Four and a half months
· Sunday July 26, 2009
I recently realized it’s been four and a half months since I last posted here. Whoa.
So, you ask, what have I been doing for the past 18 weeks that have prevented me from posting? Quite a bit, it turns out. But there are a few other factors that have put a damper on the rate of my output.
Computer/K20D RAW Files/Screen
My laptop, an aging Inspiron 9300, is definitely the weakest link in my photographic workflow. Its 1.6 gHz processor just can’t keep up with the RAW files that my K20D produces. Rendering the preview for a single photo takes up to 10 seconds; you can imagine how frustrating it gets when trying to apply significant post-processing to any image.
To add visual insult to injury, my laptop display is starting to die, too :( There are a number of ‘stuck pixels’ consisting of vertical lines of various colors stretching across the screen. Googling the problem shows it is fairly common to Dell laptops. I’ve been meaning to take the time to try to sort this out, but alas…
In any case, the photo-taking side of things has been progressing well! I’ll mention some of the highlights of the last few months below, discussing some of the photographic experiences/opportunities/blunders along the way. I’ve only posted a few of my favorite pics from each set, but hope to post more in the future.
———
the Lake District
The annual camping trip to the Lakes run by the Southampton Uni Hillwalking Club was again a success. Despite the running joke that a 10% loss of walkers is the acceptable lower limit for any one outing, everyone survived the trip :-) Being the Lakes, there was of course a variety of weather (read: rain). But the skies did open up on Saturday, which is when this portrait of Dave was taken:
Borrowdale Dave
If anything, I would’ve liked to have added some stronger fill flash to mellow out the shadows on the subject’s face, but the sun was a bit too bright and the on-camera flash couldn’t quite compete from the distance. Digital fill suffices to bring back a touch of the detail.
I continue to be impressed by the sharpness of the 35 mm Macro Limited lens, and I’ve been very happy with the A4-sized prints I’ve made from this image. The bokeh (out-of focus plane blurriness) can be a bit distracting when there are strong contrasts in the background, but that was not the case here.
21 mm “Pancake” lens
In May, I bought a 21 mm ‘pancake’ lens (Pentax DA Limited), partly as a birthday present to myself and also in anticipation of a week-long trip to Israel! My order was placed through Prodigital2000 on ebay, a Canadian retailer, due to their cheap price (compared to UK stores). While the transaction was fine, the massive import duty (and an additional charge slapped on by UPS— cheers guys) was quite a nasty surprise; in retrospect, this should’ve been expected. Live and learn, I suppose.
This lens has seen lots of use since its purchase, probably spending more time on the K20D than any other. Here are my thoughts:
+ Tiny, light-weight, unobtrusive, great for walking trips
+ Sharp, if stopped down to at least f/5.6 (otherwise the sides/corners tend to be a bit soft)
+ Generates quite pretty and distinctive starburst patterns from point-light sources in night-shots
— Slight barrel distortion is visible when shooting buildings
— Hood included only accepts 43 mm filters (annoying as the 35 mm and other Ltd lenses take 49 mm attachments), otherwise hood must be removed
— Not the fastest lens at a max aperture of f/3.2, though to be expected given its diminutive size
Overall, I’m very pleased with this lens.
Israel
At the end of May, I traveled to Israel and spent a week visiting my Swat friends Katie and Xan. What an incredible trip. Though I was initially concerned about safety given recent fighting in the Gaza Strip, Katie assured me that, like our alma mater, Tel Aviv was something of a warm and fuzzy bubble. In the end, I saw only the threat of conflict through the ubiquitous presence of the (well-armed) Israeli defense forces.
It’s difficult to distill such an experience into a few words and images. I learned a great deal about the short, complex history of Israel in the context of the region’s vast record of human settlement (and conflict) through speaking with Katie and Xan. They are both very knowledgeable and interested in Israel’s paradoxes. But there was also plenty of time for playing tourist. We shopped in the markets of Jerusalem, as in the Arab Quarter:
Arab Quarter
And found bargainous deals for food, too! Xan picked up a sackful of pita bread for only ten shekels, roughly $2.50 or £1.60:
Ten Shekel
In these narrow streets and alleyways, the 21 mm lens proved its worth. The in-body image stabilisation definitely made a difference, too. Although it would’ve been possible to take the night-time images with a higher ISO setting, the IS made this unnecessary, thus reducing the noise in the image. It was also useful when we went hiking around Mt. Tabor, for landscape photography.
One of my photographic fears was that the dustier, drier climate of the region would result in sensor dust. Lens-swapping is a necessity when shooting with primes, but I’m happy to report that I’ve only had one minor encounter with sensor dust over the course of the 9ish months that I’ve been shooting with my K20D. This was quickly remedied using a Giotto’s Rocket-Air blower in tandem with the camera’s sensor-shaking dust-removal function.
I had a great deal of fun photographically in Israel, but I most valued the time spent with my friends whom I hadn’t seen in far too long.
May Ball
When my friends Sarah and Kirk first invited me to their ball at St John’s College, Cambridge, they introduced it as being “what Time magazine ranks as the 7th best party in the world.” It’s hard to turn down such an offer, even if the ticket price was astronomical. What I found most amusing was that the May Ball is actually held in June every year!
We wandered from themed court to themed court, partaking in different foods and drinks and various forms of entertainment— some more worthwhile than others. Their “space simulator” comes to mind as the most poorly spent 10 minutes of the whole evening, haha.
Because it was a mobile evening, and we were all dressed smartly, I decided to bring the K20D with only the 21 mm lens. This made a fairly compact combination (as far as dSLRs go), and I was able to get most of the pictures I’d wanted to. Ideally, it would’ve been better to have a faster lens, but by about 3 am, the sky was already beginning to lighten:
May Ball
We stayed until past 6 am, by which time we had started to shiver in the chill air, eyes droopy. All in all, a memorable and enjoyable evening with old friends.
Luke & Christelle’s Wedding
I’ve attended only a few of my friends’ weddings, due to being across the pond from many of them the past few years. I was glad to be able to attend that of Luke and Christelle, two of my housemates from last summer and close friends in Southampton.
While I dread the idea of being an official wedding photographer (who wants all that stress!), I was quite happy to take a few snaps on the side.
Rickshaw
Immediately after the ceremony, Luke cycled off with Christelle in the rickshaw that he constructed. My contribution to this process is that I traveled to Glastonbury with Luke to pick up the original before it was transformed into the above :-)
Graduation!
Though I received my doctoral diploma last October, I didn’t participate in a graduation ceremony until last week! It went well, with both of my parents visiting before and after the big day. The many places we went (and took pictures) included: the old city walls of Southampton (of course), London to see the Lion King, Winchester, Lulworth Castle and Durdle Door in Dorset, and the Roman Baths of Bath.
Charing Cross Hotel
21 mm on the K20D turns out to be a decent focal length for situational portraits.
Castle Seat
It was amusing to see my dad with his camera (a new Coolpix with great IS) because it’s clear where I get my snap-happiness :-)
I still find the K20D’s rendering abilities pleasing. Colors and tones just appear natural without having to work too hard. This was never really the case with my Canon 350D. The only area that continues to frustrate is that of exposure, hence why I’ve started using Manual exposure and the Green button. This is something I’ll talk about in my next post.
Congrats if you’ve read this far! I’ll try to write more regularly, but I think you and I both know I shouldn’t make any promises :-) Until next time…
— Emery Ku
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