Garrison’s Little Red Chapel

by Posted in Black & White, Buildings/Structures Leave a comment
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This building is in Garrison, NY – on Route 9d. It seems that it was built in 1862 and was Garrison’s original Episcopal church (St. James Chapel). Later a stone church was built and the building was moved to its current location. Subsequently it became an antiques store and, if the sign is anything to go by, is presently for sale – and has been for some time. Apparently there are no takers. The current owner is willing to give the building to someone willing to restore it (this may mean dismantling the building and moving it to another location).

All pictures taken in February 2012 with a Sony Nex 5N, the first three with the 18-55mm kit lens and the last two with a Canon 50mm f1.4 Leica Thread Mount Lens using and adapter.

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The Cynic’s Photography Dictionary on Photofocus

by Posted in Humour, Thoughts Leave a comment

Ambrose Bierce

I’m a fan of the satirical and cynical definitions of Ambrose Bierce, first written as a daily newspaper column and later collected in The Devil’s Dictionary. (It was originally called the Cynic’s Word Book, but so many politicians of the day called Bierce a Devil that he felt the new title more appropriate.)

Unfortunately, very few of Mr. Bierce’s definitions apply to photography. Seeing a need that should be filled, I immediately began working on a Devil’s Dictionary of Photographic terms. Hopefully, some of you will join in and help to expand this desperately needed work.

via The Cynic’s Photography Dictionary | Photofocus.

I particularly liked:

Image Stabilization – a technologic triumph consisting of lenses, magnets, position sensors, springs, and electric motors that is nearly as effective as 3 sticks of wood attached to a base plate. See also, Tripod.

and…

Sharpness – The amount of fine detail visible in an image before it is compressed to 1/10th its original size to post online.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

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Old Dutch Church and Burial Ground.

In Winter this is one of the few locations that I can reliably expect to be cleared of snow. So it’s a place of last resort for walking the dog when it’s cold and there’s snow on the ground. It’s also a large and very interesting cemetery with lots of celebrity graves, picturesque statuary, flowering trees etc. It’s a very tranquil and peaceful area to walk around in, which I guess is what you would expect.

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John Archbold Mausoleum

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Door Detail

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Edwin Lister Grave. Born: Sep. 10, 1829, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. Died: May 18, 1898, Newark, NJ. President of Agricultural Chemical Works, and Assemblyman in New Jersey.

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Spring Blossoms

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French Castles – Loire Valley, 2002

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Chambord.

We had a very pleasant holiday in Loire Valley in 2002. We had been visiting our younger daughter in Geneva, Switzerland and took a train up to Paris and then another train to Tours. After picking up our car rental we drove down to the Chateau de Rochecotte, which we were using as a base to explore the area. This castle was formerly the private home of the Duchess Dorothée of Dino and Prince of Talleyrand. After several days of visiting castles I was just about “castled out”.

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Ussé.

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Azay-le-Rideau.

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Chenonceau.

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Villandry.

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Langeais.

Snake

by Posted in Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
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Another wildlife picture. I came across this little guy slithering around in the leaves at Hardscrabble Wilderness Area. A say ‘little’ because he (she?) really was quite small – much smaller than he appears in the picture.