Gus keeping guard while I read

Milkweed

A few weeks ago I brought the students for a lab at the Waynesboro Watershed Dam. I noticed some milkweed that had opened up and were dispersing. It was fun trying to get some closeup pictures.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Hands or Hands-Like

My PhotoFriday challenge shot. This black walnut tree looks like a hand with the leaves gone.

Along the Androscoggin River in the 1970's

I came across this fascinating collection of pictures of the Lewiston/Auburn Maine area going all the way to the source of the Androscoggin river in New Hampshire. The pictures were taken by Charles Steinhacker for the EPA. At this time, 1973, the struggle was on to clean up the river, which had endured almost a century of industrial and municipal waste. The pulp mills deposited all their waste directly into the river. The towns along the shore did the same. The smell of the river was legendary.
At this time the Clean Water Act had just been passed with high hopes. It would take many years, but the river would eventually be restored. I was a student at Lewiston High School at the and remember the time and the issues well.

Posted via email from Black Gap Road

Golden Light

P1070058
Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

Just before sunset the sun descended below the clouds to illuminate everything with this golden light. The photography books always say dawn and dusk are the magic times. Here the trees across the old nursery property at Penn State Mont Alto are illuminated with the summit of Mont Alto in the background.

This walnut tree shows up in high relief.

The historical markers glow in the last light.

Visiting a park on a dreary day

It's been overcast all day with rain threatening. I decided this afternoon to visit the nearby Caledonia State Park. The foliage has passed, but there are still some beautiful scenes at this pond along the Thaddeus Stevens Historic Trail. I was looking to capture the reflections of the trees in the still pond. I was drawn to the geometric forms of the downed tree and the intensely green grass at the edge of the water.



Surprisingly the same scene is also on Google Maps and you can drive up the road.


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Remains of post office, Bangor fire (LOC)

Remains of post office, Bangor fire (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

I've been poking around Flickr and found the archives of the Bain News Serivice showing the Post Office on fire during the Bangor Great Fire of 1911. I used to live on Center St. in the late seventies. I had no idea this had occured sixty years before. Fascinating.

One of the Flickr members gave this link to a Wikipedia article describing the damage of this fire.

Here's one more image from the same collection showing a man made homeless by the fire.

More Megapixels

This is an article by David Pogue in the New York Times. He describes a test, done twice, where identical prints are made at three different megapixel densities. In spite of what most people think, almost no one can tell the difference between the prints. They are essentially identical.

So, this means that in choosing a camera megapixels are just one factor. The lens, electronics, storage capacity, etc. are equally as important.

I just upgraded from my three year old Gateway 5 megapixel camera to a 6 megapixel Panasonic DMC-FZ7. I was looking for the zoom lens (12X vs. 3X optical) and the faster response time in a newer camera. Also, to be honest, I couldn't afford the 8 or 9 megapixel model.