This Old Blog

Harley - Olympus E-P2 + Panasonic Leica 1.4/25mm @ f/2, ISO 200 I have been going back through my now sizable photo collection on Flickr, which contains almost 5,000 photographs stretching back to April 2006. I go back and look at what I've taken, many times surprised by what I find in the collection. I'm surprised because I forgot I took them, doubly surprised that I would have taken such a photograph. Such as these two found photos in this blog posting. I do remember what I was doing at the time when I took these. Back in July of last year my wife and I were up around the Mt. Dora area sightseeing and we stopped at a local spot for lunch, The Palm Tree Grill. I was wondering around with the E-P2, my first Pen, and the Panasonic Leica 25mm. The Harley I used for the chrome study was parked on North Donnelly Street, just a half block down from the Grill. I remember taking a number of photos of the bike, trying various angles and exposures, not sure about any of them. ...

Epiphany can be grand, or it can be personal. Today, for me, it was a personal experience. Today I had a sudden realization that I could produce, with ease, the kind of photography I've been struggling to produce for some time now, and with the cameras I already have. All I had to do was relax and enjoy the moments. And the best way to enjoy the moment is to ignore the fear of negative critical reception. In other words, don't worry about what others may say. That last bit of advice is hard to follow. In the hyper-connected, hyper-critical world of internet photography, it's hard to ignore the self-appointed critics, especially if they're out to troll you and everyone else they come across. That bit of advice, while certainly easy enough to state, is always difficult to follow. Today I drove back up to Renninger's Antiques in Mt. Dora to look around and say hello to Pincus the Scotty again. While there I used both the E-PL2 and the 45mm as well as the E-PL1 an...

Driving up and down 414 to Mt. Dora, I passed this locomotive and the industrial area. The problem is I'd drive past it in the morning when the lighting was good, then drive past it in the early afternoon when the sun was on the other side and casting it all in shadow. So today I got up early enough to do my chores around the house, then I drove my wife up to a service at RDV in Maitland. After dropping her off I continued across Maitland to the newly built 441 and on back up to this spot, where I stopped and spent about 30 minutes just walking about and photographing. I carried all three Pens, and probably looked like something of a dork while doing it. But on a Sunday morning, with little traffic and nobody at work, it didn't matter. I came away with photos taken with the 17mm, the 45mm, and the 25mm. As silly as it might sound, carrying three Pens with lenses is a lot lighter than carrying the E-3 with the 12-60mm. Seriously. The bridge construction sits next to the locomo...

After our second trip to Renningers we drove across 441 to the historic section of Mt. Dora and the Palm Tree Grill and Bar for lunch. It was good and filling, and reasonably priced considering the quality of the interior. When we finished we walked across the intersection to Piglet's Pantry Dog Bakery to have a look. Piglet's, according to the sign at the door, has been in business since 1997. Piglet's was named after the owner's Greyhound. When we left we'd picked up some treats for the Labs and the cats. Based on what we saw and how the Labs and cats took to the treats, we'll be back. Directly across the street from Palm Tree Grill is The Lost Parrot, another bar and grill. I remember this location fro 2003. That year I was trying to train for an M&S road ride, and one of the training rides was to Mt. Dora. We stopped at this location for lunch and to rest. It wasn't called The Lost Parrot back then. I went looking for this business on Google Maps, a...

Saturday my wife and I went back up to Renningers to do a Fergus run. I came prepared this time with the E-P2 plus 45mm and the E-PL2 plus 25mm. Renningers was a lot more crowded this weekend than two weeks ago. As a consequence Fergus was a bundle of pure energy as he went about his duties meeting and greeting everyone. As a consequence I got absolutely no photographs worth keeping of the little character. Because the E-PL2 has a built-in flash and can remotely control both of my FL50Rs, I'm planning on going back and using them to more "formally" photograph Fergus. All this for a Scotty. I went around the same general area as the last time, looking for little vignettes to photograph. Before you ask every one of these were taken with the E-PL2 and the Leica 25mm. I enjoyed taking these photographs because of the challenging lighting, and I enjoyed post processing them for the same reason. I am no Lightroom expert, but I have really developed an appreciation of the tool...

The museum is a small affair, on one side of the small one-story terminal that sits at the main entrance to Apopka Orlando Airport. While it may be small it's been built with care and attention to detail, and filled full with interesting memorabilia that help to document the history of the airline industry. While it may be small the museum deserves a far larger treatment than what I gave it Saturday. After spending too much time inside the 240, I had barely enough time to look around the museum and meet the hosts who'd invited me out that day. I had the most interaction with Retired PanAm Captain LeRoy Brown (left) and Retired Delta Captain Bill Lupo. Capt. Brown was a past president of the museum foundation, while Capt. Lupo is its current president. While both are very interesting individuals, it's Capt. Brown who truly piques my interest. Capt. Brown is 94. His career in aviation stretches back to the Second World War. His wife, Wanda Brown (left) was his radio "m...

While I was photographing the interior a couple of hard working guys were trying to fix up the forward door so that it would open and stay up in a latched and safe position. Under new conditions, the door and stairway are electrically powered and supported by a pressurized system similar to that used with hatchbacks on many modern cars such as my Prius. The door is activated to swing up and away from the fuselage, helped by its pressurized system. The stairway is then lowered to the ground with an electric motor. When it's time to close up the aircraft before takeoff, the stairway is lifted back into the fuselage and the doorway is then lowered and latched.When the door's in the up position it's locked and helped to stay up with its pressurized system. The problem is that the stairway and door system have been in service for so long that a number of key parts are bent and worn. When I got there that 2x4 was used to help hold up the door. If you look at the top photo you c...

Cockpit I was invited back to the Convair 240 today to photograph the interior of the aircraft. I wasn't able to see the interior last weekend because I didn't have the time, the necessary equipment to photograph the interior, and the desire of the two who were working on the aircraft not to let anyone inside the aircraft because the main door wasn't secured in a proper open position. Before I left the airport I got the full name of U.S. Airline Industry Museum Foundation and used that to send them a link to the first post about the Convair. From there it was a series of emails, then phone calls, then setting up today's meeting. When I arrived at the Orlando Apopka Airport close to noon a new group was at the airport, consisting of Capt. LeRoy Brown and his wife, Bill Lupo, and two others working on the 240. I gathered up some of the gear I brought with me and carefully entered the cabin through the forward entry. Passenger Cabin Once in the cabin I spent a fe...

Renningers Antique Mall in Mt. Dora is a huge, rambling affair located on over 100 acres located at the juncture of 441 and Lincoln Avenue in Mt. Dora, Florida. My wife and I went there to visit Fergus the Scotty, not necessarily to buy anything. As a consequence we barely saw any of mall, confining ourselves to the building where Fergus and his persons were located. Being an engineer and an inveterate tinker it was luck (good or bad depending on who you ask) that I found The Hardware Man. This store occupied one end of a long low building, a building that also held many other antique sellers, including Fergus' persons. While The Hardware Man might sell antiques, the real value of this store is selling parts to fix other antiques. If you need a lock or hinge or other mechanical part to fix an antique, this is the place you come to. The charm of such places are the memories they trigger when you slowly walk through their store. I know that the proprietors would prefer you purch...