Atonement?

Old architecture can camouflage a whole host of lens flaws, but in this case, it is pretty easy to tell that the original photograph was made using a fisheye lens. I confess that I went through a fisheye period a while back, driven by the ease with which old lenses can be adapted to digital cameras. My first digital camera was the Nikon D50, and I started my journey using old manual focus F-mount lenses. One I really dug was the 16 mm fisheye. It was the version that had four built-in color filters, which was pretty groovy. As time has passed, my love of the fisheye look has diminished quite a bit, so I de-fished the photo as best I could with a ten minute time limit. I'll just attribute the remaining distortions to architectural sag. No one will be able to verify my claims anyway,  since this funky little structure has since been demolished.

Tasting notes: Nikon D50 digital camera (6 MP CCD), 16 mm fisheye lens, Ps.

Learning From Audiophiles

An acquaintance of mine is an audiophile who is able to reliably perceive differences in sound between various types of speaker cables. The fact that I can’t hear these things has likely saved me a good deal of money over the years. I’m plenty happy with my shit cables. Are there discernible differences in images captured using various sensor technologies? An art historian I once knew was a connoisseur of the Foveon sensor. Me? I’m still deciding whether the sensor matters enough to care about, but I have no doubt that there are photographers out there who can reliably spot a photograph captured using a CCD sensor from one made using CMOS technology the way some folks can accurately identify an image shot on film. What I do know is that my teenaged CCD camera did a phenomenal job of rendering these tulip magnolia flowers.

Tasting notes: Olympus E-500 camera, Zuiko Digital 35mm f/3.5 macro lens.

Early Spring Colors, Morning Light and the Pentax Q10

It is fixing to be Spring here in the Southeast, so I had no problem parting with a little of my hard earned cash this morning for these wonderful potted tulips. Although I'm not sure how to describe the color, it was the most appealing on offer. We will enjoy these in the house for a while, before transplanting them outdoors to enjoy for years to come. These blooms were illuminated by a shaft of harsh morning light. I underexposed just a bit to preserve the highlights. The files from this decade old little digicam were plenty malleable and held up just fine.

Tasting notes: Pentax Q10, Standard Zoom lens.