Merry Christmas! More than a month has passed since the last furball featured in this series spread across my InterWebs. Meet a kitty I call Star, who punctuates one of the neighborhoods’s better holiday homes. I […]
Tag: holidays
The Driving Dead
Happy Halloween! The couple may be gone from this world, but they are remembered every October 31st. I shot several portraits of them over several days before overcast skies removed offending glare. This is an […]
Microsoft Makes ‘Peace’ with Apple
Advertising rarely gets as good this! Microsoft sets the mood for the season in a new spot where its New York store staffers serenade Apple specialists for “peace on Earth”. A children’s choir joins the caroling, creating a classic! This is award-winning advertising in the making. Filming at night adds terrific ambiance, topped off with Apple 5th Avenue Store employees embracing their Microsoft retail rivals.
If Microsoft is the British Empire, then Apple is the American era. Oftentimes, the mighty are arrogant and condensing about their dominance, and it’s rare that they sue rivals for peace—from a position of dominance. The humbled fallen must adopt new tactics in the New World order. For Microsoft, that means cooperation. If nothing else, the commercial is a metaphor for the new Microsoft.
Flickr a Day 305: ‘Los Muertos’
Happy Day of the Dead—”Dia de los Muertos”. Hence the self-title of our selection shot by Colin Gallagher four years ago today. Vitals: Nikon D700 and 85mm f/1.4 lens, which is a helluva prime for […]
Flickr a Day 304: ‘Never did the Pumpkin Thing since Childhood!’
I debated long-time about what pic to pick for Halloween. Jack o’ lanterns are cliché, but Cristian Iohan Ştefănescu does them well—and I want to draw attention to his photostream, which is a real treat (no trick, promise). 🙂
One word describes Cristian’s style, whether expressed from the lens or in post-processing: Interesting. He has a terrific eye for composition and perspective. Some of his more recent art I could have featured if not for the holiday: “Study: Cats Understand Humans but don’t Really Care“; “Try walking in My Eyes!“; “Bring the Art Down on the Street and They will Come!“; “Life is a Foreign Country“; or “Hable Con Ella“.
Happy Halloween!
I really miss Maryland once a year. We lived one-a-half-blocks from Perry Street, which transformed into Scary Perry each Halloween. Most every house decked out for the occasion, and trick-or-treaters converged from far and wide […]
Language Old Is New Again
I may not here omite how, notwithstand all their great paines and industrie, and the great hops of a large cropp, the Lord seemed to blast, and take away the same, and to threaten further and more sore famine unto them, by a great drought which continued from the 3. weeke in May, till about the midle of July, without any raine, and with great heat (for the most parte), insomuch as the come begane to wither away, though it was set with fishe, the moysture wherof helped it much. Yet at length it begane to languish sore, and some of the drier grounds were partched like withered hay, part wherof was never recovered.
Best New Years Ever!
My family spent part of the day at Torrey Pines State Reserve. We walked the beach on a day where the temperature reached 21 degrees Celsius. Oh joy!
Our First Halloween in San Diego
Little more than two weeks on the West Coast, we celebrated All Hallow’s Day. It was no Scary Perry, but my daughter had fun trick-or-treating with her church friends. She poses in her candy corn […]
The 80-200mm Nikon Lens on Parade
Today, marked an important test for the Nikon AF NIKKOR 80-200mm 1:2.8D ED lens, whether or not I would keep it. I got the lens as part of a trade for use with my new Nikon D200. Field test was dramatic: Kensington, Md.’s annual Labor Day parade. The newer model 80-200mm lens costs about $1,000, while I got this older 80-200mm for a fraction of the price. I don’t mind a used, older lens—as long as it performs.
I wasn’t disappointed, but I also wasn’t overly impressed, either. Maybe having used a Canon 135mm Prime lens had spoiled me, raising my expectations about clarity and sharpness. More likely, from looking at the photos, I needed a lens hood. More time with the D200 (I hadn’t used one for almost a year) would have helped.
A Matter of Perspective
We spent July Fourth with friends in Fredricksburg, Va., which is about 70 miles south of Washington. I had hoped to take fireworks photos, but we got stormed out. So I settled for pictures in the bathroom, instead.
Our friends have a skylight above the john, which gives a great view of the clouds while doing your business. Of course, the crooning strains the neck. But gazing at cloud formations is kind of relaxing, even in the WC’s confines.
I’m amazed to hear men talk on cell phones while sitting on the john in public toilets. So, I figured that carrying in my Nikon D200 wouldn’t be any more offensive, considering that I would only be taking pictures. The door was open, folks.