2025 Morning Walk Photos

June 14, 2025 - On Assignment

San Mateo Pride Parade

June 7, 2025 - On Assignment

Bonsai Demonstration, Juneteenth Celebration

June 4, 2025 - Sausalito

I decided to play with three low-cost Chinese lenses: A Viltrox 28 F 4.5, a 7Artisans 35mm F 2.0, and a TTArtisan 50mm F 2.0. The are all focal lengths longer than my preferred Pergear 14mm F 2.8, but I felt compelled to take these older lenses for an airing out. Perhaps it was the lighting (bright hazy sunlight) that reduced the contrast in these shots. They just didn't have the "snap" that I've come to expect.

Perhaps my heavily used Pergear is just so much better. For the moment, I am motivated to try again, perhaps to concentrate on just a single lens

May 26, 2025 - On Assignment

Memorial Day, Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno

View from above, looking down the hill.

May 22, 2025 - Fuji X70

This weathered Adirondack Chair seems to live outside of this old house. Somebody occasionally moves it about, although the house appears unoccupied.

Morning shadows. Facinating.

Plastic clips, discarded at the base of a small tree.

This images reminds me of how much a photographer can do with a small flash and a camera with a leaf shutter. It could have been done with a conventional mirrorless camera, but the leaf shutter in the X70 make this shot easy to plan and execute.

May 20, 2025 - Sony A7, 28mm 4.5 Viltrox 

This lens has auto-focus and a fixed aperture of 4.5. As a result, the backgrounds can be be out of focus, but not enough to qualify as bokeh.  Also, there is noticeable vignetting which is more apparent in some photos than in others.

This inspired, I may play with my 7Artisans 35mm 5.6, a manual focus fixed aperture pancake lens originally made for the Leica M bodies, which I have adapted to my Sony body.

May 9, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, 18mm 2.0 Fujinon

May 3, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, 18mm 2.0 Fujinon

May 3, 2025 - Fuji X-T4, 16-55 2.8 Fujinon

Sausalito's historic link to maritime industry.

April 6, 2025 - On Assignment

These photos were taken at the Peninsula Ballet Company's practice session for an upcoming ballet. Jon Finck is the publicist for a number of artistic organizations, both in San Francisco and on the Peninsula.  I wanted to get a photo submitted to the paper to help publicize the premier of a ballet called Slant Of The Earth. While it felt strange to watch a ballet without music, the dancers did an excellent job of conveying the dilemma the dancers expressed in their movements. 

Because of the unknown nature of the artificial lighting, I took a custom White Balance measurement which I could tweek in post production, if necessary. The placement of the fixtures in the suspended ceiling created distinct pockets of light, which I used to my advantage whenever possible. The results tended to be a little on the cold side, but altering the color temperature to improve skin tone would have given the scene an artificial look. I contend that if I had altered the white balance towards the warm, incandescent side, the  viewer would have noticed that the shadows were too soft for a tungsten light source. So leaving the shots "as is" was probably the right decision.

As is my practice, I posed a quick group photo at the end, being mindful that their schedule was tight, so I made the shot as quickly as possible. I would have done better job of lighting the background, if I had time.

Published on page 2 of the April 7, 2025 edition.

March 18, 2025 - Fuji X70

I like the way early morning shadows elongate, so long as I can avoid image-destroying flare. I stood in the shadow of a telephone pole when I made this shot.

It's been a while since I used my X70. The image quality of the OEM Fuji-mount lenses is refreshing after working with third-party lenses for so long.

March 6, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, Fujifilm18mm F 2.0 

Painted Electrical Box, Buena Vista Parkway

March 3, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

March 2, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

This may be the last image I will make using the TTArtisan pancake. I'll keep this as a reference image for this particular camera/lens combination. Contrast was boosted in post production by shifting the black and white points to the center while moving the midpoint to darken the shadow/midtone regions.

The image has less contrast than I am used to, but the humidity (it had been raining only a half hour before) robbed the image of some crispness.

February 18, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

I am content with accepting the occasional glitch with this combination of body and lens. The upgrade to the firmware did help, but it isn't a perfect union. The next stop for the lens is the bottom of my main camera bag.

February 14, 2025 - Fuji X-S10, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

The X-S10 is a much newer camera than the X-Pro1 and X-E1 that have been giving me grief in the focusing department. With the firmware update, the performance improved with the two older bodies, and appears to be reliable enough to carry as an emergency backup lense. I have some issues with the color, but this is probably due to my turning off all of the color "tweaks" I've been using, and the rather dull nature of the sky. I may continue to test, or maybe I won't. Won't know until after I eat breakfast.

February 14, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

Firmware: This morning I successfully loaded the updated firmware to the lens.  This appears to have improved the focusing reliability when used with my Fujifilm X-Pro1,Next I will try it on a X-S10 body, which I hope will give me a 100% success in focusing.

Performance: The images appear sharp enough for publication. However, the vignetting was pretty severe, even at F 8.0. And lastly, the 27mm is a bit narrow for my taste. I corrected the problem in post production.

February 12, 2025 - Fuji X-E1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

1/9 Second, F 4.0, ISO 1600. No wonder the image trembles.

The autofocusing problem has not gone away, I found that twisting the lens in bit sometimes helps. I am  having second thoughts about this being the "backup" lens.

February 10, 2025 - Fuji X-Pro1, TTArtisan 27mm F. 2.8

I am having some issues with the Autofocus failing to engage.Have not determined the cause. I will change to a more modern body to see if it helps.