Mission Street

So, I made it through 12 days of the 14 day Put Down Your Phone Challenge (I made that up). I kept the phone down but wasn't feeling it.

Back today walking down Mission Street with the Sigma 24mm f/1.4. I love the seeing the history that remains in such a rapidly changing city. Don't change, Mission Street! Except for the crime and sometimes really gross dirt and sad seafood shops, don't change!

Days 10-12 PDYP Project: Varying successes

Hi. So Day 10 I really tried. The one Kickstarter campaign that I funded was for the Petzval lens. It is gorgeous and complex (manual focus, manual changing of aperture plates, flash can't read the aperture I don't think so things get weird…). Maybe indoor flash pictures of an active infant are not its specialty. But I tried, I really did.

Day 11. Nothin. Tired.

Day 12. Took the Sigma 24mm f/1.4  on a walk down Mission Street. Here are a few I liked.

Day 2 Put Down Your Phone Project: 50mm f/1.4

On the second day of my "Put Down Your Phone" Challenge, f.k.a the 14 day Media-fast Challenge, I took pictures with the best lens ever, my Canon 50mm f/1.4. Again using the Canon Speedlite 430II Flash. I really loved using the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 yesterday so this was a difficult to be so close at 50mm. Also, I happen to be a bit of a focus freak, so as usual struggled to get the eyes really crisp. SUPER hard to do with a crazy active 9 month old. Much more introspective baby today too, intent on playing and specific toys.

six months

 

Aannd the obligatory foot shot… 

february flowers

So you might have guessed from my last post that I have a new sidekick. So, for the past year or so it's been a bit challenging (and not top of mind, honestly) to get out a photograph. But with the gorgeous spring blossoms around San Francisco last month, I took the camera out with the little guy in his Ergo carrier. He…was not super happy to be standing around Church Street in his carrier, so it was pretty brief but it felt good to flex the Canon muscle.

Then I looked at last year's photos from the same time, and in comparison I feel a little rusty! For some reason this year, I just kept thinking the flowers reminded me of wallpaper and that's what I got!

four months

golden gate bridge II

I love this bridge. So much. Is there a better bridge? I think not. I love driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. Better yet, I love being a passenger driving across so I can take pictures. I love looking at it from San Francisco, or Berkeley, or an airplane. I have never walked over it, but I have now gone UNDER it. Took a 90 minute cruise of the bay with San Francisco Whale Tours. Don't let the name fool you, 90 minutes round trip from Pier 39 is not going to get you anywhere near a whale. We did see porpoises in the harbor which were frankly adorable, but I digress.

This was another journey with the new 100mm. I really like these photos, however the focus is not tack sharp or really that sharp at all upon zooming in in Lightroom. Was this due to shooting from a moving boat? Am I expecting too much from a distance? The jury is out, hopefully I'll get under there again for another try.

january flowers

New year, new lens! After lots of thought about adding another lens since upgrading to the full frame 6D. I finally bought Canon's 100mm macro. The Macro Class kind of sealed the deal. I'm still getting used to it, and as always I'm somewhat focus obsessed. I need to see how crisp it stays how far away. But so far, I like!

Today was a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco. I didn't have as much time to get out as I would have liked, but was able to snap some blooming trees near my house. Same place on Church Street I took pictures two years ago March, so hopefully the'll stay in bloom for a while. Or maybe it's a sign of rapidly shifting weather patterns that will soon have my neighborhood and all of California underwater. Ok, enjoy the flowers!