It's in the Bag, Baby Photo Edition

Heading out soon to photograph my friends' precocious little one year old. This is what I'm bringing:

Pentax K-5 with grip
K-01
DA21mm F3.2 Limited
DA70mm F2.4 Limited
FA31mm F1.8 Limited
FA43mm F1.9 Limited

That's it. I was going to bring the DA* zooms but then I looked at the photos I'd taken six months ago and the DA70 and DA21 got the most keepers. I'm bringing the FAs for a little workout. My wife will be shooting the K-01 (currently with the FA31) and I'll start with the K-5 with the FA43.

For lighting, I've got a Metz 58 AF-1 in the bag, but we'll probably use the CFL softbox more. It's an 85watt bulb that puts out as much light as a 400 watt tungsten without the heat.

It's in the Bag, Mummer's Parade Edition

I'm a firm believer in starting the New Year doing what you want to do all year. For me, that's taking photos, writing, and eating homemade pizza. I didn't get a run or motorcycle ride in today, but there are only so many hours in the day...

I hemmed and hawed this morning—should I go to the Mummer's Day Parade or shouldn't I? Should I stay home and write or venture out into the world? In the end, the cat decided for me, striking another cute pose and tempting me to take another cat photo. Enough! Enough cat photos. I've got gear that needs a workout! Let's go.

Pizza Stone

The New Firmware's Here! The New Firmware's Here! (aka The Continuing Adventures of the Pentax K-01)

Hey Pentax, I've got a new advertising campaign for the K-01...

"Pentax K-01 - the Pontiac Aztec of Cameras"

Funny, huh? I crack myself up sometimes.

Now I've gotta admit that the K-01 is almost universally derided by the online camera commentscenti. Most of them have never held one in their hands and are ignoring the simple fact that in the right hands it's capable of taking high quality photographs. And I do quite like the look of it. In other words, they're judging a book by its cover, but since nobody reads books anymore, let me try a new metaphor - judging a camera by its thumbnails.

A road on a causeway and a line of wind-whipped trees help to create anaccidental abstract.

Grand Island, Lake Champlain, VT with the Pentax K-01 with DA 21mm f/3.2. I would be lying if I said that I composed this on purpose. Sometimes you get back to the computer and think, "Well isn't this one more interesting?"

Dale Walksler's 1915 Harley Davidson

If you ever get down to Maggie Valley, NC, be sure to visit Dale Walksler's Wheels Through Time Museum. It's like nothing you've ever seen - a large space filled with vintage motorcycles and cars (mostly American origin). They're not pristine restorations but rather working machines. Dale's not a stickler for cosmetics and is more interested in getting them and keeping them running. Like this 1915 Harley Davidson, which Dale rode cross country as part of the 2010 Cannonball. That's right - he rode a 1915 Harley Davidson over 3,000 miles cross country. Heck, I know some modern bikes that don't get that much exercise in a year!

Learn more about the journey here - http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/dales-blog/the-2010-cannonball-run.html

In the meantime, enjoy these few photos. I've got some video too, but I gotta find time to put it together...









And here's a video of it being kick-started:

Photographically-speaking, these are some quick snapshots taken with the Pentax K-01 with the DA21mm f/3.2 Limited pancake prime. After spending the last several days/weeks with the Nikon 1 V1 and Pentax Q, these pics from the K-01 blow me away. You may not like the way it looks, but it's a mighty fine camera...

The Angry Birds

Two angry Italian birds (a 2012 Ducati Multistrada 1200S Touring and a 2012 Moto Guzzi Stelvio NTX) sit in the tall grass on the Kancamangus highway and stalk their prey.

I'm going a little Snapseed crazy. I just love the simplicity of the interface; it's such a refreshing break from complexity. This was originally shot with the Pentax K-01 in HDR mode. I took several shots; some focused on the bike and some focused on the grass. I like the grass shots better - they are more different - but I suspect that others will like to see the bikes in focus.

It's in the Bag, Northeast Kingdom Edition.

Heading up to Vermont for my next story, this time with a trio of Pentaxes (K-5 with DA70mm F2.4, K-01 with DA21mm F3.2, Q with 01 Prime and 03 Fish Eye) as well as a couple of POV video cameras (Contour ROAM and the new CamOne.) And you thought the Q was the smallest camera - just take a look at the CamOne! This should all fit nicely in my Timbuktu Snoop Messenger (Medium IIRC).

It's in the Bag, Urban Jungle Edition

Recently went to Philly for day with his kit. The Q was for me, and the K-01 was for my wife. Truth told, the K-01 didn't see the light of day as the purpose of the trip was not photography and the Q was used when walking about and playing around. Yes, the Q is new to me and thus has some of that New Camera Smell, just like the K-01 did several months ago. So maybe that's why I used it more, IQ disadvantage notwithstanding. But I was just out playing with no intent of using the photos for anything but tweaking and posting, so the Q got the workout while the K-01 rested.

Zion National Park with a Victory Cory Ness Cross Country Tour

We were heading towards those nasty clouds, so we knew that we had to take pictures now instead of later. We were right, on the other side of the tunnel it was raining mountain lions and prairie dogs.

