A Snowy End To 2013

Back in December of 2013 we had a brief snowfall in Vancouver and it suddenly occurred to me that in all the time I've had my camera (3yrs now!) I've never taken snow pictures with it. So with small flakes still drifting down I bundled up and braved the elements before it turned to rain.

Davie Street. No buses getting up the hill today.

Vancouver is a city ruled by umbrellas. I still don't really understand why people bother with them in the snow though. Umbrellas are for rain or for creating shade on a hot sunny day!

I love the quietness, sense of isolation and starkness a snowfall brings.

Those who have followed my photographic adventures over the past 3yrs will know I have a recurring fascination with benches... So here's another one for the collection! Corner vignetting added by me and is intentional ;)

A cold day to be a Blue Heron.

I like the perspective on this one but it would have worked better if I'd turned and looked back sooner so the silhouetted pedestrian was better featured.

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink except for this lone drinking fountain.

Thinking of making this next one a Christmas card for next holiday season.

Or maybe this one too...

This is one of my favorites - The water in the lagoon was just starting to freeze over but was still watery enough to reflect. The tree branch layered in snow feels like a gnarly hand reaching down to touch the surface.

Another Christmas card possibility?

Or how about this one?

I'm not really sure what these were (crabapples?) but I love their little snow hats. The entire tree was festooned in them.

Another "snow hat", this time on the bud of a magnolia.

Towards the end of my walk, on the edge of Stanley Park, I came across this fir tree which someone had chosen to decorate.

Just for fun, here's the closest thing I'll ever get to doing a "selfie"...

For those of you interested in the technical side of things, all of these pictures were taken with my trusty old Canon 60D paired with the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 - I have to say I am really, really impressed with this lens. Many of these shots were captured wide open and of the many I took almost all of them were sharp and those that weren't were more down to user error than any fault with the lens. Great to see a company like Sigma step it up and give the big guys a run for their money all while doing it at a great wallet-friendly price point.

Over Christmas I was on the Sunshine Coast and got some great pictures while on a post-turkey feast hike. I'll try and share those soon.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy New Year and the very best of wishes for a healthy, prosperous and inspiring 2014.

Comment below with which image you like best and I'll send you a Christmas card next year :)

"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.

SMC Takumar 135mm f/2.5

I've posted before in this post about how awesome the old M42 screw mount Pentax Takumar lenses are, especially for video which is mostly what I've shot with on my last couple of film projects. It's been awhile since I snapped some pictures with these lenses so I spent a few hours strolling around Coal Harbour recently and to add to the challenge of going all manual with a vintage lens, I shot exclusively with just the Super Multi-Coated Takumar 135mm f/2.5.

All of these shots were taken hand-held which even for static subjects can be quite the challenge.

Way back when I shot a bunch of pictures of a Blue Heron on the Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5 - The pictures were okay but mostly because of the subject matter. I didn't find the lens very sharp, colours needed a fair amount of tweaking in post, in certain light conditions the lens didn't handle flare very well, there was significant chromatic aberration when and the bokeh details were a little distracting to my eye - not buttery smooth the way I like them and certainly not "bokehlicious!"

The Super Multi-Coated f/2.5 version of the Takumar 135mm is in an entirely different class.

The extra f-stop makes a huge difference especially in low light or in situations where a fast shutter speed is required. I also found there was less chromatic aberration (although still a little in some lighting conditions), I much prefer the colour rendition of the lens and as for sharpness and smooth, creamy bokeh details... Well--!

Bear in mind this is a 135mm lens on a crop sensor camera (the Canon 60D) so it's the equivalent of a 216mm... Shot handheld... On a lens made in 1972. Interestingly, this lens is as old as me! I have to say I am very impressed with it. In fact I'd go as far as saying this lens performs better than several of my modern lenses with all their new-fangled electronics and advanced lens coatings and for a fraction of the price.

The lens was made in two versions, the second of which is apparently harder to find and which is generally regarded as providing better results. Lucky for me the version I have is the 2nd version although it took me a little research to figure this out - externally they look exactly the same and the only difference is in a tiny serial number etched into the aperture switch.

The lens has a very good feel to it. Unlike modern lenses that often have a fair amount of plastic and rubberized bits to them, the Takumar lenses are made entirely from metal and glass. These things are built to last and it's a good thing because they're as good today as the day they were released. I can't imagine many of my fancy new lenses performing as well in 40 years time.

Very little post-processing was done to these images - A little cropping here and there to improve composition, an increase in vibrancy in some to bring out the colours as well as bumping up the contrast. Like all vintage lenses, it has it's quirks. In areas where there was already significant contrast between sun and shade, no tweaking was needed such as the shot above and the one below.

Focusing manually can be tricky, especially handheld. The focus barrel has quite a few degrees of rotation to it but it is extremely smooth. I had a number of shots that looked in focus but once I got home and saw them on my computer monitor they were slightly off - this was all user error so the lens really can't be blamed. Luckily I took over a dozen versions of the shot below so finding a good one was a lot easier.

Towards the end of Coal Harbour, across from the rowing club there's a lovely pond area and it was here that I really got to test my fast-draw, razor sharp, focusing skills, first with a little wildlife...

Then with this extremely enthusiastic puppy who, much to his owners consternation, broke free from his leash--

--And proceeded to cause panic and chaos amongst the waterfowl for the next 15 minutes...

One poor duck became the focus of his attention for much of the chaos.

Much of the action took place across the pond from where I was so the above is a significantly cropped picture and yet the detail on the dog's face still holds up and the only blurring is from the high-speed flapping of the poor duck. One thing noticeable element in some of these pictures is a little odd purple fringing on highlight details (such as the water droplets above) which no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to fix in Post Processing. Ah well.

Thankfully the dog made it back to shore with no casualties to the bird population and pond life was able to return to normal. Which worked out great for me because my best shots of the day were about to present themselves in all their awesome, cute and fluffy glory...

In fact I got so many great pictures of these little guys I figured they deserved their own blog post so come back in a couple of days and check out the terrific pictures I was able to snap.

In the meantime, if you'd like to know more about the wonderful world of Pentax Takumar M42 lenses, including reviews, full specs, market value etc. then head on over to the amazing Pentax Lens Forum

Until next time folks!

The Best of 2011 Part I

Almost 2,500 pictures... That's how many images were captured and were KEPT in 2011! That's a lot of pictures (never mind those that weren't keepers!) and overall, I'm really proud of the results I managed to get out of my little Canon 60D DSLR.

There were a few mis-steps such as the ones from WEEK 7 but there were also lots and lots that turned out pretty well. So without further ado, here are my top picks from the first 6 months of the year.

Max, the Goldendoodle recently featured in WEEK 50 has only one dog as competition in the awesome picture stakes and that's Gracie who was featured way back in WEEK 3.

Periodically throughout 2011 I posted a number of black and white photos. The ones featured in WEEK 6 I'm especially proud of and it was really hard to pick just one but the below image won out purely because it's my favourite candid shot from the whole year.

WEEK 8 was definitely one to remember. I had my closest encounter ever with a Blue Heron in Stanley Park...

..And I captured the below image of the first signs of Spring - I love the colours and the perspective on this one. So much so it was my desktop wallpaper for several months.

WEEK 11 brought with it a trip to The Bloedel Observatory and one of my favorite bird pictures of the year - and considering just how many pictures of birds I ended up taking, that's saying something!

The following week was a huge step forward in many regards since the rare event of the Super Moon afforded me the opportunity to finally get out and try my hand at some long exposure shots.

Despite forgetting to bring my telephoto lens I still managed to capture some great images.

April brought sunny days and cherry blossom all across Vancouver none of which I feel I fully managed to realize. I did get a moody abstract view inside Waterfront Station though!

Speaking of moody... I love this throwback homage to Asian horror movies...

...And this view of a boy on a bridge in Stanley Park, both from WEEK 16.

The above is kind of a busy image but the red shirt and the reflection makes it work for me. At the other end of the scale and also from the same week is this simple and elegant image of a magnolia bloom.

Easter brought with it a trip to visit family in Powell River and my favourite photo turned out to be Piper-Dove and what must surely be an entry in the "Cutest of the year" category.

May began very sparsely due to too many work commitments but it ended on a high with a video tribute to the Vancouver Canucks during the Western Conference Final vs the San Jose Sharks and another successful photo adventure in Stanley Park.

My second favourite candid picture taken in 2011 may not be as moody as the black and white of the sleeping man on the Skytrain but it was certainly interesting...

June brought a real mixed bag of photos from WEEK 22 to WEEK 25. Just as the city of Vancouver went crazy over the sad end to the Canucks run for the cup, so did a flock of seagulls on a colony of unsuspecting starfish...

Far from the ravenous and bloodthirsty end of the bird scale came these lovely balls of cute furry fun.

Keep your eyes peeled for Part II of this retrospective look at a year in photos.

Until next time folks!