Flora now nests where fauna once did

“[I crop] for the benefit of the pictures. The world does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera [frame].”

“What use is having great depth of field, if there is not adequate depth of feeling?” — W. Eugene Smith

they appeared where once
I photographed a family
of feathered friends

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Storms, floods, visits, drives

“Saturate yourself with your subject and the camera will all but take you by the hand.” — Margaret Bourke-White

Last evening the storms roared through (again).

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The rain poured down most of the night – leaving our little town’s main street underwater (and the upstream water has yet to crest). Click here for slide show of Thiensville Flood.

A visit with Sophia and Tanya this morning.

On the way home.

Home town floods

“I didn’t want to tell the tree or weed what it was. I wanted it to tell me something and through me express its meaning in nature.” — Wynn Bullock

Last weekend severe storms swept through our area. Many families lost things, including some losing their homes. Our own Main Street was several feet under water. Today I stopped by Firemen’s Park in Thiensville. The Milwaukee River remains dangerously high. And new storms currently rain down upon us. The damn is totally under rushing water.

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Passing down the clothes (or on to the rummage sale)

“It’s about time we started to take photography seriously and treat it as a hobby.” — Elliot Erwitt

May 28th brought my niece, Libby, to Milwaukee for lunch and to pick out clothing which no longer fit Sophia. She seems to be counting her new outfits.

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My nephew, Erickson also attended the lunch (as did their mother Mandy and my sister, Donna).

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This past weekend Tanya and Sophia participated in the neighborhood rummage sale.

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Sophia had to take a last ride on a too small toy.

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and added a title or two to her library.

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Dad’s tool box

We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us. — Ralph Hattersley

Dad’s tool box: A gift from his father upon dad’s completion of his apprenticeship as a tool and die maker. My grandfather, a cabinet maker, built the bottom, four drawer unit for his son. My grandfather only owned one “power” tool, a small six inch table saw. The table is less than 14″ square, sitting on a box which contains a simple blade on an axle with a belt pulley.

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Motivational videos returned by USPS as “possible threat” – wtf

I believe in self explanatory pictures. — Moses Oliver

So, I produce 3 DVD’s for a young man who lost his sight in a boat racing accident a number of years ago. The videos are to promote his work as a motivational speaker. I put $5 worth of heart stamps on the package and send them off. Yesterday the package shows up back in my mail box. Returned as a possible threat – “due to heightened security requirements.” What’s wrong with this world?

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Nature’s anxious to reclaim our dreams

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still. — Dorthea Lange

dreams dug out of dirt
exposed for all to see
nature reclaims her

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When my father (and tool and die maker) died I moved his tools to my home. The milling machine sat in a shed for a couple years and nature’s need to oxidize quickly made it unusable. I felt a good deal of shame in allowing this to happen. On Sunday my desire to make an adapter which would allow me to mount my Hasselblad lenses on the Ultima gave me the impetus to get the mill up and running. A long, hard day with wire brushes on grinders, WD40, and grease put me straight with my deceased dad; and by 10 pm I had my adapter. He made the precision tables himself. Unfortunately the “jeweled” surfaces were partially destroyed by rust and my cleaning of same. Scars: evidence of my neglect.

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It all seems so fragile

Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. — Matt Hardy

thursday morning she
flew into the window and
ann loved her alive

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a walk through the play ground

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continuing to learn the Ultima now with 90mm Apo-Rodagon and R8/DMR

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Leica M8, Visoflex III plus Cambo Ultima

“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” — Diane Arbus, Diane Arbus: A biography by Patricia Bosworth

access ability
pursuit of happiness
social justice. enigmas

For the last month I’ve been moving my office into my home. Remodeling a bathroom and building a custom version of the Cambo Ultima 35 from an Ultima 4×5 (seen below with M8 and Visoflex III; also able to mount R8/DMR, and 5D with a simple Really Right Stuff quick release). Since going digital I’ve missed the precision of the view camera camera movements to control framing, focus, etc. Now I have achieved the ultimate optical bench. Sweet.

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Below: three images made with M8 and 180mm Nikkor-W.

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