Rain is the forecast for this San Diego Christmas, but brief sunshine summoned my wife and I to take a morning walk. As we approached our apartment, rain returned about a block away, catching me […]
Category: Sigma
San Diego Snowman Dresses Up
What a difference that three weeks make. On Dec. 1, 2019, I shared “San Diego Snowman” adorning a home along Maryland Street, here in the community of University Heights. Since, my walking path deliberately passed by, as I looked for something to return: His black hat that I recall topping his rock-for-brains head before heavy rains pelted Southern California and presumably washed it away. I hadn’t mentioned his missing adornment for concern it was imagined; a false memory.
But look at him now! Stoneman is dapper wearing the topper, scarf, and something else: Smile replacing frown. He’s happier perhaps for Christmas being three days away. I am overjoyed to snag a portrait of his fine wear before rains return, starting overnight.
Once a Mighty Palm
Strange story the stump tells. Gone is the magnificent palm tree that dominated the corner of Monroe and Cleveland, nearby the Wilcox’s old apartment, in our San Diego neighborhood. This morning, while driving by, on my way to North County, I saw a tree cutter toss down the last frond before lopping off the top. Late afternoon, walking back, the devastation confronted me.
I haven’t written much about this tree over the years, but fleeting mentions are significant enough: “Fallen Fronds” (December 2017) and “Bell” (November 2016) from my “Cats of University Heights” series, where the kitty sits by the palm trunk that is now a stump.
The Cats of University Heights: Poinsettia
While walking along Panorama Drive, today, my wife stopped to admire Poinsettia’s on porch steps before seeing a smushy-faced feline looking out a window. Dismissing Annie’s concerns about overly-anxious neighbors and their surveillance cameras, I pulled out Sigma fp with 45mm F2.8 DG DN | C lens attached and captured three portraits. The Featured Image is first of the lot. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 640, 1/125 sec, 45mm; 9:47 a.m. PST.
The pretty kitty, who is the series‘ fifty-first furball looking out from behind window or door, earns her nickname for the home’s holiday plants.
Not Happening
I noticed the, ah, alteration to this sign while walking with my wife today. The Featured Image is the second of two pics captured using Sigma fp and 45mm F2.8 DG DN | C lens. […]
San Diego Snowman
He won’t melt from Southern heat or Winter rains. The stoneman waits on the steps of the house next to where lives Morla the tortoise. I first spotted him about 10 days ago, and finally […]
Sigma fp and the Stormy Day
Torrential rains and overly-gusty winds pelt San Diego this Thanksgiving Day. I mark the moment with the first photo from Sigma fp and 45mm F2.8 DG DN | C lens. The last letter refers to “Contemporary”. The kit arrived last week, but I waited to take the first shot—so that it would be memorable, which it’s not. I put the quest for the Holy photo behind me and set instead to practical matters.
The Featured Image is a nearly 100-percent crop of the companion pic. The water droplets on my home office window serve as a quick test of the fp’s autofocus capabilities and image quality—how much detail is revealed. The Fujifilm GFX 50R and Fujinon GF63mmF2.8 R WR lens, which I sold over the weekend, spoiled me with respect to IQ. The Sigma shooter satisfies so far—not that one pic is much of a measure. But, hey, miniature palm trees within the droplets encourage me.
Flickr a Day 350: ‘Heart-Shaped Box’
We wrap three days focused on the Foveon sensor with Sigma’s original professional compact—the DP1. I owned the camera, which requires finesse for its clunky controls, slow response, and noisy low-light photos. But color, contrast, […]
Flickr a Day 349: ‘I’m a Little Photographer’
Sigma compacts are lean on extras, including video capture, and they demand patience—taking time to thoughtfully compose each shot. They can be point-and-shoots, but they aren’t meant to be. Rather, in competent hands, they produce spectacular IQ (e.g. image quality).
Ben Keough is spot on in his review of the Sigma DP3 Merrill, which Jay Hsu used to capture our selection: “The software deficiencies are all variations on a single theme: If a feature doesn’t help you take an unadulterated still image, the DP3 doesn’t have it. No picture effects, no scene modes, no panoramas, no collages, no dynamic range compensation, and no HDR capture”. The camera is no frills and slow to focus. Oh, but the IQ!
Flickr a Day 348: ‘Building Building’
We begin the first of three days ode to the Foveon sensor, which produces a distinct and unmistakable color signature. Inside Sigma compacts, with their fixed prime lenses, the result: Super sharp photos that are […]
A Storyteller Returns (Or So I Hope)
One of my favorite bloggers is photographer Carl Rytterfalk, whose voice silenced several years ago. But in a post overnight (in my time zone) he asks: “Am I back?” That’s a good question, which answer is complicated.
“In February 2013 my life changed dramatically with the early birth of my son who was born with the rare and somewhat difficult chromosome disorder named Trisomy 9 mosaic”, he writes about his absence. “Since William was born I’ve been using Facebook instead of rytterfalk.com and I think it should be the other way around. So I’m trying to convince myself that it’s ok for a while to post more from life and when ready—about photography, too”.
Itsy Bitsy Etsy Shop
On December 1, my wife started selling handmade bead necklaces at Etsy. It’s something we discussed for a long time. She’s new to Etsy, but not me. I have long been early adopter of online services. For example, I opened my Yahoo account in 1996, I rented my first Netflix DVD in 1999 and in 2006 I joined both Facebook and Twitter. I opened an Etsy account in July 2006 to purchase for my daughter the Amigurumi Flowery pink bunny rabbit with matching bag. It’s pictured below without the bag; photo taken today. My teenager still has the handmade animal four-and-a-half years later.