Tag: coffee

Musings from Castle Pines

As a society, I think we’re getting just a little bit spoiled … especially here in the good old U.S of A.  And I’ll be the first to admit I’m as bad as anyone.  For instance, when I need to get our one and only car serviced, Big O Tires is kind enough to offer me a ride home so I don’t have to wait in their lounge. So far, I haven’t taken advantage of this courtesy, but then I only live about 300 yards from the shop.  🙂

Another wonderful convenience is the “drive-thru”.  Virtually all of the fast food chains have one and even one of our local Starbucks Coffee Shops is willing to oblige anyone who is just in too big a hurry to take the time to park, walk inside, and wait in that line.
Actually, on a side note, I’ve felt pretty “inconvenienced” ever since we left Florida back in 1973.  Not far from our house was a drive-thru where you could get milk, bread, eggs, and even a six-pack of beer if you were thirsty.  I haven’t seen one of those wonderful services since.

As I sat there at a small table on the Starbuck’s patio, I happened to notice a small camping trailer driving by.  It was really cute, shaped like a tear drop and probably no more than about 15 feet long.  I probably should have done this image in color because it was mostly shiny aluminum with some very bright orange trim all around.
I sure would like to get up in the mountains for a week or two of camping, hiking, and fishing … oh, and photography of course!

Most of these images were taken with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 using either the 14-150mm zoom or the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7.  The last one of the Advenir Apartments office was with a Sony Nex-6 and Sony 10-18mm f/4 zoom lens.

Castle Pines Walkabout with the Sony Nex-6 and 10-18mm Lens

I was up early this morning, about 5:30am, so I grabbed my camera and headed out the door.  These morning excursions usually involve two important decisions:  First, which camera and lens to take, and second, where to go for coffee.

Today, the first was one was easy since I have a new Sony 10-18mm f/4 wide-angle zoom.  The obvious choice was the Nex-6 so I could try out the new lens.  The coffee decision, while never certain until I walk in the door of the coffee shop, ended up being the nearby DazBog coffee shop, only about 1/4 mile away.  Of course, the three Starbucks are also always likely choices since they’re even closer.  🙂 The cool morning air was refreshing and just warm enough to hint at the hot day ahead, but still just the perfect temperature for a morning stroll around Castle Pines.

After getting my first “cup of Joe” and thoroughly diluting it with cream and sugar, I settled in to take a few images with the new wide zoom.  As I shot, it occurred to me how so much of the discussion on the photo websites these days seems to concentrate on fast, sharp lenses that can give you a paper thin depth of field (dof) and thoughts about which of these lenses produces the best, the smoothest, the most pleasing bokeh.  And I don’t disagree that these are important characteristics … for “some” subject matter.  But not all.

What I discovered with this lens, especially at the widest setting of 10mm (15mm FF equiv.) and an aperture of f/16, was that the dof was almost complete.  In other words, just about everything from the front of the lens to the back of the room was in focus, and bokeh was not even a factor.  Nice!  So for interiors, landscapes, and other subjects where you want just about everything in the image to be in focus, this is a great lens.  Some may say, “the f/4 maximum aperture is too slow”.  Well, with this piece of glass, it will probably be a rare occasion to use the f/4 max and much more common to have it at f/11 or even higher to take full advantage of the huge dof.  And since it has built-in image stabilization, you could probably hand-hold this baby down to some very slow shutter speeds.  Like maybe 1/5th of a second or slower.  I’ll have to test this.

As you can tell, I’m very pleased with the lens.  And the coffee?   …… Well, it was great, too.

BTW, if you’re shooting either the Nex-6 or Nex-5R or even thinking about it, check out our e-book about these cameras at:  www.FriedmanArchives.com