Photo geek stuff

I still have more rugby photos, but I'm taking a break to show you something that some of you may find interesting. I just got a new lens for my camera. It's a Nikon 10.5mm "fisheye" lens. For those of you not into photography, suffice it to say it's a very wide angle lens.

Like other fisheye lens photos you've probably seen, the resulting photos come out very bent looking. The lens' field of view, horizontally, is 180 degrees, but there is the whole bent look thing.

This is where things get really interesting. Nikon designed this lens specifically for its digital SLRs. It also designed post-processing software called Capture NX. It includes a correction function specifically matched to this lens. Since they controlled both ends of the equation, they were able to get the correction just right.

The lens just arrived today, so I took it outside tonight shortly after sunset and took a photo of the front of the house. Here are the results, as shot and after the correction in Capture NX (click on each one for a better look):


As shot


Corrected (and cropped a bit)

I love it. I can't wait to see what I can do with this around some interesting architecture.

More rugby photos

Yes, I'm still milking the rugby photos (not to be confused with milking the rugby players which is a whole different kind of fun). So here we go...


For some reason, I like this photo.





























So have I lost you yet? Too many in one post? I hope you liked them anyhow!

Gotta love the melting pot!

There are so many things to love about New York. Today I was in Manhattan for a conference. What used to be an everyday experience (being in NYC) is now only an occasional thing, due to my change of jobs months ago.

With the diversity of cultures in New York comes a diversity of accents. That's how I happened to be walking up 7th Avenue when I heard, through the general din around Penn Station, a woman yelling something in heavily accented English about a jerk. I thought maybe one of those rare events had happened and one New Yorker had actually been rude to another.

Instead, as I drew closer, I realized that she was calling out the names of newspapers she was selling: "New Jork Post and da New Jork Times." I like the New Jork Times, but I decided I'd rather spend my time on the train posting a snarky blog post and generally being the smartass I am instead of reading the paper. ;-)

I'm kvelling

(Not to worry. I have more rugby photos to post, but first...)

I participate in a group of lawyers and judges, dedicated to fostering professionalism and ethical practice, that also includes a handful of law students, so they can learn and became upstanding members of the profession. One of the law students recently was talking about employment opportunities, and I told him that nothing beats my old stomping grounds, the County Attorney's Office, for experience.

Today, I got this e-mail:

Jess,

I just had my interview with ****** ********** from the County Attorney's Office. She had great things to say about you. Specifically, she said that you were a great mentor for her when she started. I'm not quite sure how well it went, but I'll hope for the best.

Talk to you soon,
Jeff

As suggested by the title of this post, it made me feel very nice to see that I was remembered in such a positive light. And then I reflected a bit. I'm getting old enough that someone I mentored is now apparently in a supervisory role in the County Attorney's Office. *sigh* Well, the passage of time is inevitable, so I guess I'll try not to dwell on the number of years that have passed and will just latch onto the positive part.

Okay, one other thing makes me feel better. Jeff, the law student who appreciates my pointing him in that direction, is HOT. So I guess that's nice, too! :)

More rugby photos

As always, click on these for larger versions...







































That was a "try," the rugby equivalent of a touchdown.


This is the guy who scored that try (although he's clean-shaven now)


And this is his boyfriend (you can also see him in that last photo with the ref)

Rugby is a great game, but being the photographer for a gay team makes it that much more fun. I just wish we could make it to more of the post-match drink-ups! :)

More rugby photos

Okay, we'll leave it there for now.

On another note, regardless of your religious beliefs, let me wish everyone a happy and healthy new year!