San Francisco

Catalonia...

I wonder if this place, Catalonia, is the canary in the coalmine. What I mean by this is the following ... I've noticed of late that a lot of small regions are striving to get away from their bigger brethren. Scotland and Ireland for example. Or the Donbas in Ukraine. Or what happened to Yugoslavia. One can point to literally hundreds of places where the people are very unhappy with the powers that be and are agitating for their independence. I don't have a really firm opinion on this one way or the other but it certainly runs contrary to all the elite attempts to cobble together one big entity that rules them all. Suddenly trade agreements are falling apart and the EU looks a bit shaky given Greece and the Brits. Even the US is starting to see some ominous cracks. It certainly seems plausible that America could fracture into several large autonomous countries ... don't you think? The south certainly, then the West excluding the left coast, then the industrial northeast and maybe Texas on it's own. That would leave Alaska and Hawaii as odd men out with no where really to go. Maybe Alaska joins with the south or the mountain west region and Hawaii jumps in with California. I think many on both sides would agree that maybe Lincoln was wrong to force the south back into the union. Look what an unhappy lot they've been ever since. They just don't seem to fit in very well. Same with the mountain west with their libertarian tendencies and their big emphasis on state's rights. It's a very unstable time we live in. So many counteracting forces all pushing and pulling in different directions. Not the big, happy family one would expect. I don't know where this is going but it certainly looks like we're in for a big upheaval. Hold onto your hit ... it's going to get very rocky.

National Park fees...

I see where the Trump administration wants to significantly increase the entrance fees for many of the most popular national parks. I have a senior pass so I'm safe but these new fees, up to $70/car are really steep. A lot of families couldn't afford rates like that. The justification is the increased crowds that are, surely, overwhelming these parks. I can attest to this first hand but I think the solution is not the correct one. What is overwhelming the parks is all the foreign tourists and their big buses. I've been in a venue when a couple of these monsters roll in and it's a huge circus. Especially when they are Chinese. I'm not against Chinese tourists but they are the majority of these big waves that wash over the parks. I was in Yellowstone in late May and saw this issue big time. One morning I was in the midway geyser basin when 2 big buses rolled in. Suddenly there were 150 Chinese, all doing their best to get in each other's way and the noise was impossible. They have no appreciation for the amazing place they are visiting and you literally can't set up to take a picture with them around. I've had them walk in front of my camera and stand (or vamp) while I'm trying to get a shot. There is no respect for others. They all want to vamp for the camera and take a million selfies. For about 30 minutes the place is bedlam. Then they get on their buses and move on down the line. But all too soon another group arrives and the mess repeats. So, why not charge these tour groups big fees to enter the park. Let them pay $100 each for the privilege of visiting our parks. That would raise a lot of money and maybe keep the citizen's fees down to a reasonable level. And maybe cut down significantly on the numbers in the parks. I think it's worth a try.

San Francisco

I love this town. I went to graduate school down the peninsula in Palo Alto and my wife and I would ride the train up just to spend the day wandering around town. I know the overstuffed coders from Google and Facebook have overrun the place but it's still not all that bad. That said I find myself only spending a few days at a time there as the craziness gets to me and I have to chill for a while. This last trip I was only there for 3 days and then moved on. It's hard to find a place to sleep (I don't stay in hotels for a lot of reasons) so I have to drive out of town. This time I spent 2 nights in a rest area on I280 near Hillsboro which was very interesting. But there are so many wonderful places to shoot and that's what keeps me coming back.

This image was taken from the foothills in Golden Gate Recreational Area. I was in the last overlook just before turning north and couldn't pass up taking this image. You can see most of the bay area including the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island (just behind the north tower of the bridge) and just a bit of Alcatraz. It truly is an amazing place.

This is a single image, run through Lightroom. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

San Francisco - 35mm,f/16,30 sec, ISO 200,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Golden Gate Bridge

Nothing in Particular...

