This is the card for our upcoming show. Susan's work is fantastic....my work is what it is...black and white photographs. It's keeping us both very, very busy for the next two weeks. I won't be posting any new work till the show is up. All are invited. We hope to have scans of all the work in the show by March 1st, so you can visit us then at dalyvoss.com. BTW, the Walkill River Gallery is in Montgomery, New York. It's a charming old, small town on the Walkill River in Orange County. There are a surprising number of good restaurants there, so if you come by you won't be at a loss for food and drink at the opening, or in the town.

February 13th brought a marvelous/awful ice storm to our region. Marvelous, in the spectacular beauty of ice embracing every twig and pebble...awful, in the treacherously slippery footing and road surface conditions that persisted throughout the day despite temperatures above freezing. In fact, as fog and mist and sleet and rain drenched these branches, the coating of ice only increased...go figure....I guess the trees were solidly frozen and were colder than the air. In any case, I had a happy time with the Shen Hao aimed out one of the rear windows of our house. Here's one of the six exposures I made with the 4x5.

I've been going through my negative file for stuff I've not printed at all for one reason or another. This is a square crop of a 4x5 negative I made last spring I think. No photographer can continue to exist without having made an image of this timeworn subject (written with tongue planted firmly against cheek). This is my first. It's an endearing and enduring subject despite its ubiquity. Perhaps I will make more in the future as lily pads are alluring. ;-)

I've not posted here for a while because I've been too busy "finishing" prints for exhibition to have had time to make new ones. The two 'graphs below are from a storm that was predicted to be a major one, but turned out to be a very beautiful, but low accumulation event. I was able to hijack a little time to make these from our deck. The lower one is from a venerable old character that has learned to weather the wind and weight of heavy snow. The upper is the same view as an earlier post. I will probably make many more very similar 'graphs, because there are infinite variations of light and circumstances that beg to be recorded. Both were made with the Shen-Hao 4x5 using the Fujinon 250mm lens. I love where I live!

A few weeks ago our family set out on an afternoon trip to a nearby town. We stopped at a lovely little park on the way. While there, my 11 yr old step-son had just hopped across this little fall to what is the very large rock to the right. He was larking about when he slipped and fell into the stream. Startled as all get out, he scrambled up on the rock again and hopped back to 'shore'. Soaked nearly to his waist, we had to come home for him to change. The upside to all this is that he managed to spare the Nintendo game that he was carrying from going in the drink. It finally all ended well when he went to a friend's house, and Susan and I headed out for our original destination.

This past Monday, December 10th, we had a small scale ice storm. The ice melted from the roads and driveway, but the persistent fog froze on every tree limb and twig. This is, again, taken from our back deck. It's a crop from a 4x5 negative that seemed to retain the essentials while eliminating the busyness of what was there. I also like the dominant gray. (There is a bare minimum of PS here....just some sharpening, although the negative is tack sharp, and a very small levels adjustment.)

These are 'end of the roll' photographs I thought were worthy of making. The light in our front room (which is given over entirely to music and art) is gorgeous in the mid to late afternoon almost all year long, and the curtains and plants look wonderful in that light. So here, at the end of a roll from the P67, are a couple of what I think are real goodies.

I've been thinking about what I'd like to include in a show that's coming up in March, so I've been rummaging around in my negative files and found this from 2004. There's another image from that day that I've printed and enjoyed during the intervening years, but this is one I think I'll look at some more, and maybe print as a companion piece (they were taken on the same day at the same place.) BTW, I was very new to large format, and this is one of the better photographs I made at the time. (210 Rodenstock Geronar on an OmegaView 4x5)

A snowy morning was all the excuse I needed to ditch work, and go to the wetland to see what was worth burning some film on. It was a good time to make the attempt as the snow had not stuck to the roads and thus the little, paved parking area was easily negotiable. I decided to use the P67 even though I'd rather have brought the 4x5, since it's much more weather resistant than the LF machine (no bellows to get wet for instance), and has excellent lenses. So here are two I made this morning (November 19th) with the 200mm lens.

We woke up this Saturday morning (November 10th) to a light coating of snow. There are still a good many brilliant yellow, orange, and red leaves clinging to the last gasps of autumn, and they were heavy with the wet white stuff. These photographs were made on our deck. I used the Shen-Hao with a 250mm Fujinon lens and Kodak Tri-X 320 film.

