When plotting the yard, I had two goals in mind. The first was figuring out where the sun would hit between March 21 and September 21. The second was trying to figure out what plants could coexist in terms of water needs, sunlight, colors, and textures. The yard is small,Continue Reading
My first grownup camera was a Minolta SR-T 101 bought in a pawn shop with money saved doing college work-study jobs. That was 40 plus years ago. I loved that camera, and my affinity and affection for Minolta have never waned. So, when I decided to buy a camera, IContinue Reading
As I write this, it’s late winter, mid-March. The garden is half green, half brown. The coneflowers and daylilies are up much sooner than is good. Already I’ve had to cover them from frost three times, and more times seem likely. Even the fern buds are up. Over the pastContinue Reading
On learning that Minolta no longer existed, naturally, I wanted to find out what happened. After having read every website I could find about the history of Minolta, I reflected on what the company accomplished. What I found was a history of risk-taking, notable firsts, unfortunate missteps, and a fewContinue Reading
The idea of having a front-yard garden hit me around the time I realized that periwinkle would not likely work any better than ivy. Periwinkle had been my safety choice. When that fell through, desperation set in, and the idea of having a garden slowly took hold, despite the lackContinue Reading
Looking through a viewfinder somehow changed my perspective. It’s difficult to explain how or why. In fact, I don’t think I can. What gives a situation or a scene or a thing significance? Why does a collection of objects or a location caught at a specific point in time haveContinue Reading
Like a lot of people, I usually root for the underdog. When I bought my first Minolta, an SR-T 101, in 1975 from a pawn shop, it was a purely economic decision. I wanted a “real’ camera and that 101 was the only thing I could afford at the time.Continue Reading
On a typical miserably hot July day, the third summer of the garden, I was pulling black-eyed Susans out of the coneflowers and pincushions. (Black-eyed Susans spread like a virus and will fill any available space, but that is a story for another day.) An older gentleman walked by andContinue Reading
Pick up a camera, shoot some film, and it will soon become apparent that reproducing on film what you imagine before firing the shutter is not a simple task. Two sets of concepts and principles have to be mastered to do photography well. First, one must learn the technical/mechanical aspects—camera,Continue Reading
