Figure 1 – Cedar waxwing, Black’s Nook, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA.

I’ve got to agree with several birding sources that state how delightful an experience it is to come upon a group of Cedar waxwings – Bombycilla cedrorum. And the size of these groups can be imoressive. In my particular case I was walking around Fresh Pond and ended with a stop at Black’s Nook. There they were an intensely active group of birds hovering over the pond lilies and grasses like so many VTOLs or helicopters in search of insects. They were a bit too far off to get a good image with the lens that I had, but I quietly waited until one landed on a tree limb in front of me.

Actually, I did not know what I was looking at, but the Cornell Birdfinder app came quickly to the rescue. They are stunning birds as I hope Figure 1 captures – “a silky, shiny collection of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow, accented with a subdued crest, rakish black mask, and brilliant-red wax droplets on the wing feathers.” The mask is very confusing at first. At a distance you can’t quite figure out where the eyes and the beak are. This is truly the kind of experience which makes bird photography so much fund. And, of course, I am not quite satisfied with the photograph; so back I go to try to get a better one.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/1000th sec at f/7.1 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Detail of antique fire engine, Clark County Heritage Center, Springfield, Ohio. (c) DE Wolf 2015

Right now we are living in the great digital, wireless, internet age. And people of my generation have seen it all progress: the age of vacuum tube electronics. of transistors, of analog circuits. Remember broadcast television with its three channels of pabulum. Now we have two hundred channels of pabulum.

But what I wanted to point out here is that all of this was preceded by a mechanical age. And the complexity of machinery is truly marvelous. It was water, then steam, the gasoline. As I discussed a few days ago, last weekend I was in Springfield, Ohio. in 1838 Springfield was the western terminus of the National Road, which was the first major road construction project carried out by the United States federal government, and done, I might add, by manual labor. Springfield’s history is irrevocably tied to the Industrial Revolution.  As more and more people moved from the farms to the cities, it became essential that production of crop per acre and acres per farmer increase, and Springfield played an essential role in this industrialization of agriculture – almost seems a contradiction of terms.

There is a great intricate beauty in these machines. In the composite they show what can be achieved by complex integration of mechanical parts. If instead you focus on the individual components, often hand-machined, you come to marvel at what precision the human hand and mind can achieve when working in synchrony. This is the point of Figure 1, which is a close-up of the working mechanism of an antique fire engine. Photographically there is something so seductive in the specular reflections of polished steel and something almost alive in the interaction of parts. Recognize that the creation of the machine requires much more that the tooling of the part or the assembly of a hundred parts. It bespeaks a deep understanding of the physics of the engine and a knowledge of the science of the materials chosen.  The people who made this fire truck are long departed, but their essence is still there and still speaks to us.

Canon T2i with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens at 51 mm, ISO 6400, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/160th sec at f/8.0 with -1 exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Abstract #2 – Earth, sky, and water, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

After my weekend in Ohio, it was good to get back to Cambridge and the Fresh Pond Reservation. I took this image at Black’s Nook. It is an Abstract derived not of man-made items but from natural ones. What struck me was the beauty of the clouds and the powder-blue sky reflected in the water of the pond. If you look closely you will see some delicate reds in the clouds.

The branches provide a minimalist division of the space and my eye struggles to find details like the peeling bark on the branches.
Water and sky are mirrors of one another and at first glance you might ask whether we are looking at branches silhouetted against the sky or against the sky reflected in the water. But if you look very closely you will see the phantom shadows of fish beneath the water and multiple bubbles causing little bright specters of the sun on the surface. So the little mystery is solved.
Can T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 145 mm, ISO 1600 Aperture Priority AE mode 1/1250th sec at f/8.0 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Windmill blades, Springfield, OH. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

Last weekend I was in Springfield and Columbus, Ohio.  I took the image of Figure 1 at the at the Clark County Heritage Center in Springfield. As an abstract it begs the question: What is it? The features of the photograph to make it abstract are straight forward: high grain, tight close up, a slightly awkward and puzzling perspective, and a concentration on the shadows. It is an object that was once familiar in the fields of the American Midwest – indeed one which still can be found.

I like to take abstracts. The reason is that they evoke an innate sense of the geometric – something coded deeply in our psyche. Perhaps this appeals to a sense of the spiritual and the objects seem to become almost animated. In a way abstract art is contradictory.  It contradicts the fundamental definition of the word “abstract” as something existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

It might seem to be a work by Picasso or the like.  But it is in fact a pair of windmill blades mounted on a wall.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 70 mm, ISO 6400, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/30 th sec at f/6.3 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – IPhone photograph, “The espresso cup,” (c) DE Wolf 2015.

Bill Clinton used to end his jogs at MacDonald’s. It was a nightmare for the Secret Service and the basis of one of the best SNL skits of all time.  I’m not that bad. On weekends I tend to trade my long walks around Fresh Pond for a short walk around the mall that ends with espresso at the Nordstrom’s Ebar.  And boy is it good.

