I share this photograph with some trepidation. That’s because I do not know exactly what it is. This is a graffito (you know, the singular form of graffiti). It is a human figure, presumably. It is in a prominent place on a structure that has no other graffiti. There are no other words or figures on the post where this appears. It appears to be paint from a brush or maybe a paint pen, rather than a marker. It seems like someone took some time and thought here. It will be removed because it is vandalism. But, like a painting on a cave wall, it represents someone’s expression. However, what the figure is doing is not clear to me. I don’t think it’s offensive, but I cannot be certain about that, which is my trepidation. Hopefully I have not posted something distasteful. I keep waiting for it to resolve itself, like that old-crone/pretty-girl optical illusion. Perhaps a visitor can enlighten me; comment below if you can help.
The photograph was taken with a Nikon D90. One of the things I like about this camera is that it has a pin-drive focus motor in the body. This enables the camera to auto-focus older auto-focus Nikon lenses (and some new third-party lenses) without on-lens motors. This opens up more possibilities for the budget photographer to utilize older used but high-quality glass. Lenses with the on-lens focus motor are designated “AF-S.” Nikon’s least-expensive DX-format cameras do not have this pin drive. The upper-end “prosumer” DX Nikon cameras usually have it, but even then it’s important to read all the specs to make sure whatever new model you are considering has this feature. Today we used the D90’s pin focus camera to drive the Micro-Nikkor 60mm AF f/2.8. This fine classic uses the older auto-focus system. There have been several updates to this lens over the years. This AF non-D is the oldest, but it’s still a gem of a lens, and that makes it a great value. A good condition used 60mm 2.8D AF can be two hundred dollars less than cost of a new 60mm AF-S. (The non-D AF, which is what I have is also really good and even less expensive, but had a more limited run than it’s long-standing successor, the 60mm AF 2.8D.)
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