New Toy

After reading a lot of people raving about the Canon 135mm f2 zoom and its sharpness, etc, I broke down and got one this weekend. And it is sharp. And fast. But being a 135mm prime, you have to move around a bit to compose. I have played with it a little bit and already gotten some great pictures.

Check out Tybalt's eyes in this one:



(This is the larger version, also pleasing.)



I like the detail in this pottery mushroom also. The lens can really make things pop!




Wide open, the DoF is really shallow, but that can make a pleasing, like in this pile of bricks.



Anyway, this flickr set has some more examples from this lens. Loving it so far!

And Some More Irises

Well, I think I've about exhausted my stamina for processing the last set of iris pictures, I promise. There are some more at my flickr photostream if you're interested.

Another Iris

Processed some more iris shots. Here's another one.

Mmm, Rain

It smells like wet asphalt here. Mmm.

It's Back!

My wide angle lens, which took an unfortunate tumble during the proposal on the (very rocky) beach, is back from the Canon repair center. Looks loads better. Now to get some test shots to see how it works.

Ceiling Cat Speaks to Me, Too

Uh Oh

I think it's a bad sign when you notice that you've worn the rubber on the thumbstick to your xbox to the point where it's cracking apart. Damn you, Orange Box.

The Bank Job

Noelle and I had dinner with Amber and Morgan on Saturday and afterwards we decided to go see The Bank Job with Jason Statham. I was a little reluctant because Statham doesn't seem too picky about what he picks for scripts. For every Snatch it seems like there's a Transporter. But I had had a couple of mojitos at dinner, so I felt up to the task. It turned out to be a very decent movie, based on an actual bank robbery in the early 70s. The script is engaging and Jason Statham is, well, Jason Statham. David Suchet and a bunch of other great English actors turned out as well. I love having low expectations dramatically exceeded. :-)

Irises

Yesterday morning Noelle pointed out to me yesterday that our first blooming iris of the year had lots of water droplets on it and that I should take some macro shots of it, so I did. Here are a couple examples:






Macro photography is tricky, especially without a tripod. Mine is partially disassembled right now, alas. I will try and post more as I process more. Which I should do, because I don't process enough of the pictures I take.

Wow, April

So somehow most of March has slipped past me. I was sick for at least half the month. My head congestion hasn't quite left, but at least my hearing has gone back to normal. Gary Gygax, Arthur C. Clarke and Anthony Minghella died. Noelle's mom came up to visit around the middle of the month. We went to the SF Home and Garden show, where I toyed with the idea of buying a hot tub, but ruled it out for now. The weekend after that we had about twenty people over for Ham Slam 2008 (our non-denominational ham consumption celebration) and some Rock Band playing. We have lots of plants in bloom these days: the ceanothus and weeping crabapple out front and the apple tree and the fruit salad tree out back. We also have a plethora of calla lilies in bloom and the irises appear to be on deck. Last week I had to take Noelle to the hospital because she had been throwing up and had a high fever. Turns out she had a kidney infection. The most important lesson I think I learned from our nine hour stay was that if you want to get to the head of the line in the doctor's office, just start throwing up violently. Last weekend, a much recovered Noelle and I went up to the northern coast of California for a getaway to the redwoods at the Lost Whale Inn in Trinidad, CA. It was wonderfully green up there and it was so nice to get away from the hubbub of the Bay Area. Sadly, I managed to scratch my beloved wide angle lens because I wasn't paying attention to the tripod it was situated on. Oh, and I proposed to Noelle on the beach and she accepted. ;-)

(An actual recounting of my activities in March and not an April Fool's joke.)