July ends with a local photographer, here in sunny San Diego. Paul Sapiano takes the Day for a poignant photo from the petting zoo. “I found it quite touching that some comfort was being provided […]
Category: Photo
Flickr a Day 211: ‘NYPD’
Candid street portraits rarely capture as much character—eh, from cops—as today’s selection, which Brett Sayer captured on April 22, 2013, using Nikon D7000 and 50mm f/1.8 lens. Vitals: f/2, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 50mm. The […]
Flickr a Day 210: ‘Doctors Make Me Nervous’
Other than perhaps physical size, today’s compacts little resemble models that advanced the category, like the 3.3-megapixel Canon S20 I purchased in mid-2000. Price differs, too. The then state-of-the-art digicam sold for about $900, if I recall rightly. Gasp, or was it more? Fifteen years later, compacts like the Nikon CoolPix A put some of the best features of the dSLR into a much smaller device, for much less spent. The camera packs in an APS-C sensor—DX in Nikon-speak—excellent low-light performance, and fixed-focal length (e.g, prime) lens.
Jake Stimpson demonstrates just what image quality a camera like the Nikon A delivers in competent hands. The pastor for Biserica Piatra Vie, in Bucharest, Romania, captures candids that make you wonder: “What?” He shot self-titled “Doctors Make Me Nervous” on April 24, 2015. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec, 18.5mm. The pic takes the Day for clarity and composition and for being interesting.
Flickr a Day 209: ‘Railway History Slowly Rotting Away’
Good urban photography is as much about the past as the present—or, better, intersection of the two. For that quality, self-titled “Railway History Slowly Rotting Away” takes the Day. Diego Torres Sylvester explains: “An old […]
Flickr a Day 208: ‘Glowing Mouth’
Street photographers present many different styles as a group but often something specifically identifiable individually. The art produced by Raul Lieberwirth is unremarkably human. I say unremarkably because the quality isn’t overbearing but just there. He captures the […]
Build Your Own Camera Backpack
When I set out to buy a bag for my Fujifilm X-T1, four criteria topped the list: Smaller rather than bulky, shoulder straps, quality for price, and color (orange). No backpack made for carrying cameras qualified, after exhaustive search across the InterWebs. But one had my attention: Filson Rugged Twill Backpack, which coincidentally is on sale for about 37-percent off. The other two colors, neither of which appeals to me, are full price.
I chose instead the ONA Bolton Street Backpack, which as explained yesterday is too bulky for my bodily frame and digital lifestyle. Ahead of opportunity to reach that conclusion and reluctantly return the tote, I attempted to cancel the order before Amazon shipped it but failed. A year-old Gizmodo post by Nicholas Stango and the sudden Amazon availability of the Filson (for the sale price) and a Crumpler changed everything.
Flickr a Day 207: ‘Snapping Turtle’
Film photography is increasingly an art form—throwback to a time when the man or the woman was more in control of the shooting and developing process. There is something oh-so vinyl about print that appeals […]
There’s Something You Should Know About the ONA Bolton Street Backpack
It’s beautiful but bigger than it looks. I ordered and returned the Bolton Street this week, fulfilled by Amazon from one of its retailer partners. Words cannot express how much I wanted to keep the backpack. The craftsmanship is fine art, attention to detail is finer still, and quality of materials is outstanding. But the thang doesn’t fit my digital lifestyle or my back. Depth is the problem.
My story starts on July 9, 2015, when I walked out of Best Buy with a ridiculously fantastic deal: Fujifilm X-T1 kit body and 18-55mm lens, discounted $250, bundled with the XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 R LM OIS for another $100. The second lens alone retails for $699. My previous digicam, the Fuji X100T, is so compact that I didn’t use backpack or other carryall. But interchangeable lens camera changes everything, so I started looking for an appropriate backpack.
Flickr a Day 206: ‘Road Hat Plank’
Our three-day walk—or is that falling flat face—down fad memory lane concludes with another selection from four summers ago. You remember the craze, right? Or did you forget? (Please do.) Nate Bolt shot self-titled “Road […]
Flickr a Day 205: ‘Planking on the Metro’
What better way to have fun underground in Washington, D.C. than, as the self-title describes, “Planking on the Metro”. Today’s selection is the second of three (see Day 204 for the first) of photos recalling […]
Flickr a Day 204: ‘Planking’
Some fads are short-lived, while others you wish hadn’t been even that long. There is my reaction to planking four years ago. I was oblivious to the thing until someone commented on a pic of our cat Kuma posted to my social network. For fun, and no other reason, we begin three days of selections searched using the “P” word.
First up, from Patricia van Casteren, is the appropriately self-titled “Planking”, which she shot on June 21, 2011, using the Sony Alpha DSLR-A550. Vitals: f/6.3, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, 210mm. “Even the polar bears are totally hooked on planking these days”, she says, providing reference to a Wikipedia article for folks who don’t know what the hell the thing—also known as the “Lying Down Game”. I am surprised to see the origins go back more than three decades, given the sudden surge in popularity four years ago.
Flickr a Day 203: ‘Smartphone Teen’
The best portrait photography is candid. Better still: Something so natural it looks like a still for advertising. Pabak Sarkar evokes both qualities with self-titled “Smartphone Teen”, which takes the Day for clarity, color, contrast, and […]