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Point Reyes and Sacramento
25-31 August 2010

These are snaps from Dave Wyman's photo tour of Point Reyes and my visit to Sacramento, California.

These were shot on a Nikon F5 on Fuji Velvia 50 processed and scanned at NCPS, and on a Nikon D3 as JPGs. My D3's picture control was set to VIVID and +3 saturation. The D3 JPGs are shown here as shot, no tweaking needed.

All my lenses work on both cameras, however with the Nikon F5 I enjoyed the tiny Nikon 20mm f/3.5 AI-s, an AI'd Nikon 85mm f/1.8, and Nikon 80-200mm f/4 AI-s.

With the Nikon D3 I needed only the Nikon 16-35mm VR, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G and Nikon 70-300mm VR.

No tripods were needed.

25 August 2011, Wednesday           top

Today we enjoyed dinner at Harris Ranch and headed halfway to our destination, camping for the night in Santa Nella.

Best Western, Santa Nella, 8:16 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 1,600, P mode chose 1/30 second at f/1.4, no tripod.)

This is darn fine performance from an f/1.4 lens: look at the tight points of light on the sides, free from coma.

Pool, Best Western, Santa Nella, 8:28 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, ISO 800, 1/8 second at f/4, no tripod.)

I cheated a bit and straightened the converging lines of the pool fence in Photoshop's Lens Distortion tool. The converging lines were caused from my pointing my camera down to frame the image.

26 August 2011, Thursday           top

Today we headed through Casa de Fruta towards our destination in Petaluma.

Casa de Fruta, 8:33 AM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose 1/125 second at f/5.6.)

T, with Bug, Petaluma, 1:31 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/11 at 1/500 second.)

Leaves by the Chinese, Petaluma, 6:09 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 200, P* mode chose f/8 at 1/60 second.)

We ate at the Chinese buffet next to the motel. After diner, we walked to downtown Petaluma.

Garbage Can, Petaluma, 7:17 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/2.8 at 1/30 second.)

OK, so it's a garbage can. I was attracted by something, but whoopee-do if I don't really ask myself any more before I snap. Let's FART and attempt to compose more strongly:

Vandalism, Petaluma, 7:18 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/2.8 at 1/30 second.)

Linch Jewelers, Petaluma, 8:26 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 70-300mm VR at 116 mm, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/4.8 at 1/30 second, no tripod.)

We had a blast downtown; we met the county's poet laureate and even Mayor Pam even stopped to chat with us!

Petaluma, 8:27 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 70-300mm VR at 80 mm, Auto ISO 1,400, P mode chose f/4.8 at 1/8 second, no tripod.)

The D3 and VR lenses makes it trivial to shoot these night shots in fully automatic exposure, white balance and ISO modes without any tripods; just FART and fire.

Eye, Petaluma, 8:47 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 70-300mm VR at 300 mm, Auto ISO 6,400, P mode chose f/5.6 at 1/4 second, no stinking tripod.)

Did you catch that? This snap is at 300mm at night with no tripod at one-quarter of a second! VR really works!

McNear's, Petaluma, 8:54 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, Auto ISO 640, P mode chose f/4 at 1/8 second, no tripod.)

Theatre, Petaluma, 8:55 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 19 mm, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/30 second, no tripod.)

27 August 2011, Friday           top

Today we started in the haunted hamlet of Bodega Bay.

I'd had enough of digital SLRs and plastic lenses after a day, so I pulled out my fully professional Nikon F5 and my real Nikon AI-s manual-focus lenses for the next two days.

Church in Fog, Bodega Bay, 8:23 AM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 80-200mm f/4 AI-s, Fuji Velvia 50, manually set 1/200 at f/4, toned.)

Haunted House (School), Bodega Bay, 8:45 AM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 20mm f/3.5 AI-s, Fuji Velvia 50, f/8 and A mode chose 1/60, toned.)

Pinwheels, Bodega Bay. (Nikon F5, Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AI'd, Fuji Velvia 50, Nikon A2 filter, f/8 and A mode chose 1/160 at +0.3 compensation, 7 feet.)

Marshal. (Nikon F5, Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AI'd, Fuji Velvia 50, f/8 and A mode chose 1/125, 3.45 feet, toned.)

Marshal Boot Werke, 2:31 PM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AI'd, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, A mode at f/5.6 chose 1/320, 1.6 meters.)

Petaluma, 7PM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, P* chose 1/100 at f/8)

We then enjoyed dinner at the Real Döner Turkish Restaurant, yum!

28 August 2011, Saturday           top

First stop this morning: the beached boat.

Abandoned Boat, Point Reyes, 8:45 AM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 29mm, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, P mode chose f/8 at 1/250.)

Next, the Point Reyes Station Farmer's Market.

Point Reyes Station Farmer's Market. (Nikon F5, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, P mode and color matrix chose 1/20 at f/2.2, no tripod.)

Now off to the historic Pierce Barn.

Pierce Barn, 2 PM. (Nikon F5, AI'd Nikon 85mm f/1.8, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, center-weighted meter at +1 compensation in A mode at f/13 chose 30 seconds, braced on fence, no stinking tripod.)

And finally off to the Point Reyes Light, down 308 steps!

Sea Hole, Point Reyes Light, 4 PM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, Color Matrix meter in P mode chose 1/125 at f/5.6.)

Point Reyes Light, 5PM. (Nikon F5, Nikon 20mm f/3.5 AI-s, Nikon A2 filter, Fuji Velvia 50, center-weighted meter at -0.7 compensation and f/3.5 chose 1/400.)

Dinner was at Volpi's Italian in downtown Petaluma.

29 August 2011, Sunday           top

Quiet, 7:42 AM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 70-300mm VR at 300 mm, Auto ISO 200, P mode chose f/5.6 at 1/60 second, no tripod.)

After a relaxing morning, our photo tour was concluded, and I headed over the hill to Sacramento.

Photographing in Sacramento, California, 5:32 PM. (Nikon D40, Nikon 18-200mm VR at 65 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/6.3 at 1/640.)

This photo of me was snapped by my friend Sean Wallentine, whose work you can see at www.istockphoto.com/wallentine. I think this is the best shot of the whole weekend; it shows me working to bring freedom to all Californians. Notice how the photo reads from the top, with the capitol deliberately soft, so the sharp photographer (me) grabs your eyes immediately.

California State Senate Chamber, Sacramento, 4:42 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/8 second, no stinking tripod.)

California State Senate Chamber, Sacramento, 4:43 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/8 second, no tripod.)

California State Capitol Dome, Sacramento, 5:33 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/15 second, no tripod.)

See the full-resolution image from NEF. Not bad for a wide-open shot at 16mm? Who needs a LEICA?

California State Capitol Interior, Sacramento, 5:35 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/4 second, no tripod.)

I used Photoshop's Lens Distortion tool at +8 to straighten the barrel distortion of the Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm.

California State Capitol Interior, Sacramento, 5:46 PM. (2007 Nikon D3, Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm, ISO 200, P mode chose f/4 at 1/8 second, no tripod.)

I used Photoshop's Lens Distortion tool at +8 to straighten the barrel distortion of the Nikon 16-35mm VR at 16 mm. This way the straight lines along the bottom stay ruler-straight.

That's it! Monday the 30th I witnessed to lawmakers in Sacramento, and returned home on Tuesday the 31st.

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