Keep your camera handy....
My local
photography group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month.
That was last night.
There was a light rain falling in North Charleston when I came out from
Bella Napoli, the Italian eatery where we meet and eat.
Just before I turned on the wipers, I took a few shots.
Yes, I usually have my small
Canon S90 camera with me.
Duh, especially when I'm among 22 members with large SLRs in huge backpacks.
One of the members, Thomas, had even adapted one of his old old film camera lenses so it fit on his modern digital camera.
Driving down Rivers Avenue I stopped at a place that surprised me with a
"blast from the past."Yep, the ever-popular painting of
Elvis on a black velvet background.
Well, it was pretty popular at flea markets a few years ago.
Had not seen one recently so I raised my camera to capture the moment.
So, do you know where this hangs? Did you take a picture when you saw it?
Movie theaters have clever - and quite involved - cardboard cutouts that portray images from upcoming movies.
This was the Johnny Depp-voiced animated film called
RANGO.
Some have a ribbon or tape barrier to keep you back. And, I'm not sure if theaters really want you bringing in your camera.
They worry about people creating a "pirated" video copy.
My intentions are rather simple: capture the moment in the lobby and maybe post the picture on my blog.
Oh..wait, that's funny..
"pirate" a film with Johnny Depp after his 4th outing as
Captain Jack Sparrow.
(Per usual, click on the photo - twice - to see larger images. The shot of Cap't Sparrow was lifted from the internet so it doesn't get any larger.
There, that credited my source for his picture.)
You really should not leave your SLR at home.
Labels: black velvet painting, blast from the past, Canon S90, Captain Sparrow, Elvis, Johnny Depp, pirate film copies, SLR, watching TV with The Simpsons
I Think Lawyers Are Involved ....
I have a
Canon s90 digital camera.
The type that are called Point and Shoot or P/S.
Small enough that I usually have it with me. Hey, It really is pocket-size.
There's even a tiny computer inside the small body.
This
Smart camera enables me to take some pretty spectacular photos.
Using its "manual" mode I can change shutter speeds, film speed and lens openings so it performs in low light to bright sun at the beach and everything in between.
But the lawyers at
Canon Camera assume I might do something dumb with this smart instrument.
Or that I might be angry enough to sue somebody.
Maybe even sue
Canon if the camera stopped working.
Say underwater.
I have settings on a dial that can make foliage greener, sunsets warmer, portraits softer and slow down speeds to capture fireworks at night.
I can make indoor lighting look like shots taken outdoors or freeze the fast action of frisky kids and dogs.
It never occurred to me to dunk it under water.
Guess we have to be protected from ourselves.
(Click on the pictures for more detail. Remember, if there's a sign prohibiting something, that means someone tried to do it. Stay warm but don't set yourself on fire. That's probably illegal.)
Labels: Canon S90, lawyers, P/S cameras, Point and Shoot, sue somebody, underwater cameras
Sir Paul was Sir-perb!
Paul McCartney.
(He was in a band before WINGS.)
His current tour had him appearing in Charlotte for the first time in 17 years so I had to drive up.
Might be another long dry spell.
He did not disappoint the sold-out crowd at the Time Warner Cable Arena.
I believe there were only two empty seats in the whole place...and they were next to me in
Row 5.
I had some elbow room in a crowd of 19,000 people.
Many fans had signs and banners and at least one license plate.
McCartney actually made a comment about the tag.
"It's thoughtful and beautiful but I hope you know it's also misspelled?"
My little sign was an enlarged copy of a ticket to the
1965 Beatles concert in San Diego.
I had covered that for the newspaper but Sir Paul and I did not get to reminisce about the last time we had seen each other..
This time I could hear the band.
He did a high-energy show that lasted almost 3 hours and included two encores of 3 songs each.
Oh, did I mention that I experienced my first-ever indoor concert pyrotechnics?
We all were singing along to
"Live And Let Die" and you know the part on the record (vinyl?) where there's an explosion?
Yep. I was rocked by the blast and felt a heat wave roll past me. Yikes.
I was flinching instead of snapping a picture but I was ready when the lyrics came back around to the part that gets REALLY loud.
Another BOOM and heat.
Oh yeah!
There was another surprise at the end of the second encore.
Someone handed McCartney a large bouquet of flowers.
He waved them over his head then he walked toward stage right to exit.
Suddenly 80 million tons of red, white and blue confetti came pouring down from above over the audience.
He was totally blanked out by the cascading display.
