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We live in Old Town, Alexandria, VA, which is located on the Potomac River about ten miles south of the District of Columbia. So, when NASA announced that the space shuttle Discovery would be retired and placed on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, VA, I figured that we’d be in for a treat.
In the early 1980s, NASA arranged for a shuttle fly by of the Capitol in part to help finalize NASA’s budget . It was a long, low pass over the National Mall, a circle flown around the Capitol Building, and then back to Florida. This time, they announced they would fly down the Potomac River before landing at Dulles Airport, right next to which is located the Udvar-Hazy Center.
The scheduled fly over time was 10-11 am. For security reasons, they wouldn’t give a more precise time. Then, this morning, my wife happened to hear that the arrival time had been moved up thirty minutes. So, we scrambled to get our cameras and race down to the river’s edge at Oronoco Bay Park.
Knowing that a slow flying B747 will still be moving at 180+ knots, I knew that we wouldn’t have much time to capture what we wanted. So, I decided to forgo film and use my Lumix GH1 with the 14-140mm lens, an effective focal length of 28 – 280mm. I suggested to my wife that she bring her Nikon D300 and her 70-200mm lens. I also recommended she switch to manual focus and set it to infinity. That way, there would be no “focus hunting” by her lens.
Gear in hand, we made the trek to the park. We had been there only about a minute when someone yelled, “There it is!” Because the winds were from the north, I expected the 747 to fly “up” the Potomac River from the south. But no, she had already circled the capital and was heading south down the river.
So, we swung our cameras northward and starting shooting: me taking video and Pam taking stills. I have to say it was exhilarating to watch: the noise of the jet engines, the beauty of the shuttle on top, and a bit of national pride that welled up inside as we watched the last shuttle make her way home.
In 45 seconds, the flyby was complete. We turned around, headed home, and dumped our memory cards to see what we had captured.
The Lumix GH1 did a credible job. I didn’t use a tripod so the camera jumped around a bit. I used iMovie to stabilize some of the sequences but it still a bit choppy. And, I managed to capture one still after I finished shooting video:
But Pam’s images? They were spectacular. Here’s one of my favorites. See how “dirty” the shuttle is from its last flight? And look for the red navigation light on the lower side of the 747′s fuselage:
I put together this little one minute video that combines the video I took with some of Pam’s best stills.
It was a great moment and a lot of fun to shoot!
Next stop? The Udvar-Hazy Center where we can see the Discovery up close . . .
I went for a drive yesterday to have lunch at Hunter’s Head in Upperville, VA and pick up my Thanksgiving turkey at the Home Farm Store in Middleburg, VA. Most of the leaves have fallen in this part of Virginia and we are fast approaching winter. And even though it was an overcast day with dull lighting and few shadows, I took my Lumix GH1 fitted with my 20mm f1.7 lens to experiment with low light/available light shooting.
Unless I’m shooting portraits, I really resist using any on or off-camera lighting . . . that’s just my preference. And while I love my Leica’s for shooting in available light, with a backlog of film to develop I thought I’d use my digital camera to capture what I could. I find the GH1 to be a capable low light camera up to about 800 ISO . . . you can shoot at 1600 ISO but the noise is pretty objectionable. But with the speed of the pancake lens and its close focusing distance, I find that I can capture some nice interior shots with little trouble or noise.
Here’s a few of my better captures arranged as a slide show using Apple’s Aperture 3. Enjoy!
I haven’t been to an outdoor concert in years, maybe even more than a decade, but when I was given free tickets to attend a Jimmy Buffet Concert here in the Washington, DC, area I jumped at. Besides the fact that I enjoy Buffet’s music, I grabbed at the chance to shoot some pictures at a live concert. My adventures as a photographer during my teenage years included shooting pics at a Chicago (nee CTA) concert at the Dallas Music Hall in 1970. And of only marginal to interest to me at that moment was the warmup act: Jimi Hendrix. Armed with my Miranda Sensomat and its 50mm f 1.8 lens, I crept down the aisle to a spot near the stage and fired off a few frames of Peter Cetera (RIP), belting out some tunes. It wasn’t long before the security guard shooed me back to my seat but I had the shots and after developing them at home in my lab, I was more than happy.
