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"Kuchi Girl" I met this girl high up in the Panjshir Valley of Afghanistan while visiting my sister-in-law Marnie who has been in-country for 20 years. Behind her is a huge pile of dung, which will serve as her family's heating fuel for the upcoming winter. This was just before the pandemic.

#afghanistan #kuchigirl #kuchi #panjshir #people #sonyalpha

Aging Lantern

Passing through Tokyo the other day, wandering around in the usual fugue, in transit from Saigon back to Seattle with a long layover, I came across this somewhat sad, aging symbol of Japan.

Maybe that’s too strong a description. Maybe it looked like a cosmic satellite torn apart by radiation. Maybe I liked the equally aged pink pipe, or the Chinese yellow at the bottom. Something grabbed me and I took the picture. Later, when going through my snapshots from the day, I almost deleted it. Then I remembered an admonition from my cousin George, who remains my photography guru: “Never delete anything. It’s just data bits.” So I kept it. Then I saw it again later and it grabbed me again. So I was glad I kept it. Now I want to go back to Tokyo to see if the lantern is still there, how it is doing, whether it survived the hot summer. Will my fellow traveler still be around?

#street photography #A7riii

Harper's Ferry

Well there isn't a ferry anymore; they moved that a mile down the peninsula to Southworth. But here's where it used to be, back when the Harper Brick Factory was producing the bricks of Pioneer Square (and a few shipped down to Ghirardelli as well).

#photography #harper #seattle

Afghanistan: Wartime Tourism

Afghanistan is not technically at war and I was not strictly a tourist. But much of the country is driven by fear and uncertainty. In Kabul, helicopters thunder overhead - two crashed while I was there. SUV's vie with herds of goats, meandering donkey carts and zipping minibuses - doors and throttles wide open - in a constant game of chicken made even more challenging by newly paved roads that suddenly revert back into bone-jarring, rock-strewn, off-road obstacle courses. Police check-points also slow down the traffic. Some shopping arcades and up-scale restaurants have bullet-proof doors with multiple security checks, but the local markets are fine and food stalls are everywhere. You just have to know who has the best kebabs.

Shooting People

by camera is treated with mistrust; cameras with large lenses resemble weapons. By contrast, smart phones are generally accepted. This presented some unique photographic challenges. My local friends suggested I ask first, preferably after engaging in some kind of banter. Even willing subjects were extremely hesitant to be photographed. Showing them photos on the camera's LCD would often loosen things up for a second round of photos. Children, of course, are the world’s innocent exceptions.

The Landscape

of Afghanistan is stark and foreboding, yet lush and beautiful. Vistas stretch vertically and horizontally in a geographic maelstrom born from the middle of Central Asia.

Art, Craft, and Culture

is everywhere, from impromptu street frescos to the pottery of Istalif to the artisan colony of Blue Mountain, right in the center of Kabul. People will create under any condition.

#afghanistan #olympus

New Camera: Confessions of a Gearhound

A low-key way to review a high-end product, the Sony Alpha A7Rii

The joy of a new toy. I mean, camera. Let's be honest: there is nothing quite like unboxing a new camera with new lenses, particularly if they are from an entirely new and unfamiliar system. Before its arrival I had warned Fran, my everything-but-wife, that I might be out of commission for a week, and even fibbed to my business partners that I had a lot of stuff to do so don't expect quick responses. Fran was already aware that a purchase was eminent; she had seen me perusing the photo blogs with increased frequency, culminating in (roll of her eyes) the first of many visits to Glazers, our local pro photo store. I must have made four separate visits to touch, ogle, question, and snap photos. Because you see, switching systems is a very real commitment. It's also something I've done regularly and to which I wholeheartedly admit, having given in to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). In 15 short years, I've gone from pocket digital (dip toe in water) to Pentax DSLR (because I had the old lenses) to Nikon DSLR (because they seemed to have a more complete system) to M43 (because they were far better suited for travel) to FF Mirrorless (because you can have your cake and eat it too). So in summary, here is the trajectory that I believe many people have followed:

Dip toe in water

Use those legacy lenses

Upgrade to a system with more complete lens selection

Downsize to a system better suited for travel

Upsize to a system that offers everything

It's About Discovery

This is not about the super fantastic Sony A7 series of full-frame mirrorless cameras. Nor is it about the absolutely incredible and svelte Zeiss Batis series of lenses designed for Sony, which make both you and your photos look like you know what you're doing. It's about discovery. And isn't that what life is about, really? Here are a few things I discovered during my first week with this camera.

