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.
ReplyDeleteIt does. In fairness, it's possible I have it on an HDR setting, but I can't find those settings to check if that's the case! My camera takes HDR too and it was NOT set for that.
DeleteI 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!!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how even small animals can expand in size, and also become amazingly heavy at night!
DeleteOf 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 agree. I like the phone picture better.
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteExactly! Houses are history, especially old ones. The house I grew up in was essentially unchanged from when it was built in 1966 until about 2010, except for maintenance, so I am used to living without renovations.
DeleteWith 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.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think it just depends on the kind of photo you want to take. Zoom photos require a better lens than the phones provide.
DeleteIn 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.
We've trained Olga to stay mostly in the middle of the bed, but she doesn't have a good sense of boundaries. :)
DeleteMy neighbors are always in renovating mode. I'm not even painting at this point.
ReplyDeleteHa! The freedom that must come with that decision!
DeleteShe is keeping the bed heated for you...
ReplyDeleteShe is a very good bed warmer, but it's hard to get access to the warm spot!
DeleteBring dog treats to bed!
DeletePhone 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.
Yeah, when I think about what a rigmarole photography was in my youth, I'm amazed I took as many pictures as I did. Remember dropping off the film for processing and having to wait TWO WEEKS to get it back?!
DeleteI 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.
I try to keep using mine, just to keep it in shape, but in truth I've already gotten my money's worth out of it many times over.
DeleteOur 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.
ReplyDeleteThank you for appreciating my sleuthing! I thought that was a fun little investigation but maybe I have too much time on my hands. (Which is funny, because I feel like I have NO time on my hands.)
DeleteI'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.
I don't know why Blogger can't work out this spam thing. Why are EVEN MY OWN COMMENTS in my spam?!
DeleteOlga 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.
Ha! She probably DOES think that. It's so amazing to have a photo AND video camera always in our pockets, and a pretty good one, too.
DeleteWe 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?
ReplyDeleteYikes! Check with your local government! LOL
DeleteWell, in 2012 the iphones were not that highly developed so you made the right choice .
ReplyDeleteThat's true -- back then the phone camera would not have been an option. I wish I'd gone with a different model of Canon, but it's no big deal now.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteWell, we had the bathroom replaced a year or two ago, so that's not entirely true -- but admittedly the landlords did it after we asked. Even if we owned this place I don't think I'd change much. Dave, on the other hand, has lots of big ideas.
DeleteI 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 I use my phone MORE for a camera and to check e-mail and texts than to make phone calls. I almost never talk on the phone anymore.
DeleteI think the phone camera photo has lots more detail and so I like it better.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks so glamorous sleeping on her "mink"!
Ha! It DOES look like a mink!
DeleteI 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!
I wonder what Canon stock is selling at these days? Seems like their business model (in the camera division, anyway) might be on the downslope!
DeletePhone 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.
Oh, now, I am a BIG fan of organizing. But that's not quite like renovating. :)
DeleteI 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.
I wish I'd taken the phone photo horizontally. I did it vertically to preserve the perspective but it's really not a fair comparison as a result.
DeleteSeeing 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.
ReplyDeleteMy comments often seem to go to spam. I have no idea why! They even go to spam on my own blog!
DeleteI end up in spam routinely on UK based blogs! It's a conspiracy.
DeleteNow That Photo Of Olga Girl Is Why We Have Cameras Built Into Our Phones - Yahooo000000000
ReplyDeleteCheers
Definitely! It just shows how beneficial it is to have a camera handy at all times.
DeleteI instantly understood that the pendant was the FILA logo - years of practice from picture quiz parts at our regular pub quiz :-D
ReplyDeleteWow! I am so impressed you knew that! I had absolutely no idea.
DeleteI'm happy enough with the camera on my phone, but the laptop isn't happy about downloading them, so if I want a particular photo to show on my blog, I'll use the Canon camera. Downloading images has changed a bit with the constant updates, but I worked it out and it is still easier than trying to get pics off my phone. I never do any editing or improving, I don't know how, so what you see is what I took.
ReplyDeleteYou could probably post photos to your blog directly from your phone, no downloading required! But that involves phone blogging, which I don't find particularly easy.
DeleteI really need to put my new iPhone 16 Pro camera through its paces. It's wasted on me! Perhaps I should take a class.
ReplyDeleteI send the photos from my phone (that I want on my blog) to my email and then download them onto my laptop from there. Phone blogging is TOO hard for me.
ReplyDelete