It's one of those days where nothing much gets through the daily fog of plodding through the motions. I've been struggling with severe pain the last few days, caused by my arthritis. It's everywhere and when it flairs up I find it very hard to concentrate or to do much of anything other than try to get through the day. Taking pain relievers isn't my thing as they have their own dynamic and I'd rather not become dependent on more pills if at all possible. But you can probably tell that I'm distracted and pain is certainly part of the reason why. I'm also trying to work through some issues that will seriously impact my life going forward and I want to be sure that whatever direction I take it has been carefully vetted.

That said, I can't avoid the fact that my country seems to be spiraling off into oblivion. My president ... oh how I hate to admit that association ... my president is in Hamburg, Germany trying not to look like the fool in front of the world's leaders. I don't think he is succeeding. That may be a good thing as I think it is time for the US of A to pass the baton, to let others have a crack at solving the world's problems. We seem to be failing at that lately. Everything we touch turns to ... excuse my vulgarity ... shit. At a time when we need to be working together to solve some very serious problems, our government is being stupid and greedy. We need to figure out how to survive what's coming and that's not possible given the current political situation in America. We seem to be going backwards, to be looking to the past for answers and that's not what is needed. I wish I could help ... wish I could come up with answers, but I'm too old and too sick. So it's up to others to find a way forward. I wish you luck.

Golden Gate Bridge

I spent several days in the Bay Area, most of that time around the bridge. I love this construction. I'm not a big fan of most human endeavors but building this bridge is very high on my list of great machines. It was an engineering marvel when built in the 30s. But what I like about it is the way it actually enhances the gate. It could have been an ugly, stupid monument (some of the early designs would have been horrible) but a few individuals understood that this bridge had to be not only functional but beautiful. The engineer, Joseph Strauss, and architect, Irving R. Morrow, produced a miracle that has stood the elements for almost 90 years. I hope she stands for 90 more. What an amazing sight.

This image was taken from the bay side of the south anchorage at around 8 am. There were few cars on the bridge at that hour which helped set the mood. It was a very nice morning to visit the grand lady of the gate. It consists of a bracketed set of 3, run through Photomatix and finished in Lightroom. I hope you enjoy this wonderful picture. I certainly enjoyed making it.

Golden Gate Bridge - 35mm,f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Golden Gate Bridge

Where am I?

I'm not ignoring you ... I'm just off doing other things. I have a family that needs some attention from time to time and I'm still working on that software project. Plus I'm starting to think through what I want to do on the next cycle which starts probably after the new year. I'm thinking hard about spending a long time in and around LA to work on my timelapse video and then what do I do? I don't want to be driving nearly as much as I did last time ... almost 10k miles and a lot of money. This time I want to be more localized and concentrate on southern California. I think that's possible. And since I want to do a nighttime video I can sleep during the day and avoid most of the issues around night camping and rule breaking. There's lots of issues to be resolved and plans to be made so I'll be busy for the next 4+ months. I'll still try to cull my photos so there's a constant stream of new images but I have other fish to fry too so bear with me while this gets done.

Golden Gate Bridge at Night

I spent a total of 2 days in San Francisco. I've already explained why I cut my stay short so I won't bore you repeating the obvious. I spent almost all that time around the bridge as it's the most obvious landmark in SF. Such an amazing construction and one of the few man made structures that actually enhances it's environment. The guy who designed it made a really excellent choice with the color ... international orange ... which lets the bridge stand out from it's surroundings while actually complementing the colors of the hills and city. A true work of art. And, if you've noticed, one of the few human constructions that appears in my pictures.