High ISO Low Light

This is where FF mirrorless really shines. Without pixel peeping, I can still see (and feel) a big difference, not just compared to smaller format cameras, but even to the earlier FF DSLR's such as my ancient Nikon D700 (which, via craigslist, begat my D7000, which begat my Olympus E-M5ii, which begat my Sony A7R, with not-so-diminishing returns after each sale).

IBIS for your Ibis

In-body stabilization means that any lens you put on the camera, can take advantage of stabilization. This means you can do so much more with hand-held than before. The picture above is one example. Here is another. Both at ISO 6400.

Bokeh

Yup. Plenty of it, everywhere. Just get a low aperture lens and/or get close enough to the subject to so that everything else is out of range. Then look at the cream.

Not that big of a jump

About the much maligned 24-70 f/4: It's got pretty much the same aperture-equivalent as the great 12-40 f/2.8 PRO on my Olympus m43 system, and pretty much the same form factor as well. I'd rate both lenses very, very similar in most respects. The point I'm making here is, if you like the combination of the Olympus E-M1 and 12-40, it's not really much different at all from the Sony A7R with 24-70 f/4, except that you get the added advantages of a full frame camera. Gee, these two even look similar.

High Dynamic Range without HDR

I dislike that HDR feature that most new cameras have, including my iPhone: take a burst of photos at different exposures, then layer them together to 'get your highs and the lows'. Reminds me of that Gov't Mule song Thorazine Shuffle, but not nearly as articulate. Having a camera that offers true high dynamic range is just so much better for those of us who would rather pull a few sliders in LightRoom than labor for an hour with masks and layers in Photoshop.

Lens Flexibility

Canon users can rejoice. There's also an auto-focus solution for Nikon users, though I would suggest that the Vello Auto Nikon-to-Sony adaptor used here still needs a few more firmware updates in order to fully accommodate Nikon's complex lens focusing systems. These two photos show two ends of the autofocus-able spectrum: 16mm, and 300mm, both from Nikon lenses. And take another look at the featured image: a 300mm telephoto attached to this camera and held with one hand. Okay, that's kind of like posing with your stomach pulled in. But hey. It works.

Hip to Shoot from the Hip

This is why I may never go back to DSLR's for travel and street photography; it's just so much easier to 'get down' for interesting angles or unobtrusive candids. My favorite way to shoot is 'dumb tourist' style with the camera strap around my neck - which acts as a kind of reverse tripod - looking down at the LCD which is then flipped up.

If You Can't Fit'em, Stitch'em

Digital photography makes it so easy to fit stuff even if you don't have the right lens on your camera. Here are some examples of images created by stitching a few pictures together.

Landscape Escapes and Escapades

This is probably just me, but wow. I really had some fun taking landscapes during the first week. Everything just seemed, well, more fresh. Must have been the new camera feel. Let's see if the luster delaminates. Next up: a real trip. To Asia.

More photos here taken during my first week with the A7R

#landscapes #nikon #olympus #photography #portraits #Seattle #sony #street photography #travel #Washington #gear #A7Rii

Multiple Choices At the Long End

Sony A7* users now have two new choices that reach out to the longer end of the spectrum: a delightful 135mm prime by Batis and a flexible 24-105mm zoom with fixed aperture. I took them out in the field - together with Batis 'baby brother' 85 f/1.8 and the workhorse 24~240 zoom - to see how they stack up. As always, there is nothing scientific or technical about these musings; my aim is merely to provide some photos taken with each lens in the field and sprinkle in some very subjective comments - then let you, in your wisdom, observe, deduce, and of course comment.

Batis 2.8/135: Beauty and Beast

This is the most expensive lens of the group, and is certainly not for everyone. It's the same size as the 24-105 f/4, but actually weighs less. I've been looking for a full-frame tele prime that gives me the same reach as the outstanding Olympus 70mm f/1.8 which for me is the perfect travel/street/candid lens. This may be it.

What it's good for:

Sharp sharp sharp portrait and candid shots taken from a "respectful distance"; also landscapes.

Travel, when accompanied with one other lens (the 24-105 is a perfect pairing).

Eye candy. This is the most gorgeous looking lens you will ever own. Except maybe the Oly 75.

