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The Streets of Monticello – Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens.

So I went for a short walk the other day on the streets of Monticello, NY. It was crazy cold outside and I actually can’t walk too good at the moment, but I still managed to get several shots I was happy with. I really think you get a sense of the block I walked around and I wanted to take you along for the stroll.

I left the Dr’s office the other day and decided to take a few photos quick. I really wanted to try to see what I could do in the one square block as a challenge. You know, see what is available and take the shots as I walk. My wife Michele told me the area is pretty shady, so I walked briskly and did not stop for more than a second or two. Again, the area could be totally safe for all I know, I was just told to use caution, so I did.

I parked at a municipal lot next to a Key bank on Broadway and Bank St. From the parking lot I could see almost the entire block I was planning on walking. For this short solo excursion I had only my Sony Nex-6 and the 18-55mm kit lens. I really like the kit lens and for the real world, it’s versatile and a light weight companion for my camera. Let’s see how it performs shall we?

I decided to edit these photos in BW, because it has more of a timeless feel and that was my intention from the start. I shot using Raw quality and used Lightroom 5 plus Silver Efex Pro 2 for the BW conversions.

It all started with a Beamer?

I saw this while climbing out of the car at the Dr’s office. The word Beamer with an arrow caught my eye so I grabbed a quick snap. I ran into this tag again later…

Click Photo for the 1200px version!

Beamer - SOny NEx-6 and 18-55mm kit lens
Beamer – Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens

Looking to the right we had a pretty cool alley and building with classic old school architecture on the top.

Alley - Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens
Alley – Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens

Looking up.

Alley - Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens
Alley – Sony Nex-6 and 18-55mm kit lens

After taking that photo I felt pretty good and decided to take a drive down to Broadway and Bank Street.

Broadway and Bank - Sony Nex-6
Broadway and Bank – Sony Nex-6 w/ 18-55mm kit lens

Turning right onto Broadway I saw a gentleman walk into a store and managed to grab a snap just before he went in. I’m not sure what he is doing, but it appears like he is checking is wallet or something to me.

Click Photo for the 1200px version!

Broadway Monticello - Sony Nex-6
Broadway Monticello – Sony Nex-6

Shattered – Failed Security.

Broadway Monticello - Sony Nex-6
Broadway Monticello – Sony Nex-6

I saw a lot in this next image and for some reason it works for my eye.

Broadway Monticello - Sony Nex-6
Broadway Monticello – Sony Nex-6

Another Alley.

Broadway Monticello - Sony Nex-6
Broadway Monticello – Sony Nex-6

I then turned right onto Landfield Avenue and saw another Beamer tag.

Beamer #2 - Moticello, NY
Beamer #2 – Moticello, NY

Just a bit further down the road having a look back towards Broadway this composition becomes visible.

Streets of Monticello - Landfield Ave - Sony Nex-6
Streets of Monticello – Landfield Ave – Sony Nex-6

Roark’s Tavern looks like a nice place for a cold beverage!

Roark's Tavern - Sony Nex-6
Roark’s Tavern – Sony Nex-6

I then headed up North Street towards where the car was parked and to the right was the back of all the buildings I just walked past on Broadway. From a distance this view was pretty awesome I thought and had to grab a photo. I also saw another Beamer tag and some other writing that captured my eye.

North Street - Streets of Monticello
North Street – Streets of Monticello – Sony Nex-6

Coming up on the corner I took this next photo while I was walking. It’s a tad soft, but I wanted to include in the series for reference. You can see the sidewalk clearly on the google map which is pretty neat.

North Street - Streets of Monticello
Stop – North Street – Streets of Monticello

Walking back into the parking lot I wanted to grab one last frame of the buildings from an angle. The composition was really interesting I thought.

Bank Street - Streets of Monticello
Bank Street – Streets of Monticello
Bank Street - Streets of Monticello
Bank Street Parking Lot – Streets of Monticello

The Block:
I parked at a municipal lot next to a Key Bank on Broadway and Bank St. I then walked clockwise around the block when viewing from this aerial photo below thanks to Google maps.

