High Noon at Milan Station

How convenient that the clock was wrong when I took this shot in Milan’s central train station last week. It was actually about 2:30pm. In Switzerland this would never happen but in Italy you never know! Donna and I were waiting for our train to Lake Como when I decided to get the camera out and take a few shots in the station. I wanted to capture the grittiness of the station and of course the fantastic colors and concentric lines in the glass roof. It is pretty tough to get a shot like this in the middle of the day in Milan. I stood there with the camera and tripod set up for about 15 minutes and got a few interesting looks as people walked by.  Fortunately, at the right moment, the train on the left was all ready to go with passengers on board and the one on the right was waiting for new passengers but had not been assigned to the board yet. The only person in the shot actually helped my idea for this photo because she has a nice edge to her that works well with the theme of the photograph. Also, the idea of the two fast trains getting ready to duke it out at high noon seemed appropriate for the shot as well. I love it when all the elements come together!

A fun surprise we found at Mannlichen

I’m confused. To be as accurate as possible, I looked up the definitions for various members of the bovine family and now I am really not sure what is what. Cattle, bulls, steer, oxen, yearlings and heifers – I can’t keep them all straight now. I am not sure what this guys situation is but what I can say is that he is one fine looking example of the breed. Plus, if I was a cow, bull, or whatever, this is the job location I would want. And be it Swiss cheese or chocolate, this is where I want production to begin. On top of the world with the best view and grass on the planet.

I took this photo yesterday while Donna and I were exploring the other side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We first took a moderately difficult two and a half hour hike down to Lauterbrunnen from Murren. It did not start out that difficult. All was a fine and dandy until we realized that at some point we were going to have to descend a few thousand feet over a not so lengthy distance. The trail was really well marked and maintained but I will admit by the time we reached to bottom we were ready to stop navigating steep grades. Plus, who works out like that everyday? We were pretty sore this morning but that did not stop us from going at it again in Brienz. On the upside, we saw incredible scenery filled with dramatic waterfalls and lush vegetation with plenty of time for photography.

Once we got to Lauterbrunnen, we took a train to Wengen and then a cable car to Mannlichen, where at 2235 meters you get a breathtaking view of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau all the way down to Grindelwald on one side and the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the other. This photo was taken as we walked along a ridge looking toward Grindelwald. I have some amazing shots of the whole experience to share but I will need to do a little work on them first after I get home. For now, above is a shot ripe for posting. I like the counter balance of our fine specimen against the peak in the background. I used a smaller f stop on the camera to create a shallower depth of field to get our guy in the foreground to pop a little. I also like the complimentary opposites going on between his orange-ish color and the blue sky and background.

Thanks for reading and the recent feedback on the pictures and updates. Tomorrow we are off to Montreux via the Golden Pass panoramic rail.

Beautiful view while on the Murren-Blumental trail

As I sit in the guesthouse here in Murren Switzerland with the Alps filling the view out of the window, I wanted to take a moment to share a picture from the road. For those that have not been to Switzerland, I have to say that the scenery is beyond description. Words cannot do it justice. It is a painter’s and photographer’s paradise.

After a couple days in Bern to recover from the long ride and change in time zone, we hopped on the train to Interlaken Ost bound for Murren. To get to Murren, we took two trains and a cable car! The Swiss have moving people down to a science and it does not matter what elevation. They will get you there with maximum efficiency.

Murren, which is about 2000 feet above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, is a small, traffic-free alpine town filled with quaint bakeries, restaurants, shops and hikers. There are only 400 permanent residents here and it is not very busy with tourists. Quite a difference really from the tourist crush that we have seen in other places like Rome and Venice. I think most of the business here is in the winter when the skiers come to the Alps for their winter fun.

There are well-marked hiking trails galore. Our first afternoon here, we took a two-hour hike that was filled with sights of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau peaks as well as Alpen flowers and Swiss farmhouses. This shot was taken about one and a half hours into our hike on the Murren-Blumental trail. The Swiss gentleman in the photo kindly asked if it was OK to keep going across the shot. I said absolutely! I think it really brought some relevance to the photo. We can tell that hiking is a way of life here and, as he is proving, it can be done at any age!

Horst Hittenberger wins first prize!

I wanted to extend warm congratulations to Horst Hittenberger for winning first place at the Lane County Fair with his ADNW challenge painting of the San Francisco street car. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see Horst with that big blue ribbon on his painting! Fine work there Horst and I am glad to see you are getting some use out of that new ADNW apron. Seems we need to nickname you Horst Hitten-on-all-cylinders!

