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)

The New Olympus 45

I finally received the new Olympus 45/1.8 micro 4/3 lens!  My first impressions are very favorable.  The body is plastic but looks like metal and feels buttery smooth.  I love that big focusing ring.  It looks great on my E-PL2 but I think I would probably have preferred a black body instead of the silver to maintain a slightly lower 'profile'.  Side by side tests against my beloved Voigtlander will be done tomorrow.



(Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens - shot at ISO 500, f2.8 at 0.8 secs (handheld at almost a second, that's why I love the Olympus in body stabilization so much))

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)

Licking Her Lips

Here is a picture of Missy, our dog, licking her lips (do dogs have lips?) in anticipation of some of that candy bar.





(Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens - shot at ISO 1600, f1.7 @ 1/60s.  Converted to B&W in ACDSee Pro)

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)

Tracy Says Hi!

(Olympus E-PL2 with Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 200, f1.8 @ 1/13s, converted to B&W with SilverEfexPro)

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)

This Video is Insane!

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)

Oberon

Now I think that this was some of the best beer that I have ever tasted!






(Olympus E-PL2 with Voightlander 40/1.4 lens - shot at ISO 500, f1.4, 1/100s)

Bye Bye Irene

Everybody is just piling their waterlogged possessions out by the road.  I have spent every day for the last few weeks working on the house, stripping out wet items, hauling stuff to the dump, repairing damaged woodwork, power washing, cleaning out the garage and separating the damaged items from the clean, making lists, trying to get the air folks out to replace the flooded ducts under the house and patiently waiting on the flood insurance adjuster who still hasn't made the full assessment yet. These are the last pics I will post of Irene's aftermath.  Tomorrow it will be back to something better:o)  Quality is not the best as they were taken with an I-Phone.

She'll Buff Right Out

Tree fell on this truck during the hurricane.  I will get back to more cheerful pictures soon but my life for the last two weeks has consisted of stripping out and cleaning up a flooded house.  I haven't been in the picture taking mood and haven't even taken many pictures of the damage out here.  A lot of people have lost everything and I haven't felt right about taking pictures of the aftermath.  I will probably post a few more pictures of this area but next Thursday I will be finally heading back to Baltimore to re-enter the work force.

Waitin

Not exactly a hotbed of Democratic activity down here.

Swimming Pool

I have decided to turn my living room into a swimming pool! Pretty cool huh?

Prime Waterfront Property

Finally got power back. Hurricane Irene created a 9 foot storm surge which got into my home and created a real mess. The last week has been nothing but dragging damaged items out of the house and garage. Finally had an insurance flood adjuster come out to do a preliminary assessment. He said it will be another week to ten days until he is back for a full assessment. For now I am trying to get the air-conditioning folks out to replace the flexible ducts under the house that are full of water and not moving any air. The pic below is one my stepdaughter took out the back patio as the water was rising. I am posting this by email since I don't have my laptop with me so the pic is probably small.