Natural World – Page 3

Fall from my front porch

to look / and inhale / through the eyes /
a deep sense / of season /
and feel / blessed / in that moment

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iPhone 6s

Friday’s flora, fungi and old stuff

This past week /
i reflected on past times /
as i repaired a 100 year old fountain pen /
with flexible 14 k gold tines /
and a sac gone brittle into dust /

(Settles Supremacy Pen, photographed with iPhone 6s, iPro S2 Century Macro)

Then, on this overcast, chilly, fall morning /
I pickup a lens made in 1970 (Leica made 1,000 of them that year) /
and attach it to a Visoflex III, made sometime between 1961 and 1984 /
and attach all that to a full frame digital Leica /
that only makes black and white image files /

and in doing all of that /
i actually seem to ‘connect’ /
with a younger version of myself /

(click photograph for larger view)

(Last flower and Shaggy Ink Caps, photographed with Leica M Monochrom, 65 mm Elmar on Visoflex III)

(Leica Monochrom, Visoflex III and 65 mm Elmar, with ink on a page, photographed with iPhone 6s)

Monday’s monochrome

I think if fair to say /
photographers startle easily /
when they see certain things /

(click photograph for larger view)

Leica M, 75 mm Summilux

Friday’s flour…

…fresh-out-of-the-oven sourdough bread
baked a tad too dark, though with the brie
tastes almost too magnificent; as I can’t stop eating them
together

(click photograph for larger view)

iPhone 6s

The Fallen

Front Porch Meditation

for some
the growing and saluting the sun
every morning has ended
and the returning has begun

(click photograph for larger view)

iPhone 6s, iPro s2 [Schneider] Century Macro

Friday’s flower

down to wild ones
blowing about in the fall winds
had to grab hold of it
to hold it still

(click photograph for larger view)

Leica M, 35 mm Summilux ASPH + 2 OUFRO

iPhone photography: personal and immediate

As a photographer who has always had a camera nearby, within reach, or at least within a few steps, certainly in the next room anyway — I’ve definitely always used my 35mm and digital cameras for very personal observations and documentation. The bigger cameras, the medium format, 4×5 – 12×20 view cameras, demanded far more deliberation; tripods; more time; more light, etc. Without doubt the iPhone camera provides more immediacy and more accessibility than any other camera I’ve ever owned. Because of the fact that, if it is not actually already in your hand, serving some other purpose, it can be making a still or motion image in less than a second, means that the images have a spontaneity and immediacy significantly different than a larger device “over there.” Or so it seems to me. Perhaps I’m feeling this way because the novelty has not yet worn off. I’ve only had the thing for a month and a half. Does the diary or memoir have aesthetic value? I think it can… if well crafted… i don’t know… it’s personal.

Quite obviously the larger culture has grasped this up close and personal and immediate nature of walking through life with a camera, quite literally, in your hand at all times. The ‘selfie’ is just the honeymoon phase. The first on the scene news documentation we see often replacing “professional” news footage is another testament to the immediacy as well as potential importance of this tool; even in the hands of the ‘amateur.’

(click photograph for larger view)

At the hand surgeon’s contemplating causes of pain. iPhone 6s

Walking past… condensation on a window… iPhone 6s

Halloween makeup starts to appear on the streets. iPhone 6s, iPro 2x lens

Contemplation… those having coffee next to me. iPhone 6s, iPro 2x lens

Hot out of the oven. I continue to marvel at these edible sculptures. It’s like opening up a ceramic kiln when remove the cloche after 40 minutes at 475 degrees Fahrenheit. iPhone 6s, iPro 2x lens, bipod support, with reflector

These objects have so much esoteric, mystical, and personal value… iPhone 6s, bipod support

Saturday morning…

…after fueling on the Marriott’s continental breakfast;
and watching two fellows have breakfast with their phones.

(click photographs for larger view)
iPhone 6s

…and after brewing locally roasted (by Emy J’s) Ethiopian coffee,
in my decades old Morentina mocha pot, over the old butane camp stove, in the Marriott parking lot;
we headed out on the country roads, in and around bits of the Ice Age Trail,
in search of the 8 studio locations making up the Hidden Studio Art Tour.

The roads provided photogenic subjects.

Smiles

And local, vocal harmony.

Some did the tour on bicycles and tricycles.

The aesthetics and craftsmanship of the participating artists qualified as top shelf.

Only one studio offered demonstrations.

Country store front porch pick’n and sing’n.

On a door inside the old Rising Star grain mill, in Nelsonville;
where they sold THE MOST delicious home made bakery;
to support the Mill’s historical restoration; and events.
Think sour cream cinnamon coffee cake, tart lemon square, peanut butter cookie, and chocolate brownie;
in the sizes that your grandma would serve you if you were her favorite.

The water turbine that once produced electricity from the Tomorrow River; and I was told, “still could.”

Leica M Monochrom, 50 mm Summilux Asph

Near the jeweler’s cases.

Near the pickers and singers.

Outside one of the studios.

And back home on Sunday.

iPhone 6s

After Jurustic Park…

we drove back to Stevens Point and strolled the streets;
“shopping” an antique/consignment mall, boutiques, finding single source locally roasted coffee;
drinking malted milks; eating burgers;
and photographing these decorations in the windows of the pet supply store.

(click photographs for larger view)