a quick trip to the east! part one of ?

Last week we jumped into a plane and went out to Providence, RI to see my cousin open for Dark Dark Dark.

 

While we were out there we went out to eat. A LOT. And the food was excellent. One place we went to was the Duck and Bunny, where they will put ice cream in a Guinness, like a dream out of Steinbeck. 

Also they pull a great shot of espresso. look at that froth. Perfect.

My cousin in Sugar Honey Iced Tea! They played a great set, and thats not just because I'm biased. 

Emily Wells played the second act, what she lacks in numbers she makes up for in energy.

And of course Dark Dark Dark. the band has seen some changes since I saw them perform with Spirits of the Red City. No cello, no playing with the opening acts, only one accordion. They played some new and some older songs, I really do love this band. I wouldn't have made the trip if my cousin hadn't been playing the same show (really, flying across the country for 36 hours would be a bit fanboy) but I am so glad we did.

Here's another picture from the Duck and Bunny.

I will do science to it

Some coffee doesn't need more cowbell, but I think this elaborate method of brewing makes the best cup.

credit due to Dresden Codak for the title.

edit: For those wondering: this is a yama japanese siphon pot. The system regulates the temperature and agitation of the grounds naturally. I use an ounce of medium grind (approximately 3-4mm grounds). Lately I've been enjoying malabar coffee because of the slightly peppery flavor, but I usually go for a coffee with subtle nutty notes. Floral coffee grates on my palate, which is odd because hoppy beers don't as much as they used to.

and greetings to the folks from Can You Stay for Dinner

lens tests part II

So here are the next six pictures with the camera shooting from above. The methodology was the same: iso 100, f stops at 3.5 or 2.8 then 8 and 22, and I had a pizza.

For the 35mm lens I accidentally focused on the light meter rather than the page which was how I wanted to show how shallow the depth of field really could be. The demonstration still works though.

In the last few pictures the sun peaked through the shades.  That was what wrecked up the whole thing. I'm so annoyed I don't feel like writing much more about it.

f3.5 1/20

f8 .3sec

f22 1.3sec

There isn't a huge difference between the 35 and the 45. The 45 does have a wider aperture, and frankly I do not see the loss in focus on the edges, but then, like I said before the Canon has a much smaller sensor than the 6x4.5cm film the lens was made for.

f2.8 1/50

f8 1/6

f22 1.6sec

I was sitting around reading 6 Days of the Condor and decided to take some comparison shots.

The pictures were taken in terrible lighting conditions. The natural light was bouncing off a brick wall and through a set of cheap blinds. My light meter registered 20 foot candles. I set the camera on a tripod and the mirror lockup. The body is a Canon 20d set to iso 100, and I had a pizza for lunch.

 This picture is taken with the 35mm lens at f3.5 and the shutter speed at 1/25. I used an old condensed copy of the oxford english dictionary to illustrate the depth of field. Again, crap light.

This one f8 at .5 seconds

 f22 and 2 seconds

Without moving the camera I switched out to the 45mm lens and here's the difference

notice the shallower depth of field of the f2.8

deeper at f8 

 and f22

Still without moving the tripod everything got weird

clearly the 80mm lens does not focus as close in as the other two. Close as I could go, the page is completely out f focus. not exactly making my point on how awesome this lens is. boo.

 f8 brings it in better

 f22 there might be words printed there!

Because of the terrible fail that the 80mm lens had, I moved the tripod and set out the light meter with the ol' dictionary. The pictures came out a bit better I think.

 Look at that! 80mm pulls through with the shot

 but f8 looks better

 you guessed it f22.

more later, this is getting long.

maybe if they had some lava

I'm not a big fan Pulp Fiction, but John Travolta's line from the bathroom just keeps popping in there.  Just look out for Marshmallow men.

Here is one of my favorite of the volcano pictures. I think Shannon took it.

on this screen it looks a little yellowish, but it should be reddish. at least it was in Photoshop...

And those damn CR2 formats. errgh.  I had to open the picture in Preview and save it as a TIFF just to have the privilege of opening it in photoshop.