The first Friday of fall saw Gerald and I out celebrating the beautiful weather — and his new “creative camera,” a Leica M8 in pristine condition:
M8 @ Bearfoot (#3)
Which of course meant a quick spin around downtown. I was using my favorite lens, the 90mm macro, resulting in lots of detail shots:
Capitol (Theatre) Details, Second St.Windowmaker, Mulberry St. Ln.Peeking Across Third (Street), DowntownStreet Art Detail, Cherry & ThirdStreet Art Detail, Poplar & Third
As promised, I returned to Madison, Georgia, to complete the gallery my camera battery didn’t permit last time. Special thanks to Gerald, who accompanied me around the beautiful downtown historic district and on the lovely drive from here to there.
This round is mostly details, taken with my stunning new Leica APO lens. (Introduced in this Macon post.) The whole line has been discontinued, so I am incredibly glad to have gotten one while they’re still available — every single photograph shows just how good this lens is. I’ll try to do it justice:
Morgan County Courthouse #6Light Detail, 131 E. Jefferson St.Madison Welcome Center, Madison SquareFlower Detail, Organic MarketBuilding and Light Detail #2, W. Washington St.Hart & Crown Sign, Madison Square
I’ve revamped the gallery with the new shots mixed in with the old. Several are improved versions of shots taken last time, meaning those were deleted in favor of the new ones.
132 Madison photographs have been posted in all. Peruse and enjoy; remember to click on any individual photograph to start a slide show, and if you’d like, click “buy” to get options for fine art prints in a variety of sizes and finishes. Thank you!
FedEx pulled up around 8:30 this morning and dropped off a new lens. (It wasn’t due ’til Tuesday — bonus!) Given that it was an absolutely beautiful morning, I shelved my plans for the day, picked up the camera, and headed downtown.
Verdict? It’s so a keeper. See for yourself:
Catholic Cross, St. Joseph’s, MaconPurple Hydrangea, St. Joseph’s, Macon(Funeral) Chapel, New St., Macon552 New St. (Brick Detail), MaconPublic Art (Detail #1), D T Walton Sr Way, MaconTree and City Auditorium, Macon
Wound up with sixty new items posted. However, the downtown Macon gallery was getting almost too big — confusing, even — so has been separated into three parts:
The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida has been a place I’ve been taking photographs since I lived in the area, almost twenty years ago now — and a place where I continue to enjoy taking photographs whenever possible.
The grounds have these amazing banyan trees, with root systems larger than many houses:
Banyan (black and white, detail)
They’ve expanded over the years, adding buildings, a new entrance, and additions. This is the Chao Center for Asian Art:
Chao Center’s Asian Art Siding #3 (Detail)
The old Ca d’Zan gate is the new main entrance:
Ca d’Zan Lion
And, of course, the whole compound is right on Sarasota Bay:
As some of you know, for getting around town, I zip about in an electric BMW i3. The range isn’t great — 120 miles, give or take, meaning I’d have to recharge there if I went to Atlanta — but for Macon and pretty much all of Middle Georgia, it’s perfect. Grocery store? No problem. Park, for a walk? No warmup, no emissions. Enough range for an ice cream in Musella or lunch in Milledgeville? Easy.
In fact, it’s not an understatement to say that I rave about my i3. Simply put, I love it.
Electric Toolbox, Wooden Shed
When introduced in 2014, it was hugely ahead of its time. Built on a bespoke platform with a carbon-fiber body and an eye-catching style (that somehow just looks electric), it was a huge change of pace for the “Ultimate Driving Machine” folks. And it’s done well for them, too: a quarter-million since.
Leica has announced their photograph of the year for 2021:
Over the past ten years, Leica Camera AG has honoured twelve renowned photographers for their life’s work, by inducting them into the Leica Hall of Fame. A Leica Picture of the Year has now been designated for the first time, with the aim of sharing this success with all Leica enthusiasts.
Leica’s 2021 Photograph of the Year
One of the things that makes photography so glorious is how many different ways the person behind the camera could approach a subject. So, I ask myself: would I have taken that photograph? Almost certainly not. That said, would I hang it on my wall? Yes. For $2000? Maybe another lens instead!
Lastly, the New Yorker’s Briefly Noted book reviews (from 6 December — I get them second-hand, and subsequently, am a little behind) reveals a collection of poetry — a reinvestigation of chemical weapons dropped on Vietnam — whose cover is sublime: