WARREN CONNECTICUT – Our Callery Pear trees, running at full throttle. These aren’t really pears – they are a distant cousin of the rose, originally from China, but now widely used as a cultivar here. They are highly valued for their symmetry and dense, long lasting foliage. This is very early for them – we’ve had a warm, dry spring. Taken with my Alpa TC, Phase One back and 32mm Rodenstock lens.
On this day last year: a dreaded travel day. A lounge at Newark Airport.
SPRINGTIME IN THE BERSKSHIRES – It’s hard not photographing Spring in Warren, here in the foothills of the Berkshire mountains (actually where I grew up the Berkshire mountains themselves would be considered foothills, and just barely at that). You’re going to have to suffer through flowering trees and shrubs on weekends for a few more weeks. I’ll try to keep it gritty during the week. Taken with my Alpa TC and 32mm Rodenstock lens.
On this day last year: One of Will Ryman’s roses on the Park Avenue Divider. Faux spring. This was taken with a Voigtlander 15mm lens on my Leica – I kind of liked the blue cast on the edge so I didn’t correct it.
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.
On this day last year: Bricks and more bricks. At least last year I got an in-focus image.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – The Garuda again. This time a portrait. An ugly little guy. Taken with my alpa max and a 120mm Schneider lens, with about 6 degrees of tilt.
On this day one year ago: Marine Corps benefit.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – We had some statuary sent back fro Bali when we were last there (probably a decade ago). This Garuda is still with us. We put it in s small nook in the garden that had become overgrown, but we cleared it out last fall to expose the statue again. The Indian version of this god, which you can see by following the link above, seems almost protestant comapred to the Balinese version, which looks like it’s on acid. I took this with my ALPA Max and 120mm Schneider lens with about 2 degrees of tilt.
On this day last year: look up! Taken with a Hasselblad back on my Alpa TC.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – A rainy foggy day. I’ve done quite a few “distant barely discernible trees in the fog” but that pretty much defines the landscape today. So I took the Alpa closer to home. This with my Alpa TC handheld at knee level, with my new Rodenstock 32mm lens. I was skeptical when I shot it be seeing it here I kind of like it.
On this day last year: early days with my Alpa TC.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I spent a good part of the day shooting with the big camera around our place in Warren. This is once again an exercise in getting to know my new 32mm Rodenstock lens. How it performs at various f-stops. How it handles on the Alpa. The whole setup is pretty eccentric. Most people get along with their iPhones. But I love the rich, detailed files that the combination provides, and the lovely large prints that I can make from them. Worth the trouble. Anyway, here are two images taken handheld with the 32mm Rodenstock and my Alpa TC.
On this day one year ago: Another interior testing a lens.
