Autumn has come to an end on the Pocono Plateau.  Not so much the calendar season, as that ends with the winter solstice.  But photographically, the season was over after a late October nor’ easter which stripped most of the trees of their remaining leaves. Soon nature followed with early season snow.  For now, winter seems to have begun.

It was a lovely fall this year.  There was a lot of mild dry weather that delayed the foliage peak by about a week. There were rich colors contrasting the sodden flat season we experienced last year.

Here in northeastern Pennsylvania, the first signs of autumn occur in late August while it is still rather warm.  Here and there the uniform green will be touched here and there by yellows and reds.  The small maples, who tend to leaf out in the early spring to grab at sunshine before the canopy closes over, are also the first to turn in the fall.  It is the sight of their bright red-orange leaves, scattered over the foliage and the ground that heralds the more colorful times to come.

The larger maples are often the next to go.  Soon the poplars, beeches, and hickories, will change.  Underneath them, the forest floor is transformed by the bright orange of the Cinnamon ferns, and the pale yellows of the hay-scented variety, accented by the deep red of the low-bush blueberry and other heaths that carpet our woodlands.

The holdouts tend to be the oak trees, the prevalent species on most of our local ridge tops.  They stubbornly stay green until the rest of the trees have passed their peak, finally displaying a variety of orange and crimson colors to the fading forest.

I for one truly enjoy the fall, particularly the midseason with temperatures in the high fifties and low sixties.  This affords me the option of wearing sweaters once again, the better to cover my lumpy sixty+ year old body.  I enjoy finally being able to shoot deliberately, often with a tripod without being assaulted by legions of biting insects. I love the cool crisp mornings with frost coating the landscape.

Now in mid-November, as I write this, the ground is covered with a light coating of snow. It has been rather cold for several days with daytime highs in the high 20’s  The deer are acting strangely, moving about in larger groups a way one seldom sees in the summer.  Unfortunately, one particular little buck wandered in front of my pickup truck in the last week, causing considerable damage, and ending his short life.

I have not seen a bear in several weeks. I hope they are “denning up” so that my garbage can go out in the evening rather than in the early morning shortly before the truck arrives.

In this season, I occupy my time by gathering and splitting firewood to fill my woodshed. Once the leaves on my lawn are dealt with, it becomes time to change my equipment over to the tools of snow removal.

So now we have an early taste of winter.  Unlike most people I know, I actually hope that this is a sign of what’s to come, as, without snow, winter to me is just a bleak brown season devoid of recreational and photographic opportunity.

Now,  as it is dark shortly after work, I must content myself with a book and a warm fire.

Hopefully soon, the real winter will begin.

 

The winter of 2017-18 is over.  At least chronologically.

As I write this, it is the first full day of spring.  For the third time this March, a Nor’easter has formed off the coast of the Outer Banks and is making its way north.

It is now spreading snow over the Appalachians, and points east.  Forecasts for this storm have been wavering, but I think that between 2 and 6 inches over the elevation or I reside is likely (5″ eventually fell).  Though I do yearn for spring, the upcoming weekend is forecast to be sunny and pleasant.  It will likely offer one more opportunity for cross-country skiing before I put my equipment away.

It has been a strange winter.We had a little snow earlier in the year, and then extremely warm February.  By groundhog day it seemed likely that we would drift right into spring (though the groundhog disagreed).  Winter is cruel that way.

Then came March with its storms which in our part of the Poconos have maintained an adequate snowpack for recreation.  Today’s storm continues that trend.  And the warm weather, at least according to the meteorologists, is not yet in sight.

The last several months have been a busy time.  Given my position as a pulmonary physician, this winter’s flu epidemic kept me on my toes, running between patient rooms, gowning and re gowning to avoid the spread of the virus to other patients and hospital staff.  I have been overseeing some renovations at my home, including a new home office and photo studio.  Earlier in March, I spent my usual late winter week in the Adirondacks.  There was plenty of snow for skiing and snowshoeing as well as photography.   This will serve as my excuse for the lack of attention to the site over the past month or so.  Now happily, the flu epidemic has waned, and my renovations are largely done. It’s time to put pen to paper (so to speak).

In the time since my last article, mindful of my good experience with the rather modest XF 18–55mm zoom legacy lens, I focused my attention on its bigger brother, the XF55-200mm f3.5-4.8 OIS zoom that hearkens from the same time period.  I have written about this lens before.  Ironically, I published its original review almost exactly the same time of year back in 2014.   Now with the higher resolution sensors available on newer Fujifilm bodies, it was worth digging out of my roomy new equipment cabinet for a second look.

