Airplane window shots are problematic.  You’re typically shooting through three layers of glass and plastic.  Some of those surfaces are probably dirty.  Most of the surfaces are reflecting the other surfaces — and also whatever is in the airplane cabin, including your camera.

But there you are above dawn just breaking “somewhere out west”.  A full moon.  You have to give it a try.

Somewhere Out West — Dawn from the air.

I shot this with a Panasonic DMC-TS3 which, thoughfully, has an “Aerial Photo” scene mode.  Holding the camera upside down for some shots to position the lens.  The real work is in post processing.  Noise reduction with Noiseware.  Curves, contrast and brightness in Photoshop.  Graduated ND filter effect with NIK Color Efex Pro.  Color balance back in PhotoShop.  A sharpness pass with NIK Sharpener Pro.  Final “save for web” in PhotoShop.  The two control points were the moon (keep it from turning into a solid white orb) and the terrain faces near the front edges of the engine nacelles (keep the details and sharpness of line).

P.S. Another reason, on coast-to-coast daylight flights, for picking a window on the right side westbound and on the left side eastbound.

Krakow remains the cultural and historical magnet for visitors to Poland.

If you do the Poland Trifecta (Gdansk, Warsaw, and Krakow) it is a good place to end your trip, and four days isn’t too long.  Granted, you might run into groups of British men doing one of those trips (the sight of a Ryan Air jet at the airport can be ominous) and, according to my hotel manager, the Norwegians are coming in with empty suitcases and hitting the Galeria Krakowska in droves.

Krakow, however, is not living in the past.  If you spend too much time in the city center, you might overlook that this is a regional commercial center.  And like other cities that are looking to the future, it is also trying to figure out ways to move people around without destroying the city.  The picture below shows bicycle and pedestrian traffic control.  Bikes use the lane to the left, with pedestrians to the right.  There are signs marking the dual use, and even crosswalks marked where there are pedestrians crossing — such as at this dual bike/pedestrian on/off-ramp.

Auschwitz/Birkenau

If you visit Auschwitz, chances are you’ll base in Krakow.  As I mentioned a few posts earlier, avoid taking an organized tour if at all possible — especially something like the combined salt mines/death camp tours. If you arrive before 10:oo am during the peak season you can visit Auschwitz without a guide — 10:00 am to 3:00 pm requires a guide.  But to arrive early complicates your transportation since it is over an hour by by public bus and therefore an expensive cab ride.  (Birkenau (Auschwitz II) does not require guides at any time.)

There is some discussion on whether it better to view this kind of site in the context of the specific events that took place — The Holocaust — or in the context of other genocides, pogroms, etc.  In the end, it is your decision what you want to take away with you.

Another issue is the deterioration at the sites.  One the one hand, you’d almost like so see it dissolve into rust and rot — be gone forever.  But the worry is that people will forget — and many (most?) have no idea the scope and scale of the Holocaust.  But these rails and ties just show some of the more obvious deterioration.  Time will tell what kind of balance is struck.

Warsaw

Still the industrial and commercial engine for Poland…All the more amazing when you consider the extent of German destruction. The city continues to build and change.  This display on the observation tower at the Uprising Museum is supposed to show buildings that are still standing from the WWII era (the darker shapes).  However, the some of the newer buildings on the display have since been replaced by even newer buildings.

The sights in Warsaw are farther apart than in Krakow and if you spend time touring, you’ll probably be wise to do your explorations in sectors.  If you spend more than a couple of days, it might be a good idea to learn the tram system — though they can be packed during commuting hours.

Taxi Ride to the Airport

A short distance from the hotel the driver gestured to the right with his head.  “Souvenir of Stalin”.  He was referring to the Palace of Culture and Science.

He asked if I minded the radio, which was playing Polish songs.  I didn’t mind.  We chatted a little and as we got close to the airport I heard a song:

Kayah and Bregovic: “Prawy Do Lewego (From Your Right to Your Left)”

Then I’m saying “That lady — the singer.  That’s, uh, uh — Kayah!”

“Kayah.  Yes.”

“Kayah and Bregovic.  Right?”

He was genuinely surprised that I knew.

He turned up the volume.  We were both tapping our fingers and quietly whistling along.

It was a nice way to end the trip.

