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Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 100, f/8, 30 sec, +/-0 EV, IS off

Taken in an alley behind an apartment building on Historic Highland Avenue in Birmingham, AL. I was drawn to the combination of lighting (sodium vapor and mercury vapor), the texture of the brick and the arrangement of the trash cans. This photo was taken with my Pentax K10D and my old manual focus 50mm f/1.7 lens on a Joby Gorillapod. I set the camera to manual mode, selected ISO 100 (for minimum noise), Auto white balance, 30 second shutter (maximum shutter time in manual mode), f/8 aperture (for maximum sharpness), and set the self timer to the 2 second delay position (to eliminate camera shake when the shutter opens). I manually set the focus at infinity and didn’t bother checking the light meter reading. Since I shoot these shots with the long exposure noise reduction turned off, I was able to review the shot immediately and saw that it was good on the first try. The alley was a lot darker and creepier than this photo suggests so after one shot I grabbed up my camera and kept moving… More »

March 19th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, Adobe Lightroom, AL, alley, Birmingham, city, f/8, Gorillapod, Highland Avenue, ISO 100, light trails, long exposure, manual mode, motion, night, Pentax K10D, RAW, self timer, starbursts, street, urban | Category: Tips & Tricks, photos, technique | Comments Off

Pentax K10D, Pentax SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 1000, f/1.7, 1/25 sec, +0.7 EV, IS on

Lots of rain here tonight. Good thing my Pentax K10D is weather sealed ;-) Nice video to set the mood: Rain Song

UPDATE: Apparently this photo was just the beginning. This morning the Auburn area was hit by a series of tornadoes. Fortunately, we escaped without damage as two tornadoes passed just to the north and south of us. There was some damage to houses and businesses but so far we are hearing that there have been no injuries. There was lots of lighting and wind and a crazy amount of rain. Our entire back patio and yard was flooded and the alley turned into a white water river. I took a second to venture out of our bathroom closet to take this picture during the height of the storm:

Here’s the view out front. What the heck are these folks thinking?

Now they are forcasting snow tonight after this front moves through. Got to love Alabama weather!

February 27th, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, Alabama, Auburn, bokeh, dark, drip, flood, flooding, Led Zeppelin, Lee County, night, Pentax K10D, rain, Rain Song, Robert S. Donovan, street, tornado, water, weather seals, www.booleansplit.com | Category: photos | Comments (1)

Pentax K10D, Pentax-A SMC 50mm f/1.7 (manual focus), ISO 640 (auto), f/1.7, 1/100 sec, +/-0 EV, IS: ON (converted to b/w and toned in Adobe Lightroom)

Snapped on my way back from Milwaukee Friday. I’m going to start posting more of my Flickr photos here in an effort to make it easier for those of you who follow my blog to follow my pictures as well. I’m planning on posting the large version of my photos but would appreciate feedback on that decision. Please feel free to post any questions about my photos in the comments here or on Flickr (photo links back to Flickr page).

February 23rd, 2009 | Tags: 50mm f/1.7 SMC-A, Adobe Lightroom, airplane, AirTran, Atlanta, black and white, book, chinese, dark, flight, flying, man, Milwaukee, night, pages, Pentax K10D, profile, read, reading, Robert S. Donovan, spotlight, travel, trip | Category: photos | Comments (2)

I’ve already blogged here once about taking sunset photos but after taking this blue hour shot tonight I just had to share how easy this is.

I had to run downtown around 6pm to pick up some fresh oysters from the Fish Market. On the way out the door I grabbed my Pentax K10D, 16-50 f/2.8 DA* (borrowed) and tripod. I made a bee line down 21st Street South (past the Fish Market) to the viaduct that goes over the railroad tracks into downtown. From this elevated vantage point over the tracks I knew I would have a decent view west with enough streetlights for some killer starburst action.

Here’s the set-up for this shot:

• camera mode: MANUAL (you can’t do this in AUTO!)
• aperture: f/22
• shutter speed: 30 seconds
• ISO: 100*
• white balance: AUTO
• flash: OFF (!!)
• IS: OFF
• auto focus: OFF (manually set focus to ∞)
• self timer: ON (2 second delay)
• focal length: widest setting (here: 16mm)
• battery: fully charged (!)

*Nikon users with ISO 200 as the lowest setting may have to back off the shutter to 15-20 seconds.

That’s it. Mount the camera on a tripod, compose the shot, trip the shutter (using the self timer prevents camera shake), step back, and wait. If you time the light right that’s all you’ll ever have to do. The small aperture ensures everything is in focus and creates dazzling starbursts. The long exposure pulls in all kinds of light and colors and the low ISO keeps things s-m-o-o-t-h. I did shoot this photo in RAW but all I did in Lightroom to this shot is apply my standard import settings and touch up a little sensor dust.

Truthfully, I rarely look at the exposure meeter for these shots. I usually just take a 30 second f/22 shot at ISO 100 and check the LCD. If it’s too dark I’ve probably missed the magic blue hour and it’s either time to pack it up or break out the DIY bulb switch (though I usually try a few in vain at f/16 and f/8 just to be sure). If the shot is too bright I’ll just back off the shutter to 15 seconds and try again. If that doesn’t work I just wait a bit until the light drops off some more. The only real hard part is getting the timing right (most people are packing up to leave about the time I’m setting up for my best shots) and being patient (30 second exposures can seem like an eternity sometimes).

It’s really one of the few never-fail shots if you use these settings. Trick is you pretty much have to use all of these settings to get decent results. Break out the tripod and give it a try tomorrow night!

Here are a few more examples on my Flickr stream if you’re interested.

February 7th, 2009 | Tags: 21st Street South, 30 seconds, Adobe Lightroom, AL, Birmingham, DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL [IF] SDM, dark, DIY cable release, downtown, evening, exposure, f/22, Fish Market, manual, night, oysters, Pentax K10D, self timer, starbursts, streetlights, sunset, tripod, www.booleansplit.com | Category: technique | Comments (4)