One morning a couple of weeks ago, the Girl and I went walking. It was a cold, frosty morning but I had my D300 along with me. The frost pattern on the neighbor’s car reminded me of the Mandelbrot set, so I made the capture.
Later, I decided the image might be interesting if processed as a black and white shot, then toned. It was used for a class assignment and the result was interesting, at least to me.
This was a capture made on morning walkies. The icicles were just gorgeous with the sun shining through them. The capture was made with my D300 and a 105mm f/4 micro-Nikkor. The black and white conversion and toning was done with Photoshop.
A couple of weeks ago I made an attempt to photograph wildlife. Out of about four hours spent in the field, I came home with a couple of decent captures. This is one of them. It was shot with my Sony-NEX5N and a TEVE Berlin lens converted to Nikon mount.
Many years ago when I first began making images seriously1, my grandmother bought me a subscription to Modern Photography. It was probably my first exposure to a fan magazine, a magazine that floats the area somewhere outside the professional’s trade magazine or journal. It was a source of a lot of information that I used as I learned how to handle a camera.
The good parts were that they reviewed and tested a lot of cameras, lenses, and films. They also had a solid testing regimen. (I’ll get to that in a moment.) All the big boys advertised in it and the back was filled with the discounter’s advertisements. Those were places I spent quite a lot of time, because I had a lot of time and no money. I do not recall if I ever bought anything from the big-city discounters. But I sure poured over those multi-page advertisements.
I hadn’t realized it, but learned this morning that Modern Photography is long gone. When I read about that this morning, I felt that old familiar sadness that seems to come more these days. Something good is lost. That is the nature of life. Everything dies. It’s a good thing to remember that and enjoy those things that come into your circle. Because they are fleeting and might be there for a moment or a lifetime. But they will pass.
While researching lenses, I came across an interesting site, adaptall-2.org. This is a Tamron fan site dedicated to Tamron manual focus (best I can tell) glass. They have a lot of data posted and comparison test results with many legendary OEM lenses.
The Modern Photography connection is derived from the adaptall-2.org connection. The site curators are on the lookout for test results published by Modern Photography because the magazine’s testing regimen was more, um, regimented that that of the other big fan magazine, Popular Photography.
So, my experience with Modern Photography has come full circle, it seems. I started out reading (voraciously) the contents of that magazine decades ago. I lost the thread somewhere along the line, although I still read an issue now and again. Now I find myself back as a very serious amateur, researching cameras and glass once again. The work the Modern Photography staff did remains pertinent because my love of the art is not in the modern auto-everything technology, but in the technique and art of using cameras (analog or digital) and good glass to capture something interesting.
The camera is only a box that holds film or sensor. The magic is in the intellect, soul, and skill of the photographer. The connection between medium and subject is the glass. The box has to do its job — carry subject to medium and provide the exposure the photographer intends. The glass is the key connection and the better the glass the less distorted the image will be on the medium.
And that is my circle. Decades ago I was exposed to the slick pages of Modern Photography. We parted ways somewhere in between as my life changed and life imposed itself on me. Now that I’m back after the image again, I find myself confronted with the ghost of Modern Photography through the curation of the adaptall-2.org site owners. That fascinates me.
1I don’t do very much that I don’t do seriously — grammar Nazi, parse that!
A few mornings or evenings ago, the Girl and I went on walkies. It was a very nice evening and the light was gorgeous. I carried my D300 along with me, although I don’t recall which lens was mounted. Textures and contrasts continue to fascinate me and so I made this capture.
This morning was quite different. It was about 22F this morning when we went walking. It was the kind of day that is too cold and too warm. I was overdressed for exercise but my hands were cold. I got sweaty and clammy from the exercise and was happy to be home, shed a layer, and get a dry shirt.
On our way back from southern Nevada a couple of weeks ago, I drove through Death Valley. Although the Girl wasn’t welcome most of the places in the park, we were able to get out and walk around the parking lot for Dante’s Overlook. I even managed to snag a couple of decent frames.
The shot was captured with my D300 and a Tokina 28–85mm f/4 coffee cup lens. I probably made the capture at about f/8, which is a good aperture for that lens.
Everybody enjoys a good-looking butt. I watched this particular Coot dive and tip for about 15 minutes before I decided it might make a decent capture. The shot was made with a Pentax 400mm f/4.5 Super Takumar and my Sony NEX-5N.
Last Saturday my friend Les invited me to one of the Minden ponds where he believed there might be some “action.” So, the Girl and I headed for Minden early. I wanted a bite and a coffee and wanted to take her to the park to run off her morning energy. Ronald provided a biscuit, a burrito, a coffee, and some oatmeal cookies (hat tip to Wife for the cookies). I refused to sit on the stone park bench, deciding that I’d rather preserve the heat in my butt than sit.
The Girl sniffed around and did her morning routine while I ate. She returned to me several times to check for hand-outs. Of course, she got a couple because she didn’t eat her breakfast before we left. Then we played with a ball for a few minutes and headed for the pond.
Les and I set up near the pond. He brought a blind and some of his odd lenses. I used my NEX for this shoot because it has focus-peaking and a decent live view. It was my first time working from a blind and I learned quite a lot. I came away with a couple of decent frames, but not many.
The waterfowl decided that there would be only a little action Saturday. But I’ll be better prepared next time. And I enjoyed working the blind. The Girl was wonderful, spending most of her time either sleeping next to me in the blind or sunning herself on the pond bank. She had a good time, too, I think.
I think my Girl and I like walkies the best. Well, maybe… We both like our walkies — she lives to run on the trail of “wabbits” and I love the sun, the air, the walking, and watching her.
When the light is good, I make images. I seem to carry the D300 more often than not now. I like the Tamron 80-210/3.8 zoom in my collection. It’s adequately sharp for images that aren’t too critical. It’s a great range of focal lengths. It focuses reasonably close so that macro-like shots are possible. It’s fast enough that the optical viewfinder is bright enough for daylight work. It’s fast enough to get some separation between subject and background as well. So, the Tamron is often on my D300.
The afternoon capture I made of the Girl was a Tamron-based walkies. She ranged out and back, like she does. Part of the time we play a game called “Come find me!” If I can’t see her, or suspect she can’t see me, I’ll call out “Come find me! Ki, come find me!” and then watch and listen for her.
I usually see her before she sees me. Her “flag” is her tell. If she doesn’t see me, I’ll call again “Come find me!” so she has a chance to get direction with her ears. When she sees me, her ears and tail drop, and she will race in to me, laughing that doggie-laugh of hers. When she nears, she’ll either break off and turn to range out again or will blow past me a full speed, sometimes showering me with sand and gravel. It’s a great game and I think we both like it — a lot.
That afternoon I made the capture was pretty late in the day, probably 1530 or so. I knew the sun was going to drop behind the Carson Range in a few minutes. She had ranged out 20–30 yards and turned to look back at me, probably in response to my call. That’s the expression I see when she tells me “C’mon, you… you’re lagging!” I love it!
Of course, I love my Girl. She rescued me as much as I rescued her. The inter-species relationship fascinates me. Without speech, she tells me many things. Many of them are simple needs — food, water, go out, play, cuddle… However, she can communicate some things that are more complicated. “Take me with you!” is a favorite. Another favorite is “You’re taking me with you, right?” The latter really is a question. Her body language is different for the demand and the request. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
She is my terrible terrier. She is as manipulative as any human female I’ve ever been around. She knows my attachment to her is very strong and she uses it. I am sometimes shunned when I leave her (because I have to). She’ll camp out with Young Son and I get The Look. She’ll sleep on the sofa instead of with me.
Yeah, she works me emotionally very well. I know it. She knows it.
Her intelligence is different than mine. Her skills are physical and perceptive. She solves one-step problems well, but two-step problems are more challenging for her. She is devoted and protective, just like me.
She is my best friend. It doesn’t matter that she’s a different species. She’s still my best friend.
When my in-laws still lived out on the family farm, one of my favorite things to do while visiting was to wander around FiL’s barn, looking for light, texture, and the combination of the two. It was a chance to get out of the house and into a quiet space. The quiet space is something vital to me — always has been; always will be.
I don’t have any notes about the details of the image. I’ll let it be what it is.