Tag: Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2
Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk 2019 in New Hope & Lambertville
It was a beautiful day for a photo walk and a great way to spend a day, hanging out with old friends and new acquaintances, chatting and talking about gear and light and places we visited or want to visit. It was a photo geek day.
My friend Ed picked me at my home on his way to the event. I am still not able to drive, and I was very appreciative of this kind gesture form Ed. Being able to get out from the "prison" of my home and bathe in the crisp autumn air and bright blue sky was exciting.
Ed and I talked and chatted about cars and cameras on the forty-minute drive to the meetup point at the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad. We parked outside Triumph Brewing, where we sat and dined on a lunch of German-style beer and Wienerschnitzel and Jaegerschnitzel. Triumph Brewing was celebrating Oktoberfest with German-themed food and served nothing but German ales.
After lunch, Ed and I walked around to the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad. Vintage trains run along the New Hope and Ivyland Railroad to the nearby town of Lahaska, Pennsylvania. Many years ago when my kids were still in diapers and pull-ups, we spent a lot of time walking around New Hope and riding the train, which was especially exciting when Thomas the Tank Engine came to town.
A few photo walk participants were already waiting on the platform and taking photos of the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad train #40, as it slowly pulled into the station.
Our walk leader, Ken Kavanagh, introduced himself, gave the walking group and overview of the town, our walk route and passed around a signup sheet for the "after walk" dinner at The Dubliner Irish pub on the Delaware River. I this particular aspect of photo walks, especially when it involves beer. I get to spend more time chatting about gear and reviewing the days catch
with fellow photo geeks.
Despite being small towns, New Hope (Pennsylvania) and Lambertville (New Jersey) can be a popular weekend destination for people from nearby towns, Philadelphia and as far away as Delaware and New York City. Both have managed to retain the early pre and post-colonial character and charm.
The streets and sidewalks can get crowded and I was concerned about how well I could navigate the photo walk with my double vision. I stuck close to Ed and the walking group.
Our first stop was an antique store on York Road. Ken had arranged with the property owner for our group to walk around. This was my least favourite of the locations we visited. Just before we started here, I switched lens from my Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR to my Asahi SMC Takumar 28mm f/3.5 M42 vintage lens. It seemed appropriate given the subject matter. Photographing with this lens is more challenging. I had to manual focus for every shot. This was easier with the focus peaking on the Fuji X-T2 but still more challenging than autofocus. I shot with this lens set at f/5.6 the rest of the photo walk.
After the antique shop - the rest of the group stayed there longer than Ed and I wanted - we walked down Bridge Street toward the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge.
Ed and I spent some good time on the bridge. Ed was trying to photograph reflections in the water while I focused on practising my street photography on people crossing the bridge.
We crossed the bridge into Lambertville and slowly made our way toward Union Street walking past the Lambertville Station and Pasha Rugs.
We turned left onto Union Street and continued toward Coryell Street. We walked past Caffe Galleria and people having coffee and tea, and a man on the street sitting with a super cute dachshund. I asked and received his permission to photograph him and his dog.
Ed and I stopped for a bit to admire the doors on some of the homes. Yes, doors.
At the corner of Union and Coryell Streets, we stopped to admire the architecture of this yellow house. We turned right onto Church Street, and headed east toward North Main Street, walked down Main Street back toward Church Street and Union Street.
We headed back to New Hope to meet up at the Dubliner for dinner and ale.
Out of focus
I underwent orbital decompression surgery on Monday, and it's been quite a journey. My face resembled a rough night at a fight club, especially around my eyes. This past week has been all about rest, ice packs, and pain medications, but finally, I can see out of both eyes. Although I'm still on various medications, including in-eye and whole-body antibiotics, I'm hopeful about my recovery.
I developed double vision post-surgery. The doctors say it might resolve on its own, or I might need further surgery. I'll have a better idea at my post-surgery appointment on Monday.
Interestingly, amidst my recovery, I hadn't thought about participating in [Frank's Photo Challenge]. But today, with a patch over my left eye, I stumbled upon a response to the challenge while browsing the WordPress Reader. The theme was "Focus," which struck me as humorous given my current situation.
I've had cataract surgery on my left eye in the past, and I chose a lens for distance vision. Subsequent laser surgery on my right eye allowed me to focus on nearby objects. My brain cleverly combines both images to give me stereoscopic vision, enabling me to do various tasks easily.
Now, with post-surgery diplopia, I can't focus on objects ahead of me unless I cover one eye. It's not ideal, but Bhavna gave me an eye patch to alternate between eyes. However, this means I lose my stereoscopic vision and depth perception.
Nonetheless, I was determined to participate in the challenge. Covering one eye long enough to type took some energy, but I submitted two images. Both were taken with my Fujifilm X-T2 using manual focus 35mm film lenses, one with the help of the focus-peaking feature and the other by relying on my eyesight. I suspect one of the images is sharper than the other due to my vision limitations.
I used Luis Costa's monochrome film simulation recipe, discovered via Ritchie Roesch's post. It brought back memories of my college days when I used to shoot monochrome 35mm films. Though I can't recall if it's precisely like Tri-X, I genuinely like how it looks.
Here's one of the images I captured.
Participating in this challenge has been a bright spot during my recovery, reminding me of my passion for photography despite the challenges.
