Pictures – Page 6 – R. Harrison, Creative Enterprises

A Dream Within a Dream

Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 – 1849

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow:
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand–
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep–while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save

Assault

Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892 – 1950

I had forgotten how the frogs must sound
After a year of silence, else I think
I should not so have ventured forth alone
At dusk upon this unfrequented road.

I am waylaid by Beauty. Who will walk
Between me and the crying of the frogs?
Oh, savage Beauty, suffer me to pass,
That am a timid woman, on her way
From one house to another!

The Power of the Dog

Rudyard Kipling, 1865 – 1936

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair—
But … you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

Of Love: A Sonnet

Robert Herrick, 1591 – 1674

How love came in I do not know,
Whether by the eye, or ear, or no;
Or whether with the soul it came
(At first) infused with the same;
Whether in part ’tis here or there,
Or, like the soul, whole everywhere,
This troubles me: but I as well
As any other this can tell:
That when from hence she does depart
The outlet then is from the heart.

One of his more contemplative poems. The photo, of Tybee Island Lighthouse, is near where I spent my 34th wedding anniversary.

Long term review of the Opteka 500mm lens

About a year ago i purchased one of these lenses to take pictures of wildlife.

I now have enough experience to write a review.

Good points:

Inexpensive. $140 on Amazon. A “real” Nikon lens can run into the thousands.
Works. It does what it says. It will bring things into close focus. Including things you don’t want to get too close to.
Small, light and maneuverable A conventional telephoto lens is much longer and heavier.
Close focus You can focus on surprisingly close objects. This makes it great for taking pictures of things that don’t appreciate humans getting up close and personal.

Bad points:

Weakly coupled to the camera. Everything is manual, including exposure.
No autofocus. This limits its use in rapidly changing situations. Following a moving bird for example.
Paper-thin focus. Be prepared to take several photos to get the focus right
Infinity is not set at infinity on the lens. Don’t assume the stars are in focus.
The 2x extender leads to barrel distortions.

I generally use it with a fast shutter exposure (1/4000 s) to avoid blur and then control the exposure with the camera’s “film speed” setting. In bright light that’s about 2000ASA. In dim light, you may have to play around.

It’s also critical to make sure that the T-mount is firmly screwed into the lens. If it comes loose you won’t be able to focus.
This picture shows what I mean by paper thin focus:

Note that I’ve focused on one wing of the butterfly and the other wing is completely out of focus.

This picture of an alligator and heron show the same effect at a longer distance.

It should look like this:

It can be an advantage to have a thin focus. The bird is clear and the reeds have disappeared.

It’s great for taking pictures of things that aren’t moving too quickly, like this female cardinal.

And you can get some great effects:

In summary, you get what you pay for. It works. There are several things that could be better, but you have to fork over the cash. I wouldn’t use it for rapidly changing things like sports or moving creatures. But if you have the time to focus and remember to take several shots, it’s a great little lens.

The Peddler of Flowers

Amy Lowell, 1874 – 1925

I came from the country
With flowers,
Larkspur and roses,
Fretted lilies
In their leaves,
And long, cool lavender.

I carried them
From house to house,
And cried them
Down hot streets.
The sun fell
Upon my flowers,
And the dust of the streets
Blew over my basket.

That night
I slept upon the open seats
Of a circus,
Where all day long
People had watched
The antics
Of a painted clown.

Mid-Day

H. D., 1886 – 1961

The light beats upon me.
I am startled—
a split leaf crackles on the paved floor—
I am anguished—defeated.

A slight wind shakes the seed-pods—
my thoughts are spent
as the black seeds.
My thoughts tear me,
I dread their fever.
I am scattered in its whirl.
I am scattered like
the hot shrivelled seeds.

The shrivelled seeds
are spilt on the path—
the grass bends with dust,
the grape slips
under its crackled leaf:
yet far beyond the spent seed-pods,
and the blackened stalks of mint,
the poplar is bright on the hill,
the poplar spreads out,
deep-rooted among trees.

O poplar, you are great
among the hill-stones,
while I perish on the path
among the crevices of the rocks.

Pastoral

William Carlos Williams, 1883 – 1963

The little sparrows
Hop ingenuously
About the pavement
Quarreling
With sharp voices
Over those things
That interest them.
But we who are wiser
Shut ourselves in
On either hand
And no one knows
Whether we think good
Or evil.

Then again,
The old man who goes about
Gathering dog lime
Walks in the gutter
Without looking up
And his tread
Is more majestic than
That of the Episcopal minister
Approaching the pulpit
Of a Sunday.
These things
Astonish me beyond words.

Peak District #travel #photoblog

Time to start planning our summer travel again. One place we stayed a few years ago was in the Peak District, where we rented a house in Hayfield. It’s a small town at the foot of the Kinder Scout. Unfortunately I left my really good camera on the kitchen table at my brother-in-laws, so these were taken with a light-weight water proof olympus that does OK. Wonder if it’s time to book a return visit?
Dusk, walking back from a pub.

One of the local customs is “well decorating” and we happened to be at the right time.

The semi-wild sheep are everywhere, in this case near the falls at Kinder Scout.

It was a dry year, what more can I say?

Beware of the Toad.

War and Hell, XVI [I am a great inventor]

Ernest Crosby

I am a great inventor, did you but know it.
I have new weapons and explosives and devices to
substitute for your obsolete tactics and tools.
Mine are the battle-ships of righteousness and integrity—
The armor-plates of a quiet conscience and self-respect—
The impregnable conning-tower of divine manhood—
The Long Toms of persuasion—
The machine guns of influence and example—
The dum-dum bullets of pity and remorse—
The impervious cordon of sympathy—
The concentration camps of brotherhood—
The submarine craft of forgiveness—
The torpedo-boat-destroyer of love—
And behind them all the dynamite of truth!
I do not patent my inventions.
Take them. They are free to all the world.

The archways of Fort Pulaski in Savannah remind me of church architecture.

An 1840 Field Howizter in action.

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