Stroll through Walton Square

Last Tuesday I took a second stroll in the same general area I'd been in Monday. I had seen a couple streets Monday that I wanted to explore and, as I did, I found a park called Sydney G. Walton Square. I also found a couple sculptures on the way there. It's amazing to me that I can just wander lost around San Francisco and find artwork.

Speaking of artwork! the new public utilities commission building is going to have something like 350 pieces. Guess who's getting in to see the artwork? Yup. Me. Will I be able to share pictures? With luck, but o promises.

After that aside, here are some photos.


1/125th, f1.8


1/125th, f5.6
The Penguins by Beniamino Bufano. Sculpted in porphyry granite. All that geology stuff took root! Not really. The plaque says that thing about the granite.


1/500th, f1.8
This image got some extra post-processing. From the scanner it was very over exposed, so I copied the image, pasted it as a layer, dropped the gamma to 0.2, and made the transparency 85%. The result was substantially better and captured what I had wanted the image to look like.


1/125th, f5.6
The least over-exposed of the images.


1/30th, f16
Asparagus. Actually, this is called Fountain of the Four Seasons. I dig it. I was glad this long-exposure shot turned out because it's kinda neat to see the water bubble over the top and get flung about in the wind.


1/1,000th, f1.8
This is Marisol's portait of Georgia O'Keefe and her dogs. I kinda see it. It's bronze, I think, but probably made from a wood sculpture or meant to look like it. I had to burn a LOT on her face to get the details. So this result could have been better if this camera's light meter worked.


1/1,000th, f1.8
One of the dogs. It appears to be unhappy. Maybe it wishes it were made of brass or molybdenum.


1/4, f16.
I set the camera on a handrail for this image due to the quarter-second exposure time. I've hand-held images at as long as 1/8th of a second without noticeable camera shake, but a quarter-second is too long. Also a bird or something flew through my shot.

May 5th Project (Part 2 of 2)

As promised, here are the San Francisco images from the Canon AE-1's May 5th roll. These actually weren't taken the 5th.


I've photographed this fountain before, so I kept this part to a minimum. Just three images.
There's another fountain in the park, but it's all naked boys and photographing that would feel creepy. Especially since it's right in front of a church.

Shot two of this fountain. It's one of my favorites. I like its whimsical, fun nature.


This is just a fun fountain to photograph.


The lion was mumbling at me as I walked past, so I took the ring out of the lion's mouth, but he went on about how, in The Chronicles of Narnia, he's an analog for God and that means that holding a ring in his mouth in real life is very humiliating. I mean he really went on like that for twenty minutes. So I put the ring back in his mouth.


One of the Greek mythological characters, and I forgot to write down which one.


Same guy as above, different angle.


Some statues of buildings. I forget exactly where I saw this, but it was a nice way to end the roll.

May 5th Project (Part 1 of 2)

Back on May 5th a photo message board I frequent had a project where a bunch of us from around the world took a roll of film, in its entirety, on May 5th. I admit I only got 24 of the 36 exposures taken. So here, today, are a mix of shots from the May 5th 24-exposure burst. The San Francisco shots will be posted next week.


One of my dogs. The AE-1 takes absolutely amazing photos.And it helps that this dog likes having his photo taken.


The girlfriend and I decided to take the dogs for a walk in downtown Walnut Creek. It went, well, it went. This is the statue in front of the Chase Bank, a statue I've visited before for this blog.


I'm not sure exactly what it is, but to me it looks like three robot dancers trying to swing themselves apart. I kinda dig it, though.


Could you imagine being stuck with this guy for eternity? Having to look at the blank, emotionless face? Wondering if he's mad at you, maybe not, or maybe. Maybe that joke about him not having a nose was just too far? Why else would be be giving you the silent treatment? Then you realize you look exactly like him!


Yup. Exactly like him.


I finished the day with some moon shots -- after a few tree shots. However, none of the moon shots delivered usable results.
Next week, the San Francisco shots.

Super Saturday Special -- Two of Four

Nikon F3, 24-120mm zoom, Adox CHM ART 100 ISO.
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5


6

Welcome to a Vampire Movie

On Saturday I took in Mount Diablo with a Pentax K2 and my K-7. I brought a few lenses and managed a few shots. The K2 I loaded with Adox 100 CHM ART, which is rebranded Efke film made by Fotokemia. That means it's great film and it truly is.

Right as we reached the summit parking lot, a dense fog bank rolled in shrouding our trip in fog and cooling the air by a dozen degrees. With the fog, I decided to try and get a film noir-like look to the images. It didn't work exactly and I think the result looks like a depression-era vampire movie. Still not a bad result.

I didn't keep track of any exposure data, so today will just be some photos.


Into the Fog, Mount Diablo Summit


Lost in the Fog


Mountaintop Observatory


Lost Trees


A Dark Foreground


Could be a Path


Shortly before the fog hit


An Intrepid Mountaineer


Someone loves topiary too much.

A New Film Delivers Great Results

Thursday I walked Third Street and Market. I lucked out and caught the SEIU protesting something. I'm not sure what.


Some potatoes, onions, and ginger in the back of a truck.


Man-lifts and shadows.


I used the unsharp mask on this to try and get the guy in focus. He would have been if he hadn't been moving. Then this would have been a superb shot. Such is life.


Skyscraper reflection. I admit that I enjoy photographing buildings, as you will see tomorrow. Unsharp mask to punch out the reflections. But they needed very little work. This film delivers exceptional results.


Unsharp mask here, too, to enhance the reflections and sky a bit.