Links for this trip…

Krakow

Cracow-Life:  http://www.cracow-life.com/

Krakow Info:  http://www.krakow-info.com/

Historical Museum of Kraków:  http://mhk.pl/

St Mary’s Basilica (in Polish):  http://www.mariacki.com/

Wawel Royal Cathedral:  http://www.katedra-wawelska.pl/english

Hotel Floryan:  http://www.floryan.com.pl/en/index.php

Auschwitz/Birkenau

Auschwitz (Official Site):  http://en.auschwitz.org/m/

Excellent BBC Interactive Map of Auschwitz:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/auschwitz_map/index_embed.shtml

Warsaw

Warsaw-Life:  http://www.warsaw-life.com/

Warsaw Rising Museum:  http://www.1944.pl/en/

The Royal Castle in Warsaw:  http://www.zamek-krolewski.pl/?page=1114

National Museum in Warsaw Information:  http://www.mnw.art.pl/index.php/pl/english

Polish Army Museum (in Polish):  http://www.muzeumwp.pl/

Hotel Mercure Warsaw Grand:
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-3384-mercure-warszawa-grand/index.shtml

Located next door (actually the same building) to National Museum, Warsaw, exhibits include a lot of artillery, vehicles, and aircraft stored outside; and a range of arms, armor, and uniforms through the centuries.  Particular emphasis is placed on the Polish Army during WWII and on artifacts from the over 21,000 Polish prisoners (Army officers captured during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland, police officers, and intelligentsia – “intelligence agents, gendarmes, landowners, saboteurs, factory owners, lawyers, officials and priests.”) murdered by orders of Stalin in 1940.  It was recently decided to relocate the museum to new facilities in the Citadel, north of Old Town.

Polish Winged Hussar — A major factor in the victory of the Polish forces over the Turks at Vienna, 1683. There is some discussion as to whether the wings were actually worn in battle — of even if the cavalryman could stay mounted on the horse while wearing those wings.

When I first glanced at the sign I thought it was warning against wing-walking on jet fighter aircraft…

The Royal Castle

Up Ulica Nowy Świat (a main shopping and historic boulevard) from the National Museum is Castle Square, the Royal Castle, and Old Town.

Zygmunt’s Column is a meeting spot for Warsaw residents and visitors, and the Castle Square is the location for festivities and official ceremonies.

Zygmunt’s Column, with the original sections, blown up by the Germans in reprisal for the 1944 Rising, in the foreground.

The Royal Castle was painstakingly rebuilt starting in 1970.  After the rubble was cleared following the German’s destruction, it was a cleared area that Poles could see every day for 27 years.  The reconstruction was based on exhaustive research, bits and pieces of the original building salvaged from the original, photographs, and paintings, etc.  The wooden floors are spectacular, with every important room having a different pattern.

Doors of the Church of the Gracious Mother of God (Kościół Matki Bożej Łaskawej)

Located midway between the Market Square and the Royal Castle, the church is adjacent the St. John’s Cathedral.  The doors are by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, who also made the famous partial head that is installed in front of the British Museum, London.

The dates over the door are “1604 – 1944 – 1970″

The Old Town Market Square

Detail of a corner burgher house on the Market Square.

In the Market Square, probably the most famous, and most photographed, fighting mermaid.

Classic Fighting Mermaid pose.

When the mermaid gets hungry…Kabobs?

Warsaw Skyline Panoramic

Taken from a tower overlooking Castle Square.  Almost anything you can see was reconstructed after the Germans leveled Warsaw.  It is estimated that over 150,000 civilians were killed in the Rising and following, and around 550,000 people were expelled.

(Right click on picture and “View Image”.)

Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science.

A relic of the years of Soviet domination, there are a lot of varying opinions about this building.  Some would like to tear it down, but it still has useful facilities.  And what would you put in its place (and who would pay for it)?

The Warsaw Uprising Museum

The museum’s opening was in 2004 — timed for the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising.  While it might be said to have an advantage by only having to present a relatively short span of time — the 66 days of the Rising and a few days preceding it — it does that in a comprehensive, innovative, and thoughtful manner.

Not to be missed is a 3D video that simulates a fly-over of a devastated Warsaw after the German’s pounded much of the city into rubble.

One feature are the desk calendar pages that are on the walls next to exhibits.

“Calendar” pages near exhibits — one for each day of the Rising.

There is a page for each day.  Each page shows (in Polish only) the date and other information for the day including sunrise, sunset, and the maximum temperature.  It also tells what happened in Warsaw that day.  As you go through the museum you can take the calendar pages — eventually totaling 71.

In many exhibits, such as the one below, there are taped interviews with those who fought.  If the exhibit is about light machine guns, there is a video interview with a man describing the Bren gun he actually used.  (All of those interviews are subtitled in English.)

An exhibit of weapons used in the Rising.

The “Kotwica” — Symbol of the Polish secret state and the Armia Krajowa (Home Army, or AK).

A pleasant surprise is this coffee shop.  I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t an exhibit.  It is themed for the time period of the Rising and there is also a contemporary area outside on a balcony.

Themed coffee shop in the museum.

On the wall near the coffee shop is this bottle of Cinzano…

“Jozef Wrobel and his Home Army friends decide on May 9, 1945, to save a prewar bottle of Cinzano wine until the day Poland regains her independence and the last foreign soldiers her soil.”

A friend once said that you have to be one heck of a city to have a mermaid with a sword and and shield as your symbol.

Warsaw’s Fighting Mermaid.

View of the museum’s observation tower from the Rose Garden — on the back side of the Memorial Wall.

Shot from the observation tower at the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  (Right-click on image to view full size.)

Auschwitz

The main gate at Auschwitz — from the inside.

Below is one of the early attempts to deal with the remains of murdered persons.  One pair of a total of four ovens at Auschwitz.  The turntable on the floor allows operators to pull ashes out of an oven, turn the cart 180 degrees, and the push the cart over an ash pit to be dumped.  This particular setup was abandoned as more efficient equipment was developed to handle the mass of murdered people.

Early ovens at Auschwitz.

 Birkenau (Auschwitz II)

The other iconic gateway.

The rail gate to Birkenau.

A railway wagon of the type used to transport to Birkenau for work or to be killed.  This is the place seen in many photos showing people being taken off the trains and, in many cases, immediately sorted and taken to the gas chambers.

Railway goods wagon of the type used to transport people to Birkenau.

Electrified fence line.

On the Birkenau site, opposite from the railway gate, are the remains of gas chambers and crematoria — destroyed by the SS at the Soviets advanced westward.  A picture of the structure is on the sign to the left.

Gas chamber and crematorium destroyed as Soviet forces drew closer.

The memorial, opposite the camp from the railway gate.  The group in the center are Israeli students.  The government of Israel sends thousands of students every year to tour the death camps.  This practice is considered controversial by some.  The students are accompanied throughout their visit to Poland by Israeli security guards (I counted at least 4 with this group).

Israeli students at the memorial.

Inside one of the wooden barracks.  These were designed as stables for the German Army — to house 52 horses.  They held up to 400 prisoners.

Inside a wooden barrack.

Israeli students light candles in one of the brick barracks.

Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau

Many people take an organized tour, but I’d recommend avoiding them.  You can do all the research you need online, and I don’t think Auschwitz and Birkenau are best absorbed when you are part of a herd.  Also, during the peak tourist months, you can only enter Auschwitz I between the hours of 10:00 am and 3:00 pm as part of an organized tour– due to the crush of visitors.  There are no such restrictions at Birkenau.

My recommendation is to take a bus from the Krakow bus terminal (right next door to the main Krakow train station).  Get a bus that will get you to the museum no later than 11:00 – 11:30.  Then take the free shuttle to Birkenau (Auschwitz II).  You likely find it very quiet.  Take your time and then take any of the shuttles back to Auschwitz that leave Birkenau after 2:45 pm.  You will have managed is to avoid the surge of tours that starts at Auschwitz, then goes to Birkenau, and then home.

Panoramic Photo of Birkenau

A 360-degree view taken midway between the railway gate and the memorial.  (Right click on photo and then select “View Image”.)

These are panoramics — each roughly 180- degrees — from Birkenau (Auschwitz II) and provide some sense of the expanse of this Death Camp.  They were taken from the midpoint of the path between the famous main gate and the memorial — at the spot where the first life-or-death sorting of news arrivals occurred.

After you select a photo, enlarge it on your screen so that it is fairly high (about 100%) and then pan right and left.

Dachshund Parade down ul. Florianska.

On up to Wawel Hill, home of the Wawel Castle and the Wawel Cathedral.

