Photographs and thoughts on photography and camera collecting
Waterlogged canoe
Some more from one of my walks around the lake.
Trees and Rock Garden
Canoes at Moon Beach
Tree and Ivy
The Watcher
Lexington Avenue Entrance
These are some of the earliest photos taken with my Panasonic Lumix LX3 – mostly from 2010 but a couple from 2011.
Still Life
Phones
Steps detail
Waiting for the Train
I first went here in May 2010. It’s a fascinating place with huge blocks of stone; stone walls, metal cables strewn around all over; rusting pieces of machinery etc. I wasn’t happy with the pictures I got with my then carry around camera: a Pansonic Lumix ZS3. So I thought I’d go back.
The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference has this to say:
Tucked away on a hillside in northern Westchester County, NY, Sylvan Glen Nature Preserve is the site of a former quarry which supplied a honey-colored granite for the approaches to the George Washington and Whitestone bridges. The property was purchased in 1981 and was opened as a park when additional adjoining properties were acquired. Quarries of various sizes and remnents of the operations are located throughout the western portion of the park. Subsequent acquisition of adjacent land extended the park onto former farmland and provided another entrance to the park.
…
Old cables, discarded slabs of granite, and an explosive shed are a few of the remnants along the trails in Sylvan Glen Park Preserve, the site of a former quarry. Other features in the park include: Lime Kiln and shell middens; Quarry Oak (approximately 400-500 year old white oak – 220 inch circumference, 104 feet height, 102 feet spread); Riding ring which is the Ring Trail.
The following article provides a lot more historical information for those who are interested:
Grenci, Ellis and the Mellow Golden Granite of Mohegan Lake, North County News, March 4-10, 1981by Charles Morrill
Pullies and cables
Cables
Rock archway.
Pond – or is it a flooded quarry?
Explosives shed.
Girl in Mask, Rhinebeck, NY, 1975(Photo by Arthur Tress)
Fascinating stuff – and such a clever idea: using childrens’ dreams as the basis for creating a series of photographs. Unfortunately I seem to lack the imagination to come up with ideas like this.
Ever dream of being buried alive under the sands in Coney Island? In the 1960s, one child did, and photographer Arthur Tress brought his nightmare to life. Tress has a diverse and incredibly large portfolio of work, and continues to shoot today—it was in the late 1960s, however, that the native New Yorker started to focus on these darker, more surreal images, which he created through some subconscious-picking and staged scenarios.
via The Amazing Arthur Tress Shares His Dark, Surreal Photographs From The 1970s: Gothamist.
In an earlier post I mentioned that I had never really taken to this camera and consequently hadn’t really given it a chance. So I thought I’d try it again. But first why didn’t I like it in the first place:
I think the first reason was that I rationalized my problem as being that as I got older carrying around a digital SLR was too much. However, this really wasn’t a good enough reason. It’s really not that big, or that heavy – especially compared to some other DSLRs. Yes – if you put a large zoom lens on it can dramatically increase the weight, but with a smaller, lighter prime lens or a lightweight zoom it’s not at all bad.
Somehow though I was uncomfortable with it – something to do with the balance maybe – especially when holding it vertically. My arms and wrists are not all that strong and I felt that I couldn’t keep it steady. To remedy this I bought an inexpensive battery grip. This helped a lot. I feel a lot more comfortable now.
Then there was the quality of the images. I wasn’t satisfied. I had three lenses. The kit lens that came with the Konica Minolta 5D (Konica Minolta DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6), A Sigma 75-300mm f4.5-5.6, and a Konica Minolta 50mm f1.7. In looking back over my images I noticed that most of them had been taken with the kit lens, not renowned as a great performer. I had hardly used the others. So I bought some inexpensive (I doubt that I payed more than $150 for all of them) Konica Minolta autofocus lenses. Some of them were also kit lenses in their day, but with different focal lengths. I was also looking for a prime lens that would give me a 35mm equivalent. I don’t normally look at Quantaray lenses because I’ve read that they are “cheap and nasty”. However, in browsing on the internet I came across a 24mm Quantaray Tech-10 f2.8 (apparently it’s made by Sigma and is the same as the Sigma 24mm Ultrawide II), which seemed to get very good reviews. I’ve also been using the 50mm f1.7 more.
I’ve taken the camera out several times of late and I must say that I’m a lot happier now. I’m still getting used to some of the foibles, but all things considered I think I’ll use it more in the future. For a minimal investment (both in money and in time) I have a camera that I’m getting to like more and more.
Konica Minolta DT 18-70mm f3.5-5.6. Not a great lens.
Sigma 75-300mm f4.5-5.6. Not a bad lens. It’s large and heavy and quite slow. It’s hard to hand hold and I don’t like to lug around a tripod (maybe I should). The best shots I’ve made with this lens have been when I’ve used a monopod, as I did here.
Konica Minolta 35-70mm f3.5-4.5. I’ve only used this once. Seems like a fairly typical kit lens, maybe a bit better that the DT 18-70mm, but with less of a zoom range. In particular you lose the wide end particularly when the crop factor is taken into account.
Konica Minolta 70-210mm f4.5-5.6. Much lighter than the sigma. I’ve only used it once, but my sense is that the Sigma is sharper.
Konica Minolta 28-100mm f3.5-5.6. A third kit lens. Maybe similar quality to the other two, but it feels more comfortable. I also like the zoom range more, but nothing really wide.
Konica Minolta 50mm f1.7. Pretty decent lens, but with the crop factor a bit too long. Seems good for portraits. but I don’t take too many portraits.
Quantaray 24mm f2.8. I really like this lens (it’s on the camera in the picture above). In a addition to this picture the “Sylvan Glen” pictures were also taken with it. It’s small, light and has a good macro capability. It’s pretty sharp and I like the colors. It seems to have a tendency to flare, so I’ve purchased an inexpensive hood.