It wasn't easy taking this panorama. I had originally hoped to take this picture from the highest observation point in the park but fog got in the way. I was parked high above the bridge, awaiting sunset and the chance to take some really awesome pictures but, as is often the case in northern California, the afternoon fog rolled in and pushed the ceiling down until the bridge disappeared totally from this vantage point. I was forced to work my way down the observation overlooks as the ceiling fell until I was pinned at the lowest observation point. But the insults weren't finished yet. Every time I got out of my truck to set up, some clown would pull into the parking area and leave his lights on so my shots were ruined. Finally, in total frustration, I crawled into my truck and hunkered down until very late ... almost midnight ... when all the gawkers had finally gone home to bed and I had the place all to myself. Fortunately, the fog remained just above the tops of the bridge stanchions so I could see the red fog lights and traffic flowing across the span. It's a very nice picture but not perfect. The fog and mist gives all the lights a halo which is both nice and not so good. Also, some of the sections are a bit overexposed. I plead to frustration ... after all the negative pressure going back many hours I was just rushing to get any image and get back into my truck. At midnight it's really cold and raw up in those hills and standing outside for long periods trying to get the perfect picture is very uncomfortable. If I get back there this next cycle I'll do better ... I promise.

Golden Gate at Night - 16mm(1.6 crop),f/11,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco disappointment...

I may have already said that San Francisco was a huge disappointment to me. I was so looking forward to some time in the city after a 3 year absence but, when I finally arrived, it was almost impossible to do anything. The problem was my truck ... and finding a safe place to park it. Everywhere I went I saw signs indicating that my truck was at risk of being broken into and I needed to carry all my valuables with me or they would be stolen. Imagine taking all my valuables ... cameras, computers, generator, refrigerator ... all my valuables far exceeded my ability to carry them. So I was always looking over my shoulder and worrying if I'd parked in the wrong place. I'd wanted to find a place to just leave the truck and use public transportation to get around but it was just impossible to find such a place. So, after 2 days of worrying and limiting my activities I threw in the towel and left. I still want to spend time in the city but I need to rethink my strategy and find somewhere, probably outside of the city, to park and ride. But this cycle my plans went up in smoke and I'm not happy about that at all.

Golden Gate Bridge

One doesn't spend time in SF without visiting the great lady in the bay. She just turned 75 a few years ago and looks great. They take excellent care of her as she's an architectural wonder. She actually makes the city look better ... something few bridges can lay claim to. In fact, most of my 2 day stay was focused on capturing images of this great lady. I walked her full length, from the north parking lot all the way to the south pier, and got lots of images. I'm still culling through them but this one is really special. It was taken from the north parking lot looking south. There was a thick fog hovering just above the bridge piers which gave an ethereal look to the image. It was midday so traffic was heavy and, as you can see, lots of people on the bridge. My 200 mm telephoto zoom pulled the image very close, making the distance between piers look much shorter than reality but it gives a really interesting twist to the photo.

Golden Gate Bridge - 200mm(1.6 crop),f/16,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0

Palace of Fine Arts

Pixel Wars

I'm presently updating my camera gear and have been watching very closely the current (and pending) offerings of both Canon and Sony bodies. For a while now the Sony sensor (used in both the Sony A7R and the Nikon D800/810) has been the king of the hill with 36 megapixels in a full frame format. An amazing instrument with wonderful dynamic range and the resolution ... truly mind boggling. Unfortunately, until a few weeks ago Canon was far behind with the 5D Mk III topping out at 'only' 22 megapixels. Still a respectable resolution but not in the same ballpark as the others. Well, that all changed last month with the announcement of the 5DS and 5DSR, anchored to a mind blowing 50.6 megapixel sensor. The few pictures I've seen from this monster are very impressive but so is the cost ... $3.6K. Not huge but a significant increase over the previous 5D body. For someone on a limited budget that's a significant hit.

But there's an even bigger issue with the mega bodies ... glass. There are few lenses that can measure up to the demands of this new camera. In fact, I'm convinced one of the reasons Canon held off on delivering 50+ megapixel full frame bodies is that they don't have lenses that can do justice to the staggering resolution. I'll discuss this more in a minute. There are, of course, 3-rd party lenses like the Zeiss offerings but they are all primes and rather expensive. I'm not poor but not rich either and buying a full complement of primes would break the Bank of England and my back. Unfortunately, the cheaper 3-rd party lenses just don't have the quality and resolution to work with these new cameras (the Sigma Art series may be an exception but they are not cheap either ... costing up to $1000 per copy). So, given my intention to buy one of these new cameras in the near future, what lenses am I buying now ...