Wawel Cathedral

Passage from Wawel Castle towards the Cathedral.

After Wawel Hill a walk along the Wisla, and a crossing over a pedestrian/cyclist bridge, Love Padlocks (or Love Locks) — and a newlywed couple.

Newlyweds and Love Padlocks on a pedestrian bridge over the Wisla.

The Pharmacy Under the Eagle (Apteka Pod Orłem).  Operated by Tadeusz Pankiewicz, a Roman Catholic, the pharmacy was started in 1910 by his father, and served both Gentiles and Jews in Krakow’s Podgórze district.  The district was turned into a Jewish Ghetto by the Germans in March 1941.  Pankiewicz remained on the premise despite the offer by the Germans to relocate him across the river.

Pharmacy Under the Eagle (Apteka Pod Orłem), taken from Plac Bohaterów Ghetta.

The pharmacy became a hub for a range of activities attempting to support, ease suffering, and to save Jews from transport to death camps.  In 1983 Pankiewicz was recognized as a “Righteous Among the Nations” for his works.

Walking back, I pass a long line…

A line for ice cream.

The clue is a little brown sign below a red sign on the left of this picture:  “LODY” (ice cream).  I have no idea what makes this shop so popular, but ice cream shops and small storefronts are a feature in Poland — at least in the larger cities.

A dreary day in Krakow — From the Cloth Hall towards St. Mary’s.

Nowe Sukiennice/National Museum in Krakow, Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in Sukiennice

For the first time in four visits to Krakow, the improvements in the Market Square are completed.  The renovations to the Sukienice took place between 2006 and 2010, and a whole new museum dedicated to the centuries of Krakowian history, was built under the square in an area roughly covered by the left half of the photo above.

About half of the “Chełmoński Room: Realism, Polish Impressionism, Beginnings of Symbolism.”

Some of the paintings I liked:

Four-In-Hand, Jozef Chelmonski, 1881

Powerful imagery of horses racing across a barren landscape…One of the Museum’s signature pieces, it is a big painting, as you can tell from the objects to each side.

Four-In-Hand

A Meeting on a Bridge, Jozef Brandt, 1886

A Meeting on a Bridge

Christmas Eve in Siberia, Jacek Malczwewski, 1892

Christmas Eve in Siberia

School of Talmudists, Samuel Hirzenberg, 1887

School of Talmudists

Saint Mary’s Basilica, and the Veit Stoss Altar

Occupying a corner of the Market Square from the end of the 13th Century, St. Mary’s shares major landmark duties with the Cloth Hall, as well as being a functioning house of worship.  What draws visitors is the High Altar, carved by Bavarian Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) between 1477 and 1489.  Opened, it is about 13 meters high and 11 wide.  When the wings are closed, there are 12 scenes of Mary’s suffering.   At the start of WWII it was taken apart by the Poles, crated, and hidden around the country.  The Germans discovered it, and sent the altar to the basement of Nuremberg Castle.  It was repatriated in 1846 and restoration was completed in 1957.

The walls of the presbytery are lined with painted and gilded relief sculptures, and the ceiling is painted blue with golden stars.  Wall paintings by Jan Matejko and windows by Stanislaw Wyspianski and Jozef Mehoffer.

View along the side of the Presbytery towards the High Altar.

The main panels of the Veit Stoss High Altar.

The Presbytery from altar to ceiling.

I had to wait about half a year for the software to be released for Windows, but I preordered in July and the camera arrived on August 13th.  I took a few photos, posted some, checked the camera out, and have some observations.

How Light Field photography works, from the photographer’s perspective.

The goal is to produce an image with multiple subjects, or multiple points of interest on a single subject.  You take the picture and when you post it on the Lytro site, viewers can click on a point in the picture — it will come into focus, and other areas will go out of focus.  Imagine a person standing with one arm towards you, elbow bent.  The viewer could focus on fingertips, wristwatch, elbow, shoulder, eyes, nose, ears, etc.  The selected part would be in focus, and other parts would be out of focus.

Here are a couple of examples.  The first is Scout.  Click on her nose, or the background to change focus.

This is just a bush with a spider web.  But you can click around for different focus points.

Without a doubt the worst ergonomics I have ever encountered in a camera. 

In over 40 years as a serious photographer I’ve used cameras ranging from 4×5 press cameras down to Minox subminiatures. Form really does follow function, and with some cameras you experience how the design of the camera influences and enhances the picture taking experience.  Hasselblads, the Olympus OM series, the Olympus E-1, Minox, Leica rangefinders, Arriflex cine cameras – to name just a few – use design to support the workflow and “thoughtflow” of the photographer.  Not the Lytro.

I can tell that the designers struggled with a way to make the camera “handy”, but still deal with issues like fitting in the zoom lens and display while still ending up with a pocketable camera.  One of the challenges is that Lytro photography, despite the hype in the photo and computing media, isn’t about not ever having to worry about your shots being in focus.  Good Lytro photography demands that you think about what you are trying to communicate in your photography, and taking advantage of the Lytro “gimmick” that allows the online viewer to select the point of focus in the photograph.  And that turns out to be a miniscule percentage of the photographs shot by real people in the real world.

To make the Lytro “sing”, great care must be taken in the composition of the photo.  The camera capable of that needs a generous display with a wide viewing angle and which is adjustable for different lighting conditions.  The Lytro is none of those.  The workaround is to rotate the camera 90 degrees at a time to see if your eyes can get a better angle on the LCD.

That camera rotation, in turn, brings out another set of problems:  The dreadful controls.  This is the point where the designers should be fired.  The zoom control especially will change just through accidental handling, since it seems to be more influenced by the iPod control paradigm than by the needs of the user.  Though probably more expensive to manufacture, this control should have been in the form of two buttons that require “pressure”, not “presence”.

The Lytro cameras in the photo below look cool, and Lytro states that “form follows function”‘  The problem is that the function doesn’t happen to be the photographer’s.  Want to find the zoom control?  Look at the gray camera…On the upper face, the fourth row of little rectangular “nubs” from the bottom.  You might be able to see some kind of shape there.  Each of of those little nubs is about 2mm x 4mm.  On that fourth row are some little raised things, each about 2mm long x 0.2mm wide, and probably less than 0.1mm high.  Those are the zoom control.  It works by pressure as you swipe you fingers sideways.  The location of you finger bears no relationship to how far the zoom lens is extended.  And you have to swipe, and swipe, and swipe to extend or retract the zoom fully.

Lytro Cameras (Image from www.Lytro.com)

This isn’t hip, or leading edge…This is just plain stupid.

Normally I’m not one to go on and on about flip-out displays on cameras.  My favorite conventional camera is a Leica M9 – where the issue doesn’t even come up.  But camera position is absolutely critical with the Lytro and that means that the photographer is going to find him/herself in unusual positions relative to the camera.  That speaks to the need for a display that can actually serve the photographer – who otherwise has to just guess and shoot.  The solution is some kind of articulated or hinged display.

Shoot now, focus later?

This is really deceiving.  It implies a more light-hearted, spontaneous shooting experience.  In fact, the horrible ergonomics might be excused for a simple snapshot camera with a zoom lens — if the quality of snapshots wasn’t so poor.  And I’m not just talking about pixel count here (which wouldn’t have been too bad 12-15 years ago).  As a snapshot camera, the image quality is very poor.  You’d have to smear a lot of something over the lens of your smart phone to get results as bad as the Lytro.  Take a look at these two pictures — One shot with the Lytro and the other shot with my Blackberry.

The photo below was shot with my Blackberry Bold.  It was downsampled to 27% of the original size to fit here.  There was no other post processing.

Snapshot with Blackberry

This next photo was shot with the Lytro.  The only post processing was to downsample the photo to 66.66% of the original size.

From Lytro

The reason for this comparison is to show that if you just want to take a quick picture, “Shoot now, focus later” is, frankly, B.S.  The depth of field with a smart phone camera is so deep that focusing isn’t going to be an issue.  And the quality of the Lytro image is so poor that you’re going to have a very bad looking picture from a $400 camera.  For a quick snapshot, use your smart phone, or go to your local camera store and get the cheapest zoom lens digital camera you can find, along with the cheapest 4GB memory card you can find.

What to do?

