Winter « Photographs by Frank

20 March 2022

A Tale of Two Days (in March)

Filed under: Early Spring,Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Winter — Frank @ 3:00 PM

March is an ‘interesting’ month here in New Hampshire… is it the last hurrah of winter or the onset of spring? The answer to that question depends on the day.

Since my last post (about two weeks ago) the ground has been completely covered again with snow (two or three inches) on two separate occasions. The snow is mostly gone again. Only pockets of the winter’s accumulation remain in the coolest, shadiest spots. The standing water (beaver ponds, forest pools and the lake) is still mostly frozen but there are bits of open water beginning to show.

Last Thursday was a late winter day; the temperature was in the low forties and it was overcast; there were brief periods of light rain. Mid-afternoon brought an interesting “ground” fog. I put “ground” in quotes because the heaviest fog was actually over the still mostly frozen lake. There were thick rivers of fog about 20 feet high in multiple spots.

Friday was the complete opposite of Thursday; an early spring day. The temperature was in the low sixties and it was partly sunny. I took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk up Hattie Brown Road. I made it as far as the old farmstead before deciding that it was time to head home for lunch.

There is not much left of the Hattie Brown farm… just a cellar hole and much metallic debris scattered about.

The pockets of snow that remain this time of year are littered with the winter’s detritus… beech leaves, hemlock cones and various small sticks and twigs.

Beech leaves are how we will know that spring has truly arrived. Last year’s leaves are still tenaciously hanging on to branches in the under story. They will drop only as this year’s leaves begin to bud out. Then, we can declare that spring is here to stay.

The first four photos below were made on Thursday; the remainder are from my walk on Friday.

Fog On Gregg Lake #1

Fog on Gregg Lake #2

Foggy Tree

Bob Houses in March

Forest Pool

Hattie Brown Road Artifact #1

Hattie Brown Road Artifact #2

Hattie Brown Road Artifact #3

The Winter's Detritus

Vernal Pool

Late Winter, Gregg Lake

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19 February 2022

Out and About

Filed under: Misc.,Winter — Frank @ 9:00 PM

The middle of the winter is always a slow time for my photography but I usually take a camera with me when I leave the house just in case. The six photos shown here were made during the past three weeks while “out and about”.

Untitled #1

Untitled #2

Untitled #3

Untitled #4

Untitled #5

Ragged

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13 January 2022

Greetings From Brattleboro, VT

Filed under: architecture,Landscapes,Misc.,Winter — Frank @ 11:30 PM

This afternoon, I made a visit to the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro to see the members exhibition. I have two prints in the show.

After I finished taking in the exhibit, I took a walk around downtown with camera in hand.

There were few people around even though it was quite mild. The temperature was right around freezing. I’m not much of a “people photographer anyway. However, I found plenty of other things to photograph.

This is probably not the impression of Brattleboro that the Chamber of Commerce would like one to have… but here it is!

Greetings

Three Windows (The Old VCP)

Functional Fun/Cheap Thrills

Poetry

Window/Vines

Sushi

Untitled

Ghost Window

View from the Top (of the garage)

Once I warmed up my visual sensibility, as I often do, I saw interesting details everywhere.

Untitled #1

Untiled #2

Untiled #3

Untiled #4

Untiled #5

Untiled #6

Untiled #7

Untiled #8

Untiled #9

Untiled #10

Vine #1

Vine #2

Untiled #11

(Tri)Angles

The alley way that runs behind the buildings on the east (river) side of Main Street is, most definitely, not what most visitors see of Brattleboro. It is interesting none-the-less.

No War But...

Bogus Lives

Growth

EGKO?

Alien

Peace

Found You

More Trouble

Love

Sell Out

Soul Tramp

Feeling Free

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22 December 2021

Holiday Spirit

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

I pass by this yard every time I head to town. The decorations go up before Thanksgiving and the display seems to grow with each passing year. (This is the third or fourth year, if my memory is correct.)

There are literally hundreds of objects scattered throughout the yard. It is quite a statement about the holidays.

I’m not sure exactly what these folks are trying to say. However, I doubt that it is the message that comes through to me!

The Whole Shebang

Detail #1

Detail #2

Santa with Modern Transportation

My Favorite Detail

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11 February 2021

Ten Photos

Filed under: Landscapes,Misc.,Winter — Frank @ 10:05 PM

February, thus far, is turning out a lot like January… snowy, cold and gray.

High temperatures recently have been in the mid-twenties, the lows in the low teens. It is 11 deg F, as I write this, headed to right about zero by morning.

The cold only slows down the photography. The drab gray weather is what brings things to more-or-less a standstill. Maybe I’ll take up still life on the dining room table like my friend Jeff!

The first three of these photos were made on the first in Peterborough, the remaining seven were made yesterday at the Canterbury Shaker Village.

Untitled

Snowly Cafe

Snowy Sign

Maple & Fence

Shaker Buildings

Apple Tree / Sun Set

Orchard Shed

Shed Shadow

Blue Hour / White Door

Arcs and Lines

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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!

Comments (1)

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.

Comments (1)

26 February 2020

Potter Place

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

Potter Place is the site of an old railroad depot and village in the town of Andover, New Hampshire. The depot building and a general store across the road are used as a museum by the Andover Historical Society.

This afternoon, I spent an hour or so poking around Potter Place.

It is interesting enough that I have put it on my mental list of places to return to at some point in the future. Sometime when when the weather is better and the buildings are open for exploration,

Potter Place Depot #1

Potter Place Depot #3

Still Life with Luggage #1

Birds On A Wire

Still Life with Luggage #2

Semaphore Signal

Drink Coca-Cola

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