Over the years, this is proven to be a fairly rugged lens. Though I used it fairly frequently in its early years, cosmetically it looks roughly the same as when I took delivery.  At 55mm, and without its deep lens-shade, the lens is fairly compact, though it telescopes awkwardly as one increases the focal length.  It tends to look weird on a rangefinder style body such as the X Pro 2, though it handles just fine.

The focus and aperture dials remain smooth after 4 years of ownership.  The lens continues to exude high-quality.  Though it is not officially weather-sealed, I have used it multiple times in rainy or snowy conditions without any difficulty.

 

In my normal photography with the Fuji system, I tend to favor mild wide lenses like the 23 mm lens in my X100 series cameras, combined with a mild telephoto such as my XF 56mm f1.2.  With the 50-200mm I tended to shoot from its short end, out to about 160 mm, because as it approaches 200 mm, sharpness is known to deteriorate slightly.  It thus tends to be an outdoor lens, as it is not nearly fast enough, (nor razor sharp wide open like the Fuji primes ) for natural light indoor photography.

Particularly on a “long” lens. the addition of optical image stabilization (OIS) is extremely convenient. It definitely increases your “keepers” if your subject is static.

Now I love being a prime lens snob. To be honest, though, the quality of both of the original “kit” lenses is somewhere between more than adequate to awesome, Used within their limitations (good light, slowly moving subjects) they are no impediment to producing quality prints of landscape subjects. This suits me fine.  If I want to go back to shooting sports and fast-moving wildlife, I would probably invest in a use or refurbished Nikon D7XXX body to use with the  70-200 f2.8 VR Nikkor that still lurks in my studio.  For what I do, this Fuji telephoto zoom works just fine.

 

Fujifilm makes several other long zooms including a robust 50–140 millimeter f2.8 which would also suit my focal length needs, and allow more light for fast action and dusk/dawn shooting.  It is $1500 new and weighs more than twice as much as the 55-200, attributes that are not particularly interesting to me.  Like my Nikkor 70-200mm, it has sufficient size/weight to require a tripod mount. Thus, for me, it would be likely relegated to shooting from the car. That kind of shooting I tend to do with my heavier Nikon gear.

I still prefer prime lenses, both for their inherent quality and for the discipline they instill in my shooting.  But I can see maintaining a camera bag, with the 2 zoom lenses, and a more SLR-like camera such as an X-T10/20 body. This would be fairly light, and a very easy “grab” when headed out into the outdoors for some impromptu exercise. 

Given the quality of images I have seen these two lenses, such a gear bag would likely spend a lot of time by my side.

 

Your choice of camera often influences the way you use lenses; particularly in the Fujifilm camera universe.  Though the SLR-like bodies such as the XT-2, and XT-20 are very popular, I came into the X series by shooting their rangefinder styled products, and for the most part, continue to do so.

My main interchangeable lens body is an X Pro 2 (which I use along with my X100f). To me, going back to the M series Leica film cameras, rangefinder-type bodies like the X Pro 2 are shot with prime lenses which tend to perform better anyway. Thus my XF zooms have tended to languish at the back of the cabinet.

 Several weeks ago I was traveling to the Adirondacks, and selecting the photo gear that I would bring along.  Years ago I would pack 2 or 3 bodies (Fuji and Nikon), and several bags of lenses.  Maybe because I have been photographing there so long, and perhaps in my dotage, I’m getting a bit lazy. My tendency now is to streamline things a bit with perhaps 1 or 2 small camera bags.  Along with the X100, I will usually bring the X Pro 2 with several prime lenses, perhaps the 14 mm, the 56mm, and a 90 mm.  This works out fairly well given that the X100 has a fixed 23 mm lens.

 

One complaint I have about the XF lenses is that the lens pouches are virtually identical, without any exterior labels to indicate the lens within.  It’s thus easy to grab the wrong lens.  Rather than the 14 mm lens I was looking for, I found that I had pulled out the 18– 55-millimeter zoom which has similar bulk.  I hadn’t used the lens in some time so I thought: What the hell, let’s give it a try with the bigger sensor of the X Pro 2  and see how it holds up from an image quality standpoint.

In the “Dacks” I shot the lens and liked what I saw.  So I left it on the X Pro 2 for the next several weeks after returning home.

In photo workshops when I am teaching beginners, I’m a big proponent of prime lenses.  This is not only because their image quality tends to be superior (especially for the price).  I also think it’s important for people to understand and then characteristics of individual focal lengths to their photography

If they do utilize a zoom, I suggest that they avoid the habit of zooming to frame an image, and instead treat the lens like a collection of primes.  I have had to remind myself to do the same.  With the zoom mounted, I look at the scene and determine what focal length would be desirable in terms of foreground/background relationship and depth of field.  I then choose a focal length.  Putting my eye in the viewfinder.  I can then step backward or forward when possible to adjust the framing. That’s a lot easier than changing lenses constantly.

