Machines

San Mateo County History Museum

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The San Mateo County History Museum offers fascinating glimpse into the history of the San Francisco Bay region. Inside the rotunda, the magnificent dome dominates over the the Great Seal of the State of California.

With the 28-300mm lens, I’m pretty much limited to to the dome itself.

San Mateo County History Museum Dome

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 180, 28mm, f/8, 1/30s

The 14-24mm bring in the second floor balcony for some perspective.

San Mateo County History Museum Rotunda

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 100, 14mm, -1 EV, f/8, 1/20s

A tile mosaic of the Great Seal of California appears on the floor of the rotunda.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 2200, 16mm, f/5.6, 1/100s

Life before the iPhone…

Antique Telephone

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 42mm, f/8, 1/40s

When riding coach was really first-class.

Stagecoach

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/8, 1/20s

Of course, the Rock-ola jukebox came from a different era, but it is just as antiquated as a stagecoach for today’s children.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/4, 1/100s

The museum had a Chevy Imperial to show how the rise of the interstate changed the Bay Area.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 65mm, f/5.6, 1/100s

These exhibits are only a small part of the museum’s collection. I hope to return soon to see and learn more.

CH-46 Sea Knight

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A few days ago, I spotted a convoy of CH-46 Sea Knights flying overhead. The only camera I had was from an iPhone 4S.

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iPhone 4S, ISO 50, 4.3 mm, f/2.4, 1/1,783s

Not bad, but a touch of noise. Today, I saw a lone CH-46 Sea Knight. I had a DSLR, but the lens was a bit short.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 100, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/6,400s

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Nikon D800, AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 100, 70mm, f/2.8, 1/8,000s

Disneyland With One Lens

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Disneyland is a man-made theme park in Anaheim, CA. Not the type of destination where you should spend much time pondering the one lens question. For fun, I brought along the 28-300mm and took some photos just to see how the camera and lens would perform.

In good light, the 28-300mm had no problems. For that matter, an iPhone could do the job for outside snapshots. Indoors, it’s all about trade-offs. The first task is finding the slowest acceptable shutter speed. The French can-can girls look acceptable when cropped and reduced. At 100%, the noise is quite noticeable.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 65mm, f/4.8, 1/50s

It’s a Small World-version of Cinderella.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/3.5, 1/50s

Disney waterfall in Toon Town. Would have been more fun with an ND filter and tripod. I did try to slow down the shutter speed as much as possible.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 32mm, f/25, 1/5s

Construction crane towering above Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was closed.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 45mm, f/5.6, 1/640s

During each ride, there’s a series of initial adjustments. I wanted the shutter fast enough to stop movement. The boat was moving. The characters were moving. However, I didn’t want the shutter to be so fast that the resulting photo would end up completely underexposed. Pirates of the Caribbean was particularly challenging because the entire ride was dimly lit. I started the shutter speed at 1/100s, increased it to 1/50s, and again to 1/25s.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 28mm, f/3.5, 1/25s

While waiting in line for the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride, I saw the parade pass by.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 180, 300mm, f/5.6, 1/500s

At Innoventions, I sat through the Honda ASIMO robot presentation while waiting for my Autopia FASTPASS time to arrive. I was impressed by the mobility of ASIMO. However, I was underwhelmed when the host was video conferencing with his family. Facetime is already here. Video conferencing is the technology of today, not tomorrow. And, using Facetime certainly doesn’t trigger a ridiculous video and audio special effect. I guess the swirling effect was to make video conferencing appear futuristic.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 5600, 116mm, f/5.6, 1/500s

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle during that wonderful moment after the lights are turned on but before the sky has gone dark.

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Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 6400, 105mm, f/5.6, 1/125s

Next time, I’ll bring a prime lens for fun.

Space Shuttle Endeavour

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From this morning’s flyover near NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Space Shuttle Endeavor, atop the NASA 747, flew directly above us. The air was a bit hazy, so I had to clean up the image a bit in Photoshop.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, 300 mm, f/9, 1/320

Soyuz Descent Module

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I headed to the Chabot Space & Science Center with the light lens, a 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 Nikkor zoom that I had bought about 20 years ago. This small, plastic wonder was a delight to use since it was light and svelte, unlike its beastly f/2.8 cousins. Indoors, no flash, and letting auto ISO take care of whatever needs to be done. Not bad for ISO 4000.

Nikon D800, AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 N, ISO 4000, 70 mm, f/4.5, 1/200