I just cleaned out my comment spam and found TEN comments in there. Sorry if you've commented recently and then wondered where your comment went! I usually check spam every day but apparently I got behind. You've all been released from spam jail now.
This house is one of several on our street under heavy renovation at the moment, basically being gutted and rebuilt on the inside. Our street is not particularly long -- the equivalent of about three blocks, if our area was laid out on a grid -- but I'm always amazed how many people are renovating at any given time. Maybe the Russians aren't so unusual after all. Maybe I'm the unusual one, just making do with what we've got.
Anyway, I took the picture because I liked the light, shadows and colors. I used my big camera, a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. I bought that camera back in 2012 and it cost a pretty penny then, but I was trying to make a go of doing serious photography so I wanted good equipment. As it turns out, that wasn't really the best camera for me because it was geared toward people who also wanted good video capability, and I didn't really need that. (Plus, it weighs 3.5 pounds with my lightest lens!)
I shot the photo in RAW for best detail, and processed it slightly in Lightroom to correct the perspective and lens distortion.
And then, just for fun, I shot a similar picture on my phone:
This one took no processing -- and it has more detail in areas with bright light. If it's not better overall, it's at least just as good. Aren't they amazing, these tiny computers we all carry nowadays? With video too! The only things the big camera can do better are zoom photos from a distance, with my telephoto lens, and macro photos, with my macro lens. And it doesn't telescope distant objects and make them seem incredibly far away, which the phone camera does because of its tiny wide-angle lens.
Still, phone cameras are amazing.
I spent yesterday cleaning and reading. I finally finished "The Bee Sting," which I mostly enjoyed. It ended on an agonizingly ambiguous note and was ultimately quite tragic, but I'm glad I read it. Now I have to catch up on New Yorkers before launching into another book.
When I was walking Olga on Saturday I found this tiny pendant lying next to the sidewalk. I interpreted it as the letters "IL" and I couldn't imagine what that meant. A souvenir of Illinois? That seemed unlikely. (The "I" was originally bright red, which is what caught my eye on the ground, but when I rubbed the dirt off the red came off too!)
I brought it home, cleaned it up and photographed it (with my macro lens!) and then ran it through Google image search to try to figure out what it meant. Turns out...
...it's a zipper pull from a Fila sweatshirt.
Well, not quite as exotic an artifact as I had hoped, but the mystery was intriguing.
When I walked into the bedroom last night to go to sleep, this is what I found. Geez, dog, leave some space for us!
Your phone shot has better dynamic range than the camera one for some reasons.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a small corgi....and she managed to hog a bed or a sofa....dogs (and cats) are good at that aren't they!!
ReplyDeleteOf the two images, I would say that the camera phone has done a better job. It seems more alive, more sharp and richer somehow. My in-laws had dogs - always Alsatians - and they never slept in the house. They slept in their kennels. Perhaps Olga would like her own little house... outside!
ReplyDeleteI think the trend for constant renovation is widespread. Our village is the same, with scaffolding and builders vans everywhere but you’re not alone in being happy with what you have. We bought our 1930’s house from an elderly man who moved to the bungalow next door and lived there until he died in 2010. Our house is structurally unchanged since it was built, just kitchen/bathroom replacements etc. He told us so much about our little house, even that two airmen were billeted there during the war and how the chimney was rebuilt due to bomb damage! I prefer to keep it how it was and often imagine him coming downstairs as a boy, on the day war was declared and hearing the news on the radio. I love the bumps and dents in the door frames and imagining how they got there, although I’ll never know! That’s a great shot of Olga! Our dog assumes a similar position, usually as we’re preparing to get into bed!
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of the long 40X non digital zooming of my camera, my phone does a far better day to day job than my not so cheap camera. Your superior second photo proves the point about phone cameras.
ReplyDeleteIn this area (Berkshire) people extend and renovate rather than move. Some buy and demolish and rebuild, and not always for the better. Planning round here is bizarre!
ReplyDeleteiPhone cameras are so good now. I prefer your first photograph - it's brighter and sharper.
