I’ve watched our gardenia slowly regain its deep green color after being brown for months. Since the first wisp of emerald, I have inspected it, hoping for blossoms. We’ve had less rain than usual, and I have not watered once this year, so I never expected the hoped-for flowers untilContinue Reading
“The world is a carousel of color!” As a child, I watched Disney’s Wonderful World of Color TV show most Sunday nights. Tinker Bell would wave her wand and splash gobs of color paint on the screen, but they were shades of gray on my screen. Our first color TV wasContinue Reading
Every time I see this video rental store, it makes me a little paranoid, and I hear the song, “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell. Having recently watched all five seasons of “Person of Interest,” and having done research in machine learning, I know the capability is there to monitorContinue Reading
We’ve bought columbines for two years straight and did not get them planted before the heat came. The beauty of these flowers enthralls me, though it seems I will never grow them. They seem to be very delicate to the point of being impossibly finicky. While keeping them in pots,Continue Reading
It seems everyone has written about Minolta SR and SR-T cameras, which only makes sense. They are the first and second generation of Minolta SLR cameras and are praised for their sturdiness and performance. These classic cameras, built like tanks, work great and produce excellent images. An SR-T 101 wasContinue Reading
For nine years, each season has brought a fragrant outburst of gardenia flowers. Each year there would be maybe 50-60 blooms each season. Then one year, I noticed it was infested, which I treated in the off-season. The next year, and in years since, it produced hundreds of blossomsContinue Reading
I’ve just had a complete eBay buying experience. It began with an effort to buy a Minolta-35 rangefinder—Minolta’s Leica-inspired rangefinder. The Minolta-35 was manufactured from 1947 until 1959 and proved to be a capable Leica competitor during its run. Eight models were produced—models A-F, II, and IIB. While the Minolta-35Continue Reading
The term “farmers’ market” typically evokes images of stalls set up for a day or so to sell fresh produce and homemade jams. If that’s your understanding, be prepared to be blown away. Thirty years ago, when we moved from DC to Atlanta, I expected less access to foods IContinue Reading
Camera collectors are nice people. Well, at least they are no worse than anybody else—except when it comes to camera gear. I’ve come to realize that camera collectors have no sense of proportion. They never ask, “How many do I really need?” You see, a regular person who owns aContinue Reading
As you know, I have developed a new fondness for folding cameras from the 50s. I have three: a Minolta Semi-P, a Minolta Semi III, and a Konica Pearl II. The top shutter speeds range from 1/200-1/500 of a second. These relatively slow speeds make using larger apertures a problemContinue Reading