So, forty one years later, with these kinds of great memories in mind, I came to the Jimmy Buffet concert ready for some photo fun. I rode to the concert with some wonderful friends and the warning signs notwithstanding, we did a little tailgating prior to the concert and then went inside for some more food and drink. I brought my Leica MP, a few lenses, and my Lumix GH1 (EVIL = electronic viewfinder, interchangeable lens) with my newly acquired 20mm F 1.7 pancake lens and the 14-140mm kit lens as well. I loaded T-Max in my MP and dialed in ISO 800. I love this film and it can easily handle an extra stop without too much loss of shadow detail. I set my Lumix for ISO 800 as well.
After finishing the obligatory margarita, I slung my camera bag over my shoulder, put my Lumix with the pancake lens around my neck, and headed for the entry gate. While passing through the ticket agent stopped me to examine my Lumix and then after a short glance she said, “you’re ok” and let me through. More 9/11 terror stuff? I wondered. It is Washington DC after all and security guards get spooked about lots of stuff.
EVIL Pictures
By the time we found our seats, Buffet was on stage and the concert was underway. I set my camera bag down, picked up my Lumix, and started capturing the action.
Lumix GH1, 20mm, ISO 800, f/3.2, 1/60, no crop or correction
The 20mm is a sweet lens and I was close enough to the stage to actually capture individual band members and the action (and antics) of the front row crowd. Here’s another shot taken during Buffet’s icon song “Cheeseburgers in Paradise”
Lumix GH1, 20mm, ISO 800, f/3.5, 1/100 sec, no crop or correction
Since there’s no image stabilization in the 20mm pancake lens, I opened it up a bit . . . but didn’t need to open it up completely: held properly, anyone can take a sharp image at 1/60 or 1/100 sec when looking through a viewfinder and with the camera is braced against your head.
But naturally I wanted to get closer to the action. In 1970, I didn’t have a telephoto for my Miranda but this time I had my 14-140 kits lens and the effective focal length of the lens is 28-280mm, plenty for shooting this concert from where I sat.
So, I changed lenses and took a few shots with my tele. Here’s my favorite and though there’s a tiny bit of subject blur, it’s not too bad considering where I was sitting. Notice too the data on the exposure: 1/100 sec on a lens with an effective focal length of 280mm . . . that’s when the Lumix’s optical image stabilization comes in handy.
Lumix GH1, ISO 800, 14-140mm lens, 140mm (280mm effective focal length), f /5.8 and 1/100 sec
The Camera Police
But then, just when I was beginning to enjoy using this longer lens, the Camera Police showed up, not once, but three times during the concert. Each time I dismissed them but it got really annoying. The first young enforcer told me that I couldn’t use my Lumix because “‘that’s a professional camera.” My response: “No it’s not and I’m not a professional. Leave me alone.” It helps when the age spread between you and the enforcer is greater than 30 years She hung her head and left me alone.
After the concert I checked out the concert venue’s policy and sure enough, they go to great lengths to explain the different types of cameras that are allowed. A professional camera is anything with a removable lens. So a superzoom is just fine whereas a film SLR is not. This venue was filled with people shooting with point and shoots and camera phones. In less than five years, as technology continues to advance, these modest little devices will be able to capture complex light scenes (as concerts can be), have more sophisticated lenses, and look quite “unprofessional.”
But these young people were just doing their job; I understand and appreciate that. It’s the performing artists who set the ground rules and the venue hourly workers are saddled with enforcing them. So, I changed to my distinctly unprofessional camera: my Leica MP. And they didn’t bother me at all when I used that ancient museum piece.
