A Few Details

I have a Rokinon 14 mm lens for my Nikon D800E that I have found very useful for photographing churches, cathedrals, and other architectures of interest. Extra care is required since the lens is manual focus. Since we have all gotten used to autofocus, it is a real effort to handle a manual focus lens. Especially when using the lens in places that are not brightly lit.

For a "normal" lens, focusing is not all that hard, but for a wide angle lens it is a bit tricky since the variation in focus is slow with a turn in the focus ring. So much is in focus, or nearly so, it is hard to tell what you are doing through the viewfinder. So let's change the game and simplify the process.

Hardware update

Cleaning the windows on Beverly Street.

I have been using the new Nikon 1 v3 to learn what I can learn. And I have to say, I'm impressed. Compared to the SOOC jpg's from the Fuji X100s, the jpgs from the v3 are head and shoulders better.  Above is shot from downtown of window cleaning that shows what I mean. Note that only parts of the sky are blown out while the rest of the image filling the exposure range very nicely. Details remain in the shadows of the brick wall and the highlights across the street. Well done.

Tools of the trade

The coast of Cornwall at Tintagel.

To take on the world, one needs the right tools. For me, this means photography equipment.