The K-01 continues to provide excellent IQ for the $, with RAW files that withstand the pushing and pulling needed to get the balance of this photo just right.

It's In the Bag, Western States Edition

Via Flickr:
Las Vegas NV - Escalante UT - Durango CO - Glenwood Springs CO - Fort Collins CO - Rapid City SD. With Victory Motorcycles.

This is turning into a bit of a tradition - packing the night before a motorcycle touring assignment for RoadRUNNER Magazine, fretting that I'm taking too much gear followed quickly by fretting that I'm not taking enough. Debating whether I should take the primes or the zooms this time; the primes won because I've got a good set of 49mm NDs and CPL. I do have the DA10-17 fisheye zoom, just in case. Putting all of it on my iPad2 and snapping a shot.

The big change from the last trip is the Pentax Q, of course. It gives me a three of a kind Pentax kit and now I'm just one body (645D) of a royal flush. The Q takes surprising nice images, particularly in good light with the 01 Prime. I'm less confident about the 03 Fish Eye, and I don't have the zoom. Had those two pieces been around, I would have felt ok leaving the K-01 at home and using the little Q as the backup. Alas, I'm not quite there with that camera, so the K-01 with the DA40 get the nod.

One change that's hard to see here is that I'm ditching the cool but fussy lens hood and caps of the DA21 and DA70, replacing them with screw-on metal hoods and caps. I'm tired of fussing with the fancy hoods while using NDs and CPLs. I'm also tired of losing them - they are expensive to replace.

Rounding out the kit is the Contour ROAM. So the K-5 and K-01 will be primarily for stills and the ROAM and Q primarily for video/time lapse. Wish me luck!

Street Musicians, Tadoussac, Quebec

In the past I've dismissed the K-01 as a serious video tool, but I was glad that it shoots video at all when I stumbled into this:


Street Musicians, Tadoussac, Quebec from john flores on Vimeo.

It was dark and getting darker quickly as I enjoyed the street music. I started shooting at 8:55. I was pretty far North close to the Summer Solstice so that helped. The stills that I took ranged from ISO3200 at the start to ISO12800 at the end. That's two stops of light loss in the span of fifteen minutes or so of shooting. This video was shot at ISO3200 IIRC. 1080P. F3.2, 1/50s. Handheld. IS helped out for sure.

The lead vocalist is from New Orleans. The bearded guitarist is from Montreal. It would be so cool if they eventually saw this. Please share this with your musician friends and see if we can connect.

Street Musicians, Tadoussac, Quebec

Street Musicians, Tadoussac, Quebec, originally uploaded by john m flores.

Pentax K-01 with DA21mm F3.2 @ ISO25600

The 2012 BMW R1200RT is a Long Haul Trucker

The 2012 BMW R1200RT is a Long Haul Trucker, originally uploaded by john m flores.

Via Flickr:
Rode 722 miles from Maggie Valley NC to NJ in one shot. Through thunderstorms and heat and into night. Had planned on taking two days but just got carried away. The Bimmer didn't skip a beat.

Park National du Bic, Quebec, Canada

Park National du Bic, Quebec, Canada, originally uploaded by john m flores.

Taken with the Pentax K-01 with DA21mm F3.2 Limited

Manic 2 Dam, Quebec, Canada

Manic 2 Dam, Quebec, Canada, originally uploaded by john m flores.

Motorcycle: 2012 BMW R1200RT
Camera: Pentax K-01 with DA21mm F3.2 Limited

Manic 5 Dam, Quebec

Manic 5 Dam, Quebec, originally uploaded by john m flores.

The Manic 5 dam is the world's largest multiple arch buttress dam. I've been to Hoover Dam and that was big, but there's a different feeling altogether here as you stand at the base and look up at this mountain of concrete.

Just one of ~2,100 photos from my recent RoadRUNNER Magazine trip to Quebec. Over the next several months I need to cull this down to just fifteen photos and 2,200 words. Let the editing, writing, and post-processing begin!

[Taken with the Pentax K-01 with the DA 21mm F3.2 Limited]

Travel by Numbers

Just returned from a weeklong motorcycle trip to the Canadian province of Quebec. I'm now transferring photos, videos, and GPS tracks to the computer, doing laundry, and getting back to normal life. It will be a while before I actually sit down to write the story and choose the photos, but the K-01 and K-5 worked out great for this trip.

Here's the trip numbers:

This is How I Roll

This is How I Roll, originally uploaded by john m flores.

I’m getting ready to leave for my next RoadRUNNER Magazine assignment - a trip up to the Canadian province of Quebec with a 2012 BMW R1200RT. What cameras and lenses to bring is always part of the puzzle. The BMW’s got a pair of decent-sized panniers, but I don’t consider that an invitation to pack my big zoom lenses. After all, I still need to pack underwear. And my French to English translation book. Instead, I try to pack a small but high quality camera kit that can deliver magazine-quality images while enduring the rigors of the road. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Tarantino Shoe Repair

Division Street, Somerville NJ