Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Playing with my new Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC and revisiting St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Peter's Cathedral Bascilica in London, Ontario

I picked up another lens, Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC, a few days ago. The wide angles this lens is capable of are insanely awesome. I can't wait to go hiking on some of the mountains in Korea and take panoramic shots from the top. I think it'll also be really cool for festival and parade shots in Seoul.

Anyways, I headed out today to run errands and pick up things that I can't get in Korea or can't get easily and for the price I'd find it for in Canada. As usual, waiting for the bus was 'fun.' It wasn't bad today because the weather was nice and it wasn't too hot or humid.

Using the circular polarized lens filter I was able to take some shots with really bright conditions.

After running errands at White Oaks Mall I headed downtown. I was hungry so I headed into London Covent Garden Market . . .

. . . where I saw a Japanese sushi place. I got some tuna sushi to go . . .

While I waited for it to be made I looked around and snapped a few pics.

I thought the sumo wrestler dolls sitting on the counter were funny. Here's a cropped close-up of the dudes, lol.

As I haven't been to Japan I really don't know much about their serving sizes . . . but if I compare the size of this sushi roll with a roll of Korean chamchi (tuna) kimbap, well, there's just no comparison. The Korean roll is 3-4 times bigger (in Korea). Comparing the sushi made here in Canada might not be a good idea because it was made in Canada . . . but this is the only frame of reference I have. Does anyone know if there is a sizeable difference between sushi rolls made in Japan compared to kimbap made in Korea?

After chowing down I headed over to the bus terminal to get a ticket. On Friday I have to head to the Korean consulate in Toronto to pick up my work visa and passport.

After that I decided to walk around downtown London and take pics with my lens to get a better feel for what it can do. This is Sammy's, a downtown landmark for anyone who has ever done the clubbing scene, and wow does it look good here.

After that I walked past the two cathedrals that I visisted a couple weeks ago. You can see the pics I took then here, St. Paul's Cathedral and St. Peter's Cathedral Bascilica in London, Ontario, Canada.

While I was taking pictures a very friendly woman approached me and we started chatting.

She suggested that I come back tomorrow and find the caretaker for the cathedral and ask him if he would let me take some pictures inside the cathedral.

I was really happy to hear her idea and said I'd come back for an hour tomorrow and take pictures of the inside--especially the Tiffany stained glass windows.

I then walked over to snap a few more pics of St. Peter's Cathedral . . . it was really cool how close to the cathedral I could stand and still get the full shot of the cathedral.

The angle of the sun was not the best but this next pic is still pretty good.

After walking around the Richmond row area a bit more I decided to get dinner at Wendy's. I don't think I've eaten here in at least 3 or 4 years. It's interesting to see how there's some curving that happens when I focus on the building and press the trigger half way to hold the focus and then move the frame up so I can have more blue sky in the frame . . . I'm definitely have to get a better understanding of how this lens works when I'm framing my shots . . .

Well, time to go veg and watch some TV--all that shopping and walking around has tired me out.

J

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