What it's not good for:

People on a budget. Get the Sony FE 1.8/85 instead.

More photos from the Batis 2.8/135 https://qamera.smugmug.com/Gear/Zeiss-Batis-28135/

Batis 1.8/85: Portraits and Bokeh

If I was a prime lens snob and could only live with two, this would be one of them - and the other would be the tiny 35mm f/2.8. It's also small enough to fit as part of my "troika" in one-bag travel lenses, as discussed in Fit for Travel. It's also a beautiful portrait lens but for street photography, it lacks the reach that is often helpful for candids or for simply not getting into someone's face. That's where the 2.8/135 comes in. But if you have people who are wiling to pose, this is a gorgeous portrait lens.

More samples from the Batis85 here: https://qamera.smugmug.com/Gear/Zeiss-Batis-28135/

FE 4/24-105 G: Travel Junky

This lens will live on my camera. I'm stunned by the quality of photos and pleasantly excited by the bokeh and low depth-of-field separations that can be achieved, when used properly. I have a few trips lined up this month within the U.S. and also in Asia, and I plan to take the 24-105 together with the Batis 2.8/135 as a newly minted 'travel pair.' In the meantime, and without further ado, enjoy a few photos from each of these lenses. More samples here: https://qamera.smugmug.com/Gear/Sony-FE-24-105-G-f4/

FE 3.5~6.3 /24-240: One Stop Shop

This lens is the only one you'll ever need - if you don't like changing lenses. Many photographers swear by this lens. My friend Lisa does, and just got back from Antartica. Check out her IG photos here.

More samples here: https://qamera.smugmug.com/Gear/Sony-FE-24-240/

Multiple Choices

I did two sets of photo comparisons: the first with a distant background, and the second set with a closer background. In general, if your background is far away, it is easy to create separation with any lens just by moving close to the subject and opening up the lens - that is, shooting at the lowest f stop. But as the distance between subject and background decreases, the more critical it is to have a lower minimum aperture (wider opening).

Tip: Click to view the gallery full screen, then cycle through by clicking again.

I don't have much of a critical eye when it comes to pixel peeping and bokeh blurring, but I think the difference in background separation between the two Batis lenses is negligible; that is to say, the Batis 135 delivers just as soft a bokeh as the 85, so that the higher reach of the 135 and lower aperture of the 85 largely balance each. And so it's more a question of whether you want the greater reach of the 135 - which I think will prove to be an advantage for travel photography.

The 24-240 delivers nice bokeh wide open at f/6.3 but that's because it's zoomed all the way out to 240 and the background is relatively distant. However to achieve this, the ISO had to be cranked up to 6400. On the other hand, the Sony A7 series can easily handle high ISO situations, which of course makes for lazy shooting. Which is fine with me.

As for the 24-105, it hangs in there and offers the perfect balance of portability, utility, flexibility, and reasonably low depth of field, particularly at the long end.

Zooms at different reaches

This set of photos illustrates not only how the lenses compare to each other, but how the background and its separation from the subject changes on zooms depending on the focal length.

Here the subject was standing about five feet in front of the background, so separation was more critical than in the previous set, where the subject was quite far from the background. Judge for yourself but to me, the shallower the background, the move obvious the advantage of a prime lens over a zoom lens.

Long-End Favorite

Technical note: All of the test photos were taken hand-held, with auto-exposure, hence the subtle differences in exposure and skin tones between each photo, despite the flat lighting of a typical Seattle winter. They were also shot using auto eye-focus in continuous focus mode. No edits were made to these other than the standard conversion from RAW in Lightroom, except that I strengthened the red and orange luminance equally in all photos, at the insistence of my daughter who kindly agreed to pose for me but who also complained that she looks like a ghost during the winter. But don't we all?

December 2, Tokyo - full autumn

Bird lovers

#saigonstyle #taodian #vietnam #A7rII #zeiss 35mm

Bird Park #1

#taodian #saigonstyle #batis85 #A7rII

Back alley denizen

#saigonstyle #vietnam #Street Photography #batis85 #A7rII

My three friends

#saigonstyle #taodian #people #batis85 #sony a7rii

I’m a shy photographer – at least at first. I’m just not good at sticking a camera in someone’s face, much less directing them on how to pose. That’s why I tend to use longer focal lengths for street photography, because I can sit back unobtrusively and get natural candids without bothering anyone. For the bashful photographer, Mardi Gras is the perfect place to practice because everyone – and I mean everyone – is looking to get snapped. And the Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 is an excellent lens with which to practice.

