Photo 365 - Day 233 (Fake Fisheye)

Day 233 (February 21th, 2011)
Title: Fake Fisheye

Fisheye lenses are one of the coolest, if not strangest, lenses in the "photographers arsenal".  Basically, they are super wide angle (5mm-18mm), and make these strange "round" shots.  The edges are blurred and rounded due to the outer-most lens element (it's a large convex piece of glass).  Because of said element, the lenses are crazy-expensive, also because of their short focal length, most "consumer" digital cameras can't use them (it's all scientifical, but lets just say, unless you own one of those crazy-expensive Nikon's or Canon's, your dreams of a fisheye lens are on hold.) 

I call this one Fake Fisheye because... well, no reason really, I just wanted to talk about fisheye lenses, and since I don't have to take a fisheye photo with, I figured any ol' photo will do!  This shot was taken at Mascone Center in San Francisco, near the Zeum (great place for kids!). 

Technical bits: f/10 at 1/250th using ISO 100.  Using ISO 100 really helped reduce the noise, so I highly recommend lowering your ISO to the lowest you can get - it makes post-production much easier! 

Enjoy

Photo 365 - Day 232 (Circle Park)

Day 232 (February 20th, 2011)
Title: Circle Park

I enjoy walking around San Francisco - when the weather is "photo friendly".  Recently I was walking around the Moscone Center, and they have a great park/kids area (called "Zeum").  The park area has a lot of interactive areas for kids and parents.  I was strolling though, and noticed it also has a lot of fun photographic spots to get some great cityscape shots.  Here is the first, facing north-east. 

Technical bits:  Using my 18-55mm lens at 18mm with the following settings: f/14 at 1/500th (ISO 400).  I think I should have moved the ISO to 200 or even 100, I still could have had the aperture at f/14 with a speed of 1/250th (or 1/125th) and gotten a slightly better shot.  I also should have bracketed for both the sky, the white buildings and the shadows from the trees - it would have been fun to combine them in post-production - but I was unable to due to the volume of people walking around.  I was lucky to get a show without really anyone in it, because for the most part, folks were walking in front of me the entire time I was shooting. 

Enjoy

Photo 365 - Day 230 (Tiger Bike)

Day 230 (February 18th, 2011)
Title: Tiger Bike

Riding the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit - basically the subway system/light rail for the San Francisco Bay Area), you meet a lot of interesting folks - some you wish you hadn't ever met, some you wish you could have chatted more with, and some who might not even be native residents of this planet.  Happily, the gentleman I met while waiting to get to downtown SF was of the middle group - I was enjoying a lovely chat, which was tragically shortened by my train arriving.  At first, I saw his bike, which is certainly an attention-getter (see the photo), and so I decided to walk up and ask him if I could shoot a few shots of it.  He smiled and said yes and while getting some close-ups of the tail and handlebars, we started chatting about photography.  I also loved that the warning cone was his - which is important, because it IS a tiger bike after all!


So, the next time you see something a bit wacky (like a tiger bike), walk up and ask about it, you never know what sort of conversation might ensue. 

Technical bits:  I was using my widest angle lens for this shot (18-55mm) at 18mm.  I had to use the on-board flash (I think it would have come out a lot better if I could have used a flashgun or other more powerful source).   The settings were: f/4.0 at 1/60th (ISO 400).  For "next time", I think a lower angle (perhaps being at his eye-level) would have made the shot more friendly/inviting. 


Enjoy!

Photo 365 - Day 229 (Bad Day)

Day 229 (February 17th, 2011)
Title: Bad Day

Walking around in San Fran, you can see some interesting things - sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and others, just strange.  I'm not sure if this one is sad or strange, but either way I'm pretty sure I'd just take the rest of the day off.  I'm still stunned that those window-washers ride up the side of those gigantic building in those little crates. 

Enjoy

Photo 365 - Day 122 (Berkeley Biker)

Day 122 (November 2nd, 2010)
Title: Berkeley Biker

Ah, Berkeley!  The land of psycho-bikers who have no concept of traffic laws or that there is a possibility of other things being on the street - like cars, or other bikers, or people, or newspaper machines...  Now, working in San Francisco, you get use to the large volume of bikers and generally they aren't bad (except on Critical Mass days when they make me late to catch my bus home!).  Now, in the City many bikers actually follow the rules of the road (and yes, there are actual laws for riding bikes!), such as stopping at a stop light, following the flow of traffic, hand-signals when turning and the like.  There are always a few that believe they are pedestrians (which, if you are riding the bike, you are NOT), and do things like ride on the sidewalk and whatnot. 

Now Berkeley, even though its just across the bay, is a completely different can o' worms!  Bikers in Berkeley believe they have a protective "I am invincible as long as I ride my bike like a total jerk" field on.  I've seen a biker ride from one corner of the street across to the other corner ("kiddie-corner"), RIGHT THROUGH traffic - and the biker got mad at the drivers for honking at him!  Oh well... At least this biker was "nice" enough to wait for the light to turn yellow.

Enjoy

Photo 365 - Day 76 (Cable Car)

Day 76 (September 18th, 2010)
Title: Cable Car

I think, by law, anyone who lives in/near San Francisco is required to get at least one picture with a cable car.  I got this one while crossing the street near Chinatown.  I thought it was interesting because there really aren't many people in the photo (couple on the left side), but there were hordes of of people crossing the street with us when we got to the corner.  I, of course, was waiting for the green light, whereas everyone else just kept walking and basically ignoring traffic lights like they were some colorful art form.  By the time the green "Walk" sign lit up, everyone was already crossed and the street was clear!  So, thank you law-breaking, jay-walking, San Franciscans!  Without your evil ways I never would have gotten a good shot! 

Enjoy!