Art

I made a brief visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art--I do believe that any visit short of a few days would be brief--it is an impressive place. I was there last in the early 1980s when it was considerably smaller and, can I say, "regional" in nature. While this isn't the Met or the Louvre, it is a very good museum. There was a decent photo exhibit, but the star attraction was a Titian exhibit on loan from Scotland, and it is a star. Titian was a court artist for Phillip II of Spain, but around 1800 there was a monumental garage sale of Renaissance art and several key works by Titian ended up in England and then Scotland.

They are really key works. There are two of the "Diana and Callisto" canvases, huge works that make most if not all art history texts. "Venus Rising from the Sea" is one of the most common themes in allegorical painting, but Titian's version is the one most imagine and it is stunning to see from three feet away. Titian red is not just a hair color-- the reds and maroons and the other colors that he (and probably some workshop minions) mixed up almost 500 years ago are just as amazingly vibrant today as they were when he painted with them. Colors aside, how he used depth and how he painted people changed the path of painting. The exhibit was very impressive.

Plus, the MIA is just a nice place. The large Chihuly "sun" welcomes visitors. The new and the old parts of the building blend well together, making it easier to move from the halls where the ancient silks of China hang to where the Warhol silkscreens are exhibited. It was a brief visit only in the context that one could easily spend a day or two wandering the halls.

5:45AM, third day of spring...

A quick (about a 1/5th of a second's worth) spring "landscape."

Now if only it really did seem like spring and you actually could see land and green...

Foggy day

I remember once an editor "teaching" me about cutlines and how to write them. He said, "don't ever write what is obvious to the viewer."

Apparently I didn't learn that lesson very well, but what can I say about these two photos?

It was a gray and foggy day.

The moon and other things...

Tomorrow night, there will be a perigee moon, which is what they call the moon when it is exceptionally close to the earth. It is unusual, with the last one being 18 years ago, and the next one won't be until 2029. The moon is 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a "normal" full moon. Hey, let's celebrate these things--some say this is a harbinger of the end of the world. It's been a rough week in the world, with Japan and the Mideast and even the Midwest, but let's hope that we have a few more days.

For those who keep track, this was shot handheld with a 300mm lens (with an effective focal length of 450mm) and an ISO of 400. Shutter speed was 1/500th of a second and the lens opening was f11. Seems weird, but remember, the moon is a sunlit object, just like a beach scene.

The other shot was last week, hopefully on our last snowy night. We will see about that.

More Leica photos...

I finished the second roll of film from my Leica--I had forgotten one of the charms of film was the challenge to finish a roll and getting it to a lab to be processed. I don't think that I am as bad as some who start a roll one Easter and then have the rest of the year's birthdays, Christmas, and then the following Easter all on that one roll of film. Still, this roll was started in November and finished in March which is nothing to be proud of. Nothing significant, just some color and and some nice lines.

It is kind of fun to go low tech and take pictures with a 75 year old camera. I am finding that a lens that old can be pretty sharp and in fact is more than adequately sharp. The difference is that the lens is less contrasty than modern lenses. Most of that is not the glass itself but the modern coatings, the ones that make your camera lens reflect blue and gold and purple when you look into the lens. Those weren't really developed until after WWII. Those little German Leica people knew what they were doing all those years ago.

Hope for spring

While it is snowing right now, and while it is expected to snow pretty much from now until Wednesday morning, perhaps a flower or two will revive the hope of spring for all of us.

winter

Just a few winter-ish photos...the light is getting better, the days longer. More tomorrow. I actually thoughtfully took a few pictures and I will post those tomorrow.