Umm, yeah. So it's been a while since I last posted. A long while.
It's not that I haven't been taking pictures; I've actually taken quite a few. I just never get around to editing or posting them. Over the next few weeks, however, I hope to make a few random posts that sum up what I've been doing and where, going all the way back to the beginning of the year.
First: Big Sur. Last weekend a friend and I took a day trip down to Big Sur, primarily to get out of the house and take photos, but also to sample the local restaurants and watch the so-called "supermoon" rise over the coastline.
Not being much of a restaurant/food photographer myself, though, most of my shots were in my comfort zone: landscapes. I wouldn't say there were any winners in the batch, but now I know a few great spots to camp out and wait for that killer shot -- one of these days.
For the past couple of months I've been on a kick to see how far it's possible to look into space with only a camera and lens, sans telescope. Given that I live in a populated area with light pollution, I didn't figure it'd be very far. But, surprisingly, it seems you can do a lot with relatively modest equipment.
The images below were taken at various times from December through January, including the total lunar eclipse from 12/10/2011 in various phases. Also included is a shot of Jupiter and its moons, and even a very grainy shot of the Orion Nebula, 1500 LY distant.
If I'm ever interested in pursuing astrophotography more seriously I'll need to invest in quite a bit more equipment, but for now it's been interesting to see how far cameras themselves have come in letting us look into the sky.
I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of of the photos from my Seattle trip (back in Sept!). I think I took so long because I had a hard time deciding if any of the remaining photos were worth posting after all the fun I had with the NEX. The rest of my photos seemed kind of blah by comparison.
Anyway, I decided I should at least post a sampling of them, and then move on.
In this set: a visit to the Seattle Aquarium, Kerry Park (which has great views of the Seattle skyline), the outside of the Boeing Museum, and some parting shots of the mountains of Washington (as seen from the plane on the way out).
No, that's not a typo. I've been going through an extended slump with photography because 1) it's time-consuming, and I can't seem to ever spare the time, and 2) it's disappointing to me when I do devote time to it and yet can never seem to get photos I'm happy with.
Thankfully, that's where the little Sony NEX-5 comes in. Whenever I get bored with photos, the NEX makes it easy and fun again. It's portable, light, and takes photos easily on par with those from larger DSLRs. Best of all, it can be adapted to take lenses from almost any camera ever made. In short, it helps make photography more convenient, which means I'm more likely to take photos when I have it with me.
As an example, recently I needed to use up some frequent flier miles before they expired, so I took a Labor Day weekend trip to Seattle. I wasn't going to bring a camera, but at the last minute I decided to bring along the NEX and a larger DSLR, just in case I felt the need to take some snapshots. And as it turned out, just having the little camera on me was enough to get me shooting. I also shot some with the larger DSLR (which I may post in the future), but for the most part it sat in the bag while the little NEX went everywhere with me.
The NEX also forced me into a different shooting style, which was probably good for me. Instead of trying to portray the "big picture," which I normally do while on trips, I tried a more intimate approach to the photos. I have no idea if it paid off or not, and in fact my photos may lack any sense of place as a result, but nevertheless it was a fun and different experiment for me.
So, to continue the experiment, for the next month I'm going to continue to shoot almost exclusively with the NEX-5 and see if it doesn't get me back to taking pictures more regularly. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, below are some shots from Seattle. All of them have little to no processing (another convenience of the NEX is the great onboard image processor), and are essentially straight from the camera. The primary lens was a 35 year old Minolta Rokkor 50/1.2, manually focused, with a couple of shots done on a Sony 16/2.8 (auto-focus).
Right before the 4th of July -- and I mean RIGHT before -- I got it into my head that I needed a diversion, and quickly. Things were busy at work and home, and free time was at a minimum. (Still is, for that matter.) So at the last minute I decided not to waste a 3-day weekend and instead tried to get away. On one of the busiest summer weekends. Yes, I'm poor when it comes to planning.
Needless to say, trying to find any place to go for the Fourth at the 11th hour proved a challenge, but I managed to score what must have been one of the last campsites in the state, and it was at one of my favorite state parks: McArthur-Burney Falls State Park, about 6 hours north of San Francisco.
I woke super early on the 2nd and was up at the park by 11am. Surprisingly, though the park was crowded it wasn't particularly rowdy or obnoxious. In fact, during most of the day the campground was empty; the majority of the people went down to the lake or the falls, and I had a quiet spot to relax in a hammock, read, and sleep. The fact that it was 97F degrees out may have had something to do with it.
I kept the picture-taking to a minimum, mostly because I found that when I had a camera around my neck I tended to spend more time seeing things through a viewfinder, and less time actually being there. So I took only a few snapshots.
Also, I exhibited another new talent (for me): I learned to sit still for a while. Normally when I'm on a trip I'm always moving, trying to see everything. But with this trip I forced myself to slow things down. I turned off my phone (there was no reception, anyway), and just took it easy. I must've hiked back and forth to the falls and creek a dozen times, and many of those times I just found a quiet spot to dip my feet in, sit, and read for a while. In short, it was a very different trip for me, but one that I needed.
As a result, though, I don't have many photos to show for it. I did, however, take some very hasty handheld footage, and I set up my camera for long exposures of the night sky. With a little effort in a video editor, the results are below. (And sorry, a videographer I am most definitely not.)
I also took some still photos, mostly snapshots of the experience.
If you're heading north on I-5 through California, you owe yourself the detour to Burney Falls. if you can, go in the Spring or Fall, when the temps are milder and the crowds fewer. If you can, stay in the campground for a couple of very relaxing days.
I haven't been taking too many new photos, so the next few posts will likely be photos that have been sitting on my hard drive forever and in need of editing.
