A Busy Summer

In Vermont, summer is all about our natural surroundings.  Winter is now forgotten and the bitter cold weather has been replaced by gorgeous warm days and beautiful colorful landscapes.  This summer has been a very busy one focused on home improvement and outdoor projects.  Between putting new fences, building a lovely stone patio in the back of the house to a new fireplace and a gourmet kitchen, I feel that I missed summer!  Not all is lost as Foliage is the most beautiful season of all and this year the colors are forecasted to be spectacular.  Jasper (my Drathaar) and I will be in the woods chasing the grouses and partridges. 

The picture of our new patio down below was taken with my Nikon Kodak DCS 760, equipped with an 80mm 2.8 Mamiya lens from my medium format set.  I took the shot early in the morning to get sharp contrast and pleasing shadows. The post-work was completed by using Photoshop.

Flowers are also the central focus of summer in a State covered by snow almost half of the year. They surround the patio and the gardens located on the property.  The picture of the red Tulips posted below was taken late Spring using my Nikon F5 equipped with a Vivitar Series 1 120-600 objective set at 120. Sandy soil is best for Tulips (or any bulb) to increase and flower in later years. Good drainage is essential. For best results it is better to plant bulbs in October or November. As a rule of thumb, the depth that tulips should be planted is approximately three times the length of the bulb.

Taking the shot was tricky because of the back-light and the low position of the sun that morning.  The picture was then reworked in Photoshop to give it a watercolor feel.

St. John - Cannel Bay

Caneel Bay is on the west side of St. John, surrounded by the Virgin Islands National Park. Cannel played a key role in St. John’s historic slave revolt of 1733. There are many historic ruins scattered around the grounds; most notable is the Caneel sugar mill, which today hosts one of the resort's restaurants. Rockefeller sailed into Caneel Bay back in the 1950s, laid his eyes on the Caneel Bay property, and envisioned a resort. He started buying up property on the island and eventually donated it to the U.S. government, giving birth to the national park.  This legacy of appreciating natural beauty is at the core of Caneel Bay and its many visitors. 

What a photographer's paradise!  The ruins and the vegetation are breathtaking. During that particular day, I took many shots with film and digital media.  The following picture was taken from inside the ruins looking at the beautiful surroundings.  The crowded grounds make it sometimes difficult to focus and compose. This picture was taken at ISO 100 with my Mamiya 80mm lens at F8 / 1/100 mounted on a Kodak DCS 760 with Nikon adapter. Cannel will always be dear to my heart and my eyes...

The Passing of my Father in France

Last week, March 4th,  my father passed away.  After a long battle with illness, he passed away peacefully while being treated for his condition at the Nantes hospital. My father was an avid gardener and a flower lover. He spent countless hours in gardens during his lifetime.   I remember him bringing home very nice flower bouquets to my mother. While in Bouguenais France attending his Funerals, an idea came to me: I took the Iris picture below in my sister's garden on March 8, the day of his Funerals, with the intention of framing it.  The picture was taken with my Mamiya 80mm lens at f2.8 1/1200 without at tripod.

St. John - Cruz Bay

St. John is home to the Virgin Islands National Park which protects over 7000 acres of the 12,500 acre island. It offers visitors a unique opportunity to enjoy and appreciate the beautiful natural resources of the island.  Cruz Bay Town in St. John is your ferry stop island entrance full of great restaurants, shops, places to stay, water sports outfitters, bars, and other points of attraction. Once you've visited Cruz Bay, you'll know why the natives call this place, Love City. Prestigious travel magazines such as National Geographic, Caribbean Travel and Life, and Islands have all at one time or another declared the beaches of St. John USVI to be among the best in the world.

I have been trying to apply three guidelines to every photograph I took during my journey:  First, decide on the subject of the photograph, then draw the attention of the viewer to my subject and finally strive for simplification. To achieve razor-sharp image every time you really need to focus precisely on the subject and avoid the possibility of camera shake by using a tripod or a very fast shutter speed.  I used both a Giotto tripod and a Manfrotto monopod for most of my photo sessions.

St. Thomas Butterfly Farm

One of the highlights of my trip was a visit at the St. Thomas Butterfly Farm.  The Farm is located near to the cruise ship dock with easy access from Charlotte Amelie.  To enter the farm you have to go through a few "protocols" that prevent the butterflies from leaving their habitat. Surprisingly, the butterflies bred and cared for on the Farm are illegal in the country. Their continued presence is subject to non-importation regulations.  The Farm itself is quite small and can be visited rather quickly. But for a photographer, the variety of butterflies that flutter around in the most amazing colors and shapes is stunning and most inspiring. Butterflies, classified as insects, have four distinct life stages — egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or pupa, and butterfly.  Butterflies' lives are dedicated to breeding. It's important to watch where you step along the garden's sandy pathways, because it's easy to stumble on a mating pair. Males will mate many times. Females, only once, lay up to 300 eggs before they die. With eggs laid, the cycle of life for the butterfly starts all over again.

Technically, these “creatures” are quite challenging to photograph with a tripod and a macro rail.  It seems that as soon as you are set up and ready to press the shutter, they fly away eager to be courted a little longer.  I spent two hours at the Farm and it was a wonderful experience.  Besides taking butterfly pictures, I also focused my attention on the beautiful flowers located along the garden paths.

US Virgin Islands

Well, 10 days have already past and I am on my way back to Vermont.  The beautiful Islands of St John, Tortolla and St Thomas have provided me with great photo opportunities and a chance to improve my technical abilities.  I have shot medium format as well as 35mm digital and film.  The most important discovery I made relates to my lenses choices and capabilities.  I was surprised to find out that both my zoom lenses (Nikon ED 80-200 2.8 and Tokina ATX Pro 35-70 2.6) performed rather poorly when measured agains my prime lenses.  Using my Mamiya medium format prime lenses with a Nikon adapter on both my digital and film 35mm cameras has really been a dilightful treat:  the sharpness, color, contrast and overall performance was outstanding both with 80mm and 150mm.  These lenses also performed very well for macro photography coupled with Mamiya extension tubes.  One of my goals was to visit the St Thomas Butterfly Farm and take some nice close ups;  the results have surpassed my expectations and the pictures came out great with the Mamiya lenses.  I will upload some of my butterfly pictures in my next post.

I have also improved my abilities at selecting the right speed and aperture for my photo work.  My depth of fields have subsequently improved as well.  Having spent more time on framing the right composition, has also provided me with much more interesting and focused pictures.  My medium format Mamiya has been used mostly for landscape and panoramic shots that hopefully will be "stitched " together for a 360 degree view. The posted sunset picture was taken at Francis Bay with my Mamiya 645 Pro.