A lifeguard with a huge responsibility

This lifeguard stand is perched on the Pacific Coast Highway on a small cliff just above a beach in Carlsbad, California. I had to stand in the middle of the highway to get the shot. Fortunately for me, there were not many cars out at 6:00am. I stay right across the street from the beach when I am in town and I have always liked the silhouette of this stand against the sky and ocean. The clouds that morning made for an interesting backdrop and the thought of a lone lifeguard surveilling the entire ocean struck me as a bit funny.

The pipe organ at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral

I have decided that the resolution of my new camera and lens is insane! It can actually take in more detail than my eye can comprehend in the field. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to bring these photos home and explore them. It’s like unrolling a map full of hidden treasures. This shot of the cathedral’s pipe organ is looking toward the front entrance of the church, which is directly opposite of the wide shot of the altar I posted a couple of days ago. I was shooting about 18 inches off of the floor on my tripod and the floor tile conveniently had mosaics that were centered in the aisle. How convenient for centering my shot! Considering the organ was a full story above my head, I was blown away by how much the camera picked up. The actual resolution of the photo is two and a half times the resolution what you see if you click on the image.

Section details of the St. Patrick's Cathedral pipe organ

To let you enjoy some of the detail too, I included a few sections in higher resolution above. The carvings are absolutely stunning and I am left in awe of how something like this gets designed and built with such precision. This cathedral took 20 years to build including a pause in work for the Civil War. The cathedral was renovated between 1927 and 1931 when the great organ was installed and the sanctuary enlarged.

Classic New York brownstone near Hell's Kitchen

I shot this brownstone on 44th Street in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood at about 6:30am last Friday. There weren’t many people out at that time except at a Yellow Taxi depot about two blocks to the right toward the Hudson River. There must have been fifty of them parked all over the place and the garage was buzzing with the sounds of pneumatic wrenches getting a few cars ready for the rough day ahead.

Per Wikipedia, Hell’s Kitchen figured prominently in the New York City underworld, especially in the Irish American Mob. Gangsters like Owney Madden, bootleggers like Bill Dwyer, and Westies leaders James Coonan and Mickey Featherstone were Hell’s Kitchen natives. Various Manhattan ethnic conflicts formed the basis of the musical and film West Side Story. Over the last three decades, Hell’s Kitchen has undergone gentrification as a result of its proximity to Midtown. Today, a great number of actors reside in the neighborhood due to its proximity to the Broadway theaters and Actors Studio training school. I am not sure if one lives here or not. I just liked the inviting glow of the porch light against the hard surface of the brownstone’s facade.

I have been to New York City many times and nine time out of ten I will visit this neighborhood to eat at my favorite pizza place called Don Giovanni’s located at 44th and 9th Street. If you ever go to New York, I highly recommend it. I have been eating there for about 12 years and love it every time. The restaurants in the area are reasonably priced and have a great New York neighborhood ambiance. They are always bustling with locals engaged in lively conversations.

Richard Schmid painted near this brownstone in 1965 at 9th and 43rd Street. There is a picture of his painting on page 32 in his most recent book called The Landscapes.

A unique diner in Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market

On my East Coast jaunt last week I spent Tuesday night and the following day in downtown Philadelphia. I arrived by air from Minneapolis late so I was not able to see much and I am not too keen on venturing out in a new city unless I have done my homework about potential locations and personal safety. Luckily I stayed in the center of the city, which was right next to the City Hall and the Reading Terminal Market. From what I understand, City Hall is smack dab in the middle of town and there was a ton going on. As it turned out, the Reading Terminal Market was a great experience and was rich with photographic opportunities.

Reading Terminal's sign points the way

Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed market at 12^th and Arch Streets in downtown Philadelphia. Over 80 merchants offer fresh produce, meats, fish, groceries, ice cream, flowers, baked goods, crafts, books, clothing, and specialty and ethnic foods. Every space in the market is rented out and three of the vendors are descendants of original market merchants.

All of the shots in this post were taken after having breakfast at one of the many diners in the Market. The one I chose was operated by a group of very nice Amish women. I had a western omelette and it was delivered Philadelphia style. My first thought was about who I was going to share it with! Another thing that was really cool was the group of Philadelphia’s finest that were eating with us. They looked great in their uniforms and you could just sense the camaraderie between them. One of the older officers exclaimed about the size of my camera. He seemed fascinated and somewhat bewildered as to why someone would need such a monstrosity to take pictures.

One of the many fresh meat vendors at Reading Terminal Market

When processing these shots, I tried to use a similar style in each. I admit that the elements are exaggerated but that was my intent. In the shot at the top, I was attracted to the “diner within the market” concept. I also enjoyed the diversity of the people eating at the bar. Don’t you just love the older skinny guy sitting there patiently for his food? In the shot just above, I was taken by the immense selection and quantity of meat. I also saw the refrigerated case as a unifying element for the photograph. There was a lot going on inside the market and it was sometimes hard to find things to anchor my compositions. I also liked the neon sign above reminding us to eat fish and live longer. Too much fun!

