The Tunnel View, one of the popular vista points at the Yosemite National Park, California.

Leica S2 + Leica Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5

S2203416

Tags:   Yosemite Park National park Landscape Nature Roy Prasad Prasad USA California Travel Vacation Holiday DoF Bokeh Leica S2 70mm Summarit Summarit-S f/2.5 Hiking HalfDome ElCapitan Waterfall Sentinel Rock SentinelRock Bridalveil BridalveilFall Horsetail HorsetailFall CathedralRock Mountain Valley Peak Cloud Mist Fog Tree Forest

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Test shot with the new Leica 100mm Summicron-S lens. Shot of the chapel at Stanford University, California. Above: at f/2, below at f/4. Aside from a slight vignetting, it's hard to tell the difference between the two images. f/2 is just about as sharp as f/4.

Both images are uploaded at max resolution, except for some slight cropping I had to do, because the image as shot was not quite symmetric.

Leica S Typ 006 + Leica 100mm Summicron-S, autofocus, tripod

S6002881

Tags:   Stanford California United States Leica S Typ006 Type 006 Prasad RoyPrasad 100mm Summicron University Chapel Quadrangle Quad Church Mosaic

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Leica S Type 006 + Leica 30-90mm Vario Elmar-S, CPL, tripod.

Big Sur, California. Full res 37.5MP image uploaded at 90% JPEG. Best seen on a MacBook Pro or other computer with retina display.

Tags:   Leica 006 Prasad STyp006 SanFrancisco RoyPrasad California USA Monterey United States Bridge Ocean BigSur BixbyBridge PacificOcean Coast

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Flickr is changing its layout again, and it is freaking out a lot of members. And rightfully so. It is never a good idea to take useful functions away.

I am an engineer and I admire constant innovation and progress. I look for the positives. There are some good things in the new layout that I do like.

However, flickr is making a serious mistake by eliminating some very important features. Especially the ability to list additional images as comments. With photos in comments, we can use flickr like a blog. A lot of us do that.

The new layout also makes it very cumbersome to use groups and navigate through groups. It further takes away a number of interesting statistical data that members used to have access to before (e.g., how many pictures I have in a group).

At the same time, flickr is ignoring real problems that do need to be solved, such as the extremely slow speed of the site and poor response times. Flickr is still doing nothing to protect the intellectual properties of photographers. There are many other issues begging to be resolved.

So, message to flickr: Changes are fine, and thanks for ongoing site improvements. The flickr membership is not trying to impede progress by any means! But please first solve the problems that need to be solved, instead of finding solutions to problems that don’t exist.

Flickr is making a hash of positioning the site: increasingly, it is becoming neither a photography site nor a social networking site. It is too late now to turn flickr into Facebook. Please at least make it the best site for photographers.

All members: please visit this link for more info and to sign the petition, if you agree. Anuj Nair has led an amazing crusade to raise awareness for this issue and get flickr to pay attention. Thanks to Indira for getting me involved.

Please note, this is not an attempt to spread ill will or generate bad publicity about flickr or Yahoo!, but rather, an effort to make flickr a better site for all of us.

P.S. - I read somewhere that embedded links in descriptions were no longer working. If you can't see the embedded link above, here it is explicitly listed:
www.flickr.com/photos/110293295@N04/11147629795/

P.P.S - Please feel free to use my graphics above, if it appeals to you!

Tags:   flickr Yahoo Marissa Meyer Black Protest Prasad Roy Prasad Mayer Marissa Mayer Marissa Ann Mayer

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This is a view of the Taj from one of the columned arcades near the front entrance (see photo below in the comment). The columned arcades are one of several features of Hindu temples incorporated into Mughal architectures. The arches with the arcs and sharp points are Persian.

One of the locals said this view of the Taj was popular with fashion, glamor and cinematic photographers, and the exact spot at which I was shooting this picture was favored by some local fashion photographers.

The truth of the matter is, on a clear day, it is impossible to not take nice looking photos here!

Leica S2 + 70mm Summarit-S f/2.5
S2002075

Tags:   Leica S2 70mm Summarit-S f/2.5 Agra Fatehpur Sikri Fort Moghul Architecture Taj Mahal Akbar Shah Jahan Marble Inlay Floral Persian Gems Semiprecious India Roy Prasad California USA Travel Vacation Holiday Nature Landscaping Harmony Entrance Gate Garden Glamor Glamour Movie Cinema Fashion

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