At first glance, the title about antique portraits does not seem to fit at all with the photo above of my boy…but it does…at least to me. Not that anybody is actually going to think this photo is antique, but there is some characteristic here that clicked on in my head as soon as I saw this photo on the back of my camera.
I have really fallen in love with the Ee-S focusing screen for the Canon 5D. This is not a review in the sense that I will try to cover everything, but it is in the sense that I am sharing my thoughts on Canon’s über-accurate manual focusing screen. I have been using it almost totally in conjunction with Nikon lenses. The why will come later, but I mention it now because using it with Canon or non-Canon lenses is actually quite a different experience, and the answer to this question will make a little more sense with that information in mind.
Basically, the matte screen from Canon is made to manual focus wide aperture prime lenses. Since almost all (if not all) cameras display (in the viewfinder) at about f/2.4ish, the depth of field you see is quite different than the actual depth of field on an 85mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, or some such lens. Meaning, you never really know if you are crystal clear where you want to be crystal clear and you just have to trust that the camera focused right where you wanted it.
“Name a space shuttle.” Silence. I did not really think it was that hard of a question, but when questioning elementary-aged children at a city summer camp on space trivia (we had just been visited by a representative from Space-X which tests their rockets here locally), I finally realized these children have grown up post-Columbia. The have been few shuttles going up and the excitement has been waning for many years. So, these kids know very little. So, when thinking up the week’s project, I decided to do a mini documentary film on the Columbia disaster to help create some shuttle-related memories for them.
We had a great time on the photo walk here in Temple. Well, I guess I should not speak for everybody, but I had fun, anyway. Shooting buildings and other non-living objects is not really my thing (and downtown Temple on a weekend, is not exactly a bustling capital), but I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to bring a few fellow photography lovers together. Here are a few of the photos from our walk in Temple.
Yesterday, I took the scenic route back to my parking spot. I was just running a normal errand and had my one-year-old in my arms. Sure, we accidentally parked a little too far away initially, but that had nothing to do with the scenic route. The mood, history, and culture of downtown Temple, Texas inspired us to take a slightly less direct path back to the car…just for the beauty of the moment. I was less concerned with taking photos than I was with enjoying a few extra minutes of the day. What I received was more enjoyable and eye opening than I expected.
The “Learning to See” in the title is a reference to Chris Marquardt’s Learning to See Workshops. Not that I have been to a workshop, but I have listened to his Tips from the Top Floor podcast quite a bit, and really appreciate his approach to photography. I could not agree more with his website byline: “learn to see”. How we experience life, what we notice, and the learned ability to switch perspective are key ingredients to the quality of photography we produce. I learned a lesson in learning to see on that scenic walk back to the car.
Today was graduation day for Robert M. Shoemaker High School in Killeen, Texas, named for he retired Army General who not only has a truly impressive military record, but even after retiring has continued to serve his local community. I have been working the past few weeks at Shoemaker High School as a short-term assistant band director, and not only has the high school taken me in as one of their own, but even in a short time, I have seen this man, General Shoemaker, several times at various school activities, and begun to understand the grandfather relationship he has with the students of his name sake high school.
Salado, Texas seems to be a bit of an anomaly. Not that Central Texas in general is not interesting, but Salado is a quiet little tourist town with a second helping of culture and history for those who want more from their Texas experience. The Silver Spur Theater hosted the Texas Songwriters Song Circle and brought broad diversity of musicians and styles.
I saw a write up in Temple’s Sunday paper, and have been looking forward to it all week. My wife was a bit more hesitant, knowing little of the musicians on the bill, but both of us were pleasantly surprised and wished we would have dragged a few friends with us.
The show seemed to be inspired by RpT, Richard Paul Thomas, who himself was one of the singers. Also on stage was the band Shy Tree, who are based here in Texas now, after forming a few years ago out in Vegas. And my personal favorite (sorry to all the others) was Danny Everitt, pictured here.
