Posts Tagged ‘shiba’
A Shiba’s Life
Life is pretty good for this Shiba Inu. The day begins on whatever soft surface she decides to sleep on through the night.
“Please don’t bug me with that camera.”
Next is usually some dog-centric outing, like a run along the beach:
In return, she has to tolerate her photo-geek dad chasing her around with cameras and lights. I think she gave me as much attitude as she could in the photo below. Can’t you see it on her face?
And of course, the day always ends where it began:
Yup, a good life for a Shiba.
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Images: Nikon D700 | Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G AFS
Return of the Suki
I am happy to report that Suki has completely recovered from her recent illness. A long stroll in Golden Gate Park ensued, with no itching and scratching I might add:
Fuji X100 (all images)
Fuji X100 | 1/25 sec, f/2, ISO 3200
I am Suki the Shiba Inu, and I am way too cool for the cone of shame.
Fuji X100: Crazy Dynamic Range
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/600 sec, f/11, ISO 200
One of the things that frustrates me most about compact cameras is that their dynamic range is so limited compared to DSLRs. Not so with the Fuji X100. It sports a larger, APS-C sized sensor for dynamic range no small-sensor compact or even m4/3 camera can touch. In addition, when you set the camera to auto-dynamic range and let the it control your ISO, the X100 works some serious magic, expertly juggling highlights and shadows in extreme lighting conditions with surprisingly natural results.
This weekend I threw some tough, contrasty scenes at the X100 to see what it could do. The image above is a good example. There’s some really hard sunlight hitting the side of the building, and the side facing away from the sun was in shadow. Notice, however, that there’s detail all over the frame, from the brightest portions of the sun-facing windows to the insides of those dark balconies. I think a couple of the windows at the top of the building are clipped, but it still looks very natural.
Fuji X100 – 23mm,1/680 sec, f/2, ISO 800
I purposefully looked for hard light next to dark shadows this weekend. I know for sure that my EPL2 would have clipped highlights like crazy in the image above, but again, detail everywhere with the X100.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
Even though light from the ground is illuminating the underside of this palm, the leaves were still much darker than the sky. Great balance here straight from the camera.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/900 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400
The pavement here is really hot in contrast to the dark tones on the train, yet there’s still detail on both areas of the frame.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/450 sec, f/11, ISO 800
How’s this for contrasty? If you look really close, you can see that the hard shadow on the right of the frame is not clipped, there’s some detail from the blue window frame in there. Wow.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/2,200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800
This one was taken in mid-day sunlight. You might notice the seemly odd ISO choice of 800, however. The camera is automatically underexposing to protect the highlights (sky and and sidewalk) and using the high ISO setting to bring out shadow detail. It works extremely well. Nikon and Canon DSLRs do something similar with their Active D-Lighting and Highlight Tone Priority systems, respectively.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, Program AE, 1/640 sec, f/9, ISO 400
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/800 sec, f/8, ISO 800
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/1,800 sec, f/8, ISO 800
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/1,100 sec, f/11, ISO 800
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/640 sec, f/2, ISO 400
You know, I don’t typically seek out contrasts in tone like this. Doing so was a fun exercise.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/500 sec, f/2, ISO 400 -2/3EV
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/450 sec, f/6.4, ISO 400
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/480 sec, f/4, ISO 400 -1EV
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 400 -1/3EV
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/250 sec, f/2, ISO 400
Just some random portraits from the weekend. Skin tones look absolutely dead on with the X100, even using Auto White Balance.
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/70 sec, f/8, ISO 200
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/450 sec, f/8, ISO 200
Still tweaking the camera’s image settings to get the JPEGs looking the way I want them. I think I’m almost there.
More random shooting from the weekend:
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/170 sec, f/2, ISO 400 -2/3EV
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/110 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/950 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 -1.3EV
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/600 sec, f/2, ISO 200
Fuji X100 – 23mm, 1/320 sec, f/2, ISO 400 -2/3EV
That’s it! Just another quick note: I’ve heard lots of bad things about the camera’s firmware and menu interface. To be sure, it does seem quirky at times, but I can’t say I’m all that bothered by it. Somehow I just have a blast with the camera every time I pick it up. I do get the sense that this is not a camera for everyone, however. I think its really a matter of knowing thyself before you buy.
One thing kinda bugs me though:
The camera has film simulation modes. Provia is supposed to be a standard mode, Astia is supposed to reproduce softer tones with less contrast and saturation. Strange thing is, pictures I take in Astia are definitely more contrasty and saturated than images taken in Provia. What gives? Did a switcheroo happen when the firmware was written? Is Provia supposed to be Astia and Astia Provia? Wierd.
The Blue Bottle Kiosk
Olympus E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7
Time off work for a visit to the doctor’s on a Friday. Gotta love it. After my appointment, I had some time to kill before picking up the wife from work, so I decided to coffee up.
Tucked away along a small city street in the heart of Hayes Valley lies a Blue Bottle Kiosk. No big signs proclaiming its whereabouts. It’s Blue Bottle for crying out loud! All the locals know exactly where it is.
After I ordered a cup, I turned around and saw….a Shiba Puppy! Though Shibas are increasing in popularity here in SF, it’s still pretty rare that you see one on the street. This is Ichigo, a 7 month old, male Shiba:
I wish I had my Shiba with me, but this little guy would have probably tried to run from her =P
Unlike Suki, Ichigo is very shy, so I couldn’t go right up to him. I took a few snaps and–
“Sir, your latte is up!”
Yummmm….and served in a 100% biodegradable, custom-logo-printed, natural-colored hot cup. When you’re done, you can toss it right in the green compost bin along with its corn-based, polylactic acid lid. How very green…and expensive,which probably filters down into the price we pay for this brew!
Oops, cash only, and of course I didn’t have any. The super-cool barista apparently thought I had a pretty trusting face, so she let me take my coffee and go grab cash at the nearest ATM. Oops again. Card wasn’t working…so I had to huff it to my nearest bank. Oh well, photo walk!
Haha, how can you not take a picture of this guy? (right)
All images in this post were taken with my new Olympus PEN E-PL2. Apparently Adobe just made available a release candidate of the latest Camera Raw that supports the E-PL2′s raw files, but I haven’t downloaded it yet, so these are all out of camera JPEGs.
One of the things I noticed about shooting with a smaller camera is that people usually don’t notice you using it. The extra stealth over my DSLR is pretty refreshing out on the street.
….and oops, I took too long getting cash, so Bridget just took the bus to meet me back at the kiosk, where I had more coffee…oh yes. There she is in the background, waiting for me to stop dancing around my double shot with my camera and just drink it already. Mmmm…love coffee.
I wouldn’t typically do a blog post about a trip to the coffee shop, but I’ve been trying lately to focus a little more on the every-day, seemingly mundane things that I do when it comes to my photography. There are a few blogs that have inspired me quite a bit in this regard. Check’em out:
Pink Peony Photography, Karleen Su
A Happy Day, Jacqueline Jaszka
Saaediaries, Kelven Ng
These fellow blogger/photogs are just fantastic when it comes to still life…and putting diptychs together, which I’m totally lame at doing myself. At least giving it a try is forcing me to do more vertical shots =P
Seriously though, all three have a talent I envy for turning the ordinary into something extraordinary, which I think should be the goal of every photographer.
Have a great weekend!