My Ancient Rangefinder At Work
The Leica is a wonderful camera for wide to normal angle lenses. So, one of the first ones I put on was the Voigtlander Heliar 15mm. Even though its fastest aperture is f/ 4.5, that was enough for the concert. Here’s one that I liked:
Then I put on my 35mm Summicron ASPH. It is as reliable a lens as Leica makes, not blazingly fast like a Summilux but not as crazy expensive either. There’s one act where Buffet leads the crowd into a kind of dance, with everyone singing “fins to the left, fins to the right, fins to the middle” and I wanted to catch that action. So, shooting wide open (f 2.0) and at about 1/30 sec, I fired away. Here’s one of my best:
I love the detail this museum-piece lens brings out . . . the depth of field even wide open, and the tonal range is “sweet.” (BTW, if you look closely at a couple of these pictures you can see the Camera Police eying me from a couple of row in front. They are facing the crowd not the performers). The lens flare is not bad either considering I was shooting directly into multiple concert lights.
And then I thought: what kind of detail can my 90mm Summicron pick up? At only one third the focal length of my Lumix 14-140mm (effective 28-280mm) lens, I didn’t hold out much hope. But, why not? After all, my MP was not a “professional camera.” So, I put on the 90 and fired away. Here’s one that I captured with my 90mm:
Again, my museum-piece equipment came through! Even at one third the focal length, the detail and tones were there, the exposure spot on, and it certainly brought me closer to the action.
Time for Video
As the concert wore down and Buffet made his obligatory curtain calls, he performed a classic piece of 1980′s acoustic guitar music: Southern Cross. First performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in 1982, Buffet and Co. perform a beautiful rendition. Since the concert was coming to an end, I pulled out my “professional camera,” the Lumix GH1, attached the 14-140mm kit lens, and recorded the song. Here’s the unedited outtake from the camera:
Yeah, the Camera Police approached me one last time and hassled me about my “professional camera.” In my best “I’m-old-enough-to-be-your-father” voice and look, I told them to leave me alone . . . it was after all the last song of the evening. With a bit of a scowl, they (there were 3 this time) backed off.
As I said earlier, these folks are just doing their job. And me? Call me a photo civil rights protestor (I am a boomer after all).
<rant>Every time I am in a public area, a camera is trained on me or my car. I can’t take certain pictures in my own city because it can be seen as a security threat. Performing artists charge obscene amounts of money for a concert (our tickets were worth $150 each) and further seek to control the quality of the images the audience takes by managing the type camera I can use. Enough is enough. I am an amateur who takes photographs for my and my family’s enjoyment. Period. I am not a terrorist, a member of the media, or a paparazzi. I’m just a guy who loves to capture great images with great instruments. So, get over it. </rant>
Time to grab my museum-piece camera gear and capture some more of life’s beauty and wonder.
Taken on the National Mall with my Panasonic Lumix GH1 mounted on a tripod. The moon is rising just behind the tallest turret on the Smithsonian Castle.
It was cold on Christmas Eve in Washington DC but my son Justin and his wife Synthia were in town . . . and both wanted to see a few sights on the National Mall. They’re a professional photography team and so we scooped up our cameras, bundled up in our coats, and headed out into the wind and the cold.
I loaded Fuji Acros 100 in both my Fuji GF670 “folder” and my Leica MP. For me, this would be a good chance to compare how this film performed in two different formats/sizes. I love the tonal range of slower black and white films and since it was a bright and sunny day, the ISO speed of 100 presented now problems. When I returned home, I developed both rolls in one of my favorite developers – Rodinal – a 1:50 dilution for 13.5 minutes at 68 deg F. Both rolls were scanned on my Epson 700 and after a little post processing Photoshop CS4, the best images were ready to share.
Synthia is native American – Comanche and Seminole – so she wanted to see the Native American Museum first. And since it was lunch time, we decided to eat in the cafeteria. She persuaded me to try an “Indian Taco,” and it was surprisingly good. This week, she and my son Justin celebrate their one year anniversary and on this day, photographing these two newlyweds was lots of fun. They share a great deal of affection and that shows in this first image, taken with my Leica MP in available light. We were seated next to a window and the diffused winter light was perfect for this portrait.