More photos here.

Day and Night

Night parades are interesting because of the flambeaux (people carrying kerosene torches and gyrating to music) but they also present a challenge because it’s difficult to take photos at night with a portrait lens, hand-held. Having a fast lens and a camera with a large sensor helps.

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Throw me somethin’ mister!

Flambeaux

Orpheus Parade, Mardi Gras Eve

Everyone Together – and sometimes in the altogether

In addition to the established “headline” parades such as Rex and Zulu, many smaller marching groups and societies gather in the older parts of the city and snake their way informally through the neighborhoods to meet up with the big parades on Canal Street. Early in the morning we joined the Société de Sainte Anne’s which began to gather around 9:00 on the edge of the Faubourg Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods – more specifically, a block of Royal Street between the Silk Road Bar and a place called Mimi’s In The Marigny. It was just one large crowd of people and music.

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Take me! Take me!

It’s easy to take photos of people. They just walk right up to you. Sometimes they even frame it for you.

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After the Party

At midnight, Shrove Tuesday gives way to Ash Wednesday. The bars close. People go home. And the 40 days of Lent begin…

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Bashful Batis at Mardi Gras Bash I'm a shy photographer - at least at first. I'm just not good at sticking a camera in someone's face, much less directing them on how to pose.

One Day. One City.

#mardigras #new orleans

Conventional wisdom says “take one camera system on a trip” because it’s much more convenient to use the same batteries and chargers, same menu systems, and share lenses. I disagree, and here’s why.

Four different image sources

Recently I travelled to the San Juan mountains of southwest Colorado for a week of backcountry skiing. It was not quite the same as hopping on a chairlift and zooming to the top. Instead, we attached artificial ‘skins’ to the bottoms of our skis, unhooked the heel plates of our bindings, and “skinned” our way nearly four miles and 1,500 vertical feet up from the trailhead to a hut perched right at timberline – nearly 12,000 feet above sea level. The well-appointed Opus Hut provides meals and bedding, but we still had to carry avalanche gear, clothing, and in my case, photographic gear. There is a good argument for carrying one very small camera and perhaps an extra lens or, better, just one of those tiny all-in-one units with the pop-out zoom. This argument is particularly sensible when you live at sea level. It makes even more sense if you have done little aerobic exercise in the past few months. And let’s not even talk about my age. And when I saw one of the other skiers at Opus using a Panasonic Lumix LX-10 with a 20 megapixel sensor and a built-in 24-72 zoom lens – which fits snugly in the breast pocket of a shell jacket – well, I nearly changed my mind. But not quite.

Full-Frame

The entire mirrorless full-frame market is ‘owned’ by Sony and can offer visible advantages over other camera formats because each pixel on th sensor is relatively larger and so can gather in more light, and so can perform better in low light situations. Full frame also offers greater dynamic range, for the same reasons. So you can pull detail out of shadows and reduce extreme highlights, at the same time. I brought along a Sony A7Rii with the relatively portable 24-70mm f/4 lens. Normally I prefer to use two primes with this body: a small Zeiss Batis 85 and smaller Sony Zeiss 35. But up in the cold, I knew I wouldn’t want to be changing lenses. So I went with the standard zoom, knowing that I also had a m43 body and lens (see next) to use for telephotos. Two bodies, each with a fixed lens, for the weight of one Nikon 750. Deal.

These three photos were taken under difficult low light conditions but I was able to pull out shadows, flatten highlights, and decrease the luminosity of some of the colors (mostly blues) in order to accentuate those colors. The third one, taken at sunrise, is actually a panorama made up of three photos. Lightroom has a one-click option to build panoramas in Photoshop with content-aware fill, which basically fills in the sky and foreground intelligently so that you don’t have to do as much cropping because you shot five adjacent pano frames without a tripod. Great tool.

Opus Hut at sunrise

Austin in the kitchen

Looking east toward Red Mountain Pass

Micro Four-Thirds

This camera format is known for “great pictures in a small size.” Because it has a smaller sensor, it has a 2x multiplier effect on any lens. This basically means you can achieve “greater reach for smaller lens size.” Here, I carried an Olympus E-M10 with just one tiny lens: the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 which is possibly my single favorite lens. It is perfect for candids and landscapes, with a 150mm equivalent reach. It is much sharper than a zoom and smaller as well. The photo of Paradise Basin is actually a 18000 x 5350 panorama taken by stitching together five portrait-aspect photos. You can zoom in on the full res version of this photo (and all others) in my gallery.

