Late frost in New England

While out walking the dogs this morning I came across a group of frost heaves in the back yard. Not too long ago, about two or three days, we had a fair bit of rain and then a good drop in temperature. It wasn't anything really notable in of itself, but it has been chilly and cold, perfect for this time in New England. Cold and warm at the same time. It almost reminds me of those days, far off in my past youth full living when care free was the play of the day and icicles were to be enjoyed if you could reach them. 

 These pictures of ice crystals remind me of mushrooms and fungus growing up from the ground. I've always wondered about snow, ice and sand. When you would find that the sun warmed the sand and created patterns as it melted faster than the natural unadulterated snow. To capture these pictures became a race of time, so fearful that, by the time I had the camera ready, they would all be gone. So rather than use a tripod which would have allowed longer exposure and stable images with no shake, I shot them hand held. 

After review and critical analysis I found that there were a few that you can find a dandelion seed attached to the crystal. A moment in New England Zen for you. Enjoy the pictures.

Dandelion in ice

Another perspective of the dandelion

Having a day to play with the Sony A7Riii

Had a moment of feeling better this week and with the warmer weather thought to grab a camera for a few shots.  Earlier in the week I saw some pictures from Oil seal and Animal Boat on Instagram. They had a more classic look to them. I figure maybe they were using some sort of filter to edit the pictures.  I figure that it was possible to get a similar feel by modifying the contrast, sharpness and saturation.  These are the results. They might be a touch dark but otherwise have the feel I was looking for.

 

As old  and heavy as the Sony A7Riii  is, I think it was introduced in 2017, I like the feel of its images. When you take in a moment and if you have your head in the game, it is a really good tool to create your vision right within the camera.

 

Metropolitan Waterworks Museum in Boston

 One of the things I rather like doing is photography and videography especially if it involves some type of machinery. About mid August a good friend asked if I could photograph some of his Victorian stoves at the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum while they were on display for the month. I don't think I could have gotten there fast enough! It was a real treat to be able to spend a few hours filming at such a location. I should have that footage up in about another month or so. 

While there, I took the opportunity to try the pixel-shift function on my camera. Pixel-shifting is just that; the camera takes a picture then shifts over one pixel and takes another picture the cavate is that whatever you photograph must be completely still and you need a tripod.. Overall my model Sony (A7Riii) takes four of these pictures at which you then use Sony's software to stich the pictures back together for a super large high resolution picture. I'm not sure how well it will translate through the blog page, but have a zoom in on the detail.  And this picture is only at 80% of the full resolution; 42mp uncompressed 80mb time 4 runs out to a picture of 328mb, give or take. I was stunned how when it translated on a cell phone screen.  In fact, you could even read the dials on the lower left of the image. Enjoy!

To capture a memory

 For a few months now I have been following  Photographer/educator David Brommer through different media channels. In that time he has been posting photo assignments to those that are up to the challenge. The most recent assignment is to photograph a memory.  

At first I wasn't sure what that meant or even how to approach it. Having a partial photographic memory it seemed difficult that I could capture a moment from the past without it being today.  A little harder to explain than to show.  So I was going to take a pass on this assignment. 

But the thought percolated within the brain for a bit and soon one memory seems to stand out.  That memory came from a few events and a nightmare when I was around 5 to 7 years old.  My grand parents had a small library in their basement opposite the old workroom full of broken furniture and machinery that ran the house.  A huge oil fired furnace with massive circulators to pump water throughout the house. The noise each time a circulator kicked on; you'd hear the relays snap into action and then the drone of the pump.  On the edge of the furnace was a defunct gas incinerator. We weren't really allowed to go into the work room. Though I would always find my curiosity would get the best of me and quietly sneak into examine the artifacts and tools.

The Library was a little more peaceful ; rows of books on dilapidated plastic and metal book shelves, the type you buy in a box and assemble in an hour or so. A big section of plywood reside on top of two desk as a makeshift ping pong table in the middle of the room. As kids we fight over the ping pong table and who had to go find the lost ping pong ball under the bookcases.

Many of the books weren't really anything special. My grand father was an engineer and grand mother was an English teacher. Between the two there were countless Readers Digest and Time Life book sets mixed in with all manner of engineering.  I gravitated towards the Time Life books.  In particular was a series known as the "World of...".  The World of Biology, The World of Chemistry, The World of...  and so on.  The one really caught my eye was The World of Machinery, or so I think it was.  It had all manner of hand drawn Victorian machines Great and small, some from the great exhibition halls of Europe others contraptions to mobilize and walk for you.

Sometime shortly after spending a few nights in their house and possibly a very long day I had a dream/nightmare of the basement.  in a dark room, only lit by window light were machines on pedestals.  Gears and levers in the darken fear.  The fear was stuck with me for many many years.  And as things can have a funny twist to them. I found myself living in the house later in life. I would make the work shop my own and use it to store or repair machines.

Only a few year ago while "viewing" the room in reflection did I really remember what I was doing now, this was my nightmare as a child, now in full circle

With that, I decide to photograph my memory of theat nightmare. included in the image are "ghosts" of myself as the fear. And in a funny way of how time passes; it is as much a picture that will look at it always will, with my ghost after passing.

1968 Datsun 2000 Roadster in the wilds

 Once in an occasion you don't see what has been in front of you for awhile. Or maybe you have but it was along time ago and nature has a way of camouflaging time. Take this little Datsun for instance; it's probably been sitting here in the back corner of this parking lot longer than the oak tree trunk growing from the the trunk. The lichen sticking to the hood and fenders like battlefield paint. Even the rusty grille matches the accumulated oak leaves gathering around and underneath.

I would have never seen it if I didn't look out of the side of my eye to see if any cars were moving about as I pulled out of a parking space while in this lot. This certainly wasn't moving! I had pulled into the lot to take a picture of something else; pulled in, parked, walked down to the main street, took a few pictures then walked back to my car to go on my way. Only at the last moment as a doubletake before leaving the lot did I even notice there was a car sitting there! I was shocked, how did I not notice THAT?! One doesn't see small Datsun sports cars of any type on a regular basis in New England.  Later while looking at the picture a brief glimmer of thought came to me. I almost think that I had noticed this car in this lot way back in the 80's while as a teenager I would drive around and "explore" places of local interest. But that's a maybe....

 It looks to be a 1968 model because the later models had forward side markers and the earlier models had a different grills. Not exactly sure if I'm on point with this but intra-web pictures of said same look close. As fond as I am of Datsuns, this one looks to be too far gone and missing parts to be of any merit. It is doubtful that it even still has a drivetrain and not worth the effort to disturb the scene to find such out.  Enjoy the picture!

The Marriage of Karac and Reagan

Took a few moments during my nephew's wedding to snap a few pictures with  my new to me Sony A7Riii. A beast of a machine but takes a good shot if I do say so.  These were with the FE 70200 GM mkii oss lens.

2024 Solar Eclipse

 Took a few snapshots of the eclipse on Monday. Some of my pictures came out ok, most were dull or not very interesting.