21mm photos from Tokyo

I had just an hour Saturday morning on my last day in Tokyo to relax and take some photos. The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space is two streets from my hotel in Ikebukuro. Here are a few shots using the 21mm "pancake" lens and K10D from this brief walk-around .

"Pancake" Travel Bag

Any photographer that's honest with themselves will admit to another addiction besides lenses. In my case, I've struggled with CBO (camera bag obsession) for many years, and as my wife likes to remind me, it seems I have more bags in my closet than she does.

In response to the frequent posts on various forums by folks asking what is the ideal "travel" bag, let me give you some advise. There is none. Selecting a camera bag involves so many variables that it's unlikely you'll be able to find and live with one bag for long. Manufacturers know this and that's why we're overwhelmed with what seems like an never-ending selection of slightly different bags to test our will-power.

I've been doing alot of travel with my K10D, and have been struggling with how to travel light...only carrying my three "pancake" lenses (21mm, 40mm, 70mm) and my must-have 50mm f/1.4. Having done alot of travel in the past with Leica rangefinders and three Summicron lenses, I've been using my Billingham "Hadley" case.

I just arrived in Tokyo, and as usual, could not sleep through the first night. So rather than do my Bill Murray impression of "Lost in Translation", I brewed some coffee and took a few photos of the bag for anyone that's interested in seeing the Billingham. It's a beautifully crafted bag using high-quality canvas, leather trim and a nicely designed padded insert. The bag measures approximately 14.5"W by 5" D (when full) and 10" H. As I like to switch lenses frequently, I configured the insert so I can store the K10D body in one pocket and all the lenses in the larger side of the insert. In addition to the body and lenses, I can easily pack the K10D battery charger and cord, a large Giotto blower, a small pouch with all my SD cards, and a 360 flash just in case I need some extra light.

I realize this bag might be a bit too large for those of you that want to go very minimal with just enough space for a body and one lens. That's ok. I've been happy with this set-up for my recent travels. And remember, only you can determine what's the right bag for your needs. Enjoy the obsession!

New Tomato Season

Talking about tomatoes might seem off topic for a photo blog, but in my case, my passion for tomatoes and photography over the years has been intertwined. With so many "heirloom" tomatoes available for gardeners to choose from, it's really difficult to distinguish one plant from another during the growing season. Every variety of tomato has a slightly different leaf structure, and if you happen to lose the tag or not mark the tomato stake with the name of each variety, you end up having to wait until the plant bears fruit to remember what varieties you had grown,

I've made a habit out of taking photos of my plants during their growth stages throughout the season and then matching these plant photos up with photos of the fruit. I had one major heirlooom tomato grower here in Southern California tell me that there really wasn't any extensive source that shows backyard gardeners detailed photos of both the plant and fruit. He even offered that I could come to his gardens and photograph all the varieties of his plants to build this collection of photographs. After thinking this would be a fun project, I realized it would take a tremendous amount of time, and therefore I much prefer just documenting the various tomato plants we grow each season and enjoy the fruit of my labor.

As end of March or early April in California is typically when we can put plants in the ground, I've recently started my 2007 crop of tomatoes. As I wanted to take some early photos of the plants, I used the DA* 50-135mm lens with my K10D to photograph both the plant structure from the side and a top down view of the leaves.

The four photos below were all shot at ISO 200 in RAW at 100mm; f/8.0 at 1/15 to 1/20th second. As it was a really overcast, cloudy day the only processing I did when I converted from RAW to JPEG was to set my white balance to "cloudy".

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Soldacki.
Heirloom tomato from Poland. Dark pink fruit with mild, super sweet flavor.


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Black Tula.
Heirloom tomato from Russia. The fruit is blackish-red with green shoulders. Chocolate flesh is rich and sweet.


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Since far too many folks only know of the hybridized, perfectly round red and tastless tomatoes sold in supermarkets, here are a few photos taken several seasons ago that give you an idea of the vastly different look of "heirloom" tomato varieties. Photos not taken with Pentax gear, but I wanted to include them for illustrative purposes.

School Field Day

We went to one of our grand-kids school field day event this weekend. I brought along the DA* 50-135mm lens and K10D partly to see how the lens performed in pretty harsh, midday California sun, as well as serve as the designated event photographer for my daughter-in-law :-) All photos shot at ISO 200 at f/5.6. Images have been cropped, but other than converting RAW files with SilkyPix into JPEGS set to "dayight", no other post processing was done.