Description: Early season gardenia in soft late-afternoon light Background: We have a large gardenia tree. It regularly grows to more than six feet in height. When it gets this tall, I chop away six to eight inches or so and hope I’ve done a good job with no damage. I tried lettingContinue Reading
That the Minolta ER (Electronic Eye Reflex) is an oddity goes without saying. Its design says 1960’s hi-tech—like how one would expect George Jetson’s camera to look. It also carries over a 50s sci-fi vibe, so much so that I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if it suddenly shotContinue Reading
There is nothing quite like watching and waiting for the first blooms to appear. This spring was more colorful than usual because the scarlet and magenta verbena forgot they were annuals and came back in force. I love spring, but I planned the garden to peak in summer because ofContinue Reading
Developing scanning expertise was never a goal for me. My practice has been to accept scanned images pretty much as they are. For black and white, this works nearly 100% of the time; color is another story. Over the past year, I have been more focused on testing cameras thanContinue Reading
To be honest, the only reason I bought the 50mm f2.8 macro lens was was fear of losing or damaging my 100mm f2.8 macro. I’m almost embarrassed to say this now. The 50mm 2.8 is sharp and handy, and it allows one to shoot from only a few inches away.Continue Reading
Description: Pink Flirt Daylily Background: I grew up seeing orange and pale yellow daylilies everywhere. We had a huge mound of the orange ones in our yard. I always considered them as little more than weeds, as yard background noise. My attitude toward daylilies didn’t change until I discovered there were othersContinue Reading
There is something special about looking through a viewfinder, framing a scene, pausing to be sure all is as desired, then slowly pressing the shutter button. Anticipation–that itch to see the scene on a negative–starts right then. The unknowns account for some of the allure of using film—failure is alwaysContinue Reading
When I was a child, maybe eight or nine years old, I discovered paint-by-numbers kits. The kits were cheap and plentiful, always oil, and usually 8×10 or so in size. Completing a painting usually took only an afternoon. For some reason, no painting ever made it into a frame, andContinue Reading
I have shot seven rolls of film in the last week or so–usually this happens when I have a lot of new ideas to try. But this time, it’s because I got a few new cameras. They are the last purchases for the VMLP; my collecting efforts are complete! TheContinue Reading
