Okay, Junior and I were taking photos today. That was our activity. We did take a bunch of pictures up at Skyview Middle School, which can be seen in my personal Leominster set (they are also in the Leominster group I linked to below.)
That little trip went fairly well, considering it was about 500 below zero up on top of the hill so we decided to take most of the pictures from inside the car.
When it was closer to sunset (i.e. good light) we headed over to Evergreen Cemetery to get a few more shots. I went in the main entrance to see if I could get a good shot of the sign (I couldn’t) and then headed up the road to the right that goes into the “old” section. I got to the part that curves uphill…and it was snow-covered with big ruts. Uh oh, my van was not going to make it up the hill. But when I went to back down, the car didn’t turn, it just sort of slid straight down. I didn’t hit anything but snow, but that snow got good and jammed and my car got stuck. So I tried to rock it back and forth and started to get nervous that I was getting too close to the stones, given that I was trying to do this by myself.
I eventually called Mr. Dump to bring a shovel to save us. How embarrassing. But I don’t think this is my fault. If the city didn’t want to plow that whole road (it was plowed up to that curve) they should have blocked it with a barrel or something. And looking at that immediate area, it looks like I wasn’t the first person to get stuck there.
If the city is going to plow the roads in the cemetery, they should plow all the roads in the cemetery, or block them off so that people like me don’t get stuck and there isn’t a risk of anyone damaging the stones.
So Mr. Dump freed us, and we went home photo-less. I told Junior we’d go back…after the snow melts.
Flickr. is having a massage at the moment (?).
I don’t think I’d like to have been stuck in the snow at the cemetery as it was getting dark….
When you go back to the Evergreen cemetery, see if you can find the grave of
Joseph Palmer, who was persecuted for wearing a beard in the 1830’s. (Ironic, considering the hair styles we see only 20 years later.) Spent some time in jail, and in fact they city had to EVICT him from his jail cell. His monument shows him proudly bearded….
A good farmer – Emerson consulted him on horticultural issues.
And good pictures, by the way, I envy your access to Whalom Park — I took lots of pictures outside the fence in April 2006, but your roller coaster shot is much better than anything I took….
-BB
Bill, I have seen the Joseph Palmer stone before…I don’t think a person grows up in Leominster without knowing about the “Persecuted for wearing the beard” stone. I actually wrote an article about it once for a now defunct local weekly.
Bronson Alcott hired him to tend the farm for the Transcendentalist group that moved to Fruitlands in Harvard when they realized that philosophers aren’t really very good farmers.
Thanks…my access to Whalom was really a case of knowing (via the web) the right people at the right time. And being available when I got the call to stop by.
Sorry for going on about what you already know — I frequently photograph at Fruitlands and am a member there, which is why I went on about Mr. Palmer.
BTW, if the Canon camera you use has a TV mode, you can set the shutter speed to 125 and then you can basically use it like a point and shoot. Shutter speed of 125 is about the slowest speed you can use without blurring, the camera will try to use the smallest aperture (which paradoxically means the biggest number [f22 means the lens opening is smaller than f16] with shutter speed of 125 to properly expose picture. But I’m probably once again telling you things you already know…..
Cheers,
BB
No, don’t know how to use my dSLR! Feel free to give me any advice you want!
So is the story true that Alcott was so bad a farmer that they just mixed all the seed together and sort of flung it down and hoped for the best?
So are your photos up on flickr?
It wouldn’t surprise me if Alcott did that….he certainly starting baking bread in the shape of animals when people complained about the vegetarian fare.
>So are your photos up on flickr?
Nope. Did have a couple of postcards selling at the Fruitlands Museum (donated all the money). Shoot mostly film still, various formats: 35mm, 6x6cm, 6x7cm and 4x5in. Frequently use a view camera (one of those old fashioned things with bellows). I own too many cameras, including a Canon Digital Rebel.
P.S. The Canon 100mm macro lens is a great lens, if you do that kind of photography. Free free to ask me about lenses, or where to buy used camera stuff, etc.
Cheers
BB
I don’t “do” any kind of photography as much as I want to. I’m trying to make myself do more by setting up the flickr group(s) and by trying to get my son more interested. I also don’t have any money for lenses, which is a shame because I’m aware that the kit lense that came with the camera is total crap. Maybe I can try to convince my son to buy me one for Mother’s day, but that’s a ways off. Plus we will probably only be able to afford the 50mmf/1.8, but I’ve heard it’s a really good lense to have while you learn how to use the camera. (The XTi, by the way). I put the lense in my “you know you want to buy me something list” over on the right if you want to give your opinion. 🙂
If you’re ever going to use the view camera at Fruitlands and don’t mind an audience, give me some advance warning and I’ll try to bring my son so he can see it!
I really need to learn how to use my camera.
I had the 50mm f1.8 lens, it worked great, and it’s cheap: $69.95 at bhphoto.com in NY. (But I’ve given that lens to a friend and now have the f1.4 lens – much more expensive).
When you say that the lens that came with the Rebel XTi is “total crap”, is that born out of your experience or did someone tell you that? Because I don’t think you should be worrying about the quality of the lens while you’re learning photography….
The 50mm lens gives an angle of view similar to the human eye. Which is one reason why people tell you to photograph with it….plus there is a discipline involved (in terms of seeing) using a fixed focal length lens as opposed to a zoom lens.
I can frequently be found at Fruitlands on Saturdays in the summer, sometimes I wear a big straw Shaker hat…. Frequently when I use the view camera I find people photographing me more than the magnificent landscape!
(Will send you an email @bigdumptruck.com so you have the option of continuing this “off-blog” if you wish….You can ignore that and continue the conversation here – whatever is most confortable.)
I signed myself as “Basement Bill” because I saw another Bill posting and didn’t want any confusion. Posted once before when there was a story about frantic deer in a store on Main street in Fitchburg, I was the one who quoted the animal control officer as saying “It probably went in there for a pack of smokes.”
Anyway, best wishes, you could do worse than that
50mm 1.8 lens….
Cheers
BB