Wooden eagle statue

by Posted in Black & White, Landscapes, Statues, Things Leave a comment
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A nearby plaque reads: “In memory of Benjamin F. DeFrancesco 1898-1993. As the flag flies freely, so do I.”

I took this with a Sony NEX 5N and 16mm f2.8 lens and its matched ultra wide angle converter. I recall that I used this combination, but it’s hard to be sure as the metadata provides only the focal length of 16mm with or without the converter. The converter makes the lens focal length 12mm (18mm 35mm equivalent), which is pretty wide. It distorts quite a bit and is pretty soft in the corners. It’s an inexpensive alternative if you have only an occasional use for an ultra wide lens, particularly if you already have the 16mm (otherwise you would have to buy it as this converter is designed to work only with this lens).

Statue and bench

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Taken on the grounds of a nearby mansion. I liked the juxtaposition of the quite new looking bench and the obviously much older statue. The somewhat eroded statue made me think about the passage of time and the way they stand isolated in this bucolic setting aroused a feeling of loneliness (this statement is a little misleading. It’s true for the picture, but not for the reality. This grouping actually stands quite close to the large mansion. So it’s not as isolated as the picture suggests).

Garden club meeting

by Posted in Black & White, People Leave a comment
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In earlier posts I’ve mentioned that my wife and I belong to the local garden club. It’s been great to be a member as we’ve met many incredible people who also belong to the club. Every year the club organizes two major events: the Christmas Party; and the Garden Tour where members visit a number of gardens belonging to their fellow members. In addition to these events there’s a monthly meeting hosted by one of the members. At these meetings there’s usually a presentation on a specific topic. Last Sunday was our turn to host the meeting and the presentation was on herbs: how to identify them; how to grow them; how to preserve them etc. About twenty people participated.

I don’t normally like taking pictures at this type of event. It’s not my preferred type of photography and I’m not particularly good at it. However, my wife wanted the event recorded so out came the cameras.

Here are a few of the members watching the presentation.

I’m British and always find it hard to understand why Americans pronounce the word ‘herb’ without the ‘h’ i.e. as ‘erb’. After all you wouldn’t say ‘erbert’ would you?

Facade

by Posted in Black & White, Buildings/Structures Leave a comment
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What I felt most when approaching this magnificent old mansion was a sense of awe. The front facade really was quite imposing in its size and solidity. You approach the house from below, which makes it look even more spectacular.

I’ve since learned that it’s not quite as solid as it looks. In the second of two posts dating from 2011 the Big Old Houses site describes it as follows:

I’m very fond of this house but let’s be honest, it was not built for the ages. At first glance, most people assume it’s clad in limestone or marble. Not so. The walls are brick overlaid with wire mesh onto which stucco – meaning layers of fine cement – has been applied by hand. What look like carved stone architectural elements – moldings, brackets and so forth – are all made out of stucco too. In the case of this section of cornice, the projecting shape is not a function of a piece of stone but has been created by means of projecting metal brackets whose wire mesh has fallen off with the missing stucco. At one point the State sprayed the whole building with gunnite, being cement forced out of a hose at high speed, giving the place an unfortunate batter-fried look. The Staatsburg State Historic site is trying its best to remedy the sins of the past by restoring the facade to its original appearance. So far they’ve done one elevation.

It seems that they have now done more. I didn’t notice any of the damage shown in the pictures on this site.

As an aside I noticed that the posts on the Big Old House blog had stopped in July 2015 with a post noting that effective July 2015 posts would appear on the author’s new site. I looked for his new site, but was unable to find it. Eventually I found a notification the the author of the blog, John Foreman, passed away in April 2016. Very sad. I wish I’d found his blog earlier. He seems to have been an interesting person.

I’ve got my eye on you

by Posted in Black & White, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
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I was wandering around at a nearby working farm when this cow (I think it’s a cow) ambled over. I waited for a while in the hope that it would look up, which it eventually did. It’s a fairly rare picture for me in that 1) I don’t often take pictures of animals and, more significantly, I almost never take pictures looking down. I’m not sure why that is. I usually take pictures at eye level and sometimes get down low to take pictures looking up, but I rarely take pictures looking down.

I imagine I was thinking that it looked rather “cute” and I’m sure I had a smile on face because of the way it looked up at me.