PAW 2005 - Wk 47 - Chains

Tried out a Fuji GW670III this afternoon at lunch in Portland's Old Port.
I like the camera. Maybe even better than the Hasselblad that I just got.
(Fuji GW670III with fixed 90/3.5 and Fuji's new Pro160s film.)

PAW 2005 - Wk 46 - Fall Turkeys

Wild Maine Turkeys pitching woo in the field at the top of our mountain in the early morning light.

Inspired a Haiku...

plumage on display
Wild Turkeys are noble birds
love is in their air

(Nikon D70 with 24-120 VR Nikkor)

Nicole's November Walk

Nicole and her dad went out for a walk while her mom and little sister went out to dance class...

It is November in the Maine woods and this means it is hunting season. Especially because it is nearing sunset and hard to see in the woods, they both make sure that they dress with articles of blaze orange so as not to look like a tasty deer to any hunters who may not be so good at following the rules of being sure of their target and beyond. Nicole is very eager to enjoy hunting herself with her dad and her Pepere in just a few seasons so this is fashion clash with her signature pink is a small imposition to enjoy the woods of Maine safely at this favourite time of year.


As they leave the house they notice that the Jack-O-Lanterns that Nicole and her sister Beth very skillfully carved with their Nanna are starting to return to the Earth already in the composte pile among the year's first fallen snow.


Down the road a bit, they stop to admire how deep the pools on the side of the road have gotten after the latest storm. Her dad apprecieates the reflections of the woods beyond.


Further down the road on their walk, the wind has come up as they stop to enjoy how the fading light is pretty on the forest on quickly melting first new snow.


Looking down as they are about to move on, Nicole spots a brightly coloured fungi on a broken branch. Her dad makes a photograph of it so that they can even better remember it and the rest of their walk together.

(Nikon D70, 24-120 VR at very slow speeds hand held)

PAW 2005 - Wk #45 - Maple Leaf Joy

The wonderous poetry that is a tree cannot be captured easily in a small fraction of a second of light reflected in time/space. I photographed this maple early in the PAW project this year leafless in the cold snow. Since then it has grown a thick covering of green leaves that nurtured it with converted solar energy all summer and has now exploaded into a riotous festival of orange just before they will drop to the floor and cover and eventually feed the roots in a rich blanket of leafmold under the snow. In the spring it will begin all over again.

This is the essence of coolness about trees for me, they are a perfect demonstrative example of the birth, life, death and renewal cycles that all of creation is starting and stopping continuously.

(Nikon D70, 12-24 Tokina)

PAW 2005 - Wk 44 - Hasselblad Portraits

Quick Portraits of Nicole and Beth to test out my new Hasselblad 503CX with 80/2.8 Planar using Fuji's new Pro160S film. (Soon to hit the shelves to replace NPS.)

I wan't much using the Leica M4P any longer in favour of my little digital Canon SD300 so I figured if I was going to get excited about film at all any more, I should get that Hasselblad that I've always wanted. I used a 500CM when stationed in Alaska as an Army Photographer and loved the camera. Many pros these days are dumping their Hasselblad gear on the used market in order to buy new expensive high MP rated Digital SLRs.

The V system cameras (such as this new 503CX) will take digital backs as well as a variety of film backs. The digital backs are prohibitively expensive for most folks to just play with and are not all that practical for the type of 'for profit' photography that I do, but they are quite capable in the studio and in a few years the used market for these first and second generation digital backs will be well within 'play equipment' range.

It made sense to me to pick up a nice condition Hasselblad now and to enjoy 120 film with it while I wait for the market to come down on the digital backs so I traded the Leica M4P that I had been ignoring for the Hasselblad. This is the first time I've ever not regretted parting with a Leica (and I still have the ancient 1949 'clockwerk' IIIc and several wonderfully clean Leitz screw mount lenses anyhow.)

Samhain 2005

Halfway between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice, is Samhain (pronounced Sow-en).

As our Celtic Ancestors did, first as Pagans celebrating Samhain and then as Christians celebrating All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we hold a small ritual feast in order to close out our year and to honour and remember those who have gone on before us.

In one modern tradition of Druidry, from now until Yule as the land settles down for a long winter's nap and the light of day is noticably less present than any other time of the year, we take special attention to thank our Ancestors (of blood and of spirit) for all that they have passed down to us through the long passing of time. We thank them for both the good traits that we can recognise and adopt in our own lives for use and for the bad habits that we can acknowledge and recognise to learn from without adopting. As this is the Celtic 'New Year', many of us take these things we learn from contemplating our Anscestors and use this time to make resolutions for our self growth for the coming year.
(SD300)