Another issue I have had with the X Pro 2 is camera shake.  Perhaps I have been spoiled by the very soft leaf shutter of the X100 series.  I find that I get a fair number of images with the X Pro 2 and it’s more robust shutter action, where there has been movement artifact.  The image stabilization in the little 18-55mm is a big help with this, noticeably reducing the problem.

 

I have forgotten how nice the image quality is.  Used as I am to some of the high-quality lenses in the Fujinon line, I am delighted with the look of images shot with this modest lens.  It’s got good contrast and handles the 24-megapixel sensor of the newer cameras with ease.  It’s capable of obtaining lovely detailed 3-dimensional images, although at the 18 mm end, it  is slightly soft until it’s stopped down.  And like all of the XF lenses it has a solid feel and lovely built quality.

In the weeks since returning home, we’ve seen a variety of weather here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including bitter cold,  then a sudden thaw that led to severe ice damming and flooding on the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Valley.  The residual of this has been bank ice of a size and volume I’ve never seen before.

Now, in the mountains, a  winter snowpack is finally building, which for us more and more, seems to be a February/March event.

There was even some snow at Nescopeck State Park for their Winterfest event, something we haven’t seen in some time.  It was fun to see the sled dogs finally get to pull their sled.

I’m aware that there are better short zooms in the XF series lineup, including the 16-55mm f2.8, which is said to be very sharp indeed.  Unfortunately is quite a bit larger and heavier (though it is weather resistant) and has no optical stabilization.  And at $1100, it’s significantly more expensive than the $700 18-55.  And there isn’t an image I have shot over the last several weeks that makes me pine for a more exotic lens.  If I need more sharpness, I will go back to the primes.

I forgot how much I like this little lens.  Like the 60 mm f2.4 I wrote about here, I’m moving it to the front of the cabinet.

Every once in a while, perhaps while out shopping, or at a restaurant, I will encounter an old friend, whose life path has drifted out of my particular orbit. After spending some time catching up, I will be reminded of how much I enjoy their company, and will wonder why we didn’t make more of an effort to keep in touch.

In the last several weeks, I feel it had that sort of an experience with a lens. In particular, the Fujinon XF 60 mm f2.4.

This was one of the 3 original prime lenses introduced with the X Pro 1 in 2012. At the time, it was lauded by some is the sharpest of the trio (the 18 mm f 2.8, the 35mm F1.4, were the other 2 lenses).

I remember my initial impressions were that this was a bitingly sharp lens, noticeably more so than my Nikon primes. In fact, the quality of all of these original lenses probably helped pull me from using my Nikon gear, to shooting mainly with Fuji.

But just like with life, newer things come along, in this case, lenses that are faster and newer, and distract me from an old companion. After a time the 60 mm became lost in the back of my photography cabinet.

Several weeks ago while on my way out the door to go hiking, I picked up camera bag with my XT-10 body, which I noticed had no lens mounted on it. I opened a cabinet and on a whim, reached blindly to the back of the shelf, determined to utilize the first Fujifilm lens I grabbed. This turned out to be the 60 mm, which I have basically ignored for many years. I mounted it on the camera and have been shooting ever since.

To remind you, this is a macro lens, the first in the Fujifilm “XF” line. It is fairly diminutive, compared to for instance the 56 mm f.12. It’s nicely built, with not only a fairly deeply recessed small front element but then a rather large metal lens hood. All of this makes it quite resistant to lens flare as the sun’s rays rarely reach the front element.

Though the lens aperture is tighter than many of the other Fujifilm primes, the lens is quite sharp wide open at F2.4. For those of us that focus on landscape imaging, the modest deficit in light gathering is really not much of an impediment when shooting in the daylight hours. This plus its small size may make it preferable to the newer 56mm for shooting while hiking. If only it had stabilization…

On an APS sensor, the lens has a 90 mm equivalent field of view, which makes it ideal for the sort of late summer early fall photography, available now as it allows you to isolate the sporadic displays of autumnal color beginning to erupt at this time of year. It’s also wonderful to have its macro capabilities for close-ups of wildflowers and the other fall forest offerings.

And boy is it sharp! From f2.8 and above, the lens has incredible definition. Out of focus elements look lovely at f2.4-3.5. Mounted on the XT-10 it balances very nicely, though it is a bit long with the lens hood installed. Still an all, it’s very compact package.

One downside of this optic for outdoor use is that given its magnification, it is prone to artifacts from camera shake. I find that using my steel Gitzo monopod, and good shooting technique, I can get acceptably sharp results without a tripod. You just have to be careful.

I did a search on eBay and found there are a lot of these lenses for sale. I suspect that it is a common lens for Fujifilm users to unload. There is a wide range of price’s but it looks like you could acquire a nice used one for between $US200- $400. There is also a broad range of prices for new lenses of between $US300-$650.

Given my experience, I think I’m going to put this lens back into circulation for outdoor shooting, relying more on the 56 mm f1.2 for street, and indoor work.

If you have one in the back of your cabinet, pull it out. I suspect he will find it is indeed like an old friend.

 

 

 

 

 

It has been a quiet summer here on the Pocono Plateau. The weather has been quite pleasant since mid June, though in the last week or so we’ve had several runs of severe afternoon thunderstorms that resulted in power outages  in our small community.  Otherwise the weather has been lovely.

I have noticed that my postings tend to fall off during the summer months. I think part of this is due to a certain contentment I feel with the onset of the season .

We had the usual march of summer flowers including honeysuckle, black-eyed susan’s, mountain laurel, foxglove and finally rhododendron.  Now the first cardinal flowers have appeared alongside stream beds.  I noticed yesterday that goldenrod is beginning to bloom.

In our neighborhood we had an abortive gypsy moth outbreak, but a fortuitous run of cool wet weather in early June encouraged several pathogens, which wiped out the caterpillars before they could do much damage. This undoubtedly saved several old Chestnut oak trees on my property who are already relatively marginal.

We have had the usual run of community events, including our Fourth of July celebration, summer cocktail parties, and the very pleasant wedding of the friend’s daughter that I help to photograph. I am really enjoying the combination of the X 100f, and the X Pro 2/56mmf1.2 for events like this.

The house is empty this summer. My daughter of course lives in Seattle, and my son, who is a graduate student, is doing an Google internship in that city. It is nice that they can be together.  We did meet up with them in State College, when they flew into attend a wedding.

Equipment wise, I have acquired a DJI Mavic Pro drone, and have been trying to master shooting smooth aerial video. Once I have something to show for it, I will share my experiences on these pages. It turns out there is definitely a learning curve to this.

Mostly though, I am enjoying the summer season. I am looking forward to some events with the potential to provide some content for these pages as the summer goes on.

So bear with me.  I’ll be back.

 

There is a different and wonderful culture in the Adirondacks. It is one where outdoor activities feature prominently.  Events such as the Wooden Ski Race, and Full Moon Madness that I have described elsewhere on this site, as well as the Saranac Winter Festival, all display a physicality and an embrace of the season that is lacking for instance, in my Pennsylvania hometown.

On a recent trip to Lake Placid, I attended one of my favorites; namely the Broomball tournament, held at The Cottage, a waterside/ pub restaurant, that is part of the spectacular Mirror Lake Inn; a luxury resort hotel in the village.

The Cottage is the pub and informal dining venue for the resort. In summer can be very pleasant to paddle a kayak or canoe to the restaurant’s dock , and stop for a bite of lunch.

For much of the winter, however, with Mirror Lake firmly frozen, an area of the ice is plowed behind the restaurant, and an informal hockey rink is set up. Then in January, the restaurant sponsors a tournament for the somewhat arcane sport, which is apparently the winter version of softball for many people.

Broomball, is a sort of proto hockey. The rules are similar, but the equipment, at least in the case of the local variety is much less sophisticated. As I understand it was often played in tennis shoes, though there is actually a specialized shoe to wear which gives more friction to the icy surface. In the Lake Placid varient, the predominant “stick”, was an actual broom, with the bottom cut off about halfway up, then wrapped in duct tape. There is an actual broomball that is used, a little bigger than a softball.

While some of the teams, had actual matching hockey Jerseys (and apparently padding), most people played in heavy outdoor clothing sometimes with whimsical touches. Everyone plays with some sort of helmet. In this multisport town, I saw players sporting rock climber’s helmets, skiing helmets, and even hockey helmets. Though it was quite mild (high 20s F) this year, I have seen it proceed enthusiastically with temperatures in the minus teens.

Now to be sure, Broomball, apparently in Canada, and parts of the US, is a serious sport with a governing body, and specialized equipment, and national tournaments. Not so much in Lake Placid. Though obviously a lot of serious competitive athletics goes on in town, this one is not so intense. Like many activities in the North Country, my impression over the years from this event, it is that it is first and foremost an opportunity to socialize and be convivial on a dark cold evening in January. It is only secondarily a competition.

The large crowd gathers both in the restaurant, where windows allow the games to be followed, or down on the ice around a warming fire built for the occasion. As the festivities continue, the bar gets rowdy, but never unpleasantly so. Many of the older folks, who prudently no longer play, share great memories of their own time on the ice.

It is one of the small events, that over the year makes Lake Placid a truly unique placed to visit.