Grasses in a pond

by Posted in Black & White, Landscapes Leave a comment
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For some reason I went out the other day intending to take some pictures of water. As I walked around, I came across this pond. I’ve seen it before, and it seems to come and go. Sometimes (as with today) there’s quite a lot of water; and sometimes it appears to be completely dry.

I think it’s a vernal pond:

Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish. Certain tropical fish lineages (such as killifishes) have however adapted to this habitat specifically.

Vernal pools are a type of wetland. They can be surrounded by many communities/species including deciduous forest, grassland, lodgepole pine forest, blue oak woodland, sagebrush steppe, succulent coastal scrub and prairie. These pools are characteristic of Mediterranean climates, but occur in many other ecosystems.

An inundated rock vernal pool on Enchanted Rock. Note the one inhabited by cacti in the background.
During most years, a vernal pool basin will experience inundation from rain/precipitation, followed by desiccation from evapotranspiration. These conditions are commonly associated with Mediterranean climate such as the Central Valley of California.[1] Vernal pool basins are often characteristics of Mediterranean climates, but occur in many other ecosystems, such as forested areas of the Canadian Shield, where they are difficult to identify because of the forest canopy.[2] Most pools are dry for at least part of the year, and fill with the winter rains, spring snowmelts and rising water tables. Some pools may remain at least partially filled with water over the course of a year or more, but all vernal pools dry up periodically. Typically, though, a vernal pool has three phases each year: it is inundated in the winter (inundated phase) with the vernal pool holding onto the water from 10–65 days, it dries slowly during the spring (flowering phase), and it dries completely during the summer (dry phase). Vernal pools favor native species because many non-native species cannot tolerate the extreme seasonal changes in environmental conditions. (Wikipedia)

Whatever it is I thought it would make a worthwhile subject

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Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GX85 and Lumix G Vario 14-140 f3.5-5.6

What’s with this stuff about pre-visualization?

by Posted in Photographers, Photography, Thoughts Leave a comment
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I believe that this originates from Ansel Adams who said:

“In my mind’s eye, I visualize how a particular… sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.”

I get that. That’s pretty much what I try to do with my photography. When I see something that interests me, I have a sense of how the final photograph should look. In effect, I visualize how the final image will look and do all I can to get it to look the way I visualized it.

What I don’t get is where the “pre” comes from. The prefix “pre” means something that comes before something else e.g. “The tree was almost certainly planted pre-1700.” or “She attended a pre-adolescent dance class.”

So “pre-visualize” would suggest something that you do before you “visualize”. What is that? Am I missing something?

I quickly browsed around the internet and couldn’t find a quotation where Adams uses “pre-visualize”, although I did find examples (such as the one above) where he does use “visualize”.

Admittedly, I didn’t spend much time looking so I might well have missed something. It was just a passing thought that I don’t really want to spend more effort on.

House on Route 9, Ossining

by Posted in Buildings/Structures Leave a comment

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This house looks as if it was built by Josiah Wedgwood. My late wife used to collect blue and white China. I have a house (and a garage) full of it and I have a certain fondness for it. So, of course, I like the way this house looks.

Again, I haven’t been able to find out anything about its history. I suppose it can’t be anything of significance because the excellent, mammoth (299 page) and comprehensive “Village of Ossining, New York Significant Sites and Structures Guide” does not even mention it.

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Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8

Holy Spirit Church

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Churches Leave a comment
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The Holy Spirit Church in Ossining describes itself on its Facebook Page as: ” a non-denominational Christian church dedicated to meeting the needs of people for life and Godliness.”. So far I haven’t been able to find out anything about its history.

Taken with a Panasonic GX85 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II.