Lytro needs to decide what it wants to do.  The form and ergonomics of the first generation cameras points towards early adopters, snapshooters, and folks looking for a nifty $400 gadget.  These users will be less likely to produce compelling images.  Good Lytro images need careful composition, consideration of light, contrast, shape, and other factors.  Because the Lytro camera needs to be close to the subject in most situations, even small movements of the camera position can have a large impact on the final image.  To accomplish this, a serious tool (camera) is needed:  2 – 2.5″ hinged (not fully articulated) display, fast fixed focal length lens (35mm field of view) — perhaps with a flip-down 1.4x converter, truly ergonomic controls, a few more controls for the display, exposure, etc.  That’s not a sexy camera to market.

And all of this might be a moot point.  How do you catch a person’s attention so they’ll be compelled to spend time mousing around an online picture looking at the different focus points?  If you were presented with 100 Lytro photographs online, would you look at each of the first ten images?  What about the next ten, and the ten following that.  Would you even get to the 100th image?

Meanwhile, I’m sending my Lytro back.

The Phillips Collection

My favorite art museum in DC, this is the place to take visitors from out-of-town.  Located about a block from the DuPont Metro Station (at 21st and Q NW), Duncan Phillips started the collection in the family residence in 1918, and opened it to the public in 1921.

The most famous painting in the collection is Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”.  People really love this painting, and for good reason.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 18mm f/4 lens; ISO 800; 1/25 sec.

A detail of the ceiling and mantlepiece in the Music Room.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 1600; 1/15 sec.

The gallery rooms in the original residence are intimate and calming.  They stress that the furniture in the rooms is intended to be used, and these galleries are nice places to relax.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 400; 1/30 sec.

Staircase in the Sant Building, looking out onto the courtyard.  This used to be an apartment building, and a complete interior rebuild was completed in 2006.  It added additional gallery space, an auditorium, a library, classroom, and workshop space.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 18mm f/4 lens; ISO 800; 1/500 sec.

National Gallery of Art, East Building

Part of the immense Calder mobile (untitled) completed just before he died.  It weighs about 1,000 pounds but moves subtly in the air light currents inside the building.

Leica M9 w/Voigtlander 90mm f/3.5 lens; ISO 800; 1/90 sec.

On the main floor with Ellsworth Kelly’s “Color Panels for a Large Wall” in the background.

Leica M9 w/Voigtlander 15mm f/4 lens; ISO 400; 1/30 sec.

Painting, viewed from above.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 400; 1/25 sec.

“Multiverse”, by Leo Villareal, is a light sculpture that lives alongside the underground moving walkways between the East Building and the cage/museum shop at the east footing of the West Building.  This shot looked awful in the Leica’s monitor, but it actually “cleans up pretty good” in the computer.  I need to go back and try a few more shots.

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 lens; ISO 1600; 1/30 sec.

A friend just made a trip through this area, and that gave me an excuse to look around the archives a little…

This picture was taken in December, 2004 along US 101 between Eureka and Crescent City — just south of Wilson Creek.

Near Wilson Creek, along US 101

This was shot on color film with a Voigtlander rangefinder and scanned.  The color image was very flat so I used Nik Software Silver Efex Pro to render the image in B&W simulating Fuji Neopan 1600 film with a green filter.

There are several routes between home and the Charleston area.  The shortest, 329 miles and (according to Google) 6 hours non-stop, passes by Seneca Rocks.  It’s roughly half way so it makes a nice break in the drive.

The rocks are a quartzite formation that almost looks like a blade slicing up through the surrounding countryside.  The current satellite view on Google Maps shows this well.

Seneca Rocks and the North Branch of the South Fork of the Potomac River

On the way home last Friday I stopped and spent about 1 1/2 hours just walking around.  It was a pretty dreary day so I was shooting with the hope of coming up with a decent black & white shot, as well as some close-up shots of whatever else caught my attention.

For Distant Viewing

In 1943 and 1944 Seneca Rocks was a training area for the 10th Mountain Division.

Base of the Telescope

The Sites Homestead was established in the early 19th Century.  The log cabin that forms the basis for this house was built around 1839.  It was expanded in the 1870s and remained in the Sites family until the Forest Service acquired it in 1968.  Quite a view when you step out the front door in the morning.

The Sites Homestead

Chimney and Window, Sites Homestead

Barrel, Sites Homestead

If your GPS can’t find Seneca Rocks, the coordinates of the road intersection (US 22, WV 55, & WV 28) are 38.834576, -79.376246.  The entrance to the Discovery Center is a few hundred yards to the south.  The Seneca Rocks Discovery Center is closed until Spring, but you can park on the lower parking area.

