KENT CONNECTICUT – John Novogrod and I spent s few hours here hiking in Macedonia Brook State Park. I’ve written elsewhere on the differences between Eastern US landscape (here) and Western landscape (where I grew up). In the West the landscape is expansive. Long vistas are common with changing points of view as you move across the landscape. In the East sight lines are truncated by the heavy deciduous forests an the choppy topography. It’s like walking though a room. Mottled shadow/suniight presents a dramatic challenge to a photographer in terms of dynamic range. This bears an obvious relationship to work I’ve been shooting in my landscape class in Central Park in the Ramble and the North Woods, Here’s an image with my Leica M9 and a 1950s era lens, a Dual Range Summicron that I’ve had adapted to fit on the M9.
A Walk in the Woods
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I should rename this site “Birches R Us”, or “All Birches all the Time”, or perhaps “Birch City”. They are irresistible. Maybe I should cut them all down to eliminate the temptation. Well here we go again. More birches. Growing up in Utah I had a thing with quaking aspens. Similar deal but even more impact. The white bark just gets to you. Oh and let’s not forget the ferns. Taken with my M9 and Noctilux lens.
More Birches
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Easter. At long last, a good picture. From a technical standpoint I’ve been operating with two left feet this weekend (really stagnating), probably because I’m the cook in the household and I’ve been distracted making sous vide brisket for the Novogrods’ Seder and smoked, roast leg of lamb for Easter dinner today. But enough whining and excuses. There was a moment this morning, right after the rising sun broke out above a low rim of clouds, when the birches looked positively radioactive. Really. Amazing. It didn’t matter where I stood or what I shot. This was done with my Sony Nex-7 and Leica 50mm Summilux lens.
Birches
On this day one year ago: In the Conservatory Garden. Pictures from gardens in the Spring usually suck. At least mine do. That wasn’t the case last year – I managers a nuanced effort on a rainy day. This shows the Leica 24mm Summilux at its best. Maybe there’s an April 8 phenomenon.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Glowing morning light in the stand of white and red oaks and sugar maples next to our house. Nicely seen but badly executed. Somehow nothing I shot today is in focus. It seemed like I was doing what I always do but the results are wildly defective. How can this happen? I’m going to fuss with my gear a bit to make sure everything is ok (this particular rig – the Sony Nex-7 and 24mm Summilux lens has never let me down before, and indeed this combination does not demand a high level of technique). I’m worried. I overcooked some past earlier this week and Maria was quite testy about it. I’m putting a small version of the image up because at this resolution you can’t see the defects.
Sloppy execution
On this day last year: Bricks and more bricks. At least last year I got an in-focus image.
KENT CONNECTICUT – We took a walk today along a segment of the Appalachian Trail that runs through here. I thought that I had left my Alpa in Connecticut; it turns out that it was in New York, so I only had the camera that travels in my pocket, my Ricoh GRD 4. Not the best tool for landscape. Here’s a branch off of Ten Mile River taken with the GRD 4, three frames stitched.
Ten Mile River
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Here are some more iPhone images – the first two are percolated.
Pebbles on countertopThe fractal nature of screen doorsStone wall