The Great Lens Decision

I've spent a long time exploring the lenses that would form the basis of my new adventure. Good images need great glass. I've read many reviews and looked at a long list of candidates before settling on two that are, in my opinion, the best combination of versatility, resolution and price. I'll tell you which ones in a moment but I first want to point out a little measurement tool most non-professionals don't know about. It's called the lens' MTF or Modulation Transfer Function. This is a measurement of how the lens treats light and images. It is a theoretical process that takes known patterns, transforms them through the lens and measures the resulting distortion at the sensor. You can read a very good description of the process and the justification here, here and, for the technically challenged, here. For an excellent article (PDF) about reading MTF curves, go here. Although you needn't be an expert in optics to buy lenses, this set of curves can be a big help in cutting through the haze of propaganda most lens manufactures throw out there. They were a big help in my decision process.

The important thing to understand about MTF and lenses is the 'faster' the lens, the more likely it is to create issues with distortion and resolution. When you think about it, this is obvious. Fast lenses have larger apertures to let in more light (an f/2.8 lens gathers twice the light of an f/4). But, more light challenges the lens' elements to be ever more precise and 'perfect' until you reach the diffraction limit of the glass which is a point beyond which no lens can pass. It's the reason why Zeiss and Leica lenses cost more than a small car ... near perfection costs big money to achieve.

First off, both lenses I chose are zooms ... I need some versatility and need to limit my collection to just a few key elements. Zooms create additional challenges for lens design as the optics need to be nearly perfect as they shift relative to each other during the zooming process. It's hard enough to create a good prime and near impossible to create a good zoom. And the faster the zoom, the harder it is to get good images. Fact of life and not negotiable.

So, my selection criteria were as follows:

1) Has to be Canon as I'm already a Canon shooter and have an investment in bodies and compatible lenses. Don't have the money to switch horses midstream,

2) Weight is a significant factor. I'm not young anymore and my bad back can't take the weight of massive zoom lenses and heavy bodies,

3) Best resolution I can find so the eventual megapixel camera I buy isn't insulted by crappy glass,

4) Not so expensive I have to sell my children to get the money.

First Lens: Canon 70-200 f/4 zoom lens (available B&H)

The MTF for this lens is here while the f/2.8 version is here). Both are excellent at f/8 (the solid, heavy blue line at top of graph) but the faster f/2.8 has issues wide open (black solid heavy line) while the f/4 is much better. I read several reviews about the f/2.8 which expressed disappointment with softness on the edges and that was using a 5D Mk III. On the higher resolution sensors it would be disastrous. I'd be forced to use the lens at f/4 or lower just to keep the softness from ruining my images. Given that, why waste a grand (criteria 4) and twice the weight (1.67 vs. 3.28 lbs) (criteria 2) for a lens I can't use wide open? So I got the f/4 version and will live with the minor inconvenience of losing a stop in speed.

Second Lens: Canon 16-35 f/4 zoom lens (available B&H)

The MTF for this lens is here and the f/2.8 version is here. In this case, the f/4 is far better even at f/8. Again, reviews didn't like the softness from the f/2.8 while they raved about the f/4. I saved $400 and a bit of weight (1.3 vs. 1.4 lbs) but got a much better lens. Speed isn't an issue for me as most of my work is landscape and equivalent.

As I get better at this and, hopefully, make a few dollars I'll buy some fast primes to compliment my zooms. I've already got my eye on the new Sigma 24 mm f/1.4 for night sky photography and other pursuits requiring a really fast lens. And should I get the soon to be released Sony A7R Mk II or the A9, there are some very nice Sony/Zeiss lenses to choose from. But, for now, I've got two excellent lenses that will be more than adequate for the next body I get.