When it cleared, he was gone.
Thank you to my favorite former
Beatle.
(I've created a Flickr album of my concert photos. It was so nice to have a camera that could capture crisp, clear pictures. It's my Canon S90. Thanks.)
Labels: Band On The Run, Canon S90, Live And Let Die, Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Time-Warner Cable Arena, wings
Almost To Omaha...
So I flew over to Kansas City to attend a wedding.
Not mine. My grandson.
He lives mid-Missouri in Columbia and I had some time to drive around KCMO before heading to his huge event.
Oddly enough, I spotted a few
University of South Carolina t-shirts amidst big screen venues showing World Cup coverage. Hmm?
Duh, geography major. Just a little north was the baseball CWS, the
College World Series in Omaha.
I really did not have enough time to drive up there but I saw the
World War One Memorial sitting atop a hill overlooking downtown Kansas City.
The Crown Center Hotel at the world headquarters for Hallmark was nearby so I planned to pop in there too.
Great photo op - an indoor waterfall in the lobby.
Back in the 1970s I worked with the Convention & Bureau for KC and knew a lot of the familiar sights to see.
But many have changed since I left. And new ones have been developed.
I remembered the lyrics of
"Goin' To Kansas City" as centering on 12th Street & Vine but a major jazz development is around 18th Street.
I parked and walked around and went into the Jazz Museum. Across the street was a full-size fiber glass cow painted on the side with a saxophone player and bright colors.
The plaque said it was honoring
"18th & Bovine."
And, yes, of course I had a Kansas City Strip Steak.
Here they just call 'em strip steaks.
(Click on the photos - twice - for fantastic detail. The Canon S90 rules. Thank you.)
Labels: 18th and Bovine, Canon S90, Crown Center Hotel, CWS, KC Strip steak, men's baseball champions, University of South Carolina, World Cup, WWI Memorial
Low Light Delight...
Big Bill Morganfield comes over from Atlanta about once a year to play the Blues for his many fans.
He was at Home Team on Highway 61 for the
20th annual Blues Bash.
My new camera encourages me to shoot in dim settings without using a flash so I had a good opportunity under stage lighting.
Big Bill, son of the legendary
Muddy Waters, channeled his Dad on a few songs. Obviously he has that sound in his genes.
The place was packed and the music was strong.
My Canon S90 also lets me do some "editing" in the camera so I shot a few in black & white.
I think using the theatrical light is better than popping a harsh flash.
Muddy's son sounded great either way.
Labels: Big Bill Morganfield, Canon S90, Muddy Waters' son, stage lighting
..and now for something new.
Many people have switched from using film to digital SLRs and Point-and-Shoot (P/S) cameras.
Eastman
Kodak is keenly aware of this major change from nearly a century of making - and selling - film.
The highly portable cameras of today are a far cry from the early days when photos were taken either on glass slides or tin types coated with light sensitive materials.
Today's cameras have shutters that click at 1/1600 of a second (or faster). Back then, exposure started when the photographer removed the lens cap and people had to stay rigid for anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes.
Standing behind the large bulky camera sitting atop a wooden tripod and draped with a black cloth, the photographer of the 1880s would not say
"Smile" instead, he or she would say
"Freeze. Stand still. Don't move a muscle." 
Now we say "cheese" and capture the moment in an instant.
There are digital cams than can detect if one of the subjects blinked.
Or you set a timer, step into the frame and it takes 3 quick shots. Yikes.
Years ago I decided to use a very compact P/S made by Canon and I have been able to have a camera with me almost all the time.
Others use larger camera with different lenses and attachments and they carry all this equipment in a heavy bag slung from their shoulder. They had more features on their cameras but I seldom left mine at home.
The needed
middle ground may have arrived with my new Canon S90.
Low light photography. Higher ISO without noise. Setting the camera by shutter speed or aperture. A larger light sensor than ever before. The ability to shoot RAW. Bracketing.
Yep, I can do all that now with a camera that weighs just 6 ounces.
The 8GB digital memory card says I can capture 2,000 images.
Eat your heart out
Mathew B. Brady.
(As usual, click the color photos to see more detail. The B&W shot is from the internet.)
Labels: 1880s photography, Canon S90, Civil War photographer, Mathew B. Brady, P/S cameras, shooting RAW
Driving down Rivers Avenue I stopped at a place that surprised me with a "blast from the past."
Movie theaters have clever - and quite involved - cardboard cutouts that portray images from upcoming movies.
