It’s the monsoon season here in Southwest Arizona. Our skies look like this almost every day. Around 5:00 PM, the darker thunderheads roll in and the gods let loose with with their thunder and lightning, a bit of very heavy rain and often some high micro-burst winds.
Then the sun comes back out and all we are left with is high heat and humidity. Yesterday I compared our weather to Tampa, FL and found our temps to be the same, but we had a much higher humidity. So much for the expression, “But it’s a dry heat!” Bull!! Not this time of year.
Anyway, I took this photo yesterday with my brand new Sony NEX-6 camera. Its one of the first pictures I took with this remarkable camera. Those who know me know that I have been using Nikon equipment for many years. And I still use and love my Nikon. But is is big and heavy and sometimes I just hate carrying it around.
Enter a new breed of camera…a lightweight mirror-less single lens reflex camera with interchangeable lenses and most of the other goodies you find on their bigger cousins. Remarkably, the digital sensor on this new Sony is the exact same size as the one on my Nikon. But, yet the camera and lens will fit in the pocket of my shorts (but not in jeans or other tight fitting pants).
I did a lot of research before I plunked down my cash, and the reviews on this baby were fantastic. Even DP Review, whose reviews run for 25 pages or more, raved about this remarkable camera. After I bought the camera, I read that the godfather of HDR photography, Trey Ratcliff, is making this Sony camera and lens system his primary photographic equipment…and like me, relegating his Nikon equipment to a backup roll.
The photo is the Bioresearch building on the UofA campus. Beyond the photo to the left is the Medical Research facility, almost a mirror image of the Bioresearch building. The unique canopy you see is a 300-ft. long, 87-ft. tall steel shade structure that covers a large rooftop courtyard area between the two buildings.
The canopy consists of 240 4-ft. wide by up to 37-ft. long mesh panels, stretched between stainless steel cables…assuring maximum sun filtering while allowing free airflow between the panels. The mesh panels were installed on an angle to allow for optimized shading in the rooftop courtyard area, which turned a heat island into usable space for the students to gather. That is why you can see the clouds through the panels.
This turned out to be a good day to experiment with my new camera and lenses…at least before the rain hit. After looking at this image and some of the others not seen here, I think I got my money’s worth.
No comments:
Post a Comment