Same location, same model – different camera…
This is taken with my Nikon D5100. Here I’m able to indicate the surroundings by blurring them and focus more strongly on what I really want to show – the young woman. A matter of taste. By using different settings I would be able to keep everything in focus as well.
This is a fun little experiment. One day early in the fall I took a friend and two cameras to Søerne in Copenhagen. This is the result of a portrait taken with a Leica D-Lux4. It’s a compact camera without interchangeable lenses but it shoots RAW format and lets you adjust aperture, shutter speed or shoot manual if you feel the need. And it looks cool. So I bought it used without being completely sure what my plans were for it. I thought it would liv win my car so I would never be without a camera but that didn’t quite work for me.
As you will see when I post another portrait in the same surroundings tomorrow, there is a big difference between the images the Leica and the Nikon will produce. I’m sure preference will be personal. I really love my Nikon so I don’t use the Leica much (as in ‘hardly at all’) but I think it might well be a better choice for street photography – if I was to get into that at some point 🙂
Last detail from the steam trains – showing my love for shallow depth of field and things that are well worn 🙂
Tomorrow I’ll begin a feature on Copenhagen…
A close-up of the engine room…
A tip – if you go to Tilden on a Sunday between noon and 3 pm. you can walk the length of the tracks, passed the ticket office and go under the tracks through the tunnel. You will emerge at the home of the Golden Gate Live Steamers. It’s a non-profit museum running a miniature rail way that’s even smaller than the Redwood Valley Railway. On most Sundays they offer rides against donations on their small trains.
The Redwood Valley Railway in Tilden Park above Berkeley is just the cutest ride! You can get a 5 ride ticket for $12 and ride the genuine, small scale steam train through a landscape that feels authentic Wild West. The conductor shouts ‘Aaaaall aboard!, the whistle blows, people holler when you go through the tunnel and the ride is about 10 minutes long – best value for money in the Bay Area!
Tilden Park runs almost the length of Oakland, the East Bay. Basically you turn left off the freeway and keep going until you go up, up, up, and you’ll find yourself almost up in the clouds (on some days in the clouds) with all the Bay spread out far beneath you.
The park covers a huge area and include a vintage carrousel, a swimming lake, a small farm and an activity center. Plus the small scale steam trains! If you have children along, take them here for the carousel rather than pay over the top for the one at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Being a tourist in San Francisco is pretty boring. Surprised? Well, you walk around with all the other tourists looking at Union Square, try to find a decent meal at Fisherman’s Wharf and miss all the fun. I’m sure I would never have discovered Hyde Street and Polk Street if it wasn’t because I found friends on Hyde Street I could stay with. And we would never have discovered Tilden Park if we hadn’t been travelling with a 2.5 year old toddler. More tomorrow but here is what one of the main attractions of Tilden Park looks like…
Eurovision Song Contest – ever heard of that? 37 countries from UK to Belarus meet once a year to battle over who presents the best song.
This is not a talent show. Each country holds a competition to determine who should represent them this year. It’s been running for over 50 years, at first with a lot fewer countries. By now there are two semi finals before the big night because there are just too many counties who wants to be part of the event.
Mostly it’s a kitsch event. There’s glitter, wind machines and songs that never would never have been played twice on the radio. Denmark has won three times only. In 1963, 2000 and last year, 2013. This means that we are hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Right here in Copenhagen, just a few miles from my home.
Guess what – I want to goooo. Not to watch the show. No, who cares… But to take pictures. To be able to walk around in as many places as possible (preferably in all the hidden ones), take pictures and tell stories. And guess what – I am going, with my camera. In my capacity of volunteer photographer for the very local newspaper my application for accreditations got approved. OMG, it’s going to be so much fun. There must be so many images to capture.
The image at the top of this post is not from a song contest. It’s from my on-going project, portraying the dance teams at local school clubs as they compete against each other. So is this second image. I hope I will be able to shoot something remotely like this in May 🙂
Last toilet shot 🙂 I’ve submitted this a couple of times with the title “Attention!” (add military accent…). Hasn’t been accepted yet.
Close up of the pipes… Not a place to linger, though 🙂
Karins Fotos 