Monadnock Region « Photographs by Frank

29 January 2021

Random Photographs

Filed under: Landscapes,Misc.,Monadnock Region — Frank @ 9:30 PM

Cold*… snowy… drab… gray.

A pretty apt description of January. My photography slows down this time every year, but still I try. These days the little Fuji I bought about a month ago goes with me whenever I leave the premises.

Learning to see wide-angle compositions** has been interesting and fun.

These photographs were all made with the Fuji over the past ten days.

Snow Memorial

Untiled (Tree and Sky)

Harrisville Reflection

A Short Story

Lakeshore Landscape #1

Lakeshore Landscape #2

Lakeshore Landscape #3

Untitled

Road Side Oddity #205

Snowy Trrees

* The temperature is 5 degrees F as I write this. The high today was 12. More typically over the past several weeks, the highs have been in the low 20s and the lows around 10 or 12 degrees F.

** Remember the Fuji X100F has a 22 mm (35 mm in “full frame” terms) lens that can not be removed.

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19 January 2021

Farm Trees

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Winter — Tags: trees — Frank @ 6:00 PM

That is “Farm Trees” not “Tree Farms”! Signs, bearing the latter being a common sight in this neck of the woods.

I had been eyeing the two apple trees near the house at the Bass Farm for some time. They are situated at the cusp of a rise in the field. In my mind, I envisioned a photo of the bare branches against the sky made with my camera obscura.

Late yesterday morning, I headed out to see if I could create what I had in mind. The skies were mostly cloudy, but I was hoping for just enough sun to make things interesting. While I was there, I explored similar photos of a number of other trees on the grounds.

After I finished at the Bass Farm, I headed to a farm field in Hancock with an interesting old (dead) elm in the middle. It is too far away from the field’s edge to use the camera obscura and the field is surrounded by an electric fence precluding a closer approach*. Thus, I made a photograph (the last one in this series) using a short telephoto on my ‘normal’ camera.

Bass Farm Tree #1

Bass Farm Tree #2

Bass Farm Tree #3

Bass Farm Tree #4

Bass Farm Tree #5

Bass Farm Tree #6

Dead Elm (Hancock)

* I am contemplating approaching the owners of this field/tree to see if I can get permission enter the field so I can get close enough to use the camera obscura. If that happens, you’ll see the result here… I promise!

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5 January 2021

Mid-day Visitor

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Wildlife,Winter — Tags: porcupine — Frank @ 12:28 PM

Late this morning Joan was talking to her cousin on the phone when she began to wildly gesticulate in the direction of the French doors to our deck. I meander over to see what was up and observed this porcupine climbing a small beech tree.

It took me a few minutes to find the tripod, put Big Bertha (my 600 mm lens) on the camera and mount both to said tripod. I made my first exposure at 11:51 AM and made eighteen exposures total before heading back inside. There just is not a lot of action when a porcupine decides to “have a sit” up a tree!

Here it is 12:20 as I write this. I’ll be pushing the “publish” button shortly. Thirty minutes from start to finish… ain’t technology wonderful!!!

As I learned from an old newspaper photographer, always give them a horizontal and a vertical), so here are two photos.

Porcupine (hor.)

Porcupine (vert.)

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28 December 2020

Failure / Ice Abstracts

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Winter — Frank @ 10:00 PM

This morning I took the new camera on my walk down the road to the lake with the following results.

The new camera is so small and light one barely knows it is there. Having a fairly wide and fixed lens is going to be an adjustment!

The experiment continues…

Failure (Holiday Bud)

Failure (Power, Averted)

Failure (Maple)

Failure (Postal)

Failure (Santa)

Ice Abstract #1

Ice Abstract #2

Ice Abstract #3

Ice Abstract #4

Comments Off

First Photos

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Winter — Frank @ 9:45 PM

I bought myself a new camera* as an experiment in creativity. It works very differently from the cameras I am used to and is probably best suited for street photography, a genre that I have not really explored.

It is going to be interesting to see where this camera leads.

On Saturday afternoon I made the rounds of some of my favorite nearby “photo spots”and made photos more to familiarize myself with the camera than anything else.

The results are not at all different from my usual photographs… not yet, at least!

Gregg Lake - Winter

Riverine Field in Flood

Farm Pond

Church #1 (Hillsborough Center)

Church #2 (Hillsborough Center)

* Photographer talk ahead, proceed at your own risk! The new camera is a Fujifilm X100F and is very different from the dSLR s I have been using for the past sixteen years. The X100F is styled like and works similarly to an old-fashioned rangefinder film camera. Its an interesting mix of old (with actual dials for shutter speed, aperture and ISO) and new (it has menus galore and all of the bells and whistles that Fuijfilm cameras are know for). It also has a fixed (i.e. unchangeable) wide angle lens. The camera is small, unobtrusive and light… an ideal street photography camera.

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27 October 2020

Mother Nature’s New Carpet

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: landscapes — Frank @ 6:00 PM

Every autumn Mother Nature provides the woods with a new carpet. It is always the same composition but never the same pattern.

On my walk a few days ago, I was attracted to patches of dappled sunlight on the roadside.

Mother Nature's New Carpet #1

Mother Nature's New Carpet #2

Mother Nature's New Carpet #3

Mother Nature's New Carpet #4

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Obie’s Maple Leaves

Filed under: Autumn,Monadnock Region — Frank @ 5:00 PM

With apologies to Arlo, Alice and her restaurant…

Yes sir, Officer Obie, I can not tell a lie… I put those maple leaves on that granite stone.

Opie's Maple Leaf #1

Opie's Maple Leaf #2

Opie's Maple Leaf #3

Opie's Maple Leaf #4

In my defense, the light was nice and the leaves interesting!

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24 October 2020

Mother Nature’s Yellow Period

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Frank @ 6:30 PM

Picasso had his Blue Period. Mother Nature has her Yellow Period each fall.

After the maples and birches are done with their autumnal display of reds and oranges in the canopy, it is time for the beeches in the under story to take the limelight. They turn yellow, then orange-brown on their way to a light tan.

Of course, beeches, like oaks, then hold on to those pale tan leaves until spring.

These photos were made on a morning walk up the unmaintained section of Brimstone Corner Road.

Yellow Period #1

Yellow Period #2

Yellow Period #3

Yellow Period #4

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8 October 2020

Thursday Foliage

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: fall foliage, landscapes — Frank @ 11:32 PM

This afternoon I had to run an errand in Keene. The light and skies were perfect as I got to Hancock (around 5 PM) on the way home.

I had my camera with me and made a few photographs.

Jacquith Brook Wetland

Field's Edge #1

Field's Edge #2

Barn & Foliage

Field's Edge #3

Pond's Edge Foliage

Wetland Margin Foliage

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4 October 2020

First Saturday Jaunt

Filed under: Autumn,Landscapes,Monadnock Region — Tags: autumn leaves, foliage, landscapes — Frank @ 10:05 PM

On the first Saturday of each month (COVID not withstanding*) I get together with a group of friends and fellow photographers in Brattleboro to share work.

Yesterday morning, I headed out for our meeting early hoping to find some foliage to photograph in the early light. I was not disappointed. In addition to nice light, many of the local ponds and lakes were shrouded in morning mist as sometimes happens this time of year.

Gregg Lake: Early Morning, Early October #1

Gregg Lake: Early Morning, Early October #2

Gregg Lake: Early Morning, Early October #3

Birch Pond

Eva's Marsh

After our get together, I meandered home from Brattleboro stopping to make photographs in Fitzwilliam, Troy, Jaffrey Center and Hancock.

Bowker Pond

Window: Troy Blanket Mills #1

Jacquith Brook Wetland

Autumn Foliage: Fields Edge

Autumn Barn

Although most of the photograph were made using my ‘regular’ camera. I did breakout the camera obscura on a few occasions.

Mt Monadnock from the Meetinghouse in Jaffrey Center

Meetinghouse, Jaffrey Center

Bran and Autumn Foliage

Untitled

Field's Edge In Autumn

*After a several months of meeting via Zoom we have been getting together outside on the Common in Brattleboro. Now that the weather is becoming less conducive to outdoor meetings, we have to figure out what is next.

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