Photo of the week - July 8, 2014

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Fuji X-Pro1 with 10-24mm lens, @ f/13, 10mm. Processed in Snapseed.

Photo of the week - June 24, 2014

A view of Philadelphia, looking south. Fuji X-Pro1 with 10-24mm lens, @ f/4, 10mm.

Photo of the week - June 17, 2014

Photo of the week - June 10, 2014

Ingrid Michaelson @ WXPN Free at Noon at World Cafe Live

My Photo of the Week series is backlogged a bit, so I'm posting these here now rather than adding them to that queue. See them in color here.

Philadelphia Cycling Classic - June 2, 2013

These are all shot with my Nikon D90 and 70-300mm VR lens, and processed in Snapseed on a Mac. See images from past races here: 2010 | 2011

Photo of the week - November 20, 2012

At the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. iPhone 5, processed with Snapseed.

Photo of the week - October 23, 2012

Outside of the Barnes Foundation Museum in Philadelphia. iPhone 5, processed with Snapseed.

Photo of the week - November 29, 2011

The Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Fuji X100 @ f/2, 1/30. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - November 8, 2011

The Keswick Theatre. Fuji X100 @ f/2, 1/150. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - November 1, 2011

The Keswick Theatre in the snow. Fuji X100 @ f/2, 1/45. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - October 18, 2011

Rittenhouse Square. Fuji X100 @ f/2, 1/4000. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - August 2, 2011

Street shot from Manayunk. Nikon 85mm @ f/1.8, 1/1600, on a Nikon D90. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - July 19, 2011

The 2011 Philadelphia International Championship. Nikon 135mm DC @ f/2, 1/2500, on a Nikon D90. See more images from the race here.

Summer update

Sadly, the summer is ticking away at a tragically fast pace. There's only one more week of the summer research season (students are funded to work in labs for 10 weeks), and then a month until the last minute crunch before classes start. My summer students have done really great work and I'm excited about their project and for the skills they've developed over the last nine weeks.

I'm teaching stats/methods in the fall and need to start working on that syllabus soon. Plus I volunteered for a "transdivisional seminar" during orientation week and have a stack of articles to review (i.e., peer review for journals). Oh, and those manuscripts I'm supposed to be writing. Sigh...Summer goes by way too fast.

Last week we went to the U2 show at "the Linc" (Lincoln Financial Field); it was a good, not spectactular, show. But it was a nice summer activity and a good time with friends (other than the 90 minute traffic jam trying to get out of the parking lot). We saw U2 in Indianapolis 11 or 12 years ago, and I thought the band was tighter and more energetic then, but of course Bono and company are that much older now (and coming off of back surgery) so I suppose they should get some slack. The stage/screen was impressive and the band played most of the songs you'd want to hear, so all in all it was a good time.

Yesterday I went to the semi-annual Philadelphia guitar show (a.k.a., the Great American Guitar Show). It was smaller than when I last went a couple of years ago, and it's probably 70% electric stuff, so there wasn't too much for me to see. Plus it's pretty loud and hard to hear any acoustic guitars you might want to try out. But I did play a 1948 Martin D-18 that seemed pretty fantastic and a 1957 D-18 that was in really great condition that was also nice, but a couple other mid-50's D-18's didn't impress me as much. I'm starting to think a late-40's models is where it's at for me (since I can't affort a pre-war model!), if I ever get into the vintage game.

I also played a few late-40's to late-50's Gibson J-45's and SJ's, as well as a modern J-35 reissue, and didn't find anything that I was particularly impressed with. I've been wanting to play more Gibsons, but so far nothing has particularly resonated with me. Maybe I'm just more of a Martin guy.

Photo of the week - June 28, 2011

At the 2011 Philadelphia International Championship. Nikon 70-300mm VR @ f/5.6, 1/4000, on a Nikon D90. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

A trip to heaven

I've been in Philadelphia for ten years now, and I'm embarrassed to admit that today was my first visit to Vintage Instruments, which is a few blocks south of City Hall on Broad Street. When Acoustic Roots was in Bryn Mawr I didn't have much of a reason to go into the city to play guitars, but it's been gone for two and a half years now and I haven't found a new place to get my fix.

I was mainly interested in trying a set of Gibsons: a mahogany-topped "banner" 1944 J-45, a 1949 J-45, and a 1953 SJ. Unfortunately (for me, not for its new owner), the SJ had recently sold, so I went back and forth between the two J-45s for an hour or so. I had a clear perference for the '44; it was warm, with a good rumble in the bass, and had even tone across all the strings. It sported a huge neck; I guess this is the (in)famous wartime "baseball bat" neck that guitars of this era are known for. I tend to like big necks on my guitars, but this was a handful.

Even though I didn't go down there to play Martins, I couldn't help but give a trio of dreadnoughts a go: a 1948 D-18, a '49 D-18, and a '64 D-28. I love my D-18GE, with is loosely modeled after a 1934 D-18. The big winner of the day was the '49 D-18. It had a shadow of a second pickguard and a replaced bridge made from ebony (rather than rosewood); based on the playwear and new bridge, I suspected it was played by a lefty for many years. But it's back as a right-handed guitar and was warm and punchy like a good D-18 should be. Anyone have a spare $7.5k so I can bring the '49 D-18 home with me?

1949 D-18...Photo credit: www.vintage-instruments.com (click to enlarge the image)

Photo of the week - June 21, 2011

The 2011 Philadelphia International Championship. Nikon 135mm  DC @ f/2, 1/8000, on a Nikon D90. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro. See more images from the race here.

Photo of the week - June 14, 2011

A cityscape in Manayunk. Nikon 70-300mm @ f/4.5, 1/2500, on a Nikon D90. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Photo of the week - June 7, 2011

The 2011 Philadelphia International Championship. Nikon 70-300mm @ f/4.5, 1/160, on a Nikon D90. Converted with Nik Silver Efex Pro. See more images from the race here.