The photograph of Olga is lovely. It's nice to know we're not the only ones who have to move the dog to get into bed, though we have a couple of cats who take up quite a lot of room, too.
My neighbors are always in renovating mode. I'm not even painting at this point.
ReplyDeleteShe is keeping the bed heated for you...
ReplyDeletePhone cameras ARE amazing. Photography is an excellent example of how much things have changed since we were young. Film? What's that? The little flash bulb that had to be changed with every use? It's crazy.
ReplyDeleteOlga is a good example of why some people get small dogs. I mean, she's perfect! But she does take up some space.
I tend to just keep remodeling slowly with periods of rest in-between. That way I don't find myself 30 years later in need of a complete gut job and all that goes along with that.
ReplyDeleteI have done the same with my not as fancy Canon Rebel DSLR and my camera phone and have come to the same conclusion. My DLSR gathers dust in a drawer. The last time I used it was for my eldest's last track meet a couple years ago so I could use my zoom lens to get some decent action photos. My youngest isn't into sports so I'll probably never use it again.
Our cats do the same thing on our bed. I love your sleuthing. And, yes, phone cameras can do an exceptional job. I rarely use my SLR these days and, as you said, just for zooming.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking exactly the same thing about cameras vs. cell phones. Phones do amazingly well in low light. Having the phone in my pocket creates more photographic opportunities. Of course you can't beat the telephoto lens for capturing wildlife.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like I have comments in the Spam folder every day and they are always from people who comment all the time. It's kind of frustrating.
Olga wants to know why you and Dave insist on sleeping in her bed...the two of you take up so much space!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing what these phone cameras can do...and my phone is not even one of those fancy expensive ones.
We don't have a lot of renovating in our neighborhood, but right now there are three houses for sale. We're not that large - do they know something we don't?
ReplyDeleteWell, in 2012 the iphones were not that highly developed so you made the right choice .
ReplyDeleteI like the convenience of my phone camera, but the images are so much crisper with my DSLR. You don't do renovations because you're renting, it would be a wasted effort for you guys to do any renovations.
ReplyDeleteI love that you research your street finds! My phone camera is lousy and since I dropped my phone on the cement and the screen now looks like a series of spider webs, I'm in the market for one with a decent camera -- probably as high on the criteria list as being able to just make a phone call! Yours looks great. My little digital has been dropped more times that it should have been, too, so on the market for one with a good zoom. (I tried to do this before tariffs went in but no good luck.) Maybe it can be repaired. I digress -- love seeing your street and also, Olga -- all mellowed out!
ReplyDeleteI think the phone camera photo has lots more detail and so I like it better.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks so glamorous sleeping on her "mink"!
I think your phone did a better job. I finally got a new phone about a month ago, but haven't really taken any photos with it yet. The only think I still use my Canon Rebel for is photos of my completed jigsaws. For some reason, I can't get the phone photos to enlarge when click on like I can the Canon photos.
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of Olga. That's why all our dogs have been kennel trained at night!
Phone cameras are truly amazing. Point and shoot. Easy and the photos are generally just fine.
ReplyDeleteLike my dog, Olga likes her creature comforts. She's got her priorities!
I've always got a project going. Currently, it is organizing the garage with new steel shelving and cupboard space.
I think the first shot with the camera is more appealing from an artists perspective. , the phone shot - great for detail and light. I suppose that phones are capable of photos that are not quite so REAL!!! Ack- too much reality!
ReplyDeleteOlga is the cutest one in your family , she can do what ever she wants.
Seeing Olga on that bed like that gave me a twinge of missing Munch, who used to take up the bed just like that, and how happy and comfortable Olga seems! That is a well loved dog and she knows it. Your comment about spam made me look in my own spam folder and sure enough, there were four comments there including one from you from back in November! I wonder why some comments go to spam some of the time, and go through at other times. The mysteries of blogger.
ReplyDeleteNow That Photo Of Olga Girl Is Why We Have Cameras Built Into Our Phones - Yahooo000000000
ReplyDeleteCheers