Photos from today

I took the D50 out today to run it through some paces. I’m enjoying shooting with it quite a bit. Today I went and shot tourist photos, basically. I went to Ocean Beach and took pictures at a couple of points along the way, then went up above the Cliff House for the sunset.

While I was shooting, I was fascinated by the waves. They were pretty big today. But when I got those pictures home and looked at them, I couldn’t help but think that all these pictures of waves were pretty boring. I even risked admonition by a ranger by crossing into a fenced-in “dangerous area” so that I could get lower and closer to the rocks and the spray. That didn’t really help, but it was fun getting the shots.

It’s not surprising at all how possible it is to get washed out areas and dark silhouettes in the same photo when you’re facing the Sun.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, When I was considering the D200 instead of the D50, I thought that 5 shot per second burst mode would be a big selling point over a 2.5 shot per second burst mode. Well, I can’t get over how fast two and a half shots per second is. Every digital camera I’ve ever used before has not only taken a few seconds to cycle and be ready to shoot again, but also there’s usually a half to a full second between the pushing of the button to the actual shot. With the dSLR, it’s just click and that’s when the shot gets taken. 2.5 shots per second meant that I could see the progression of a crashing wave in stop-motion. That’s just really really cool. Oh, and with the memory card I used today I can take 13 pictures in burst mode before the buffer fills. My new Ultra II SD card arrived today and a quick test shows that I can shoot continuously for 30 shots before the buffer fills. And then it slows down to one shot every second. I was skeptical about paying the extra bucks for the ‘Ultra II’ card, but now I’m glad I did.

Running from the ocean This shows the scale of the waves today, and I think the downward slant and the fisherman’s retreat makes the whole thing pretty funny.	Cami Late Afternoon My Moto Guzzi in silhouette as the sun drops low behind.
Bloom among the rhododendron Hey, it’s a little washed out, but I think it lends a sense of atmosphere.	All He Surveys Waves crashing below a gull
Sun Plunges Into Sea Nuclear bomb detonation over the Farrallons. No, kidding. Just another sunset photo.	Broken Steps They have not maintained this area well. Maybe that’s why there was a locked cordon and a sign reading “Area Closed”.
Area Closed Yeah, you know I went down there.	Damn that lens flare This would have been my favorite of the pictures I took January 19th except for the pesky green blobs.
Sutro Baths The remodeling of the Sutro Baths is…. well, minimalist I guess you’d say.	Sun, Water, Bird, Rock There’s the Sun, the Pacific Ocean, a bird and a rock. Title says it all, really.
Sundown San Francisco has now rotated to the side of the planet away from the Sun.