Sony Alpha 100

I’m learnding

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One of the the things I am really enjoying about photography is the learning. It’s a sense of wonder and awe at the myriad ways you can capture an image in any given circumstance.

I tend to get very single-minded sometimes. I find a facet and I explore it and develop it with an almost tunnel vision like approach. That’s pretty well evidenced in my concert photography which is really just an extension of my love of nighttime and low-light photography.

What’s cool to me is that I can be browsing the web and reading a friend’s blog or maybe just stumble across some photography site and see something that catches my interest.

Case in point

I saw a post from from fellow shutterbug Satyr on his blog that was showing off some pictures he had just taken with his new 70mm 2.8 macro lens. The shot that caught my eye was a macro of a fly.

Now I had a rudimentary knowledge of what macro photography was, but I had not really explored it. Also known as life-size magnification, macro photography requires a lens that will allow you to get very close to your subject and still be able to attain focus. The more zoom the lens has, the more the subject is magnified.

What struck me is that he was shooting with a 2.8 70mm lens and I happen to have a 28-75mm 2.8 lens. It’s a Tamron AF 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di and right there on the lens it says “Macro” so I figured I should have the ability to shoot macro without much problem and with similar results.

I had originally bought the lens for low-light photography but I was now having a moment of enlightenment. Exactly the kind of thing that makes this hobby so much fun for me.

I dug out the lens and attached it to my camera and went into the backyard looking for a bug. I didn’t find any interesting enough so I settled on the trumpet flowers that are now blooming quite enthusiastically in the garden.

Click for full size (it’s well worth it)

So thanks to Satyr for the inspiration and the information. He’s also the one who offered the most useful tips regarding concert photography so that’s two I owe him.

Meet me on the dark side of the moon

I found myself uncharacteristically informed in advance of a significant celestial event for a change, rather than hearing of it after it was over. That event was the total lunar eclipse on Saturday, March 3rd.

Even though the full eclipse would not be visible from the central U.S., the moon would be over 75% obscured at moonrise and would pass from eclipse over the course of about an hour.

I thought this would be a truly unique photographic experience and set out to make the most of it.

First I would need a good place to view the event. I considered Galveston and even Matagorda. Not really wanting to drive any great distance, I decided to ask my friend and co-host, Barrett, if he thought the roof of his downtown loft might be a suitable viewing location.

He informed me that there was a mostly unobstructed view of the eastern horizon from the roof and that he had seen the moonrise on several occasions.

This suited me just fine and we made the arrangements.

Cynthia and I arrived at Barrett’s loft around 6:00 pm and before long we were on the roof. Barrett had told a few friends who also joined us. It’s a precarious climb involving a straight ladder to the roof from the 10th floor.
Cynthia and I schlepped our cameras and I carried a tripod. The temperature was dropping into the 50’s with a nice stiff wind but we were determined.

According to what I had read, the moon should be rising in the east at the exact time the sun is setting in the west during this eclipse. Well, the sun went down but no moon came up. It must have been obscured by one of the buildings. I asked Barrett if he had seen the rising of the moon during winter and he said he didn’t know.

Apparently Barrett failed druid school and did not realize that the location of the moonrise changes over the year.

Ah well, it was a good time anyway. I got some great shots of downtown.

These three pics are of the east (where the moon should have been rising) and demonstrate the 75-300mm lens going from shortest to longest focal length.

Click for full size image

I just love the Maxwell House building.

This is Main St. You can see Dean’s Credit Clothing on the left in the distance.

Click for full size image

As the sun set I pointed the camera west to grab this shot:

Click for full size image

After conceding defeat regarding the eclipse we made our way back down and Cynthia and I said our goodbyes and started to drive back home. Just as we were entering the freeway we looked up in the eastern sky and there it was:

Click for full size image

I found the exit and pulled over to shoot it handheld. Not too bad, but not what I was aiming for, especially after all that planning.

Ah well, maybe next time

The Blaggards

When it gets close to St. Paddy’s Day the Irish/Celtic music community starts gearing up for the celebration. All of a sudden EVERYBODY wants an Irish band from some event or another.

Patrick Devlin of The Blaggards contacted me because he knew of a gig for us and in the course of the conversation he asked if The Fish would be interested in opening for them at Fitzgerald’s on March 2nd.

I ran it by the boys and it was a done deal.

Good times, good times! A fantastic show with many old fans and many new ones!

Here are a couple of the pics I got that night. The link to many more are at the end of this post.

Turi Hoiseth
Turi “Tuffy” Hoiseth (click for larger version)

Patrick Devlin (Click for larger version)

Click here to be taken to the gallery for more pictures of The Blaggards from that night!

Weekend birdtivity

I can totally see that I will be that old man, you know the one sitting on the park bench using his meager funds to purchase a loaf of bread to feed the birds?

Wait a minute. I AM that old man.

Friday morning I had to wait on the exterminator so I found myself sitting on the front porch marvelling at the early morning bird activity. There’s a Red-tail hawk who has taken up residence somewhere nearby. I saw him flying low and into a neighbor’s tree and I almost got a fix on him but it was no go. He took off again and flew directly toward the rising sun so I couldn’t get a shot.

I did however, finally get a shot of the elusive Goldfinch who’s been flitting about the front yard.

They’re erratic in flight and in constant motion so it’s been a struggle. Too bad that by the time this guy dons his mating plumage he’ll have moved on.

There was also major Mockingbird action as 2 males duked it (beaked it?) out on the neighbor’s driveway.

You talkin’ to me? You best not be talkin’ to me!

It was hilarious! They would go from side to side in this comical shuffling manner and then they would just stand there and stare at each other while lifting one foot in the air.

In the backyard I was pleased to find that a sparrow had taken up residence in one of the cheap little birdhouses I installed last year.

Cynthia has named her “Daisey”

We’re worried that the Bougainvillea may not have survived the winter.

Click for larger version

It’s still attracting the birds but if it’s dead we’ll need to remove and finds something to replace it with.

The Umbrella Man

Click for full size

Nick Gaitan has a new musical project (in addition to The Octanes) called The Umbrella Man.

I caught them at a lively live performance this past Saturday night at Dean’s Credit Clothing.

The sound is a mix of swing jazz, blues, ska, and country and features Patrick Wheeler on drums, Hillary Sloan on the fiddle along with guitarists Johnny Rojas and Jeremy PeÃ±a, saxophone player Nathan Smith and accordion player Robert Rodriguez.

The sound is rich and complex and they are well worth listening to if you get a chance to see them live.

More pics in the gallery.

They’re both rather wary of us so I had to shoot these through the back window.
Even then, the female flew away and the male retreated to the bougainvillea and gave me a dirty look.

Click for full size

The Bald Heretic – Short, bald dude with a goofy beard

I’m learnding

Meet me on the dark side of the moon

The Blaggards

Weekend birdtivity

The Umbrella Man

The Continental Club – Houston

The return of Ricky Handsomepants

Returning guests