The Alameda Antiques Faire is one of those stellar local events that makes me love the bay area. It takes place out on one of the landing strips of the old Alameda naval base – the only open space big enough to hold the 800+ booths. You can find pretty much anything there – old medical equipment, beautiful crystal wear, punitive modernist furniture, tin toys, musical equipment, Chinese artifacts, cider presses – if it’s over 25 years old and someone collects it, there’s a good chance you’ll see it here, jumbled in next to some other epochal curiosities.
Since I just got a slick new camera (Canon 5D mII), where better to take it for a test run?
BORDERLINE GEEK TALK FOLLOWS (scroll down if allergic): I decided to shoot everything as jpeg on the auto setting, with minimal editing outside of the camera (I did one batch process with some sharpening before scaling the image down, and cropped about 5 of them). I did this not just because I’m lazy, but because I wanted to make a direct comparison to snapshots taken with other cameras I own. Obviously the advantage goes to the SLR with the giant CMOS and high quality lens, but I wanted to see the relative difference.
I quite like the results, as evidenced by the 161 pictures below (in no particular order):
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Colin, your photos look fantastic! I got about half the shots you did since my battery died, but never the less your new camera is amazing. I am so jealous, and look forward to the day when I get my own SLR, but until then the Canon Powershot will have to do. Seriously sharp pics!
Super! Much to love in your shots, from cooties to the “Means of Transportation” poster, to tin toys and clown stuff. The last time I was at Alameda market, I found these old rock photos of fans and gigs, taken late seventies, all bad exposures and compositions, and sort of endearing (not worth buying, though).