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New York, January 2010
© 2010 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

These are snaps I made while visiting various camera companies and stores, and seeing my family, all in New York.

These are all shot on the Canon S90, which I kept in my pocket the whole time. Almost all of these shots are exactly as the JPGs came out of the camera: no cropping, no fiddling, no nothing, other than resizing and branding for online use.

I set my S90, like all my PowerShots, to Vivid, which you do by hitting FUNC SET, click down to OFF, and right to Vivid. Most shots in daylight were made at -0.7 exposure compensation, and most dim-light shots at 0 compensation. I set i-Contrast to Auto. I shoot in Program mode: the P on the top dial.

I shot most in Auto White Balance with A3 (added amber). To add amber or blue, simply turn the front lens ring when WB is selected.

 

Saturday, 09 January 2010 (9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th)

Today I flew from La Jolla to New York City.

Here's the view from about 2,500 feet at 226 knots. My mom is a pilot and I've been trying to make a shot like this since I was 11 years old. It never worked, because the plane moves too fast and it's too dark.

Manhattan and Queens at night from the air

Manhattan and Queens, 8:37 PM.  bigger.  original © file (1.5MB).

Goodness! The S90 works great!

Auto ISO and program chose the ISO and exposure, and the fast f/2 lens (the fastest zoom common in photography) and superb Image Stabilization worked like nothing before. Even if I brought a big D3 or D700, the widest SLR lenses with IS or VR are only f/3.5, not f/2 like the S90.

This was snapped with the S90, program mode chose f/2 at 1/13 (that's a thirteenth of a second), and Auto ISO chose ISO 1,600.

Considering that we're moving at over 200 MPH, I'm astounded that anything is sharp at all anyplace other than the center, and especially since this is shot out a plastic airliner window.

The shot above is the best view as the airliner flew around. The  original © file (1.5MB) for you pixel-counters is a crummier composition that got shot through a less wavy part of the window.

 

Parking Structure, JFK

From the Parking Structure, JFK, 9:38 PM. © Original file (1.3MB).

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Auto ISO chose ISO 800, Program Auto chose f/2 at 1/25, 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, no exposure compensation. Exactly as shot.

© Original file (1.3MB).

 

Monday, 10 January 2010 (9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th)

View from My Window, Long Island, NY

View from My Window, Long Island, NY, 11:21 AM.

This is the view out the window of the bedroom I occupied in the 1980s. I had a different room earlier.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Auto ISO chose ISO 80, Program Auto chose f/4 at 1/400, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -2/3 comp.

Today my brother Steve and I drove around Long Island sightseeing. We headed to the North Shore.

Jericho Volunteer Fire Departmnent

Jericho Volunteer Fire Department, 1:48 PM.

Wow, Jericho has one heck of a firehouse. I'm from Plainview. This is a drive-by shot as we went to Coe Hall.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Auto ISO chose ISO 80, Program Auto chose f/7.1 at 1/500, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -2/3 comp.

 

The Three Sisters, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

The Three Sisters, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 2:25 PM.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/4.9 at 1/125, zoomed to 22.5mm (105mm equivalent), A3 AWB, no exposure compensation.

 

Dildoplant (Oxydendrum phallus), Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Dildoplant (Oxydendrum phallus), Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 2:27 PM.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/3.2 at 1/60, zoomed to 10.7mm (50mm equivalent), no exposure compensation, macro mode.

 

Greenhouse, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Greenhouse, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 2:31 PM.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/4 at 1/500, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, no exposure compensation, flash forced on.

Darn, these are nice colors, and this is exactly what came out of the S90 like everything else here.

 

Phallus vectii, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Phallus vectii, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 2:34 PM.

Is the macro mode sharp enough for you?

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/4.5 at 1/500, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -2/3 exposure compensation, macro mode.

 

Magenta and Green, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Magenta and Green, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 2:41 PM.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/2.2 at 1/30, ISO 80, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -2/3 exposure compensation.

 

Light, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 3:20 PM

Light, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 3:20 PM. © Original file (1.2MB).

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/4.5 at 1/500, Auto ISO chose ISO 200, zoomed to 18.2mm (85mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -1/3 exposure compensation.

© Original file (1.2MB).

 

Cloisters, Coe Hall, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Cloisters, Coe Hall, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 3:33 PM.

This shot has nothing to do with the cloister or the apparent subject. It has everything to do with lines and white blobs (the lamps). I held the camera crooked, and played for quite a while as I put the lamps where I wanted them for good balance.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/3.5 at 1/30, lens at 6mm (28mm equivalent), no exposure compensation, hand-printed (burned, dodged and toned) in black-and-white.

By "hand-printed," I converted to grayscale, then back to RGB. I added a curves adjustment layer and lifted the red, and dropped the blue channels a bit in the curves layer to give a warm tone. I don't use anything bought or canned; I just fiddle with it until it looks as I want it.

Using more curves adjustment layers and adjustment layer masks, I darkened the corners, and very much darkened the annoying bright area on the middle left edge back to gray. I then lightened the upper right lamp. I'm doing all this painting with my mouse.

This is exactly as I composed it, just as almost everything else here. I deliberately put the lamps in opposite corners.

The exact amount of space around the upper-right lamp took a few tries as I shot this. I needed just the exact amount of space around it to give it this look.

It was only 25ºF (-5ºC) all day here, and it was vacant and free of charge. Yay!

 

Photographers Prohibited, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island

Warning Sign, Planting Fields Arboretum, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 3:47 PM.

For those of you still humping DSLRs, be sure to pay for a permit before setting foot on the hallowed grounds above.

Honestly, I suspect this applies to people photographing weddings, portraits and engagements. Man, those people bug everyone else when they expect us to stay off the grass or move so they use this as a photo location, and that's why they have to pull a permit first.

I doubt there's any problem for just snapping pictures, even if you have a DSLR, which brands you as a pro whether you like it or not. With nothing other than a concealed Canon S90 in my pocket, no one cares.

 

Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island

Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, 4:17 PM.

Is this legal to print on a street sign? What on Earth could be at the other end? It doesn't look like a real sign, it looks like the sort of prank my brothers and I would put in front of a friend's house.

Snapped with a hand-held 2009 Canon S90, Program Auto chose f/2.2 at 1/30, ISO 80, lens at 9.6mm (45mm equivalent), A3 AWB, -2/3 exposure compensation.

This is what's at the end of the street. Who said I had a childish sense of humor? I don't make this stuff up; this is what's really there, placed there by adults with multiple PhDs!

Hershey Laboratory

Hershey Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Long Island, 4:17 PM.

It turns out that CSHL does a lot of DNA poop research, similar to programs already running at The Anal Probe Corporation (APC). APC's technology has already been deployed as part of Google's TISP program, which uses DNA sequencing of your personal bodily output to display online ads that are contextually relevant.

 

Nathan Hale Monument, Huntington, Long Island

Lieutenant Nathan Hale Monument, Huntington, Long Island, 4:33 PM.

 

Nathan Hale Monument, Huntington, Long Island

Lieutenant Nathan Hale Monument, Huntington, Long Island, 4:32 PM.

There are three words I don't understand on this sign, and I graduated college with honors.

Nathan Hale had quite a vocabulary.

 

Kenny's towel hanger

My Towel Hanger, Long Island, 10:26 PM.

My dad made these custom towel racks for us when we were kids. This one is mine. Thanks dad! He used drink coasters, turned them over, cut off a part, added press-on lettering, and varnished them.

 

Next: 11 January 2010    (9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th   16th)

 

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