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Looking down from 12,400

Higher than the moon

Paradise Basin

Yup. iPhone.

When you don’t have time or space for even a small camera, the iPhone always works – especially when there is plenty of light around. Don’t be afraid to use it! You can even point it at yourself!

Quick start fuel

90 degree turns on a 30 degree slope. Miss one and you’ll end up at the bottom of the mountain. Without skiing it.

3 hours up, 15 minutes to get down. Ready?

Video Stills Capture

It’s much easier to capture action photos by simply taking a video then pulling frames back in Lightroom. Here, shot from my trusty iPhone.

Where does it all fit?

The diminutive Think Tank “Turnstyle 10” sling bag spends most of its time on my back when I’m traveling or in crowded markets; up on the mountain I have to carry a backpack so it slings across to the front of my chest, offering quick access to both cameras while climbing and while skiing. It fits these two cameras, plus an iPhone and chargers, and even an iPad Mini. Best bag I ever owned, at least for travel – be it up country, or back country.

Up Country, Back Country: Choosing Your Gear Conventional wisdom says "take one camera system on a trip" because it's much more convenient to use the same batteries and chargers, same menu systems, and share lenses.

The Day After

#mardigras

Zeiss Batis 85

#zeiss #batis #batis85 #selfie

Because I shoot frequently with mirrorless full frame and m43, I like to compare similar lenses on both camera systems. Here I take a look at two of the smallest lenses offered for each system: the Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 and the Lumix 20mm f/1.7. The Sony 35mm is by far the smallest autofocus lens available for their full frame system. The Lumix is even smaller – as are the bodies I used them on – and offers a 40mm equivalent field of view in full frame terms.

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Olympus E-PL5 with Lumix 20mm f/1.7

Sony A7Rii with 35mm f/2.8

Depth of Field

As small walk-around lenses, neither is expected to be a Bokeh monster. But both perform very well, given those lowered expectations.

These two sets of photos were both shot wide open in order to show side to side clarity as well as depth of field and bokeh. f/1.7 on a m43 camera is equivalent to f/3.4 on full frame, so the two lenses are only one or two stops apart.

To me, both are sharp and have similar DOF, though the Sony 35mm f/2.8 is a bit smoother, which is to be expected given it’s smaller aperture. However the Lumix performs comparatively well and has very reasonable DOF for a pancake lens, as you can see in the photos below and in the linked galleries.

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Lumix 20mm

Sony 35mm

Lumix 20mm

Sony 35mm

Going close

For close-ups, the Lumix has a much closer focusing distance, which allows you to get up to the letters on a keyboard. Just want you always wanted to do, right? The Sony 35mm only focuses up to about 18 inches. Lucky the camera has 42 megapixels to crop from. Personally, I prefer the Lumix up close.

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Lumix 20mm

Sony 35mm

Out and About

Let’s get even more un-scientific and look at some photos taken “in the field.”

Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 on various Olympus bodies.

I just love this lens for people pics and for still-lifes. Together with a small body such as the E-PL5 or OMD-EM10, you can drop it into a blazer pocket or a cargo short pocket. It’s that small. The focus is not quite as fast as the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 but I prefer the liveliness of photos taken with this lens.

View a gallery of full-res photos taken with this lens.

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Monkey Wrench (Jeremy Loerch) for Bainbridge Magazine by Michael Jardine

Flowers in a vase.

Antique chair covered in cowhide

Shrooms on the top of our woodshed.

Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA on A7Rii

I haven’t spent as much time with this lens but I love it for landscapes and also for hand-held low-light photography. Of course, Sony and Zeiss make 34mm lenses with much lower apertures, but those are more expensive and substantially less pocketable. This one strikes a good balance.

View a gallery of full-res photos taken with this lens

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Kyoto bamboo forest

Pyro Guy

Saigon salesman

Chicago O’Hare

You can also view and download full-res versions of the photos in this article, here.

Coming soon: A short review of two portrait lenses for both systems.

Two Small Cameras, Two Small Lenses Because I shoot frequently with mirrorless full frame and m43, I like to compare similar lenses on both camera systems.

#Lumix #m43 #Sony FE

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