"Awww" Struck

Following on from my last post playing around with the SMC Pentax Takumar 135mm f/2.5 which ended with dog vs waterfowl chaos I was about to head off on my merry way when mom, dad and these little guys came ashore right where I was standing...

If only this next picture was perfectly in focus... Still, good enough to share simply for the cute factor of a gosling shaking himself off.

As the family waddled away across the grass I was about to slowly change my position when all of a sudden they turned back around towards me - I guess this is the Canadian Goose interpretation of the opening of Reservoir Dogs!

They quickly paired up two by two...

And looked like they were going to head back into the pond...

But instead, perhaps recognizing the unique vintage of the Takumar 135mm, decided to stick around and strike a few poses for me...

Still a little growing up to do before these little guys can take flight.

A light snack...

Followed by an afternoon nap in the sun...

A final family portrait...

And then we said our goodbyes...

It was very, very hard selecting these shots because between the Takumar 135mm showing me that it still has a lot to give the world, my camera and the wonderful subject matter, I was able to snap so many great pictures. Permit me a brief moment of pride here when I say these are probably the best pictures I've taken in awhile.

It's days like this that make me feel so lucky to be able to capture moments in time and, best of all, share those moments with others.

Until next time folks, thanks for stopping by.

S-M-C Pentax Takumar 105mm f/2.8

It sure is good to be back!

After a long distance marathon of work completing my writing contract for the awesome folks at Capcom Games Vancouver, I finally had a little free time. Miraculously, we got a taste of Spring here in Vancouver this weekend (although as I write this it's pouring rain again...).

It felt like forever since I took the camera out and I was surprised at how rusty I felt with it.

It was nice to see a few old friends.

Yes, I still get a kick out of photographing our feathered friends! This guy got a kick out of me...

I don't think any of these pictures are necessarily remarkable from an artistic standpoint but I'm happy with how they turned out simply because they were all taken with the manual focus Super-Multi-Coated Pentax Takumar 105mm f/2.8 - a lens that's FORTY ONE YEARS OLD!

Focusing manually can be a little challenging (especially with moving subjects) and the lens has some funkiness to it in certain light conditions but overall, it's an awesome piece of glass. There's a reason why the Takumar aficionados give it a 9.06 out of 10 rating. Though some would consider this lens outdated and too much work, there's something I find kind of cool about manual focusing and relying on my eyes and hands rather than the brain of the camera. With a very long focus throw compared to modern day auto-focus lenses, the Takumars are also great for shooting video which is another reason I love hunting down these hidden gems.

Most of these pictures are pretty much SOOC as the pros would say - Straight Out Of Camera, i.e. no post-processing or tweaking. I have to say, I love the way these particular vintage lenses render colour.

Nice bokeh too!

This particular lens I found off of Craigslist and got from a retired pro photographer who was the original owner and only used the lens a couple of times in the last 41 years so it's in almost brand new condition.

Hopefully I'll be able to shoot some video projects with it soon. Stay tuned!

Until next time folks, here's hoping Spring is here to stay!

2011 WEEK 46: More November Sunsets!

Think of it as my "Black Friday" special - you get two lots of pictures for the price of one. What do you mean, you just stumbled across this site? Come on, stay awhile. Order a print. Help me fund a new lens!

I accept PayPal. Just sayin'... Okay! Back to sunsets!

Isn't it a beauty?

As well as odd sculptures (scroll down for evidence!), a penchant for bird pictures (also see below!) and generally geeky things (too many examples to mention...), I'm also developing an odd fascination with benches. I don't know if its the shape, the texture, the location or something more metaphysical to do with all those millions of behinds that have sat on them and experienced the view. Benches are interesting. Maybe one day I'll own one of my own. Until then, I'll snap more pictures of them.

I've taken many shots of benches over the course of this years photo adventure. I still don't feel like I've captured the perfect bench but hey, there's still 6 weeks left so who knows...

Weeds are generally not particularly photogenic. However, backlight the crap out of them with some sweet golden rays and "Voila!"

A short distance along the seawall I found a gaggle of Canadian Geese pecking away at the grass.

I love this shot for all kinds of reasons.

This one too turned out great. I suppose it should be titled "Waddling Into The Sunset".

Right beside the geese was... Yup! You guessed it! Another one of Vancouver's fascinating and bizarre  sculptures. I'm told this one is supposed to represent two wedding rings but when it first went up my interpretation of it was a symbolic representation of The Greenhouse Effect...

The shot above was pretty much straight out of the camera or SOC as the camera folks say with no PP (Post-Processing). To complete the geeky side of things, all of these photos for this week were taken with what is still one of my favourite lenses in my arsenal, the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5. It's a lens that has a natural warmth to the glass. This, combined with the "Cloudy" colour style exposure setting, a low-ish ISO and with the aperture closed down to expose for the brighter areas of the sky, is what made this sunset pictures work so well.

At least, in my humble opinion... Art is as they say "in the eye of the beholder".

Here's a "Thermo-Nuclear" take on the shot above with heavy cross-processing.

I took a picture of this tree with my iPhone just a few months ago and it was a giant mass of green.

That's it for this week (ahem... last week). I'll hopefully catch up again and end this epic photo adventure with a bang AND on schedule!

With only a few weeks left in 2011, I'd love it if you could take a quick scroll through all the many pictures I've taken over the course of the year and let me know in the comment section which ones were your favourites. Otherwise I'll be forced to do my own Top 10 Photos and you know what that'll mean... A whole bunch of birds and weird sculptures!

Until next time...