Philadelphia's City Hall just outside Reading Terminal Market

After shooting the market, I ventured outside for a few context shots. The City Hall building was beautiful. It instantly reminded of the Hotel de Ville in Paris, which is close to the Île Saint-Louis and Notre Dame. Check out the link and you will see that it is remarkably familiar in style, and what’s more, “de Ville” actually means City Hall! I thought the contrast of the City Hall against the modern skyscrapers was interesting and I liked how the glass on them sparkles in a unified way.

I told Donna that we need to go back for a weekend to see the rest of the sights. She actually has family in the area and visited Philadelphia as a child. I am glad I went and look forward to exploring the city on another trip.

The light and sturdy Gitzo GT1541T

I have learned my lesson and I am passing it on. When it comes to buying support for your camera, don’t be cheap. If you are, you will probably end up relegating it to the pile of other things in the closet you wish you hadn’t bought. I make this mistake from time to time and always ask myself, “why did I do that.” It probably has something to do with the fact that this hobby is not for the faint of heart when it comes to budget. When I add up the money I have spent on camera gear, it makes me shutter. So much, in fact, that I have a valuable goods policy to insure it from others that may want to help themselves to it.

First off, let’s just say it and get it out of the way. Great photographs start with great photography skills. This post is about gear, however, so let’s focus on that at the moment. We will focus on artistry in another series of posts.

It’s not that you can’t take nice photographs with less expensive and perfectly capable cameras and accessories. It’s just that there is always something out there that promises to move you closer to visual magic in your images. If you are perfectionist like me, you will constantly question whether you should have bought the better piece of gear. Besides that, good gear is easier to use and allows you to concentrate on your art and not the stuff you use to create it.

A quality camera support system is one of those things that can either be your best photography friend or worst enemy. Your choice in support should be as stable as possible within your specific size and weight constraints. I am not trying to be elitist here, but buy a cheap setup and you will constantly be fussing with your gear and compromising the quality of your images.

Reverse folding the GT1541T saves precious inches

If you want tack sharp images, especially if you plan to shoot HDR, you need tripod legs and a head. Camera support is so important that you may end up spending as much on it as you do on the body of your camera. Sound nuts, I know, but it’s true. When I bought my tripod, I looked for the strongest but lightest pair of legs that would support the weight of my typical camera/lens combination. I then matched the ballhead to the tripod not only in design but also in strength and weight. If you are in the studio, you don’t have to worry much about weight. When you travel as much as I do with your gear, weight becomes critically important. The problem is, strength and light weight don’t really go together. This is why carbon fiber was invented. Carbon fiber won’t get you completely there though. It has to be combined with a quality design and lightweight fittings.

For my purposes, the Gitzo GT1541T fits the bill. The GT1541T reverse folds to a remarkable 16.14 inches and weighs a mere 2.14 pounds. I love this tripod. The three segment legs rapidly extend with a quick flick of the wrist and tighten down easily with amazing stability. The 6x carbon fiber tubes are incredibly strong, and when combined with precisely built fittings and connections, the entire unit becomes one.

The Markins Q3T mounted on the Gitzo GT1541T

Tripod legs are not much good if you don’t but an equally I impressive ballhead. The ballhead, when combined with a quick release and compatible camera plate, allow you to mount you camera on the tripod legs. There are scores of these to pick from. I initially tried an inexpensive ball head in the $115 dollar range and it lasted about four months before I replaced it with a higher quality brand and model. I really struggled to pick between the Really Right Stuff BH40 and the Markins Q3T they both are highly recommended but in the end, I went with the Markins. Compared to my first ball head, the Q3T is a dream to use. First, the Markins Q3T is made to fit the GT1541T. Made to fit in that when you reverse fold the tripod legs as designed for maximum compactness, the legs won’t hit the adjustment knobs on the ball head. Other heads are not made this way, which will cause one of the three legs to stick out a bit when folded. Not good when you are trying to maximize your packing efficiency for trips.

The Markins Q3T knobs ideally positioned for the GT1541T

When mounting the head on the tripod, I recommend using a dose of Loctite Blue thread adhesive to keep the head from coming loose while in the field. You can always unlock the adhesive and it will make using the head fuss free. Nothing much worse than having the head try to spin on the tripod when you don’t want it to.

The knobs on the Markins control the pan rotation and ball position. The large ball knob is butter smooth and controls the friction on the ball brilliantly. Once you get used to it, you can dial in he right amount of friction to make the most subtle of adjustments to achieve your desired framing. The quick release lever is also just as smooth and can be adjusted to a variety of plates including those not made by Markins.