The Grand Pavilion

A couple years ago I was in San Francisco visiting my kid and had a few days to wander around the city. Although I lived in the area for years, I never had the chance to explore the Palace of Fine Arts which is a great park not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. I've seen lots of pictures shot looking across the lake to show the pavilion but never have I seen a picture taken on the inside. Unfortunate as the dome is beautiful and impressive. To get this shot, I got low to the ground and shot upward, taking 2 sets of brackets images for HDR and to combine in a vertical panorama.

I've revisited these images several times as my knowledge has improved. For a long time I couldn't get the pano to work as I'd not taken into account the parallax issues and didn't use a pano head so my first several efforts showed only part of the full picture taken from the bottom shot. That changed a few weeks ago when I finally got the two image pairs to match in Photoshop using PhotoMerge. I also tried Hugin (an open source pano stitcher that's really powerful for multi-row image sets) but found it didn't give me as good an image.

I have to admit I really don't like this image all that much for several reasons. First there's the pano issue which, while resolved, isn't perfect. Photoshop had to distort the bottom image way out of proportion because of the parallax mismatch between the two images. Second, for some reason I shot the images at f/22 and the diffraction killed the resolution. Couldn't see that on the small screen but it's obvious if you blow the image up to 100%. Third, the sky really sucked during my visit. The salty air around San Francisco can turn the sky a very pale, washed out blue which is very unappealing and is hard to work around. Finally, I was in a rush to visit lots of places around the city and didn't wait for some better light and the image suffers as a consequence. But I wanted to put it here to show the great lengths I went to to get a reasonable image.

One major problem is I didn't get the image accurately centered in the camera. Notice how the dark triangle on the upper left side is larger than on the right and how the left urn seems to be lower in the image than the right. I could have rotated and cropped the image but that often causes issues with softness and distortion. I'm trying to learn what processing steps cause the greatest image distortion as this will be a major issue when I get the megapixel camera. Again, that rushing thing and a problem I'm working really hard to overcome. Returning to this exact place with the right equipment is on my bucket list and may happen this year if things work out as planned.

Palace of Fine Arts - 17 mm (1.6 crop), f/22, 1/6 second (license CC BY-NC 4.0)

After running the image sets through PhotoMatix I used PhotoMerge in Photoshop to create the final panorama. As I said before, the image is somewhat distorted because this utility had to stretch the bottom image to get the columns to match up correctly. The result isn't too bad as you get this dramatic impression of looking very far up but you do get a surreal feeling when looking at it.

There was some serious chromatic aberration around the arches which had to be fixed. I'd tried to remove most of it using the tools in Adobe Camera Raw and PhotoMatix but there was still a strong purple fringe in the left arch (see below). I discovered the best way to eliminate this was to select the fringe using the Select > Color Range tool and adjust the settings until I'd gotten most of the pixels. I then used my paint brush and selected a color close to the fringe (from the building side) to paint away the fringe. Worked really well for the most part ... however there's no way to fix the crappy focusing and diffraction. That needs a better, more experienced operator (me) behind the lens.

Chromatic aberration at it's best

It doesn't get any uglier than this

The image at left highlights the big issue for this image. I have this really impressive structure which ought to blow your socks off and the beautiful arches are flooded with some of the ugliest light I've every seen. Totally washed out and uninteresting. This had to be fixed but the fix was ugly. I don't normally like to doctor images, especially the sky, and I'm willing to fall on the sword for violating my promise never to do anything like this. I'm not selling this photo for that reason. But I wanted to see what I could do with this image so was willing to make this compromise for the purpose of learning what to do. Fortunately I live in Albuquerque which has an abundance of beautiful clouds so I took the image from there and worked it into the Palace of Fine Arts.

This is Photoshop and not express so I don't know how much of this can be done with this more basic tool. I used the "Magic Wand" selection tool to pick the bright pixels in all three arches. The cloud image was put on a layer above the panorama with a mask that was mostly black except for the three arches which were white. I feathered the mask edge by 1.5 pixels to remove that telltale edge one often sees with merged photos. As you can see, the effect is quite dramatic and elevates the image to a higher level. Just wish the clouds were from California, not New Mexico.

