needs minor tuneup?

Remember back when tires were made in the cotton belt?  Frayed not.

1939 Chevy Sedan Bus, slighty used

This 1939 Chevy Sedan was on display at last weekend's Dillinger Days.

Jets?  Nope, those window pods are actually car coolers -- evaporative coolers for the car.

Dillinger Days

 Here are a few pics I took Saturday in downtown Tucson at "Dillinger Days", a fun event commemorating of a bit of Tucson's history -- the capture of John Dillinger and his gang in 1934.  The days activities included reenactments by performers in vintage clothing, music, and a lot of classic cars from that general time.

 This trio sounded great!  Some of the best saw music I've seen.

 Hood ornaments are always cool.  Kind of wish we had them today...

Still to be posted, a few pictures of two vehicles at the event that were not in such excellent condition, but had a wonderful character.

[New to me: (#9) attended Tucson's Dillinger Days for the first time, (#10) ate at Maynard's Kitchen for the first time -- nice meal.]

UofA Crit bike race

 Early saturday morning I went down to the UofA campus to take a few pictures of bicycle races being held as part of the UofA Crit race.  The sun was just beginning to rise when the first race started, so lighting was a bit challenging.  But I had fun trying to get used to new camera features and the challenges that come with trying to capture fast moving objects -- learned a lot, including that I have a lot to learn about bike race photography, especially in lowish light!

Before I could enjoy the benefits of shooting in full sunlight, it was time to head off to breakfast and get ready to go downtown to Tucson's "Dillinger Days" -- pics of that event soon to be posted.

[New to me #8, photographed a bike race.]

Speaking of the UofA...   For any of my Tucson area blog readers, the University of Arizona College of Science holds a free public lecture series every year, each year on a different subject.  I've attended the last couple of years and found the lectures to be outstanding.  This year's public lecture series of 6 lectures will address the science and related issues of aging: "Living Beyond 100".  The lectures are held on Tuesday evenings at 7pm in Centennial Hall, beginning January 24th (this Tuesday).

A word to the wise, these lectures are quite popular and have run out of space at times in the past, so if you go be sure to show up earlier than you think necessary.  Doors open at 6:30ish and its not unusual for there to be a large crowd gathered already waiting.

For more information, go to: http://cos.arizona.edu/beyond/

Ring-necked Duck

1/7/2012 Ring-necked Duck,  1/250, f5.6

I wandered over to Agua Caliente Park in NE Tucson this morning to start the long process of getting acquainted with my new Canon 7d camera.  I don't have much telephoto reach with my current zoom lens, so I had to concentrate on some relatively close by birds.  Nice morning out -- brought back memories of when I used to go birding out here quite often.

I'll still be taking a lot of pictures with my Canon G12 compact fixed lens camera that I've shot many of my past blog pictures with -- its a very convenient to carry camera with full manual controls when desired.  However the G12 has weak spots when it comes to situations where I need to shoot in low light without flash, and/or need faster focus, and/or want more creative control. 

That's where my new 7d comes into the mix: larger sensor, faster, better low light performance, more control over settings, ability to swap lenses.  That all comes at the expense of a bulkier and much heavier camera, which is somewhat offset by having a much lighter wallet.

Many, many years ago, I used to shoot with a film SLR camera and then shifted to compact cameras when I found I would often not have my camera with me due to size/weight and found that smaller cameras could easily do 90% of the shots I wanted to do for photo albums, web, email.  But I've been feeling the itch for a couple of years to make the jump again...   Its simply amazing how photographic technology is growing by leaps and bounds.   And no such thing as a perfect camera either...  Comparing my iPhone camera, my compact G12, and now the 7d, each has strengths over the others.  

And so much of taking a good photo has to do more with setting up the shot than the camera -- for example, its amazing how good the photos coming out of Kodak box cameras were (anyone remember threading 120 or 220 film across the back of a box camera, winding by hand until the exposure number on the backing showed through the rear window?). 

I sometimes miss the smell of film.  But I sure don't miss the cost of film or processing film.  It makes me think that it could be a good exercise to go out occasionally with a self imposed limit of a 12 or 24 or 36 exposure "roll" -- allowing myself only that many shots total, no "do overs", focus on setup.

But equipment helps, and since equipment is getting so complex, it should provide a creative challenge too?  Right?  Ok, we'll see...

[new to me:  started shooting pictures with a digital SLR (#7), first time owning or using one other than occasionally pressing the shutter button on friend's cameras.]

2012

Canon G12, iso 160, 1/10, f3.5

I'd like to wish all my blog readers a belated Happy New Year and best wishes for good health and happiness in the new year! 

While visiting friends over the holidays I was able to attend Boston's First Night celebration New Year's Eve -- had a great time wandering town catching some great concerts and seeing some of the large carved ice sculptures like the one above.  I was really impressed with how well the MBTA subway system was working that night with the crowds -- we caught a total of 9 different subway connectons during the evening as we moved between events.

So, what to expect my blog for 2012?

• more photos, possibly taking it up a notch with some recent additions to my camera equipment
• more posts concerning "new to me" experiences - I did this a few years ago and found it very fulfilling to seek out new things -- found some favorite things I wouldn't have found otherwise.  Counting and tracking these things is a good way to encourage me to keep my eyes open for more, sorry if some of them aren't particularly interesting at times.
• links to other interesting blog posts elsewhere that I may run into from time to time
• more text, as time allows, to flush out experiences and thoughts

[new to me: attended Boston First Night #1, including an outstanding Pipe Organ Concert in Old South Church #2, First Night Procession parade #3, Parkington Sisters #4 and Mavis Staples #5 concerts at Symphony Hall, Fireworks over Boston Harbor #6 ]