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Took the K-1 to the Cemetery last night for it's baptism under the night sky....(new baby and all)..... K 50/1.2 at f2.8


K50 spiritual awakening.jpg by Noel Leahy, on Flickr

One with FA31.....(was a 2 part ceremony)


Was somewhat spooky..... (I decided to get out before midnight....)

On call this weekend, so attending Noel's K-1 launch in Goolwa couldn't happen. I was up between 0400 and 0600 putting epidurals in labouring women, so a quiet one at home was in order.

I haven't done many flower shots this month, so here is one. DA*55 on the K-1. There is a 100% crop in flickr for the pixel peepers.


Camellia

But check this out if you like detail. For sheer resolving power I think the DA*55 is my best lens, and it has no trouble at all with the 36 MP sensor. The lack of chromatic aberration also impressed me.
There was some vignetting in the extreme corners, which I have corrected in Lightroom.


Trees and clouds

There are also three of Sammy (of course!).

We've had our deck rejuvenated recently. I asked the builder, while he was here, to get me a long post, and cut it diagonally, so I could make myself a couple of makiwara. Traditionally in karate one doesn't use a punching bag; one punches a makiwara: most commonly a wooden post which tapers towards the top where it is about 2cm thick. Over the wood there is a pad of some sort, often wrapped with thick twine. Much better for punching than a bag, I always thought. So I'm going to have one higher, for punching, and another lower, for kicks. Here are the two sliced halves end-on:




And here side-on:




SMC Pentax-M 1:2 50mm @f4 I think; K-30.

Some London terraced houses, two Minis and me with a CZJ Pancolar 50/1.8. I boosted the contrast/saturation quite a bit, to try to bring out the Union Jack roof of the second Mini. Wide open, I also tried this at f8 but the more in-focus background was too distracting IMO.

I feel better to get today in early ... classic Poitiers' botanical garden use while awaiting for Charlotte to finish her flute lesson.

Pentacon 30/3.5 @ f/5.6 on K-3 ... overcast and not warm Spring weather, though.

May 14th 2016:"Five windows" - Theme Day - Architecture

The Thorium yellowing of my Pancolar Zebra hasn't been an issue for a little while now - the cast either readily adjusted out in post or subtly adding to the character of the late afternoon flower shots for example. Today was different - I was quite taken by how well the warm colours of this heritage building complemented the blue sky above. Back home though, the sky was an ugly cyan (not the first time) and it took a bit of fiddling to pull it back to what I'd seen.

So here's part of the Divisional Engineer's Office (c. 1873) of the former Honeysuckle Railway Workshops in inner Newcastle.



K5iis + CZJ Pancolar Zebra 50/1.8 @ f5.6 Minor perspective correction and trimming; much restoration of blue sky.

And here's an edit in response to Sandy and Matt's comments.

I'm continuing to try and find something 'different' to what I'd normally pick, so I've tried to get architecture along with abstract shapes.


K-S2 A50/1.7

(also a partially de-coloured one, just for fun)

SMC Takumar 55mm f:1.8 on the K-1, wide open.

I did not have enough bricks for a henge, so this will have to do.

K-3 with Samyang 16mm f/2.0
This lens does architecture quite well. There is some minor distortion but I personally don't find it distracting. It is significantly better than the DA* 16-50. I like both of these shots equally. The whole conservatory is shaped like a squared off C with the main vertical bisecting the large dome. There are smaller atriums at the corners of the main vertical and the two horizontals and small domes on the corners between the two horizontals and the smaller right side verticals. First shot is obviously the main dome/front entrance. The title is "1899" The roman numerals above the entrance read "MDCCCXCIX" hence the 1899.
Second shot is essentially of the upper right of the squared off C shape. Liked the reflection in the water garden pool. There are two water garden pools one nestled in the top of the C the other in the bottom. The one at the top, pictured here is tropical, water is pretty much still too cold for there to be much in the way of plants. The water garden at the bottom of the C is for hardy species, and is filling in nicely with plants.
bigger and higher resolution shots here.





NaCl(hope that wasn't too much information)H2O

Well my architehture shot went bunkers, but this is almost there...no?
FA 43

No chance for Architecture around here- Been in a meeting from 09:00 to 16:30. And it has been raining all day. And it is cold. So indoor stuff will have to do. Took out the new Hi-tech shoes I bought a few weeks ago, (for my daily walk) and these were the inserts - thought I'd try something interesting.


And flowers from that all day meeting

They don't build them now as they used to. This Roman church has been standing there for the last 900 years and, despite slight erosion issues, it will continue to do so for centuries to come. Impressive!


May 14 by Audi 5 cyl, on Flickr

And because this fella has been guarding it's door since the beginning of it's existence, I will promote him as a runner-up today. I present you the mighty "Grand Goule".

No architectural opportunities so far today... Will be heading out later to L.A. with a friend to see a band but not sure if/what I'll be shooting, so you get this experiment from breakfast at our favorite Cuban restaurant in town... FA50/1.4

Not sticking with a theme today; having too much fun with macro. Here is the full Sodial extension tube set behind my FA50/1.4, closed down all the way. As always, K-5 doing the digital honours with a few exposure, contrast and saturation-type tweaks in Raw Therapee.

"Pining for you."

Still figuring out the K1

K1, SMC-M 50/f1.4
ISO 800, 1/50th @ f5.6



The camera is level here. It's my yard and bench that is out of whack.....