Paul's

Sadly, Paul's is no longer in business in downtown Baltimore.



(Panasonic G1 with kit zoom - taken at ISO 100, f5 @ 1/200s)  I really like my G1 but hardly ever use it because I like the in-body stabilization of my Olympus cameras so much.  Just give me a new Olympus, say an E-P4 with a little bit of an upgraded sensor and add a built in EVF like the new Sony NEX7 and I will never have to buy another camera again.  I still love the sweet spot that the micro four thirds cameras fill for me.  It is mostly because of the compact size of the lenses and the perfectly acceptable image quality (spectacular at times).  The NEX series is nice but you are getting those full size lenses that I sold my Nikon gear to get away from.  

Dinner at the Diner

(Canon S90 - f4.9 @ 1/250s)

Just Hanging Out

Taken yesterday in downtown Baltimore.  Today was in the 40's with a steady rain so I didn't get out.  I ended up taking a bunch of pictures indoors with my Voigtlander 40 and Olympus 45 to compare the two.  I will post some of the comparison pictures in a few days.  I would post them sooner but I am selling the Voigtlander and don't want to jinx the sale.  No, there is nothing wrong with the Voigtlander.  It has been my favorite lens for some time.

(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f2.8 @1/160s)

Just a Cup of Joe

Pirates!

Pirates invaded the Inner Harbor today but the U.S.S. Constellation in the background fired a salvo and ran them off.  Those scurvy dogs!



(E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f5.6 at 1/160s)

A Little Green

It's nice to have at least a little green in the city.  I am working today and tomorrow so I won't have a chance to compare my Voigtlander 40 and my Olympus 45 like I was hoping.  I should get to it on Friday so I will post a few comparison shots then to see how they stack up against each other.





(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f2 at 1/80s)

Nacho Mama's

Great little restaurant/bar in the Canton area of Baltimore.






(Taken with IPhone)

Belts for Baltimore

I am setting up a new non-profit organization called "Belts for Baltimore". Maybe I can get some Federal funding.






(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f2.8 at 1/160s)

Looking Up in Downtown Baltimore

(First Pic from my IPhone today.  Second pic from Olympus E-PL1 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens shot at ISO 320, f5.6 at 1/100s)

Romance in the Park

 Ah, romance.  Nice to see it still exists.  Taken in Federal Hill Park, Baltimore.







(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f1.8 @ 1/1250s and no, I didn't nail the focus.  One drawback of manual focus lenses with narrow depth of field used in a hurry.  Even though I absolutely love my Voigtlander I am anxiously awaiting the new Olympus 45/1.8 lens due out any time now.  It is supposed to be sharp wide open and that autofocus will be real nice.)

Baltimore Inner Harbor

 

Panorama I shot today of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  I almost never shoot panoramas so the technical quality of this one is horrible.  It is only 3 of 5 pics that I took, the rightmost 2 pics wouldn't stitch.  It was done on the fly without a tripod and with me not being very careful.  Don't look too closely or you will see a terrible cloning job I did along a bit of the top edge to even out the pic.  Let's call it a "quick and dirty" job.  (Oh, and I discovered after posting this that you can't click on the picture in Blogger and get the full size version like regular pics.  I'm not sure why that is.  Panoramas can be a pain to view and that's probably why I hate messing with them)   I plan on going back this week or next to do a proper panorama of the entire harbor though.   It will depend on weather and sunset sky conditions/look.  It was a fun day though.  This is taken from the top of Federal Hill, where a fort used to be that guarded the harbor and is now a great park.  This is on the south side of the harbor looking north.  I work in the most distant building on the very left of the image and I live (when I am in Baltimore) about 6 blocks on the other side of that tallest copper colored building on the left.  It is about a mile walk from my place to the top of this hill.  The Inner Harbor is a wonderful place full of attractions and restaurants.  I have been doing a lot of 'photo walks' the last few days so expect a lot of 'city life' pictures for a while:o)

(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f5.6 I think, 1/320s)

Scary Go Round

If I was a little kid these big mean looking chickens would scare me to death.  Taken at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore today.







(Olympus E-PL2 with Panasonic 20mm/1.7 lens - shot at ISO 250, f4 @ 1/100s)

Harar Beer

How about a little Ethiopian Beer?  It's real good.






(Olympus E-PL2 with Panasonic 14mm/2.5 lens, shot at ISO 500, f3.5 at 1/6s)

Back in Baltimore

Had my full flood insurance assessment done today then I drove to my apt and job in Baltimore where I sit now.  Even with all the damage to my home and all the work that place requires, I am really going to miss my NC home while I am gone.

T-Storms

Thunderstorms moving in yesterday evening.  Tomorrow morning the Flood Adjuster comes then in the afternoon I hit the road for Baltimore.



(Canon S90)

Earthquake Photo Reenactment

This is how it would have looked if I had taken a picture during the earthquake today!

Earthquake!

Wow, we just had a 5.9 magnitude earthquake here in downtown Baltimore!  I was sitting on the couch watching TV when I heard a roaring noise (looked out the window to see if it was the wind) and felt the couch moving forward and backward quite a bit (2 full forward and back cycles each second).  This lasted about 10 or 15 seconds then I heard a louder bang, stood up and realized the whole building was moving (at a slightly slower but stronger cycle than before) then watched the light poles out in our atrium swaying back and forth a LOT (the pic is my view looking out - there are 6 of those light poles out there).  Lasted about 30 seconds total.  The first thing I thought was "we never have earthquakes out here" then I thought "Oh God, I hope DC didn't just get nuked" (I'm only about 40 miles away).  I was too busy standing under a doorframe and wondering if this was IT to grab my camera and switch it to video but I'm ready now if we have any aftershocks:o).  If we have another one and the building collapses, have them pull the memory card from my camera and you will find exciting video of the whole thing.

Almost Made it In

I was watching planes land at BWI yesterday evening as a severe storm was rolling in.  This Southwest flight was on final approach to land with very gusty winds and lightning all around when it suddenly hit the power and flew away to the north (this is looking south).  No more take offs or landings were allowed until after the storm moved through.