Because I like to shoot both in landscape and portrait orientation, I bought a Really Right Stuff L plate that precisely fits my Canon 5D body. It is made of CNC machined aluminum, is lightweight, looks good, and works beautifully on the camera. All side ports on the camera remain available as well. Although the L plate adds a little bulk to the camera, it allows you to quickly switch shooting orientations in the field. Just unlatch the plate, flip the camera on it’s side, and relock!

Really Right Stuff L Body Plate

At about $1,100, this is not a cheap setup. But trust me, there is nothing more gratifying that getting amazingly sharp images and this combination of tripod legs, ballhead and plate go a long way toward helping me reach my photography goals.

The GT1541T and Markins Q3T ready for travel

Three exposure HDR of St. Patrick's Cathedral

While in New York City this week, I had a small window to shoot. My goal was to get inside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to shoot a few HDR frames before heading home today. I was able to carve a little bit of time out late Thursday afternoon, so I made my way from the Intercontinental Time Square at 44th Street and 8th Avenue to the Cathedral located in midtown at 51st and Park. Once I arrived, I checked the signs to see if photographs were still allowed, which they were. As is customary, I also dropped a donation in the slot. I feel bad taking photographs and not leaving something behind. Years ago, you could just walk in the front door and go about your business. Now there are folks at the front that need to check your bags. Not too much of a hassle but disappointing none the less that we have to do it at all.

With no stipulations regarding photography on the signs, I boldly grabbed my tripod and got ready to shoot. I kept the legs short and intentionally shot low to the floor to keep from attracting attention. I am constantly getting the “Wow, that is a big camera. How much did that cost?” comment. Plus, it is a lot easier to get kicked out if you are fully extended and appear to be a potential safety concern. Tripods are a no-no on many private properties. I guess because walkers by can trip on the legs.

As I worked my way to the front of the church, I shot shot a series of three-exposure brackets at -2EV, 0EV, and +2EV. “EV” is short for exposure value. Since there were people waking around, I tried to shoot the 0EV and -2EV frames when people were out of frame. They are the fastest exposures and if people walk into the frame, they are likely to be exposed and remain in the image. My longest shot, which was at +2EV, took 25 seconds to expose at an ISO of 400 at f16. With that long of a shot, people would inevitably walk into the frame. But if they kept moving, they didn’t show up in the picture! Kind of like ghosts we don’t see. Pretty cool when you think about it.

So, above is the result, which is actually the first shot with my new Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II USM lens. This shot was literally taken in front of the first row of the church! At 16mm on my full frame Canon 5D, the area of view in the frame is spectacular.

After I took this shot, my luck ran out when a polite security guard asked me not to use my tripod. I told him no problem and put it away. He seemed relieved that I was not throwing a fit!

When is wide angle not so wide?

For those unfamiliar, some DSLRs have what they call a full-frame sensor and some have a cropped sensor. A full-frame DSLR is a digital camera fitted with an image sensor that is the same size as a 35 mm (36×24 mm) film frame. Many fine cameras like my Canon 50D have cropped sensors. This makes the camera less expensive because the chip area of the sensor is smaller and less expensive to make. My Canon 5D, on the other hand, has a full frame sensor, which is why that camera body costs $1,000 more than the 50D body. Confused yet? Anyway, one of the drawbacks of a cropped sensor camera is that your field of view through the lens is also cropped.

If you have a cropped sensor, to get the effective focal length of the lens you have to multiply the actual focal length of the lens by a sensor crop factor. For example, my Canon 50D sensor has a crop factor of 1.6. So if I put my 16mm wide angle lens the camera, I must multiply 16mm times 1.6 to get the effective focal length of the lens, which is 25.6mm. Why does this matter? Well that means my wide angle lens has a smaller field of view than the lens actually allows on a full-frame camera. On the low end of the focal length scale, every millimeter counts. So, 16mm is a lot wider than a 25.6mm. On a full frame camera, there is no crop factor. A 16mm wide angle lens is actually 16mm! To get the same field of view with a cropped sensor, I would have to mount a 10 millimeter lens. 10 times the crop factor of 1.6 equals 16. In practice, wider is better when shooting enormous interiors like today’s photo. Get it now?

If you would like to learn more about full-frame sensors, just follow this link to Wikipedia.

One reason I bought this lens was to get this kind of shot. I love shooting the inside of churches. In my view, this lens gives me the best possibilities when capturing cathedrals. It is a very high quality lens that does well in low light and produces really sharp images. This shot was actually a test for shooting the Milan Cathedral in Italy in a couple of weeks. Donna and I have decided to jump off of the train in Milano on our way to Bellagio on Lake Como. What could be better than lunch in the center in Milan in front of the dazzling beauty of a cathedral? Not much I imagine!