Yesterday I stepped out of my car in a parking lot…

…And shot it with my Blackberry.  Should have had a real camera along.  This is the white line between parking spaces, painted with leaves left lying.

Post processing in PhotoShop with Nik Software’s Sharpener 3.0.  The next step was to use a PhotoShop watercolor effect.  I don’t use the “Artistic” filters that often, but the image quality with a smart phone often leaves much to be desired.

One of several big clocks at the Orsay (a former train station), this one is over the entrance.

Clock at Musée d’Orsay

I rediscovered this picture while looking back in my files for images relating to the Orsay’s new photo policy.  This was shot in 2009.  The museum now believes that allowing normal people to  produce images such as is too disruptive, probably not dignified, and ultimately harms the museum.

The camera was a Leica M8, and the lens was the incredibly sharp Zeiss 25mm f/2.8.  Shot at ISO 320 and 1/45 second exposure.

I stumbled across this picture while working on another project.

Not traditional composition and framing, which is why I like it.

Lincoln

It was shot with a Leica M8 and a Voigtlander 90mm lens.  The image is very low key, with no startling whites or deep blacks.  Typical for an M8 image, the DNG (RAW) file required very little post processing.

Cité Metro Station

This is an interesting piece of engineering.  These photos were taken inside what is essentially a big underground steel tank that the tracks pass through.  The station serves Île de la Cité – the island where Notre Dame Cathedral is located.

Cité Metro Station

Another view of the Cité Metro Station, with a train arriving

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral

Looking towards the organ

Around Île de la Cité

"Love Locks" on the Port Archeveche Bridge

An American group performs on the St. Louis Bridge

Looking into the chamber at the Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation -- in memory of over 200,000 people deported from France by the Nazis.

A last view of Notre Dame Cathedral and Île de la Cité

[All photos in this posting taken with a Fujifilm X10 camera.]

A return to this gem of a museum and grounds.

The Hotel Biron is the centerpiece, housing almost 300 pieces of art from Rodin’s collection — including a trio of Van Goghs.

Hotel Biron and the grounds (Fujifilm X100)

On the grounds (Fujifilm X100)

Detail of "Pierre de Wissant Naked Figure" (Fujifilm X10)

Outside looking in... (Fujifilm X100)

...And inside looking out. "Paolo and Francesca in the Clouds" (Fujifilm X10)

Two busts of "The Man with the Broken Nose" (Fujifilm X10)

Statue merges with visitors (Fujifilm X100)

Self portrait -- lower right corner of the mirror. (Fujifilm X100)

Outside, a tradition of leaving the admission stickers on posts and poles.

The Louvre

Almost too big.

Ascent to the "Winged Victory of Samothrace" (Fujifilm X100)

The mob in front of the Mona Lisa (Fujifilm X10)

Actually arrived on the 23rd, but arrival days are recovery days.  Of note from the arriving flight:  (1) The White Cliffs of Dover really are white in the morning sunlight (sorry, but no picture), and (2) that ugly green de-icing stuff (from Toronto) sticks.

Green De-Icing Goop…

First Stop was the Musee d’Orsay.  One of my favorite museums, but recently saddled with a rather unfortunate “No Photography” policy. This is baffling.  I’m not convinced that the museum management is in touch with visitors and the 21st century — and how visitors interact with museums these days.

There are a few places where it seems to be tolerated, most notably behind one of the two big clocks that face the Seine.

Photos at one of the d’Orsay’s clocks

I go out to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport to test new cameras and lenses.  It is a challenging venue, and if things go wrong, they go wrong in a very noticeable way.   From the overhead walkway, this particular location always draws me.

Vantage Point

I like the open space, gray concrete, shadows, the pieces of “museum stuff”, and seeing what people are doing.

The camera being tested is the Fujifilm X10 — which hit the dealer shelves on Tuesday.  This shot was made as an EXR JPEG (EXR’s SN mode, for you Fuji geeks) with only a little bit of Noise Ninja in post-processing.  Everything else was done in the camera: 1/35 sec., f/2.5, ISO 640.  EXR makes all the selections once you decide which of three modes you will use.

The intelligence in cameras is getting a bit scary…The X10 produced a very nice image with almost no input from me.