Taken June, 2012 around 10:00 pm at Grand Central while waiting for a Hudson Line Train. She’s certainly thinking very intently about something – I wonder what it was?
One of my fairly rare ‘people’ pictures.
Waiting for the Train
Cooper
Cooper (I know that’s his name because it’s on his name tag in the first picture) came out to greet us during another dog walk. As is common with this kind he was very curious. We have a cat (Gypsy) at home, but she’s very docile and refuses to fight with out dog, Jackson. Whenever he encounters another cat I have to be very careful. I think he believes that all cats are like Gypsy and doesn’t realize that some of them are mean and with sharp claws and teeth can be very dangerous – especially if they go for the eyes. So I was careful to keep him well away from Cooper.
I prefer the second picture, but unfortunately I missed the focus. This is all too common a story with me: if it moves I miss it. That’s why most of my pictures are of landscapes, buildings, objects etc. They don’t move around much.
Pool Balls
I came across these in an antique store in Cold Spring.
Sigma AF 30mm f/2.8 EX DN for Sony e-mount (NEX)
East 42nd Street
I’ve had this lens for a long time and I’ve posted quite a few pictures taken with it. But I can’t recall that I’ve ever said anything about it.
I like it a lot. It’s small and light and provides autofocus, but not unfortunately image stabilization. The autofocus is maybe a touch slow, but that doesn’t bother me much as I don’t usually take pictures of things that move quickly. It’s solidly built (something rattles inside when it’s not in use, but I’m led to believe that this is normal. The 19mm “rattles” too. When the camera is turned on it stops “rattling”). I used to feel that f2.8 was too slow, but after using a number of faster lenses I’m finding that I more and more incline towards the smaller aperture. The faster lenses are harder to focus (particularly with my aging/aged eyes) and the depth of field is very shallow. I’m sure that there are occasions where you need the extra speed, but most of the time I don’t. The focal length (equivalent 45mm) is one that I like. The lens is very sharp and contrasty – maybe a little too contrasty for my taste, but that’s easily fixed. The colors as also a bit too saturated for my taste, but that’s easily fixable too. I find the chromatic aberration to be a little high. As I write this it’s available for $169 – a great value.
Silos and Barn
In a Bar on 2nd Ave.
Inside the Alex
A house in Ossining,NY
Garrison’s Little Red Chapel
This building is in Garrison, NY – on Route 9d. It seems that it was built in 1862 and was Garrison’s original Episcopal church (St. James Chapel). Later a stone church was built and the building was moved to its current location. Subsequently it became an antiques store and, if the sign is anything to go by, is presently for sale – and has been for some time. Apparently there are no takers. The current owner is willing to give the building to someone willing to restore it (this may mean dismantling the building and moving it to another location).
All pictures taken in February 2012 with a Sony Nex 5N, the first three with the 18-55mm kit lens and the last two with a Canon 50mm f1.4 Leica Thread Mount Lens using and adapter.
