27 March 2009 Can’t Decide
Totally gimmicky?
Archive for March, 2009
27 March 2009 Path to the Waterfall…
…is the name of one of my favorite books of poetry, by Raymond Carver, who is usually remembered for his short stories instead.
26 March 2009 Old and New Side by Side
Took a walk through the park near my house today with camera in hand. Noticed lots of instances like this one of signs of spring coexisting closely with detritus of winter still hanging around.
25 March 2009 Click to enlarge or your mother and I will be very disappointed in you
Always did love magnolia leaves
23 March 2009 Kids Being Kids
Genbo (who needs a haircut but is vociferously, violently opposed to getting one at this stage in life) reading a Curious George book. He has about 10 or so of these, and has them all memorized to the point that if I substitute a word, he catches me.
At least it ain’t Power Rangers 
Genbo and Zoe really do get along well. They are actively playing together even more recently, especially now that Zoe can keep up her side of things better and not just destroy what Genbo builds.
Here bro, have a railway switching thing
You’re a sweety, sis
My friend Jeffery was visiting me this day. Here he shoots a picture of Zoe in my arms for comfort, where she ends up whenever things don’t quite go her way (which is often).
Seeking refuge from the vicissitudes of life
That 35/1.8 lens really is a keeper, ain’t it?
“Just shut up about the lenses already, dad!”
15 March 2009 Imp in the Mist
My mom is here for a visit, staying in our house for a month. Whenever I tell American people that their jaw drops, but it doesn’t phase Japanese people, perhaps because three generations living under one roof is still common here.
My mom was nice enough to get me the new Nikon 35/1.8 lens, which I would recommend for anyone with a DX Nikon camera. It’s cheap, light, sharp as the dickens (not that you can tell shooting through a showerful of mist), and has nice bokeh.
One of the first subjects I shot with mine was Zoe in the shower. I realize that seven nearly-identical shots may seem somewhat excessive, but the key word is nearly, and narrowing it down to seven was itself a struggle.
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15 March 2009 Color and Motion
I just came back from a meeting of some photographers who get together every month to share and criticize each other’s work. It’s a truly humbling experience, because some of them are really good. The main “instructor” always has some great stuff (he shoots Canon, but nobody’s perfect).
I spend a lot of time reading gear-related forums on the net, and people there are obsessive about “pixel-peeping,” or looking at fine level of detail that you would never ordinarily notice unless you blew it up a print to the size of your dining room table and inspected it with a magnifying glass. While this is perhaps appropriate to gear forums, I enjoy my meetings of photographers so much because it’s all about composition and intent. Everyone critiques everyone else’s photos, and when you have ten people taking apart the composition of your photo, it’s an enlightening experience. A certain amount of technical proficiency is a given, but it’s not the subject of the conversation.
Of no particular relation to that are these two shots, which I took while experimenting with prolonged exposures. I tried following people with my lens as they walked down the street, at exposures of one-half to a second or so. These two are the most interesting.
