Playground is closed

Snow covered and poor focus.

I am still shooting with my old prime lenses, but about ready to give up... at least for now.  This time it is a Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f2 lens, a wide angle on my Pentax, but "normal" focal length on my APS-C DSLR.  But even at f8 I was not able to get an acceptably sharp image (click the photo for a slightly bigger version). Perhaps my eyes are not as good as they once were (true) but also the DSLR has no micro-prism focus aids, so I just cannot seem to get sharp focus.

I guess it is back to my Canon lenses.  But maybe a prime is in my future.

PS: If you happen to peek at the EXIF metadata you will see that it is not accurate because the Takumar lens does not communicate with the camera.

Signs point to...

It's not personal... it's business.

When a business is bought by a competing business, it is often not good news for the employees.  Redundancies aside, it also mean squashing competing products and processes. It means elimination of the weaker, the role played by the overtaken.

Many of my friends have already exited.  I may soon join them.

I was fortunate to have been given generous notice, more then some.  And I hold out hope that my usefulness could still be recognized, but that is looking less likely everyday.

Finding new employment is difficult these days, especially for someone who desires a fulfilling job, but is in his sixth decade. But it is often said things happen for a reason, and often lead to new and better experiences.

After all, exits are also entrances... to what is beyond.

Framed graphics and two chairs

Bridge confusion

Strange how these bits and pieces come together.

North? or South?

The Canadian geese migrate south, away from the cold of winter... and north to avoid the heat of summer.

When I see them flying in the middle of the season I wonder if they are confused, lost, or perhaps just taking a few days off, and are on holiday.

Cold morning

We started out this morning cold, only 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-14C) which is not much like the season we have had so far this winter.  We now do have some snow, but by tomorrow it will be melting away as the temperature rises.

Twig pictures?

Recently there has been display and discussion of so called "twig pictures" and I have to admit, I find them appealing only in small doses.  So here is my attempt, and I don't expect me to post any more anytime soon.

Glassware

Recently I have been shooting with my Canon DSLR, but using my 45 year old Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 lens.  I bought the lens on a Pentax Spotmatic while in high school.  I worked in a camera shop after school and was able to buy the camera at a special dealer discount.  It was still a very expensive purchase back then... the most expensive thing I had ever bought.

Having adapted the lens to the Canon I have once again been able to experience what it is like to shoot with a fast prime lens, something that I have contemplated as I think about my next possible camera purchase (maybe a four-thirds or some other compact systems camera).  What I have discovered is two things: a zoom lens really is not all that important for most picture taking, and second; manual focus takes time to be accurate.  Of course the Canon does not have any special focus aids in the viewfinder, and shooting wide-open (as I did in this photo) there is very little depth of field.

S curve

I was drawn to the s curve in the road and how the snow dusting outlined the path.  Upon viewing the image on my computer it appeared pretty muddy and uninteresting.  It did not capture the detail in the trees as I remembered.  This lead to experimenting with some plug-ins and, although this may look overly processed, I do like the result.

Unexpected green

An attempt to bring some natural into an unnatural environment.

Garden pagoda