Lost in SOMA

On 5 January I had the chance to walk around Market Street and the Embarcadero with my K1000 and Sigma 35-80mm lens. This is a combination that has presented challenges, but also many very good results. The Sigma lens is superb and, when coupled with my Pentax K-7, yields consistent and superb results. From the roll, three shots turned out worthy of posting. About six shots of various nighttime scenes returned unusable results, despite exposure times of a full second. I should have set the camera in bulb and tried some exposures longer than one second to achieve usable results. All that said, here are a few shots and notes on how I achieved them. This outfit also included a Nikkor red filter and I used Foma 400 ISO film.


Trolleys are an amazing aspect of life in San Francisco. All cities should have them. Seriously. All cities should. They simplify transit around the city with their regular schedule and reduce city pollution because they're all electric. This shot was taken with no filter, at f8 and 1/60th of a second. Focal distance: 35mm. (My girlfriend got me a notepad for Christmas so I could take notes on my shots. I'm working on getting in that habit, but did well Thursday and Friday.)


This is a view of Oakland through a marina dock. Either 1/60th and f5.6 or 1/30th and f6.3, not sure which. I think the second, though. Focal distance: 35mm.


This last shot is a moored ship and a penguin sticker. I don't agree with graffiti, even when people call it 'street art,' which it isn't -- it's vandalism. But, stickers don't bother me as much. They can be removed without permanent damage and, after a few good rains, disintegrate on their own anyway. So they're ephemeral and a shot with sticker art may never be taken again. This was 1/125th at f4, focal distance of 80mm.

Last Thursday had a lot of atmospheric haze, not ultraviolet light refraction but actual particulate haze. It's a downside of living in a valley. But, the lens and camera combination performed well despite the reduced available light and fuzziness of distant objects. With luck, this combo will have a better chance with different film later in the season.