Here and Now



Every year I await Spring's arrival with increasing impatience, imagining the pictures I will make of it. Somehow, it always takes me by surprise.

close encounters

Archaeology



There is an old dump near the river with acres of glass bottles and jars. The surface is an undulating mosaic of shiny shards. Around the edges, bottle collectors systematically harvest unbroken examples, digging them free and sorting them into small piles of similar types. I never see them working there, but the piles and arrangements are always different at each visit.

back at the river

At the River











I wasn't close enough to these geese to get good photos, but you get the idea.
I was surprised at how early they had nested.

Accessorizing

I've added a couple pages to the Vintage Cameras section of my web site, one on accessory rangefinders, and another on light meters.

Another Time

It is hard to understand how we survived the Cold War years with the vast proliferation of these weapons.

I went back this time to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History with my pinhole camera. I was testing a newly-poked pinhole; it worked ok, but I think I can get a bit more from thinner material which will cut down diffraction.

Coincidentally, I came across an interesting link from the same time period today via the Design Observer web site illustrating some sliderule-type calculators for determining the effects of blast and radiation from nuclear weapons.

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History










I went to the newly moved,re-opened, and renamed National Museum of Nuclear Science & History yesterday. I was nearly the first in the door at 9:00 AM, and had the place nearly to myself for an hour. The exhibits are very nicely done, but the main attraction for me was the backyard where several old aircraft have been installed, including a B-29 and a B-52. There are also a number of missiles which were surprisingly interesting, partially because they are in pieces and one can appreciate the artistry of their construction and design.

Winter's End










Not much snow in the Sandia Mountains this year. I hiked up an arroyo to near the top of the first tier of ridges. Didn't make it quite all the way as the bare rock became very slippery. There were small green leaf buds on many of the trees, and it won't be long before the grasses green and the early blooming cactus show some flowers.

The photos were made with my Kiev IIa. It is a bit of an awkward camera to use. The rangefinder window requires close attention to finger placement, rivaling the ergonomic unfriendliness of the Argus Brick. The aperture scale revolves as the lens is focused, usually putting it on the bottom side out of sight. These are things that frequent use would make less important, I suppose. The lens is very fine.

Fourteen people voted in the Leica/Contax poll with eight favoring the Leica/Fed/Zorki style, while six preferred the Contax/Kiev. I'm a little surprised that there wasn't more of a spread. I suspect modern shooters are wary of the bottom loading in the Barnack cameras.