De Coelo

February 15, 2012. De Coelo. Taken at Chez Vincent's in Winter Park, Florida.

A few years back, my wife and I visited Sonoma, California, and fell in love with Benziger Family Winery's biodynamic approach to viticulture.

One of the wines that particularly impressed us was their De Coelo Pinot Noir. We bought a bottle of 2007 and tucked it away for our tenth anniversary.

On February 15, 2012, we got to enjoy it at our favorite neighborhood French restaurant, and I snuck in this low-shutter speed shot in the dim lighting.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Because Exotic Cancer is Cooler

Because Exotic Cancer is Cooler

February 17, 2012. Because Exotic Cancer is Cooler.

By now, everyone knows that cigarette smoking makes your lungs look like a decade old piece of raisin bread (warning... graphic health picture), causes cancer, yellows your teeth, and is really, really bad for you and the people around you.

Thankfully for young hipsters, filtering your pack of cigarettes through a lightly cleansed imported Portalet called a "Hookah" makes your smoke much safer. And cooler.

Or does it? Here's what the Mayo Clinic has to say about Hookah smoking. But hey, what do they know? They're only the Mayo Clinic, right? They probably make this stuff up as they go along.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/500. f/11. ISO 800. LR 2.

Concert in the Park

Concert in the Park

March 16, 2012. Concert in the Park.

This picture was not taken by me.

It was taken by my wife, who asked for my camera. She has a good eye for detail. She was with me at the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Friday Night Jazz Concert in the Park.

As you zoom down the walkway through the middle of the picture, it is fascinating seeing the multitude of discussions captured in one shot.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets

March 16, 2012. Shadow Puppets.

Have you ever had the concert seats right behind that one couple who wouldn't sit down. For hours?

Listening to Peter White play at the Winter Park Sidewalk Arts Festival this past Friday night, I found myself right behind that couple. Nice folks. Just standing in the same spot for hours, and a bit too opaque.

I started taking a few shots to entertain myself.

After shooting one or two, I realized that someone a row or two behind me was even more bored than I was and was using the gentleman's bright white chinos as his private theatre screen for a shadow puppet show.

Ironically, this happened the same day that a woman in Longwood near the Wekiva State Park was bit in the butt by a black bear.

Note: No shadow bears or white men in dockers were hurt taking this shot.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Stolen Kiss

Stolen Kiss

March 16, 2012. Stolen Kiss.

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, featuring outdoor art displays and live concerts, is an Orlando-area cultural tradition.

This past Friday, as Peter White played jazz guitar in the background, a couple got up out of their lawn chairs and started dancing.

I happened to be doing an initial light metering and focus test shot right as he snuck a kiss.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/15. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Phone Date

Phone Date

February 3, 2012. Phone Date. A young couple each seem more focused on their phones than on each other on a romantic Friday night in Winter Park, Florida.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Sting Ray

Sting Ray

February 3, 2012. Sting Ray. A student in a Corvette t-shirt catches up on some quiet reading late one evening at a sidewalk table outside the Park Avenue Starbucks in Winter Park, Florida.

I typically avoid ISO 3200 on the Leica X1 due to how noisy it gets. This was shot on an exceptionally dark evening, so I decided to break with my normal pattern of shooting 1600 or slower.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 3200. LR 2.

Colony Theater

Colony Theater

February 3, 2012. Colony Theater. Winter Park, Florida.

From 1939 to 1975, the Art Deco Colony Theater was an active theater and one of the hot entertainment spots for Orlando area residents.

Now, it's Pottery Barn #431, just a short walk from The Gap.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/60. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.

Roman Baths

Roman Baths?

December 30, 2011. Roman Baths? Winter Park, Florida.

 No, it's not the Baths of Caracalla. This oversized imperial bust guards the bath fixtures in Restoration Hardware in Winter Park, Florida. We take culture wherever we can get it.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Jericho March

Jericho March

December 30, 2011. Jericho March. Winter Park, Florida

A little boy runs laps on top of a park planter retaining wall.

