It's the Most Wonderful Time . . .

I apologize if my title automatically makes that song run incessantly through your head. You might be comforted, however, to know that the same is happening to me. (Dah dah DAH dada dah dah dah DAH dada dah dah dah DAH DAH DAH DAAAAHHH!) Oh, sorry, where was I?

Ah yes, Christmas. A holiday I often have mixed feelings about, as it engenders a lot of useless stuff-giving. But my feelings towards it are a little warmer this year, for whatever reason. My list of presents to buy is not a mile long. And my list of things I want (which only includes camera gear, oops!) is not a priority. I'd be happy to just get together with people, eat some good food, drink some nice beverages, and not stress about it. I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time I was in a mall and I have no intentions of going to one before the year is over. Malls suck the life out of you, and that's an experience I can happily miss.

Eggnog and warm cookies, decorations and even Christmas carols? I'm there. I hope you will be too.

Mouse over to see the original.

I made this image over Thanksgiving with that lensiest of lenses, the 17mm TSE which I had to give back, sniff sniff. Don't you just love how the lines are all straight? It makes my heart glow.

Candy Apple Red

Cool car.

Just Another Apartment Building . . .

Another shot taken in Berkeley with the 17mm tilt/shift lens. Sooo much fun to just walk around and take pictures of buildings. I miss it!

Red Pear

I photographed this against the most expensive backdrop I have ever used, probably: my mother's grand piano.

I Finished My New York Photo Book!

And it's pretty sweet, too. Check it out! I got my copy in the mail recently, and although I haven't figured out what to do with it except look at it a bunch, I find myself carrying it with me rather frequently. Kind of like separation anxiety, maybe. Anyway, have a look at the first 15 pages below.

Pieces of New York by Jessica Sweeney | Make Your Own Book

Reveal, and More Night Snow

I love snow. Is that weird? I used to live in Montreal and I would be kind of sad to see the ridiculously cold winters end. Now that I'm in California I take any chance I get to go see snow. And then the camera comes out with a vengeance!

Ok, so I left you hanging for a while. I never explained what the difference was between my two pictures of City Hall. Some commenters got pretty close, but since no one really completely nailed it, I'm afraid I won't be giving out any firm handshakes yet. :) Sorry Ron, I did want to come to Australia and see some of your Snow. Maybe next time.

Anyway, my anonymous commenter got it the rightest. (Yes, it's a word. English is my day job so I get to make the call.) The secret was a special lens that I rented for the week of Thanksgiving from Borrow Lenses (who were adequate, but I was not completely pleased with their service; that's a subject for another post perhaps), a 17mm tilt/shift lens. Tilt/shift means that I can move the front of the lens up and down or right and left and therefore make sure that all vertical and horizontal lines are straight in my photograph. It's particularly useful when photographing architecture, which is full of straight lines. If you go back and look at the two pictures you should be able to see the difference. Here's with my 17-55 regular lens (which I still love) and here's with the tilt/shift lens.

Anyway, it was really fun to play with, and I was sad to return it yesterday. Perhaps it will be somewhere in my future; we'll see. It's not cheap.