miss a good pint and there are several English pubs in the town.

If you are there, make sure to check Camera West, an old line camera store just around the corner from the Crown and Anchor. If film gear is your thing, be it Leicas or Nikon rangefinders (a huge selection of both), medium or large format, there’s a good chance you will find what you want at this collectors’ emporium.

On Santa Cruz beach.

G1, kit lens

On Santa Cruz beach.

G1, kit lens, HDR using 3 images and Photomatix

It seems the almighty dollar even rules at the beach – or thinks it does. Then again, this hut is many years old ….

Self portrait.

G1, kit lens

Snapped on the wharf in Santa Cruz.

Burning the late night oil.

G1, 24mm, f/6.3, 1/30, ISO 400

Spotted late evening in Carmel, CA.

The G1’s iISO feature (intelligent ISO) determined the ISO 400 setting, presumably predicated on using a shutter speed no slower than 1/30 to avoid camera shake at the 24mm focal length. I was using aperture priority and chose the f/6.3 setting. iISO seems to settle on shutter speeds no slower than 1/30 at medium focal lengths, unless the light is so poor that an even slower shutter speed is called for. At 24mm (48mm full frame equivalent) the 1/30th is like 1/125th with the two stop gain in shake reduction owing to the OIS feature built into the lens. I have the ISO limit set at 800 as at 1600 the image really starts to break up.

The bottom line is that iISO does an excellent job of mitigating camera shake by adjusting ISO, to the extent allowed or possible.