Author: idonthaveacoolname

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Quiet Friday morning photos: the 60mm for architecture

Nice morning to take photos! Thankfully my neighbourhood has quieted with the egress of the student hoards for the holiday. I put my shoes on, grabbed my sunglasses, and went out for some shots. No nature or anything to really use the macro, and the flower cart that I was depending on in the Market was not yet open! It was really nice to be outside with the sun and although cool out, it is shaping up to be a nice spring-like day! Not many cars either, so you can actually hear the birds!

These were fully automatic shots since I was lazy, I did look for lots of range in the images but the light was quite harsh. It has been a while since the sun has been out! This 60mm is really nice! I really cannot wait for the opportunity to really use the macro and also use this as a portrait lens… I think that is where this lens really shines… for architecture, I’ll stick with my Tokina 11-16mm.
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I love these photo-comparisons!

I’m not sure if I have linked to that page showing Ottawa Now and Then photos that allow you to “slide” the old and new images, taken from the same vantage point. I tried googling it but I didn’t find it right away so I’ll do that later!

Here is one from Paris with photos from 1900-2013! Sometimes the only difference is the fashion!

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wowsers… update on my reckless consumerism

So I was wondering whether or not I was going to be as impressed as many reviewers are about the Olympus 60mm. It is a tiny, long lens that struck me as rather steampunk when attached to my GH2. It was late and I was tired but attached it and took a few shots. Due to light limitations (it was dark outside too) I realized that handheld may not work if I wanted to shoot at, say, f22. So I just mounted it on my tripod and took some shots. Really sharp. Great lens, I really cannot wait until this long four day weekend down to the park. The weather looks promising!!!!!

This is f2.8
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cork….
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And again… image

close up of my singing bowl!
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And even sharper at higher F.
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The F22 is nice 🙂
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First thoughts: Olympus 60mm

I purchased the Olympus 60mm 2.8 yesterday and spent the evening taking both macro and standard images. I haven’t imported any of those images but with the upcoming four day weekend, I am going to put this lens through its paces.

Spoiler alert: wicked sharp, awesome lens! more to come!

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Star Trek Enterprise in Blu-Ray!

Yup. Big time nerd here. Star Trek Enterprise season 1, one of the better spin offs of the Star Trek franchise is set to be released in glorious Blu-ray next week. More info here.

It also includes a gag reel! And yes. It is my birthday in October. 🙂

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Japan Society: Masters of Ukiyo-e

The Japan Society is presenting an exhibit titled: Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints running until June. Info here. Prints from the masters including Hiroshige and Hokusai will be presented (everyone knows Hokusai’s tsunami wave with Mt. Fuji in the background) to show their impact on contemporary art, not only in Japan.

I was stunned when I first saw the influence that artists such as Hiroshige and Hokusai have on European artists such as van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Degas, and Toulousse-Lautrec. The van Gogh museum in Amsterdam shows the influence (Japanesery) quite clearly. I remember looking twice at both the Flowering Plumtree and The Bridge in the Rain, two “copies” of Hiroshige’s work done by van Gogh hanging in the gallery. It certainly provides a different context to works of the European masters of the 20th century and a different perspective on how best to interpret art history from this same period.

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Greenberg Collection

Howard Greenberg, of New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery, is showing part of his archival photography collection at Paris’s Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation beginning early April through April 21 (two days before I was to arrive — more about this later), in an exhibition that originates at the Musée de l’Elysée photography museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. It leaves Switzerland this week. Since my friend Krista is studying there I sent her a link to the gallery and informed her that I would be eternally envious (a lot of hidden resentment too) that she can enjoy what I will miss.

The collection includes photographic works centering on the role and influence of New York in United States culture in the 20th century and some exceptional imagery from the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.