There were also some local corrections for color and to remove a few inconvenient flares that marred the final image. But, given what I started with, not a bad outcome. However, this image was a brutal teacher for me. Like my high school drafting teacher who used to throw erasers at inattentive students, this set of images kicked me hard. Lack of patience and inexperience with the camera (which was all of 3 weeks old at the time) set me up to miss a golden opportunity. I'm not so dependent on the camera making correct decisions anymore and now use a lot more manual focusing. I'm also getting a reasonable size tablet computer that plugs into the camera so I can look at the image more carefully and get a better focus. And I'm starting to think a lot more about depth of field and shutter speed and noise and all the things that separate a serious photographer from an 'enthusiast'. So I'm grateful to this image for being hard on me. I've learned a lot more from it than almost any other image I've taken.

The Road Less Traveled

I'm a photographer. It's in my blood. Not in a professional sense, at least not until now, but always there, an itch that I had to scratch. Throughout my life I've always had a camera ... sometimes a simple point-and-shoot, other times a serious instrument like a Mamiya twin lens reflex in high school or an Olympus OM-10 during my world travels in the 80s. Always a camera, always an image to capture or a memory to preserve. And always so much joy behind the lens.

But 'being' a photographer never happened. Life got in the way ... raising kids, working for the cash flow, chasing the ever elusive brass ring ... always something 'more important' interfering with what my heart really wanted. Year after year with my face pressed to the grindstone and that gnawing fear that time would run out for the dream. At times the idea seemed impossibly far away.

But life is always about second (or third or forth) chances. Circumstances change, opportunity knocks and, if you're listening, a new tune plays. And I am listening. Suddenly the obligations are gone, the impediments are pushed aside and I'm free to change direction. And what a change. You see, I've got a new passion in my life ... I'm going on the road.

The idea is simple and yet, maddeningly twisted. I'm buying an old truck (oh, not so old but not new either) and I'll put a cap on and get all the needed gear and flesh out the camera stock and computers and ... and then start drifting. I'll start in Albuquerque (I have family there) and follow the warmth as it moves north. By summer I'll be in Canada, maybe Banff, and then start working west and south as the winds blow cold. By fall I'll hit Washington state and follow the coast down to the Mexican border and finally back toward home base by late winter. Then wash, rinse and repeat, each time taking different routes and visiting new places. Always drifting, always taking pictures, always finding new experiences.

What's different is I'm inviting you to come along ... vicariously or in fact. I'll post my itinerary on this blog so everyone knows where I'll be. Look for the red flags on the Google map to the right. Click on the flag to see the date(s) I'm planning to occupy that location. Where I'm currently at shows in yellow and past locations in green. If my route passes near you ... you're invited to hook up and we can shoot together. Simply e-mail me and propose a time and place. We'll trade techniques and 'war stories' and learn together. My (our) images can appear here ... hopefully at least one per day ... along with occasional videos as I shoot, process and breakdown how I got to the final result. I encourage you to comment on the images (no flames please) and maybe more. I'm considering making the raw, source images available for download and you can play with them and post back your take on my stuff. The idea is to advance all our skills by sharing ideas. Does that sound like a workable plan?

Oh Man ... Don't You Just Want To Crack Them Open

I'm a few weeks away from getting all this started but I wanted to put up my first image. I shot these lobsters a few years ago while visiting San Francisco. These beauties had just come out of the huge steaming pot on Fisherman's Wharf and looked so damn good. The sky was salty blue but I let it blow out so the background didn't interfere with the main subject. This was a single shot, hand held. In post I pushed the reds to extreme and the sky to full white. My mouth waters just thinking about how good they must taste. Now ... where's the drawn butter?

Ready to eat ... 17 mm 1.6 crop, f/7.1, 1/13 sec, 640 ISO (License CC BY-NC 4.0)