Photographs by Frank

30 May 2021

Josiah Rowe (d. 1814)

Filed under: Misc. — Frank @ 12:30 PM

Josiah Rowe, who died in 1814 at the age of 81 years, was (presumably) a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Buried next to him is his wife whose name I can’t quite make out in this photo. She died in 1819 at the age of 70. Their graves are in the cemetery associated with the church in Bradford Center, New Hampshire.

Visiting (and photographing) in old cemeteries is, for me, always an interesting experience. Most of these places are quiet and peaceful. This is certainly true of Bradford Center. I rarely meet anyone else there, even though I have visited dozens of times.

The serenity is conducive to thought. My thoughts often turn to the lives of those commemorated by the grave markers. In so many ways lives lived two hundred years ago were so different from ours. Yet, at the very core of existence, their lives were exactly the same as ours. They were born as we were. They loved as we do. They died as we will.

27 May 2021

Salted Dragons

Filed under: Alternative Processes,Odontates,Salted-paper Prints — Tags: — Frank @ 9:00 PM

Hopefully you were not expecting a new snack food!

I have been ‘mining’ my archives for photographs of dragonflies that might make good salted paper prints. Here are three examples made yesterday.

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24 May 2021

Ode Progression

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 9:30 PM

It is hard to believe that it has been more than a week since my last ode post… where does the time go?!

A week ago, the predominate ode in our yard was the Hudsonian Whiteface. There were also small numbers of chalk-fronted corporals present. This afternoon, with the temperature about 70 deg. F, the skies mostly sunny and a bit of a breeze blowing, the most common odes in the yard were the chalk-fronted corporals (there were dozens, of both sexes), next most common were frosted whitefaces (again, dozens, of both sexes, were present).

Hudsonian whitefaces were essentially absent. I saw one or two. Presumably they have headed back to water where they will mate and lay eggs. I’ll have to find the time to go look!

Additionally, there a single individual of another species present (see the third photograph, below). I know that I have seen this species before, but even with a quick look through the book, I could not identify it… I’m rusty, I guess!

I have yet to see a damselfly this season. Although Joan says that she has see a few while she has been working in the garden.

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21 May 2021

Two Day’s Worth (of Anthotypes)

Filed under: Alternative Processes,Anthotype — Frank @ 12:00 PM

Anthotypes take a lot of time but little effort.

If I have paper already prepared, it takes only a little time in the morning to find a few subjects, to think about compositions, and to load up the printing frames. The exposures take five or six hours in strong (for New Hampshire) sun. Then, in the late afternoon it takes another small amount of time to disassemble the frames and spray the photograms with sodium carbonate (washing soda) solution. After that the paper has to dry overnight.

The past two days were as bright and sunny as it gets here and I made anthotypes both days. I put the exposure interval on both days to good use doing errands and doing chores… no sitting around for me!

I am out of both turmeric extract and treated paper and I want to get back to making some salted-paper prints. Thus, I think that these may be the last anthotypes for a while.

Additionally, my motivation for making these anthotypes in the first place, the vernal renewal of plants (i.e. new leaves!!!), is rapidly waning… everything is more-or-less fully leafed out at this point.

However, I could change my mind on a whim, so who knows!

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19 May 2021

More Anthotypes

Filed under: Alternative Processes,Anthotype — Frank @ 4:30 PM

Yesterday was partly sunny… Sunny enough for anthotypes, I thought.

After a late breakfast*, I prowled the yard, scissors in hand, for plant material. I ended up exposing about a dozen sheets of paper for six hours. The four ‘keepers’ are shown below.

Perceptive viewers will note that the first image (Untitled #5) has a lighter background that the others. It was done on a different paper (Rives Heavyweight) than the others (Strathmore Vison drawing paper). The Strathmore is an inexpensive, acid-free, wood pulp-based paper that seems to work quite well for anthotype. The Rives is a 100% cotton rag paper that is fairly lightweight (175 gsm). It too seems to work well.

Yesterday, I also tried some Stonehenge Light (135 gsm) that did not work well at all. The color in all the of these prints ran when I sprayed them (even very lightly) with the washing soda solution to ‘develop’ them.

In the past, I have tired a number of heavier (250-300 gsm) watercolor papers as well. These did not work well either. The prints were low contrast because, I think, they held too much of the yellow pigment. With these papers, the background was fairly dark even after a very long exposure.

Today is bright and sunny, so I did the same again although breakfast was at the usual time. I have exposures going outside as I write. They should be done shortly. If there are any good ones in the batch, you’ll see them here tomorrow!