At the end of my visit to the wetland last week, a cold front came sweeping across the sky, the leading edge of which you see below. I had no time to change lenses, fuss with filters or do anything at all including re-metering the swiftly changing light. Happily, the film had enough latitude to work with the settings that were in place as this front blasted through. In just a few minutes the light had gone from golden and warm to gray and bleak, the wind picked up, and I was chilled to the core. Nonetheless, in about 10 minutes or so, it completely passed over, and the entire scene became bathed in pink and orange light that was actually thrilling to be enveloped by. It was a memorable afternoon.

On Saturday, the 27th, the driving rain finally came to an end, the sun appeared, and the late afternoon became quite beautiful. I went to Goose Pond Mountain Wetland, put on waders, and slogged into the pond you see below. The sun was strong, and the light was golden in a way that black and white cannot, of course, convey. But, the 'values' were very pronounced and I enjoyed making these photographs. (I used the C220 with the 80mm lens.)

On Saturday, October 20th, our family enjoyed a ride to the top of Bear Mountain, and then an extended excursion below to the Iona island marshes which are very beautiful if you like marshes. These two photographs were made there and then, but I'll be back many more times for further explorations of the light and textures of this place.

Our family excursion continued north to Beacon where I visited the Fishkill Creek falls and made this image. Every time I visit this place, the water level is different, the currents are different, and, of course the light is different. It's also a place to which I will return many times.

Yesterday morning (Saturday, October 7th) was muggy and warm with pervasive fog and mist. I was again hoping for something terrific on the Hudson at the Bear Mountain Bridge, but it was so foggy there was nothing to see. Returning by Bear Mountain State Park, I was able to see that Hessian Lake looked interesting, so I parked and schlepped the Shen-Hao (a 4x5 field camera) and attendant gear there and found the images below. It has been a while since I've used this camera because it can be very cumbersome to carry, but I really enjoyed using it this time. I only have two lenses mounted for it at the moment which are a Schneider 150mm G Claron, and a 250 mm Fujinon. These were made with the 150mm. As usual, everyone who walks by stares at the thing and will typically ask if it's "one of those really old fashioned cameras", to which I reply that it is. They are a bit perplexed that anyone would use such a device. At least I don't tell them it's a Hassleblad.

Early this morning (Sunday, 9/23) I took myself to the Bear Mountain Bridge area hoping for the wonderful mist and cloud that had typified the river view for the last 5 or 6 days that I witnessed on my way to work. But, the air was too dry for that. What's here is what there was, which still ain't too shabby.

While I was at mid span, a group of 10 or 12 runners approached me on the narrow pedestrian way. They were all West Point cadets (mostly men, but also two women). I said "Good Morning" as they jogged past me, and each of them replied with: "Good Morning, SIR!". What a classy group of kids they are. It's nice to see one's tax dollars spent so wisely for a change. They are every inch Gentlemen and Ladies, as well as, no doubt, excellent soldiers.

Here are two more photographs from Goose Pond Mountain State Park. I've photographed the trees several times before, but the foreground goldenrod was new, and I thought it worthy of an new and independent image. The other photograph includes a small portion of the often pictured pond below, but, again, the goldenrod added a new dimension I wanted to record.

This is from the wonderful Orange County Arboretum. Susan and I spent Sunday morning there...she painting, and I photographing. We both favored this little pond that has nothing to do with the marvelous formal gardens there, but seemed just right for the moment and our sensibilities.

Back in May of this year I visited Round Lake on a foggy morning and posted two photographs from that session with the camera. Here's another that I've just gotten around to scanning.

This past Sunday (September 9th '07) was hot, humid and utterly unwelcoming for outdoor adventures. Nonetheless, I took the C220 for a walk at Goose Pond Mountain SP and found these photographs. The wildflowers were so intense and amazing I actually wished I were shooting color film, but I'm happy with what I have nonetheless. I met some nice people there as well, one of whom had actually been born in the house that the park ranger now resides in. It was fascinating to hear his account of the history of this place. He regrets with some bitterness the way New York State took over the land by imposing eminent domain, but glad developers didn't turn it into one more hideous mall had the landowners sold it off privately. I was happy that I could walk the many acres of parkland and not be trespassing on anyone's private property.