Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!  Here is a quick shot of the Christmas Tree at the Marietta Town Square here in Georgia.

It's nice when a city gets into Christmas Lights through and through.  Here is the Christmas tree in my office park.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Merry Christmas!

Here are some of the Christmas lights around Lake Lanier in North Georgia.

Colors in the Garden

In moving back from Florida, we find ourselves enjoying the colors that come with four seasons!

Lights in the City

Bright lights aren't the only interesting lights in the city.  In the wee hours of the morning, the streets are empty and the street lights and traffic signals give everything an eery glow.  I've been experimenting with my Kodak Z950 at night.  This photo of Home Depot's Atlanta headquarters has an ethereal quality.

A Model in the Garden

A lot of photographers work with hot models in hopes of becoming a Sports Illustrated swimsuit photographer.  As a married dude, it's a lot safer to work with this model in the garden . . .

Aaaah the wonders of glass!

Here's a cool looking glass tower near my new job.  It's a beautiful building!

Welcome Back to Atlanta!

Back to Atlanta! Home Sweet Home!

It's the last of the big Gators, Max!

Before we left for Atlanta, we took one last trip to the swamp at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.  Here's a last shot of a big gator.  After this one, it'll be cityscapes for awhile . . .

Film Photos: Marietta Confederate Cemetery

We're moving back to Georgia.  During the transition, posts here will be spotty.  But, I'll be able to take pictures like these in Marietta's Confederate Cemetery.  As a beginning photographer, these were all taken with my Canon EOS Elan 7E 35mm film camera with auto settings.

As a photographer, I like to compose shots well using balance and symmetry as shown in the arched monument above.  I also like to use leading lines as shown in the orderly rows of graves below.

The names of many Confederate soldiers are lost to time

The cemetery is a peaceful place where the din of guns and the pain of the wounded and dying are long behind the occupants of the more than 3000 graves.  You can read more about Marietta Confederate Cemetery at this City of Marietta page.

This Little Cannon - A Bronze 6-pounder Howitzer

This is a shot of the six-pounder bronze howitzer on the grounds of the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta. Known as the Little Cannon, you can find more information about it on the Historical Marker Database.

Photo: Geese in Flight

A flock of geese in flight

I took this picture after a quick draw of my Kodak Z950.  I barely had time to switch it to the athletic/action scene mode (in technical parlance - the little running dude on top of the camera knob).  I cropped the picture a bit to isolate the geese against a natural backdrop.

Photo: Brown Anole on a Pipe!

This is a Brown Anole (also known as a Cuban Anole or De La Sagra's Anole).  I captured this picture of him sunning himself when we lived in the Tallahassee, Florida, area.  These are a highly invasive species that reported arrived in Florida when they buried their eggs in the soil around plants that were imported from Cuba and the Bahamas as potted plants.  It's been unfortunate for the native Green Anole population.  You can read more about these lizards here on wikipedia.

A Brown Anole on a pipe stem just basking in the sunlight

 

This photo was most likely captured with my Kodak Z950 camera.  It was a great camera with lots of useful scene modes.

My Vintage Camera - Kodak Retinette 1A

This Kodak Retinette 1A 35mm Camera is a great vintage camera.  It was made sometime between 1959 and 1961 and is a fully manual camera.  It makes you think and learn and it rewards you with great photos.

Kodak Retinette 1A 35mm Film Camera

If you'd like to read a complete review of my camera, check out this article:
Vintage Camera Review:  Kodak Retinette 1A 35mm Film Camera

Time for Black & White Film Photos with Canon AF35M SureShot

I recently tried some black and white film in an old Canon AF35M II SureShot Autoboy 2 point and shoot camera.  It's a really fun vintage 35mm film camera with lots of clicks and whirs and nice picture quality.  For a complete review, check this article out:

Vintage Camera Review:  Canon AF35M II SureShot Autoboy 2

Canon AF35M II SureShot Autoboy 2 35mm Film Camera

My first couple of shots are from Cascade Lake in Tallahassee, Florida.  The third shot is of a building on the FSU Campus.  The neat thing about Cascade Lake is that the water regularly drains down into the aquifer on a regular basis.

Cypress Trees with Roots Exposed Due to Natural Draining of Cascade Lake (Tallahassee, FL)

The Cypress Trees and their roots are left high and dry during these draining events.  They provide an opportunity to take some hauntingly beautiful photos.

