Carter Center: Around the Grounds and Down to the Lake
The Carter Center is in the middle of Atlanta, sitting between two Freedom Parkway lanes. When driving by, it is inconspicuous, nestled behind a collection of trees. I’ve passed by many times because Freedom Parkway is a quick way to get from downtown to the east side ofContinue Reading
VMLP 36: The Minolta XE-5—A Good Camera, but Mistakes Were Made…
The XE-5 and XE-7 intrigued me because they were part of the Minolta-Leica collaboration, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. My first XE-5 was a Goodwill buy. It arrived with a good 50mm f2 lens, but the film advance was stuck. Fortunately, a little tinkering resultedContinue Reading
Hosta Hostage
Three years ago, many front-yard ferns were banished to the backyard because they had overwhelmed the halcyon, raspberry sorbet, and Fire Island hostas. Things went well for two years, but this year, we are back where we started. This halcyon leaf tells me that it still survives, but itsContinue Reading
Turn on the “Juice”
During my childhood days in Southwest Virginia, I often heard my parents refer to electricity as “juice.” And that word still comes to mind when I see a meter. The vibrant colors of these meters look like juice flavors, and even though they are for gas, I can’t help thinking…lemon,Continue Reading
Hahn Woods: Neighborhood Wilderness
Most cities have public parks where one can stroll, picnic, or shelter from the bustle of city life. I’m discovering that Atlanta has taken the notion of public greenspaces to the next level. Patches of wilderness are tucked away in the most unexpected places, and Hahn Woods is a perfectContinue Reading
VMLP 35: The Minolta AF-C—Seeing is Believing
The “Back to Film” wave continues to move along, and as it does, it’s bringing back into use cameras set aside for their digital successors. The last film cameras I remember from the late 1980s and early 1990s were inexpensive, disposable P&S cameras. We used these a lot, taking picturesContinue Reading
Looks Can Be Deceiving
On seeing this building, I was intrigued, spending more than a few minutes pondering what it was and what it had been. Imagination got the best of me, and horror movie memes came to mind. The barbed wire atop the chain link fence in the foreground added to theContinue Reading
Dancing Wu-Li Masters, Artfully
In the 1990s, physics fascinated me, and I read a few popular books on the topic. One that I enjoyed most was The Dancing Wu-Li Masters. It explains modern physics with an emphasis on quantum mechanics using concepts taken from Eastern religions. I remember being enthralled by how itContinue Reading
Sunday Splash
When my daughter was little, Sunday was Daddy-Daughter Day. Typically, we would go to a park and then have lunch before heading home. Sometimes, we would go shopping or wash the car—time together was the most important thing. One Sunday, we went downtown to stroll around Centennial Olympic Park. Continue Reading
VMLP 34: The Minolta-35 IIB—Inspired by Leica and Very Nice!
It had to happen eventually. Five years of reading photography blogs and magazines extolling the virtues of Leica cameras and lenses (and knowing of the Minolta-Leica collaboration) made me want to try Minolta’s Leica-inspired offering. I have used a Leica, and that initial experience was not a favorableContinue Reading
Putting Things in Perspective
These supports are maybe 50 or 60 feet high. From a distance, they don’t look that imposing, but standing just across the way from them is intimidating. They are a perfect example of perspective in drawing, watching each one appear smaller as it recedes in the distance. They areContinue Reading
Favorite Colors
Favorite colors have different domains—those for clothes may not be the same as those for cars. My favorites for flowers are yellow and purple and various shades thereof. So far, the yellow flowers have been prolific. The tickseed has spread everywhere the wind blows (not necessarily a good thing). Continue Reading
VMLP 33: Minolta Semi III—My Little Piece of History
Folding cameras were not supposed to be part of the VMLP. I was drawn to SLRs and was quite happy limiting my photography journey to them. That feeling held until I used an Autocord. Yes, the Autocord is a TLR, but the 6×6 negative yielded such clear,Continue Reading
