Fledged Owlet - 2024 - Day 106

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April 15, 2024) - A recently fledged Owlet still hanging around near the nest. 

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 105

 April 14, 2024 - Woke up early to a cat laying on my stomach. I clicked the light on to identify which cat,  and found Mochi staring at me. Luckily, I had a camera on the bed within reach and captured the image below. Shot handheld with the Hasselblad XCD 45mm wide open, 1/25th at ISO 6400 with only a lamp light in the room. The X2D IBIS is so good that it allows you to take sharp photos that weren’t previously possible. So amazing…

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 104

 ORANGE, Calif. (April 13, 2024) - Early morning shot of an interesting tree with the Hasselblad X2D. This tree found a way to grow under the canopy of another tree. Handheld 1/80th, f/4 at ISO 400.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 97

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April 6, 2024) - Got out early to test out the new Kase magnetic filters. This image was shot at 06:45 with the Hasselblad X2D at f/11, ISO 100, at 16 seconds with a 10 stop ND filter. The Kase filters are awesome and so convenient vs. using the Lee Filter holder system.

April Fools/Cesar Chavez Day

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April 1, 2024) - Was off work today for the Cesar Chavez holiday. It was a quiet morning in the Wetlands being a work day for most. However, the Terns were around and making a lot of noise. 

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 84

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 24, 2024) - A beautiful scene captured shortly after sunrise in the Wetlands.

Northern Harrier - 2024 - Day 84

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 24, 2024) - It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen her. As I was walking across the berm, something caught my eye to the right. As I locked focus, I realized that she was flying right at me. What a beautiful sight, made my morning.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 83

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 23, 2024) - The early morning light was so beautiful, and the Hasselblad X2D captured it wonderfully. Loving the Hasselblad color science…

The Light Before the Storm - 2024 - Day 83

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 23, 2024) - The weather forecast showed cloudy weather until about 10:00 with a 30% chance of showers. There wasn’t a lot of wildlife action on this morning, however, there were moments of light that would come and go from behind the clouds. The image below was shot across PCH from the Wetlands during one of the brief break throughs. Shortly thereafter, it started dumping and I got soaked making my way back to the car.

 

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 81

 CARSON, Calif. (March 21, 2024) - This is the first attempt at a Medium Format pano. The shot was taken at 06:15 with an RRS Pano rig. Shot with the Hasselblad X2D and 45mm lens, each frame was taken at 10s, f/8 at ISO 100. A total of 12 frames were combined and it yielded a 325 MP image. 

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 78

 CARSON, Calif. (March 18, 2024) - An early morning image with the Hasselblad X2D of the Student Union. Shot at 1/80th, ISO 3200 handheld.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 76

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 16, 2024) - Definitely not ideal conditions, but I have photographed this bridge for many years and can’t resist the temptation every time I’m there. However, this was the first time shooting it with the X2D and 45mm Hasselblad rig.

Sunrise in the Wetlands - 2024 - Day 76

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 16, 2024) - Got up early for the sunrise on this morning. It’s always a little hit or miss, but this morning was beautiful. Shot with the R5 from the PCH side.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 73

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 13, 2024) - With all the recent rainfall, I’m guessing the Wetlands will be in full bloom within a couple weeks. There are already areas that are showing signs of the Spring bloom. Hopefully the beautiful skies will also hang around until then.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 72

 One of the things that I read a lot about with the Hasselblad X2D is the Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS). This color management system is independently developed by Hasselblad. It empowers Hasselblad cameras to render genuine, true-to-life colors with smooth, detailed transitions to restore the world of colors as perceived by the human eye.

So, I kind of wrote this off to marketing jargon. One of the situations where most cameras fail to render color is ambient indoor situations. I had just gotten home from work and Wes hopped up on the bed and looked right into the lens. The following photos are pretty much out of the camera, with the exception of some cropping. But the colors are out of camera. All I can say is that I am now a believer in HNCS.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 71

 CARSON, Calif. (March 11, 2024) - Arrived to this scene at 05:30 in the morning and captured it with the Hasselblad X2D. It was obviously dark, but the lights created a wider range of light. For this reason, I actually shot this 1/3 of a stop under to preserve the highlights. This was captured handheld at 1/4 sec, at ISO 6400. Again, this medium format 100 MP sensor is amazing.