A Line of Cypress Trees provides a shady path

The nearby campus of Florida State University provides some interesting photography opportunities as well.  I thought this shot had a cool look in Black & White.

An old campus building on the FSU Campus

 

Florida Photo: A When in Florida, catch a sunset . . .

A couple strolls along a beach near Alligator Point, Florida

I took this shot out on Alligator Point a small beach community south of Tallahassee.

A Wonder of Wakulla - The Old Car Graveyard

In Florida's Wakulla county, a few rows of decaying cars have become a bit of a roadside attraction.  A local farmer arranged the cars in the woods off of 319 just south of Crawfordville, Florida, when they had been thoroughly worn out in farm service.  Today the gently rustic hulks have a certain dignity about them.

A Rusting Desoto sedan with broken windshield

Rusting farm cars and trucks in Crawfordville, Florida.

These pictures were taken using an RCA Small Wonder digital camcorder/camera.  It's small and fits easily into a shirt pocket.

South Georgia street photography: vintage tractors

This road is in rural South Georgia somewhere north of Thomasville.  This tractor collection gave me a good opportunity to take some rustic photos.

Photos of a tractor collection in South Georgia

A vintage Massey-Ferguson Tractor

Swamp Street Photography

Street Photography is all the rage.  You get candid shots of life on the streets.  Here's a street in St. Marks NWR.  Do you see the critter?

A Coyote walks alongside the road in St. Marks NWR

It's hard to draw a camera in a moving vehicle, get it on target, get focused, and get a shot off before an animal gets wise.  However, this coyote sure beats those artsy New York City pictures.

A zoomed in shot of a coyote in St. Marks NWR

Of course, some folks might miss the urban vibe and the night life.  However, we've got plenty of that too.

A huge alligator lurks by the road in St. Marks NWR just after sunset

Photo: Sunset at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

As the sun sets, St. Marks takes on an entirely new and surprising color palette.  On this night, the color was blue. . .

Ruins of a pier at St. Marks NWR

St. Marks NWR Photos: Reflections at Sunset

Reflections of Sunset Glow at St. Marks NWR

The water in some of the ponds and lakes at St. Marks is glassy and calm.  Sometimes it is like a mirror. 

Photos of Sunset at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

I take many of my photographs in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge near Tallahassee, Florida.  It is one of the best locations in the eastern United States for birdwatching and wildlife watching.  It offers a spectacular mix of woods, swamp, and salt marsh.

Fishermen return to a boat ramp at St. Marks NWR

Sunsets at St. Marks are always spectacular as the Apalachee Bay opens right into the Gulf of Mexico.

Sunset at St. Marks NWR

My digital camera - the Kodak Z950 Easyshare Camera

I really like my Kodak Z950 Easyshare digital camera.  It's a nice size for a small camera bag that can fit in my pocket.  It has 12 megapixel resolution and a 10x optical zoom.  You can use digital zoom to get even closer at the expense of image quality.  It does a nice job of automatic scene selection and has plenty of scenes to manually select.  I take this camera with me almost everywhere that I go.  By the way, this picture was taken with a cheap Vivitar digital camera.

Kodak Z950 Digital Camera

It doesn't have the same style as my film cameras, but it is truly very convenient to carry and use.

Alligator Photo Session: The Value of Zoom!

I take a lot of pictures of creatures with sharp pointy teeth.  So, I like cameras with great zoom features.  That's why I use my Kodak Z950 digital camera a lot.  That and I'm pretty broke right now.

Large Alligator at St. Marks NWR

Then I can get closer and closer and closer from the relative safety of my car!

Alligator Photo taken with Kodak Z950

 Sometimes you can zoom in a little too close!

Close up of Alligator

Film Photo: Everybody Loves A Puppy!

One of my most difficult subjects is our dog.  He rarely likes to strike a pose!

  

Puppy taken with a Canon EOS Elan 7e 35mm film camera.

Welcome to Cameralot!

Welcome to my blog!  Once upon a time, there was a dude.  He had no camera.  Then, he had the opportunity to buy a 35mm Canon EOS Elan 7 film camera from a friend who was getting into digital photography.  Since then, the dude has continued to accumulate all kinds of cameras.  Dude has film cameras.  Dude has digital cameras.  Dude takes pictures.  This is his blog.

A classical statue in the garden of an apartment complex

Dude took this picture in the garden of his apartment complex long long ago.