Halloween Fright!

Something really scary on Halloween.  I think I let this cottage cheese sit a little too long in the fridge.

Fun in the Closet

Twirling around a lightstick loop in the closet today.



(E-PL2 with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens - taken at ISO 400, f1.7 @ 1 sec.)

Snow!!!

Wow, snow up here in the Northeast and it's not even Halloween yet!

INED

Improvised Noodle Explosive Device at work.

Federal Building

The Federal Building in downtown Baltimore.

Sick Day

Great!  I just started a four day stretch of being off of work and what happens?  I wake up with a 102 degree temp with chills and an achy body. 



(E-PL2 with Panasonic/Leica 25/1.4 lens - taken at ISO 400, f2 @ 1/100s)  I'm still trying to decide on whether to keep the 25/1.4 lens which is a wonderful lens.  It is like when I had the new Olympus 12/f2 lens which I returned.  It was wonderful but expensive and big (compared with the 14 pancake which I have).  This 25/1.4 is the same situation - it is wonderful but expensive and much bigger than my Pany 20/1.7.

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.  

Back to Baltimore/Back to Work

Big Changes Coming

That is me at the steering wheel a few years ago.  My picture taking is at a real low right now.  I am getting ready to quit my job in Baltimore so I can be at home in NC more so there are a million things to take care of.  This week I have been continuing my repairs on my house from the damage from Hurricane Irene.   After getting back here to the house permanently in January I will be putting in a solar system, a water catchment system and a big garden.  I can hardly wait!

Waiting

Just sitting here at BWI waiting on my flight to Raleigh.  Heading home for the week!  Since I fly standby I might not be getting out until tomorrow since this flight tonight is booked to capacity.  (I made it - last seat)


Sent from my Samsung smartphone on AT&T

Leaving Work

Here are all the night shift employees leaving work and heading home this morning.






(taken with Samsung Galaxy S2 phone)

Two Frogs

From the archive.  Just a cool antique store near the Virginia/North Carolina state line.  What have I been doing today?  Just sitting inside because of all the rain here and playing with my new Panasonic 25/1.4 lens.  I was going to post some pics here on blogger but I can't seem to get multiple pics to orient correctly on the screen and, in addition, when there is more than one pic in the post you can't click on a pic and get a larger view like you can when there is just one picture.  Until I figure something out (that doesn't require an entire day's work) let me just say the 25 is a wonderful lens, sharp and contrasty throughout its range.  It is probably the sharpest lens that I have ever owned.   The only things that have me on the fence are the price and the size.  Not that it's huge but the pancake 20 is much more to my liking and it is just about as good optically and I actually think I prefer the 40mm equivalent focal length over the 50.  Decisions, decisions.

Dinner at the Diner

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

Panasonic/Leica 25mm F1.4 Dilemma

One of the things that carried me into the micro four thirds world and which also keeps me there is the wonderful selection of lenses available for the format.  Just when I thought I had settled on my 'holy trinity' of lenses (Panasonic 14/2.5,  Panasonic 20/1.7 and Olympus 45/1.8) along came a new lens today.  It is the Panasonic/Leica 25mm f1.4 lens that I had back ordered 4 months ago and frankly forgot all about until it arrived today.  All I can say is "Wow".  This thing is spectacular.  It's built really well (although not all metal like the true Leica's),  it's pretty sharp wide open and stopped down a little it is breathtakingly sharp with a wonderful bokeh.  Now what do I do?  It's a little sharper than the Pany 20 which is a great lens and is a little faster but it is more expensive and it is definitely bigger than the 20.  The 12, 20 and 45 are a tough trio to beat for quality and super compact size but man this 25 is a sweet lens.  I really don't want to carry 4 lenses especially with the 20 and 25 being so close in focal length.  How often can you say in the newer camera world that you have too many quality primes to chose from.

I will post some pics soon from this lens.  I am still trying to get some comparison pics posted of my Voigtlander 40 vs. the Olympus 45 so now I have to do a comparison between the Panasonic 20 vs. the Panasonic/Leica 25.  I will get them up but only when I get the time.  I like to shoot and post daily pictures but I don't get all excited about technical comparisons as I feel there is a lot more to pleasant pictures than sharpness down to the atomic level:o) 



(Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens - shot at ISO 400, f/2 @ 1/3s)

Bonamassa

I saw this walking to work last night.  This is one performance I would like to see.  He will be at the Hippodrome right next door in a month.




(taken with Samsung Galaxy S2 phone)

Almost Over

Just finishing up a 3 day stretch of work, the worst 3 days I have ever lived through.  The line "abandon hope all ye who enter here" from Dante's Inferno has been coming to mind.  The pic is from my archive.

Damn, it's Bright!

A picture of my grandson, Christian.  Sent from my daughter in Houston yesterday.

Samsung Galaxy S2

I just got my new Samsung Galaxy S2 from ATT today.  I have been using the IPhone 3GS for a couple of years now and was torn about leaving the Apple universe.  Well, so far I am blown away.  The Galaxy S2 is worlds above the IPhone in almost every way.  The larger 4.3" AMOLED screen has to be seen to be believed.  My pic just does not show the major differences in the screen but the AMOLED screen is the best display that I have ever seen.  Blacks are truly black and not a lit up grey like the IPhone.  Colors are rich and vibrant.  It is like night and day.  The Galaxy is longer and a little wider but it is much lighter than the IPhone and is thinner.  It is much faster with a dual core 1.3ghz processor and all apps load and run instantly.  Web browsing is MUCH faster.  With both phones on WiFi and loading the same web page, the Galaxy was more than 3 times faster than my IPhone (like 2 secs vs. 6 to 8 secs.)   The Galaxy also has 4G capability and has NFC on board which will be enabled in the future for financial transactions.   I am more than shocked at what I have been missing with this Android world and this is coming from a real Apple fan.  I seriously can't find one negative about the Galaxy.   Oh, and the camera.  The camera is one of the best I have seen in a phone.  It is 8 megapixels with autofocus and it gives you the option of setting all controls manually such as ISO, metering, white balance, exposure compensation, image stabilization, etc.   The pics I have taken so far today have made me very happy.

Muddin

Kevin, my stepson, in a state of bliss after a little 4 wheeling fun.




(taken with Panasonic Lumix point and shoot, ISO 800, f3.8 @ 1/10s)

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)