Gone Fishing - 2024 - Day 69

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 9, 2024) - Just after sunrise, I noticed an Osprey on the hunt for breakfast. He had circled around for a while, and then took off toward Seapoint. I had not noticed his return, but heard the near by splash when he hit the water. I immediately swung over as he rose out of the water. A near by Gull was chasing him and actually force him to fly right by me. A pretty good morning at the Wetlands.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 69

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 9, 2024) - Got out this morning for the sunrise. Shot handheld with the Hasselblad X2D at ISO 64 as the sun was rising over the mountains. This 100MP sensor continues to amaze me…

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 66

 CARSON, Calif. (March 6, 2024) - For over a year now, I’ve been following the progress and update of Hasselblad’s flagship camera. Recently, through firmware updates, the camera has finally become functional for my use case. That coupled with a good online find, I am now a proud owner of a Hasselblad X2D 100C. Because I have not owned an X Series Hasselblad, I needed to get a lens. Well, that is easier said than done as the X Series lenses are pretty hard to come by. The one that was available is the XCD 45mm f/4 P and I believe this is the least expensive offering in the lineup. It’s well built, but a bit noisy when focusing. Anyway, I’m just glad that I was able to get it.

So my first outing with it was on a work day. I got out of the office at around 06:30 and photographed a building on campus (nothing exciting). The following image was captured handheld at 1/80th, f/4 at ISO 64. Keep in mind that the f/4 aperture is “wide open” for this lens. After loading it on my iPad, I was floored by the resolution of this 100mp sensor. I couldn’t imagine something being that much better than the Hasselblad 50C digital back that I use with the 500 C/M, but wow! I couldn’t post the full res file online, so I took some crops. Note the legibility of the signage, especially at the edge of the frame. The sharpness and clarity speaks to the 7 stops of IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization). The camera is absolutely amazing. I own many cameras, but this one is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 63

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (March 3, 2024) - Woke up to some early morning rain, but by 08:00 it had cleared and the sun was out. I love scenes where the sun is hitting your subject with storm clouds in the background. So I grabbed the Hasselblad 500 C/M and headed down to the marina. Here are a few images from the morning.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 56

 SAN PEDRO, Calif. (February 25, 2024) - It’s mating season for the Peregrine Falcons, so I made a trip to the San Pedro cliffs. Unfortunately, it was a cold, windy and cloudy morning, but the view is always magnificent. Shot with the Hasselblad 500 C/M with the Zeiss Distagon 50mm f/4 FLE at 1/250, f/5.6 at ISO 100. Also, grabbed a couple shots from the grounds of the Korean Friendship Bell.

Raptors in the Wild

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (February 18, 2024) - Found myself down by the marina late on an Sunday afternoon. As I approached the final turn, the Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk below was sitting on a pole by the roadside. I actually stopped in the road to grab this shot of him.

As I continued to the main marina, I could see the young Osprey below had just caught a good size fish. As I approached him, he gave me this look like, “that’s far enough”. I adhered to his non-verbal request and captured the image below.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 49

 February 18, 2024 - Captured this image in the park behind Deanna and John’s house in Huntington Beach. This was the morning before a storm, so the clouds were beautiful. Shot with the Hasselblad 500/CM, Carl Zeiss Distagon CFi 50mm f/4 FLE, at 1/250, f/5.6 at ISO 100.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 47

February 16, 2024 - This image is part of my 2024 Medium Format project. Shot with the Hasselblad 500/CM, Carl Zeiss Distagon CFi 50mm f/4 FLE, at 1/250, f/8 at ISO 100. An image of a sculpture in the Sculpture Garden. Note the small bird in the upper left corner of the left side sculpture.

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 46

 February 15, 2024 - This image is part of my 2024 Medium Format project. Shot with the Hasselblad 500/CM, Carl Zeiss Distagon CFi 50mm f/4 FLE, at 1/250, f/8 at ISO 100. I’ve included the full image of the bridge and a crop of the legs. Love the reflections. 

Medium Format - 2024 - Day 44

February 13, 2024 - These images are part of my 2024 Medium Format project. Shot with the Hasselblad 500/CM, Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar CFi 120mm f/4, at 1/60, f/5.6 at ISO 100. These were test shots using a 32mm extension tube. These images were shot from about 8 inches away. Love the compression you get with the extension tube.