Jon Crispin's Notebook

Pond Scum

Posted in Flowers, Jon Crispin, Nature, Plants, Water by joncrispin on 06/08/2012

When I was shooting film, I was a stickler for getting the best image quality out of a negative.  I prided myself on shooting Tri-X and being able to make great prints.  But I was always open to photographs that had real feeling to them and that might not have been perfectly sharp or in focus.  /  I have photographed this little pond before.  The green algae that shows up in the late summer is such a beautiful color.  I took a series of shots last week and since it has been so humid, the lens fogged up when I got out of the air conditioned car.  I didn’t notice until I reviewed the image on the lcd screen on the back of the camera, so I wiped off the lens and waited to shoot more until the fog cleared.  When selecting a photo to post here, this slightly foggy one looked the nicest.  So even though it is a bit soft and diffused, I like it better than the non-fogged, sharp ones. /  Also, some purple loosestrife again.

Purple Loosestrife

Posted in Flowers, Landscape, Plants by joncrispin on 06/08/2010

“Hey, purple stuff”!  A while back, Cris and I started seeing this plant near wetlands as we were driving around the Northeast.  It was often near highways and at first we really liked seeing it.  At some point I read an article about how it is a very invasive plant called Purple Loosestrife that rapidly spreads and is taking over wetlands at a scary rate.  Cris had a hard time remembering the name, so it became a bit of a joke with us.  We’d be in the car and the first to see it would call out “Hey, Purple Stuff”.  (Akin to our “THERE”S the sewage treatment plant”.)  Anyway, Peter and the Pearl and I were walking today and there was tons of it near the UMASS football field.  It was very windy and beautiful, and I liked how the goldenrod looked next to it.

%d bloggers like this: