all photos ~ (embiggenable)
DID I MENTION THAT WE HAVE HAD a lot of rain-massive displays of thunder and lightning-over the last few days with flash flood warnings galore. Throw in uncommonly high temperatures for this time of year with uncomfortable levels of humidity and it’s accurate to write that it has been a unusual couple of days.
All photos ~ (embiggenable)
WOKE UP TO RAINY OVERCAST DAY. AFTER MY morning wake-up routine, I was overcome by an unusual desire…the need to get out and make photographs with a tele-only zoom lens. An activity which would, gasp!!!, require the use of a “real” camera.
I can write, for a fact, that I have no idea what came over me. Nevertheless, I pulled out one of my Olympus µ4/3 cameras and my Zuiko 50-200mm e100-400) f2.8 lens, donned rainy weather gear, and headed out the door for short, 3-4 mile picture making drive around the “neighborhood”.
I will admit to it feeling kinda weird hauling around what felt like a large brick, looking through a viewfinder, making aperture-mostly wide open cuz I was not looking for maximum DOF-and shutter speed adjustments, and checking for critical focus. FYI, most of the pictures were made with the zoom set to focal lengths somewhere between e300-400mm.
Despite the fact that using a “real” camera felt somewhat old-timely, I can write that I have always enjoyed making pictures with the use of long focal length lenses. That’s cuz the so-called perspective compressing effect captured by-but not created by-long focal length lenses helps emphasize the flat 2D field of a photographic print. To my eye and sensibilities, an emphasis that, with careful framing of selected sections of the real world, reveals the purely visual 2D viability of that 3D world. iMo, an emphasis that elevates a picture into the arena of fine art because it gives the eye and visual senses something to view, consider and appreciate beyond the mere literal depiction of a section of the real world.
SATURDAY PAST I TOOK A MEANDERING COUNTRYSIDE DRIVE TO a farm stand to procure some fresh apple cider, concord grapes, and some produce. The weather was absolutely enchanting with rain, mist, and a leaden overcast. The landscape provided a bounty of picture making opportunities.
The fall harvest bounty was put to good use. I made a grape pie with the concord grapes. On Sunday the wife made roasted acorn squash-cut in half to make bowls-filled them with her homemade beet borscht soup with dollop sour cream. Then served them for dinner with a side of pan fried kielbasa. All in all, it made for a great weekend during which we celebrated our 26 wedding anniversary.
all photos are embiggenable
WE HAVE HAD A 24 HOUR HEAVY RAIN EVENT which has created a number of picturesque opportunities:
• rivers are flowing at or above flood stage
• the overflow stack at the old mill is leaking
• lots of leaves have been knocked to the ground
iMo, good stuff all around.
Writing of good stuff, yesterday the wife and I drove out to a small gallery in the middle of nowhere to attend the opening reception of a 4-photographer exhibition, my son, the Cinemascapist included.
the cinamascapist + laurie (the exhibit organizer / director)
The turn out was impressive, about 40 people, considering the fact that the exhibit was in the middle of nowhere. Each participant gave a 15 minute talk about his/her work. The audience was able to ask questions and there was a great deal of interest expressed in the work and the picture makers themselves.
The experience told me that: 1. photography ain’t dead or dying, and, 2. even in the middle of nowhere there is appreciation of the medium and for those who practice it. It’s almost as if photography has some status.
(embiggenable) • iPhone
(embiggenable) • iPhone
(embiggenable) • iPhone
the umbrella
YESTERDAY I SPENT THE DAY HAVING A transesophageal echocardiogram. This is a procedure in which an imaging device was put down my esophagus in order to obtain a close / detailed view of my heart. In my case, this procedure was performed to determine that: 1.) the blood clot found in my heart last December had dissolved, and, 2.) confirm that my heart was a good canidate for the Watchman procedure. I passed on both counts. So, next Monday, I do the Watchman thing wherein they put an "umbrella" in my heart.
Moving on to other recent news, this past Saturday evening we experienced a somewhat uncommon manifestation of what we have dubbed, Hobbit Light. Hobbit Light is an atmospheric condition which causes the landscape to be bathed in intensely yellow-red light. The very air itself seems to be yellow-red.
In most cases, Hobbit Light lasts about 15-20 minutes and happens at sunset, with a heavy cloud cover, and following a heavy rain. It is most intense after the sun has set, during the time known as the gloaming or, as I like to call it, entre chien et loup (between the dog and the wolf).
iMo, there are 2 characteristics of Hobbit Light which make it rather eerie: 1.) there is no directional light which results in a flat / soft, almost shadow-less, "murky" light, and, 2.) every time I have experienced it, the air is as still as a statue which creates a very quiet / still landscape.
Taken together, that creates a very other-worldly feeling. Kinda like Middle Earth.
(embiggenable) • iPhone
some of my coronavography ~ (embiggenable) • Screenshot
ONE OF THE CORONAVOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTORS SEND A selfie-with-mask picture. And the question is, "Hey dumb-ass, why didn't I think of that?"
In any event, 2 things came to mind. Make a selfie, dumb-ass and put out a call to all coronavographers to do the same and send in the picture. Although, as another dumb-ass said, "It's not a requirement, it's just a suggestion." I would add, "I did it. You should do it. What do you have to lose?"
state of the union ~ embiggenable • iPhone (in my dreams)
Independence Day celebrate it while you still can.
wicker chair
the light
rain
The rain picture in this entry was processed (RAW conversion) using RPP. If your monitor isn't reasonably calibrated, the astounding level of detail in the dark areas of the picture might not be visible. In fact, that may be true unless your monitor is perfectly calibrated.
In any event and relative to yesterday's entry re: RPP, the developer's claim about RPP's ability "to obtain that dearly-looking film-like tonality in your pictures", if I understand the claim properly, is predicated on what they call "different development modes". Those "development modes" are selectable film-type simulation modes of processing which render a specific film-type look to the finished RAW conversion.
iMo, so far as I have tested them, the different development modes - B&W = Agfa APX 25, B&W = Kodak Vision2 50D, Technicolor 2Strip, Kodak Portra 160NC, Fujichrome Astia 100F, Kodachrome 64, Fujichrome Velvia 50, Technicolor System4 die Transfer, Kodak Ektar 25 - create reasonably accurate simulations of those specific film types.
While I have yet to zero in on a single film-type "development mode", my inclination is to use the Kodak color negative modes. Kodak color negative film was the gold standard for reproducing - inasmuch as film technology allowed - accurate, well balanced and neutral results (no strongly marked individual color emphasis - think Velvia greens). In my film days KODAK color negative films were my film of choice for my personal picture making (most commercial clients demanded transparency film). This choice was completely independent of the fact that KODAK was my biggest client.