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* Complications involving cousins delayed breakfast

18 May 2021

More IR Landscapes

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Spring — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:30 PM

This morning, while running errands, I stopped at a few of my favorite ‘photo spots’ and made some infrared (IR) photos.

IR is a good way to keep photographers entertained. One can make interesting IR landscapes at mid-day on bright sunny days. That is, at times and under conditions where ‘normal’ photos are generally uninteresting.

These photographs were made in the hour surrounding noon under partly sunny skies. I was thoroughly entertained. I hope you are too!

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16 May 2021

First Odes of the Season (2021)

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 7:00 PM

Yesterday, I saw my first dragonfly of the season; a Hudsonian Whiteface perched on the outside of our kitchen window. I actually made a photograph of it, but I’ll spare you having to see it!

This afternoon (with the temperature around 70 deg. F and partly cloudy skies), Hudsonian Whitefaces were common in the yard. Both females (yellow, thick abdomens) and immature males (yellow, relatively thin abdomens; the yellow will turn red as they mature) were present. The were more than a dozen individuals, all actively feeding and perching low to the ground for short periods while they devoured their prey. I also saw (and photographed a single immature male Chalk-fronted Corporal.

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15 May 2021

Landscapes in Infrared

Filed under: Landscapes,Monadnock Region,Spring — Tags: — Frank @ 10:15 PM

A bright sunny day, harsh light… what is a landscape photographer to do?

Make infrared (IR) photos of course!

Warning… photo talk ahead!

These photos are made by placing a filter* on the camera that blocks all but the longest wavelengths of light from getting to the sensor. Straight out of the camera the photos have a deep red color and very low contrast. Processing the files on the computer gives the results you see here.

Green foliage is very reflective in the IR and so it appears bright white in these photos. Water, on the other hand, efficiently absorbs IR light and thus can appear very dark.

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* Specifically, I used an ‘R72’ filter which blocks all light below 720 nm (a deep red color). The filter looks black. If you hold it up to the sky, you can barely make out the disk of the sun.

14 May 2021

Loon Update #2 (2021)

Filed under: Birds,Monadnock Region,Spring,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 10:44 PM

I spent about two hours (from 3-5 PM) watching the loons this afternoon. The temperature was about 70 deg. F and it was mostly cloudy. When I arrived at the lake there was a loon sitting on the nest. (S)he was alert and a bit pestered by the black flies.

Periodically the sun would peak out and the bird would open its mouth to “pant”. Avian “panting” is a thermoregulation mechanism. Birds don’t sweat. Thus, when they get hot the open their mouths to evaporate water from their mucus membranes in order to cool off.

After about an hour and a quarter, the loon stood up, examined the nest and settled back down facing in a slightly different direction. His/her movements looked a bit like egg turning, suggesting that at least one egg had been laid. Joan (who had arrived just a few minutes before this), using the spotting scope and a higher vantage point, confirmed that there is at least one egg (and possibly two) in the nest.

Thus the wait begins! The incubation period for loons is 25-30 days.

Roughly five minutes later and without warning, the loon on the nest slipped off the back of the nest into water. Shortly thereafter, the head of a bird appeared in a gap in the vegetation. It climbed up onto the nest, briefly examined the contents and sat down. I was puzzled by this turn of events until I finally noticed the head of a second loon just to the left of the nest. We had witnessed a ‘changing of the guard’! I had been completely unaware that the second loon had arrived at the nest. One of the hazards of peering into a telephoto lens is ‘tunnel vision’!

The loon in the water spent a few minutes moving nesting material towards the nest and then headed out to feed. After watching the sitting loon for a few more minutes, and knowing it could be an hour or more before the next changing of the guard, we packed up and headed home.

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Anthotypes

Filed under: Alternative Processes,Anthotype — Frank @ 10:30 AM

A few days ago I coated some paper with turmeric extract in anticipation of the next sunny day. Yesterday was that day!

I set up eight printing frames for exposures (four on 5×7 paper and four on 8×10 paper) and had them out in the sun by 10 AM. A little after 4 PM (i.e. a six hour exposure), I removed the paper from the frame and sprayed with a solution of washing soda (sodium carbonate). This changes the bright neon yellow of the turmeric to the nice red-brown you see here and (hopefully) stabilizes the print against further changes upon exposure to more light. Borax is more commonly used for this and gives a fairly neutral brown. I like the red-brown seen here better!

I think these four might just get matted!

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