photography
Last Night
Trapped
Pictures for the day -- a day of exploring and bike riding of old -- are trapped on the memory card. The cable to connect the camera is still in Poland; the built-in card reader isn't working. And so the pictures remain on the camera...
Saturday Evening, Sunday Morning
Saturday evening, with the air not so warm but also cloudless, I thought I might be able to get a shot of the Tatras. It’s a difficult shot to get because of the haze that usually clouds the view from Jabłonka in the summer. You have to be right in front of them to get a clean shot. So I headed out in the early evening, and almost on cue, clouds began sweeping in.
It still amazes me how this region can go from the one extreme to the other so suddenly. It’s not like a few clouds appear, then a few more, then still more until the sky is gray. No — it’s a line of gray that suddenly appears and seems to put a lid over the whole region. Suddenly the sky doesn’t seem endless, for the clouds aren’t even that high. It’s as if you can reach up and touch them.
Still, I continued to the spot in the fields I always go to when I want to photograph the Tatras. It’s only about a ten-minute walk from Babcia’s, so for an impulsive photo-walk, it’s perfect. Still, the conditions were far from ideal. It took a fair amount of fiddling on the computer to keep the mountains from blending into the sky.
As for Sunday, a stay-at-home day. Mass, lunch, packing for L — she heads off to camp tomorrow. And finally, a recreation from the last Poland visit.
Autumn Portraits
This time of year, we always get everyone together for a full family portrait. We go to a park or just pile up some leaves and get a few shots of the four of us, the six of us, the two of them. This year, with a carpet of yellow in the backyard, there was only one option.
First, the Girl and I went out for some test shots while the Boy took his nap. The light was just right, but Nana and Papa weren't due for another two hours, so I went in and arranged an earlier arrival.
In fact, though, the light had been absolutely sublime in the morning.
But who wants to head out at eight in the morning in sub-freezing weather for portraits?
But light is light: unless you're shooting in the middle of the day without any shade, a little creativity can produce good results no matter the angle of the light.
Besides, there are always props and post-processing. On second thought, perhaps the clothes are a bit off. Oh well.
It's the idea that counts in art, isn't it?
Motorcycle Camper
Backyard Visitors
Our neighbors had a couple of backyard visitors the yesterday. They live in the woods behind our and our neighbors’ line of houses, and I often see them circling above as they hunt. (Their arrival surely explains the decline in the chipmunk and squirrel populations.)
One hopped about a bit, trying to get more comfortable
and coincidentally making it easier for me to get a good shot.
But eventually I ventured too close, and it retreated.
Panoramas
K and I recently bought a new camera, a Fuji x100 — a digital rangefinder.
Well, not new: we got it on Ebay for less than half the price of a new model. Small and sturdy, it looks like a rangefinder from the 1970’s.
One feature I was not aware of before the purchase, though, was the panorama mode.
It’s sort of like getting just what you wanted for Christmas, opening it, and finding a one hundred dollar bill stuffed inside as well!
Candles
Steam
No morning would be complete without it.