Streets of Monticello - Walk Path
Streets of Monticello – Walk Path

Closing Remarks

Sony Nex-6

My Sony Nex-6 is awesome and with the kit lens does a good job all around with included OSS and decent range. A sharper corner to corner result would be nice, but for the size, weight, and money, I’m very happy with these images and the kit lens performance as a whole. What I would really like for a full time walk around lens is the new 16-70mm f/4 OSS Zeiss. That is a E-mount Lens investment worth making if you plan on using a crop factor camera for the extended future.

Rumor has (click here) it the Nex-7 replacement is coming out in February and will be shipping in April. If that is true, the sel1670z will be selling like hotcakes is my prediction. I should be reviewing that lens next month hopefully, so if your interested let me know!

That is it for now, but I have the full frame Sony A7r in hand so stay tuned for some serious testing and photography of all kinds
Jay

  1. Great location, nice choices and fabulous results for a few minutes play. Like the snow reflection effect on the lower part of the buildings on North St rear. Good for the soul just to make the most of a Drs appointment!

    1. Thanks Barry for the comments 😉 I really appreciate it! I also did some dodging and burning in Lightroom with the adjustment brush in order to enhance the depth. You might be seeing some of that as well just so you know.
      Have a great weekend,
      Jay

  2. Awesome shots Jay – sometimes in winter time with a bit of snow on the ground colors are not attractive – but you choice the perfect B/W color tone to make the images very attractive and interesting –
    just an awesome job

    1. Thank you very much John! I really want to do some photo walks this year and get out more. It’s so much fun and I have a really itchy shutter finger. Doing all these reviews gets a bit monotonous at times as I’m sure you could imagine. It’s still fun, don’t get me wrong. Taking so real picks with no pressure or review capture motive is really nice though. Definitely need to do it more often! I also find BW works well for the brick texture and dealing with the lifeless winter colors as you mentioned. BW is a lot of fun!
      Thanks again for taking the time to comment and the very kind words 😉
      Jay

  3. Thanks for the inspiration. I am visiting my brother in Pacific Palisades with an outing planned to Venice this afternoon with my Nex-6 in hand.

    1. Thanks for the comment John and I’m really glad you got inspired 😉 Have a great time and I’m sure you will get some killer captures with your Nex-6!
      Jay

  4. I use the NEX-6 and these are another example of what a great little camera this is. I would be very interested in the NEX-6/7 replacement and the Zeiss 16-70 lens as well. Thanks for sharing!

    1. Thanks for the comments Tim and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts about the 16-70mm Zeiss plus Nex-6/7 replacement. It was fun to take them with my Nex-6 and I’m always happy to share 😉 I’m also looking to upgrade soon as well….
      Jay

    1. Thanks Radissimo 😉
      My workflow is actually very easy these days. What I did specifically was purchase the complete Nik Software collection. It basically does all the hard labor intensive Photoshop work I used to do, and splits it up into different modules.
      Step one is to fine tune the exposure quick if necessary and apply the lens profile corrections in Lightroom. Then I edit in Sharpener pro 3 – Raw Presharpener
      That basically sharpens the raw file in an intelligent way and allows you to selectively sharpen if you want using control points. The program generates a 16-bit tiff file from the raw file, so you can work with that for the rest of the editing. Your computer may start bogging down a bit at this point depending on the file sizes your working with and computer power.
      Next I use the Color Efex Pro 4 and I added a mild Tonal Contrast filter. About 15-20 on the sliders. I then added another filter to the stack called Pro Contrast and raised up the sliders a little to make sure the overall contrast was good.
      Next I opened the 16-bit tiff file in Silver Efex Pro 2 from Lightroom, and used the High Structure preset as a starting point. I then adjusted it a little and back into lightroom 5.
      Last thing I did was dodge and burn using the adjustment brush in Lightroom 5. I created one by lowering the exposure, and another by raising the exposure. I then painted each adjustment brush to try and create additional depth and dimension in the images. Darking the corners and brightening the center brick areas etc…
      I hope that all makes sense, as it really is easy to do with the Nik software and that is I’m really doing.
      Jay

      1. Jay I like the steps of your receipies with the use with Nik.
        I take a great note.
        Thanks.
        (Now, it is a year later then your excellent post, Jan, 2015)
        Many people don’t like the kit lens 16-50mm, but for a street photos it is the best optical range. And for that street photo I prefer to have a discreet lens. Sad the quality is poor, but the lens size is perfect.
        Thanks Jay.

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