Espresso, by definition,  is, of course,  coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Espresso is generally thicker than coffee brewed by other methods and has a higher concentration of suspended and dissolved solids. Yum! The notable part, other than its incredible rich taste and ability to blast you into a caffeine frenzy is the foamy “crema“on top.  These also result in the characteristic residue on the classic porcelain espresso cup, which I have made the subject of Figure 1. In a fantasy world we might imagine reading the future in the espresso lees as is done with tea leaves. Curious how pattern and message is associated with randomness.  In the real world all that we can do is enjoy the flavor and the intense contemplation that it affords us.

The history of espresso is capsulized in the Wikipedia article about it.  The precurser to espresso appears to lie in Angelo Moriondo’s 1884 Italian patent for a steam-driven “instantaneous” coffee beverage making device.  This however was designed to produce coffee in bulk not on an individual-by-individual basis.  In 1901, Milanese Luigi Bezzera came up with a number of improvements to the espresso machine. A patent was granted in 1902 entitled “Innovations in the machinery to prepare and immediately serve coffee beverage.”

As I said, espresso is classically served in a little porcelain cup with saucer and miniature spoon. In the photograph I have tried to capture the patterns of the residue on such a cup. And I’ll give a little derivative nod, since I certainly had it in mind when I took this IPhone image, to André Kertész‘s “The Fork, 1928.”

Fifure 1 – Fish crow, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

There are two species of crows in Massachusetts, the Fish crow – Corvus ossifragus – and the American crow – Corvus brachyrhynchos. They are hard to tell apart based purely on appearance. Better identification is achieved from their distinctive calls. My best guess for Figure 1, based on size and the slight brownish tinge, is that this fellow is a Fish crow.

I came upon him along the path sitting low in a tree, and as is often the case with crows he was pretty much unphased by my presence.  Indeed, at one point he cocked his head and looked at me directly.  They are very smart birds and also aggressive. You often see them high in the air harassing and chasing hawks.

There is a lot of mythology associated with crows and ravens. We see in their faces wisdom, knowing, and seeing. Sadly this one has very cloudy eyes. I have seen this before at Fresh Pond in other birds. I suspect that it is not cataracts, but some eye disease and this particular bird almost certainly has trouble seeing.

I am also starting to realize how difficult birds’ eyes are in photograph.  They don’t always have the catch-light that we are familiar with in people. You often wind up with a distant alienating eye. They are often hidden against dark coloration. And I am often amazed both at how the eye makes or breaks the photograph and at how much time an effort I spend trying to accentuate but not exaggerate them.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 200 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/1000th sec at f/7.1 with +1 exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Early meadow rue, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

When I go out on my camera-in-hand walks I’m usually looking up at the trees in search of birds to photograph.  As a result I can miss what is going on at my feet. Case in point being the photograph of Figure 1.  This little greenish bell-shaped flower struck me as such a beautiful world in miniature – much like a Japanese garden. It was really just a little weed along the fence, but despite the fact that all I was toting was my 70 to 200 mm zoom. I just had to photograph these delicate little flowers set against a wonderful bokeh of magenta.

I am not a botanist by any means. So I am reluctant to take a guess as to what exactly it is. I am thinking early meadow rue as called quick-silver weed (Thalictrum dioicum). But I am hoping that one of my readers who is more familiar with wild flowers than I will set me straight if I am wrong. But either way, right or wrong, I find the shape and the colors ever so peaceful.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 103 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/3200 sec at f/7.0 with -1 exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Tree swallow chicks in the nest, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

When you photograph birds, you never know what you are going to get. Some days it’s nothing and some days it can be really exciting. Yesterday I was rewarded for my efforts.  I was walking along the path at Fresh Pond. Because of the need to protect both the vegetation and the water supply a lot of the trees are behind fences.  I spotted a pair of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor ) visiting a hole (haven’t figured out whether these are natural or man-made) in one of these trees about ten feet above me, and then was amazed to see the chicks peeping away with mouths open.  I was delighted to get these photographs, Figure 1 being an example.  I was trebled by the intense white sky in the background; so I did two things.  First, I maximized the tree in the frame and second I used the in-camera flash to provide fill-flash for the image. Yes I know that this is a cute cuddly animal photograph.  But I am allowed when they are my own!

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 168 mm, on-camera flash metering, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE mode, 1/200th sec at f/9.0 with no exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Baltimore Oriole (male) – Icterus galbula, Black’s Nook, Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA.

One of the most dramatic of New England birds is the Baltimore oriole – Icterus galbula – especially the males. The vivid orange contrasted with black and white is simply spectacular. In my walks this spring at Fresh Pond Reservation I have come upon two mating pair one in Black’s Nook and the other at Little Fresh Pond by the “dog beach.” The male shown in Figure 1 is from the Black’s Nook pair. He actually posed for several shots and this was the best in terms of composition and background. I am not quite satisfied by the sharpness, probably because the exposure was just one over the ISO.  But, I seldom am.

He’s got a little caterpillar in his mouth. This means that there are baby birds somewhere. I really need to go back and see if I can spot the woven hanging nest.

Why are they called Baltimore Orioles and does this have anything to do with baseball. They got their name because their orange and black colorations is reminiscint fo the heraldic crest of England’s Baltimore family, The City of Baltimore is named after this family (who also gave their name to Maryland’s largest city). The baseball team is, of course, named after the bird.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 140 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE mode 1/160 th sec at f/7.1 with no exposure compensation.