My new lens has arrived! I took this as a first test, at 34mm and f/3.5. I think it turned out great!
And hey! Don't complain: This isn't technically another photo of my dog. It's of my dog's ball. ;)
Day 314 - No Whiners
Some delicious Coloradan IPA, out of my favorite American beer glass. It's a Black Dog Ale glass from Spanish Peaks Brewing, which coincidentally is also from Colorado. Now I only need to actually have that beer sometime and not just fill the glass with replacement brew from the same state :)
Day 313 - Almost a Full Moon
Because taking a photo of the moon on the actual day of full moon (tomorrow) is for wimps, I am doing it today.
This is a hand-held shot (with optical stabilizer), at 200mm focal length for 1/250s at f/11 and ISO 400, with some very mild postprocessing.
Day 312 - Mountain View City Center
Day 311 - MVCPA
This is the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, next to the Mountain View City Hall, as the sun is setting.
In the spirit of "The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it." (Ansel Adams), trying to take an actual photo with a cell phone camera here.
Day 310 - Baggage Boy
"Baggage Boy" -- A sculpture at the Mountain View Caltrain Station.
This might also be one of the last pictures I took with my trusty old Canon EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 lens, which routinely shows an "Error 99" on the camera now after a handful of shots, at best. Now, I don't use a standard-range zoom lens a lot anymore anyway: Over the course of this year, I've gotten into prime lenses more and will happily choose them if I know what subjects I am expecting. Still, I don't want to go completely without such a lens, because sometimes I don't know what to expect, yet I can't reasonably haul a variety of lenses where I'm going.
So long story short, I ordered a Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4 lens as a replacement, which trades a slightly shorter zoom range for better aperture, and on top of it, has decent macro features, and so far I am missing a macro lens in my modest lineup. Looking forward to trying it out!
Day 309 - Angry Birds
I didn't know Angry Birds had such a massive market for merchandise that there are even dedicated carts at the mall now. Crazy.
Day 308 - The Cloud
"The Cloud" is all the rage now in the Silicon Valley. Quite appropriately, this building in downtown Mountain View reflects the (real) clouds very nicely. I also like how the architectural style that looks a lot like the windows on an airplane.
Credit for the "photographer's eye" goes to morgamic, who pointed out the photo opportunity while I was oblivious. Thanks!
Day 307 - Curled Up
As you might have noticed, I post pictures of my dog when I haven't had time to take a picture during the day.
Today's picture is an HDR shot made from a single RAW image, which is something I always wanted to try. Seems to have worked well, but when you zoom in, it also brings out a lot of the graininess from the low-light conditions. By the way, to tonemap the shot, I used a new web tool I discovered: SimplyContrast.
Day 306 - Photoshop Control Spray
No offense to Cheryl Burke, but I have a distinct suspicion that what makes the person in this photo so unnaturally skinny may well be Photoshop, not an ominous appetite control spray. Perhaps, if they wrote on the box how disturbingly photoshopped many photos of alleged "diet models" are, that would spoil people's appetite much more thoroughly than any diet product ever could.