After lunch we walked down the National Mall towards the Museum of American History. It was quite a walk in the cold. I stopped long enough to capture a couple of frames of the Washington Monument and you can see by these two images — one taken with the Fuji and one with my Leica MP — that it was a cold day.
I love the wide perspective tht the 24mm Elmarit provides and in this setting, it was perfect. But the Fuji’s ~ 45mm angle of view also captured the scene well, including the barren trees on the left of the frame.
More foreground and sky, less width . . . but the tonal range is wonderful and the detail in the clouds around the base of the Washington Monument is nice detail not seen in the Leica image.
As we headed down the Mall, a large near the Hirshhorn Gallery loomed to our right. I asked Justin and Synthia to pose underneath and I captured a frame with my Fuji:
You can tell by the darkness of the shadows across their faces and the way they are squinting that the sun was bright. That certainly isn’t the ideal setting for a portrait and you can see why with this image: the shadows are deep enough to hide important detail and the need to squint distorts the shape of their eyes. Oh well, more shade next time . . .
Because the wind was cold, Synthia decided to walk behind Justin . . . and use him for a wind shield. It was great to watch her and fun to capture with my Leica . . .
As we approached the Hirshhorn, Justin asked to borrow my 24mm Elmarit-M for the Leica M7 (his camera of choice that day). I concurred and with the lens attached, he worked to capture some of the fascinating architecture of that fabulous gallery:
"Shooting the Hirshhorn" Leica MP, 35mm Summicron, Fuji Acros 100
While Justin was shooting the Hirshhorn building, I looked to my left and saw Synthia patiently waiting. She was near one of the concrete walls/supports that comprise the gallery and made a perfect impromptu backdrop for a portrait. So, I asked her to move closer to the wall, face the light (now in the western sky) and pose for me. Here’s the best of three frames I captured with my Leica MP and my 35mm Summicron.
The lighting across her face is even but not flat . . . there are enough shadows to provide depth and dimension. But, the camera metered perfectly and the film recorded the tonal range without any highlights. Her hair is naturally dark and some definition is lost . . . but part of that is due to my increasing the contrast of the image slightly.
A few minutes later we were back out in the wind and making our way to the Museum of American History. I had a few frames left in my Fuji so I asked Synthia to pose again. This time it really was a gift on her part to smile . . . the wind was cold. But she bravely enduring the stinging wind and posed. Because the GF670′s meter averages the lighting on the scene, I made sure that I metered on her coat and mid-section . . . I didn’t want light from the background sky to cause the aperture to close and render the foreground — and her face — too dark. Here are two of the frames I shot:
"Synthia and Washington Monument" Fuji GF670, ~ f4.0, Fuji Acros 100
I opened the lens as wide as I could and not overexpose the image. Fortunately, because Acros’s ISO is only 100, I was able to do that without a problem. The bokeh on the Fuji is pleasing though it is no Leica. Here’s the next image:
"Synthia on the Mall" Fuji GF670, ~ f4.0, Fuji Acros 100
While there are shadows on her face, they are not too deep or too dark. Again, they provide depth and dimension without obscuring important detail.
We made our way into the Museum of American History (and out of the biting cold). It was Synthia’s first time to visit and so we roamed through every floor and after a while I could tell that one half of this newlywed couple was getting tired: Justin. As we rested on a bench on the top floor, right across from a window that opened on to the Mall, I captured Justin’s fatigued expression as he attempted to “smile for the camera.”
"Resting on the bench" Leica MP, 35mm Summicron ~ f5.6, Fuji Acros 100
Fuji Acros 100 is one of my favorite films . . . fast enough for most outdoor shoots, wonderfully fine grain, and a wide tonal range. While I generally shoot a faster film in my Fuji GF670 (because many images are captured indoors), it was pleasant to see how well it performed outdoors.
. It was a long, low pass over the National Mall, a circle flown around the Capitol Building, and then back to Florida. This time, they announced they would fly down the Potomac River before landing at Dulles Airport, right next to which is located the Udvar-Hazy Center.
