Goodbye, Lincoln! Hello, Autofocus!Posted by drfl on August 17th, 2010

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 25mm, f/8, 1/320 sec., Singh-Ray Polarizing Filter

Last Friday was the last day of my exhibition at the Governor’s residence in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I loaded up the car and took the opportunity to capture the capitol building across the street.  Although, I live about 40 miles from the building, I have only captured a couple photos of the structure.  Beautifully designed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and adorned with designs by Lee Lawrie (known previously for his work on 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York and the LA Library), the building is rich with symbolism. 

As a secondary reason for photographing the capitol building, I wanted to test the autofocus on  my 17-40 f/4l lens which I had just received back from repair the previous day.  After testing the lens on both my 5D Mark II, and my 50D, I was happy to see that the autofocus was snappy and accurate.  Another pleased experience with Canon support (4 for 4 so far, Canon).  Here are some results from my session with the Nebraska State Capitol Building in Lincoln.

This nearly 20 foot high statue was designed by Lee Lawrie who is known for works such as Atlas in Rockefeller Plaza and the Chapel at West Point. “The Sower” points northwesterly, the direction that would ecompoass the greatest amount of land in Nebraska. The dome, upon which “The Sower” stands, changes color depending on the weather. Here it is a golden color a result of the beautiful and warm day on which this image was captured.

Technical Details:
Canon 50D, 300 f/4l + 1.4tc, f/5.6, 1/400 sec.

Technical Details:
Canon 50D, 17-40 f/4l @ 17mm, f/7.1, 1/1000 sec.

Technical Details:
Canon 5D Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 22mm, f/9, 1/160 sec.

A Capitol Evening – 100th Post!Posted by drfl on May 5th, 2009

Last week I took a small jaunt down to Frank Shoemaker Marsh near Lincoln, Nebraska.  I had pretty good success last September with a stellar sunset and it appeared that there would be potential again.  After hiking around a bit, it got dark and the sunset colors never appeared.  Determined to not come home empty handed, I headed to the capitol building to see if I could salvage part of the night.  The light in the sky was almost completely gone, but there was a bit of a dark blue hue that remained when I arrived.  I setup and quickly took about a dozen shots.  There was some major construction going on and I didn’t have a lot of time to scout some good locations, but I felt satisfied that I had something.  I hope to make it back down there this summer with a little more preparation to get a couple more shots of the unique architecture.

Additionally, I would like to note that this is my 100th blog entry!  Here’s to 100 more!

Technical Details:
Canon 5d Mark II, 17-40 f/4l @ 32mm, f/10, 13 sec.
State Capitol Building, Lincoln, Nebraska