Fog isn't as common here as I wish it were, and when it does show up in the early morning, I'm usually on my way to work.  But yesterday a fog had lingered until I returned, and I immediately got the camera and went behind our house to record what I saw.  Here are three of those images.  Even though they are not in the actual colors of the scene, for me at least, they achieve the sense and vibrations of lingering autumn leaves. 

Pond scum is inevitable.  It accumulates to the point of completely covering the surface of ponds and shallow lakes until cool weather ends its season. It's often rather boring...kinda like looking at a random group of clouds that doesn't resemble anything you can read into it.  But, sometimes as the scum ebbs a bit, what remains gets together and dances!  In a breeze driven spiral, this patch of scum was beautiful to me. 

Autumn color is at peak this weekend.  It's incredibly beautiful with saturated yellows, reds, and oranges.  Today is sunny, and the leafy brilliance is dazzling.  But, yesterday was rainy and clouded over which kept the color rich and soft without the glare and intensity that sunlight creates.  Of course, photographs in monochrome can't rely on the chroma of the leaves, but can rely on their values, especially against a strongly contrasting background.  These two photographs were made yesterday in a tiny little park that is bordered by busy roads.  The stream here was swollen with the day's rain, and there were countless fallen leaves that had been detached from their trees by its pelting.  I was happy that enough were left to make these images.  They'll almost certainly be gone in the next few days. 

Equipment is very much secondary to me when making photographs, but it is important.  Almost anything will do if I understand how to use it effectively.  I've been using a spot meter for years until just recently when I bought a metering prism for the Pentax 67.  At first, it seemed to eat batteries within minutes, and I thought I'd have to return it to KEH, but I bought fresh batteries and they've not discharged nor failed.  This is an image from the first roll of film I've used metering with the prism.  I'm pretty happy with what turned out in difficult lighting.  It's a photograph I made on the way home from a very satisfying visit to a gallery that liked the box of prints I showed.  Where that will lead is unknown, but it was a good experience.

As I no longer make small (8X10) prints, most of the images that are posted here are negative scans that attempt to emulate their paper print doppelgangers.  But, this is a print scan from a negative I made a bunch of years ago.  I like it enough to want to reprint it in the manner I now utilize that will crop from the original (as has been done here), and be lightly toned in thiocarbamide and selenium.

For photography, skeletal trees are far more interesting in their winter dormancy than during their leafy lives.  Of course, in autumn, the riot of their color is irresistible, but so tenuous that only the memory of their brilliance remains. Their symmetry, shape, and elegance is best revealed when they're shorn of their 'other' season's cloak.

This site is close to the former home of my all-time dearest cello student who witnessed it every winter day.  I just got it down on film and paper.  Here's to you, kiddo!!