Children are precious creatures. Parents can be peculiar ones. My wife (pictured) and I were reading on this park bench. After about half an hour, a father with a young boy and young girl decided that the wall right behind us was the perfect place for his children to run, as opposed to the acres of open park that were right in front of us.

After two laps, I looked up from my book at the father. After four laps, the boy almost tripped and fell on us. After seven laps, I framed a shot of my wife and made it obvious that I was taking pictures as his kids went by. The running stopped.

When all else fails, making it obvious that misbehaving children are in the background of your shot can be very effective in silently reminding their parents that their job is to be parents...

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/500. f/8.0. ISO 200. LR 2.

Cafe Canem

Cafe Canem

December 30, 2011. Cafe Canem. Winter Park, Florida.

The Romans were known to have mosaic signs warning "Cave Canem" or "Beware of the dog," not because their pets were fierce, but rather because their pets were small and easy to step upon.

Orlando's nicer and less-touristy neighborhoods are known for their dog-friendly sidewalk cafes. This owner was just sitting down and scooping his pooch up so that he wouldn't get stepped on by the people walking down the sidewalk.

I am trying a new technique with my Leica X1 when shooting shots like this to compensate for its extremely slow focus times. Instead of trying to autofocus, I zone focus to a distance before starting my photo walk and set f/8.0 to give good clarity and depth of field. I set the shutter speed to somewhere around 1/500 of a second and adjust it as needed. I've found ISOs of 400, 800, and 1600 work well for these settings. I try to avoid 1600 to avoid excess noise.

This shot would have been better had both the owner and the dog been looking up. Still, I like diagonal formed by the five main subjects, along with the dark/light/dark alternation between what they are wearing.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/500. f/8.0. ISO 800. LR 2.

The Con

The Con

September 5, 2011. The Con. As my wife was looking at some Vera Bradley handbags in the Partridge Tree Gift Shop in Winter Park, Florida, I was looking for my camera.

Outside, an upscale Rollins College student wearing jeans and flip flops smoked a cigarette at a sidewalk cafe. A slightly crazy man with a beard danced a drunken tango in the middle of the brick road in front of the Fiat in the background, and then he pulled up a chair and asked the student to light his cigar.

The slightly crazy man started his best Al Pacino imitation, putting all his soul and experience into selling some idea or story unheard through the glass. His sideburned, venture capitalist audience of one listened like he was about to cut a check.

As styrofoam heads and prematurely displayed Halloween skeletons stared at the strange couple, I fumbled in vain for my camera, finding only my mobile phone instead.

The real lesson here, if there is one, is that composition, story, and serendipity are more important for decent photography than a good lens or a big sensor.

HTC EVO 4G (PC36100). 4.92 mm. ISO 110. LR 2.

P.S. - Something about watching this interchange for 15 minutes reminded me of Sting's inspiration for the album title "Nothing Like the Sun."

"One night I was walking on Highgate Hill when a drunk accosted me and kept asking, 'How beautiful is the moon' I replied, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun...' He said that was a good answer, and lurched off. Shakespeare works quite well with drunks, I've found."

Having found myself more than a few times in my travels just a few inches from the whiskey smelling end of an angry drunk, I can tell you that Mr. Sting was right. Responding in Shakespeare quotes makes them think that you're even crazier than they are.

A Rose for Mommy

A Rose for Mommy

November 5, 2011. A young boy looks for a rose for his mother in the Nelson Rose Garden at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

 Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/125. f/2.8. ISO 400. LR 2.

Drinks Alone

Drinks Alone

October 9, 2011. A lone Eastern European patron drinks a glass of wine at Hannibal's in Winter Park, Florida, as light casts up through the granite bar.

Leica X1. 24.0 mm. 1/30. f/2.8. ISO 1600. LR 2.