Medium Format

I took my Yashica-Mat for a walk in the Botanic Garden.  There were few other visitors on this sunny winter morning.  I have been disappointed in the increasingly manicured look of the place, but it is still a nice plece of nature to have nearby when I might not feel like going to the river or the mountains.

The conservatory always has an abundance of flowering plants regardless of the season.  This time of year I look forward to seeing and photographing the exotic lilies.

 

 The dry climate side of the site has native plants from the southwest deserts.

The medium format images from the Yashica-Mat have a kind of solidity which is particularly nice compared to what often comes from even the best of the 35mm cameras.

Having the close-up lens kit for the Yashica-Mat adds quite a bit of versatility in subject matter possibilities.  An eye-level finder like I have for the Mamiya C-330 would also be nice as shooting high with the waist-level finder requires a more flexible neck than the one I currently have.  I do have a steadying hand-grip which fits the camera, but I couldn't find it before this outing and my success rate suffered a bit as a result.

Plants & Animals

 Albuquerque is having fine Fall weather.  Daytime temperatures are in the 50s, while the nights are cold enough to cause the mulberry trees to lose all their leaves.  I spent the week walking around with my Olympus  Pen-FT, visiting the botanical garden, the riverside forest and the Rio Grande Nature Center.

The local wildlife rescue group put on their yearly education event to give visitors to the Nature Center an opportunity for a closeup look at the area's common raptors, a Kestrel, a Red-Tailed Hawk and a Great Horned Owl.  All three had wing injuries preventing them from living free in the wild, but they were all healthy looking and well behaved.