Of all my travel memories, the one that sticks with me most clearly is my first night in Paris. We arrived at 7 AM, and having been too excited to sleep on the flight, we were exhausted. After making it through customs, and me trying out my rudimentary French, weContinue Reading
Buying on eBay is an exercise in probability—that is, at some point, you are probably going to buy a dud. We’ve all been there—a “mint” lens with noticeable fungus, a supposedly working camera with a frozen film advance, and the ultimate sales pitch “I don’t know much about cameras, but…” OneContinue Reading
Attachments to photography gear are not bad (I hope)—I certainly have mine. Ask people about their favorite cameras and lenses, and they will give reason after reason for their choices while tossing in enough about specifications and features to make the decision seem perfectly rational. However, look beyond the words,Continue Reading
From time to time things go wrong–occasionally, very wrong. Maxxum 7, AF 50mm f2.8, Ultrafine Xtreme 400, CineStill Monobath.Continue Reading
I was surprised to see the shop in this picture. I didn’t think small, neighborhood butcher shops still existed. I lived in Baltimore for four years in the mid-1980s—it was not by choice. Baltimore never felt like home; it was never comfortable for me. Despite that, Baltimore introduced me toContinue Reading
After a nearly eight-month pause, I’m finally getting back to art. Surprisingly, my drawing and painting skills improved during that time! If I had to give a reason for the improvement, I would say it is due to improved concentration leading to better observations. Drawing people has always been aContinue Reading
Lately, I have spent a lot of time thinking about why I started EarthSunFilm. Maybe it’s the rarely seen snow swirling past the window and the stillness that descends at the insistence of the cold that invite me to reflect on the last two years. The impetus for EarthSunFilm beganContinue Reading
Starting a blog is the beginning of an open-ended journey. One never knows what path it will take and where/when it might end. Looking back, some things have turned out well; others are still just plans. For example, I expected that by now, the fourth year of the blog, IContinue Reading
Not long ago, I wrote about the lemon tree I gave to my mother-in-law. In the ensuing years, the tree has reliably produced at least one lemon in each growing cycle. The cycle is nearly a year long, with honey-scented blossoms appearing in January and ripened fruit in November. OnlyContinue Reading
I hated jazz. In a conversation with an older friend, 30-year-old me held as ridiculous that anyone really liked jazz. I grew up with the last major wave in jazz expression, “free.” This was the style that came with Ornette Coleman in the early 60s. Bitches Brew, the much-heralded 25-minute soundContinue Reading
