General Photography Observations, Instructions, and Information about Vintage Cameras and Photographic Techniques from this Photographer's Unique Historical Perspective Spanning Fifty Years Experience within Various Genres. Includes posts: Vintage camera information, Old cameras, Single Lens Reflex Cameras, Cameras, Twin Lens Reflex Cameras, TLR, Medium Format, 6x6, 4x4, 120 film, 127 Film, Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollieflex, Japanese, German, Super Slides, 4x4, TLR, Medium Format Rangefinder, Range finder, Large Format. Photographer Douglas Patrick Wright Provides an Interesting Personal Slant with his Personal Insight Into Half Century of Personal Photography Experience Including his own Transition from Film to Digital. Although never intended as such this Weblog has become an important Resource in its Own Right Regarding Vintage Cameras--as Consulted by Photographers, Historians, and Collectors, Due in Part to the Photographer's Personal Use and Period Comments.
This Post mostly excepted from my eBay store description of this series of cameras I just listed.
Here is a chance to acquire three collectible Voigtlander Viewfinder Cameras.
Three Wonderful Vintage Cameras from My Personal Collection: These are from the 1950s to 1960s Voightlander Viewfinder 35 mm Cameras
What marvelous old cameras. They are compact yet heavy and made to precision instrument standards not much found anymore. These finely crafted instruments capture a golden era of German design and mechanical manufacturing at its finest. The cameras are made by an associate company of the famous German lens and camera maker and megacorporation--Zeiss-Ikon.. These three models came out of the 1950s and 1960s.
Voigtlander is an ancient optics company (began in the mid 1700s) that was making fine lenses for a hundred years prior to being among the first makers of cameras in the middle of nineteenth Century. The dominate much of the fine camera and lens business during the hundred years leading up to the production of these cameras. Over the years they shared many business arrangements with Zeiss and Zeiss-Ikon; they were finally bought out by Zeiss-Ikon during the mid-fifties. Established photographers when I was just a budding photographer in the sixties revered Voigtlander products. Although I never used their products as a professional, I have admired the workmanship of these cameras I have collected--and the era they represented.
Many of the clever design features are typical of fine-German engineering of the era. The bodies are sleep and ergonomic. You won't just accidentally discover the retractable rewind unless you curiously stumbled upon the in-obvious button that pops it up. You may not easily be able to figure out how to open the film back, and you may not readily understand how the shutter gets wound. These cameras are as amazingly crafted as any fine watch of the era. Fortunately, you can find and download the operator manuals for each. Please note: Before you incorrectly conclude that any of these types of cameras not working via the usual look and listen tests of the shutter and what-not, make sure that you understand how they work. The designers seemed to take joy in making the controls simple, sleek, functional--but not always obvious. One can feel stupid after learning the "tricks" of these cameras. More than a few of these cameras have been discarded as broken because of a failure to understand their nuances. For example, the shutter on some models will not cycle and cock without film tensioning the wind sprocket (or being manually depressed while the back is open). Or, with some models, you will likely never figure out how to release the back and/or realize that a rewind knob pops up to facilitate easy film rewinding. The shutter will not trip even after being cocked unless film is in the camera or the film counter has been manually reset on the bottom. But once you know them, these features become appreciated as pure genius.
The relatively fast 50 mm two.eight Voigtlander lenses used in these cameras are extremely sharp and fine examples of the Prontar shutters in conjunction with the Lanthar lens algorithm of vintage lenses. These algorithms were closely guarded secrets.
Vitomatic I Appears in great shape and passes all the mechanical tests. I am not sure about the selenium light meter which requires matching needles; Selenium has been known lose photo-sensitivity over time, but I don't know what the useful life of Selenium is. Vito C Metal top cover is loose. Look at the pictures carefully. I think all that is missing are the screws, but a black plastic spacer under the front of this cover may also be missing, as the other models have one. I think this camera works, but it needs the screws to be functional.) Vito CL Passes all the mechanical tests. Body is in great shape. The cover is solid, but somewhat discolored.
You can see pictures at this link until I get them posted here.
4x5 was at one time considered medium format. Today it is considered more Large Format.
The Graphic 4x5 view camera became very popular almost immediately. It's
monorail design, as opposed to dual rail view cameras, was designed
with the rack and pinion under the rail and out of sight.
Okay, I have taken quite a hiatus from posting about old cameras. That's because I stalled out in the liquidation of my once very large vintge camera collection. I still have a lot of cameras left and I am still planning to liquidate them. So, now I am back, sort of. I'll ease back into this with no promise of finishing the project anytime soon, but I truly do hope to, as the cameras are doing no-one any good at the moment, unused, un-viewed, essentially in storage. I have a few more medium format cameras, TLR Twin Lens Reflex and SLR Single Lens Reflex Cameras as well as several old folding models. I may even have a Crown Graphic or two in whole or in parts, before I move on to a fairly vast number of 35 mm cameras.
This phone grab is not the best image, but I included it because I am trying to get back up and running with posts on the remaining vintage cameras before I sell them, and this was what I had on hand. What may here appear to be a flaw in the lens is a reflection of one of the shutter blades. The lens is actually quite clear. The lens-board, used to mount the lens to the front standard, is cosmetically not the greatest craftsmanship. Whomever undertook this job was obviously looking for mere utility. The mount works just fine, but the hacksaw cuts are a bit rugged, and the home-made adapter sort of thingy used to make it tight is, well, homemade. But it works just fine. I give them a A for effort and ingenuity. This was probably done pre-Dremmel Tool.
But I for sure have one good 4x5 Graflex Graphic View Camera which sets as a user albeit mostly unused on a sturdy old Bogen tripod. 4x5 was at one time considered medium format. Today it is considered more Large Format. At the time, greater film size equated to greater image quality. This is still true, but film emulsions, to say nothing of digital image sensors. offer much better quality with smaller formats. This Graphic is one of several million cameras produced and marketed by Graflex during the war-torn decade of the nineteen-forties. At the time, large format view cameras were the standard for studio and product work. They still hold a place for much of the latter. Most sources say 1940-1949 was the production period for this camera. When the updated version of this camera came out in 1949 as the Graphic II it was largely what we would call today a relaunch. The new model was not much different but for being designed from the onset to accommodate several accessories including the Graflok roll-film back. The bellows was a bit longer.
This little camera originally sold for less than a hundred-bucks, which was a significant capital equipment investment in the early 1940's. [I looked this up and the buying power at the time was a little over 10x what it is now, so the investment would have been about like a thousand dollars now. This does not tell the entire story, however. At the time, money was harder to come by. There was a lower percentage of people who had access to money. There was less money in the money supply, even given the higher value of the money then, and there was much less inclination of and sources for getting money to invest, so, however you cut it, this was not a casual expense for a photographer, but it was much less expensive than many competing cameras that offered feature for feature.] Still, it was relatively inexpensive for the day. It was by no means a pricey camera. This little camera is not little by todays standards, but it was lighter than most, while still offering all the movements required of a view camera.
Most sources say 1940-1949 was the production period for this camera.
The Graphic 4x5 was intended to take the photography world by storm as a mass-produced, all-metal framed view camera suitable for studio work, and with the optional carrying case. [I actually have been unable to determine if this useful case was an option or was standard with each camera. I have read some sources that insist that it was standard, which makes good sense, because the camera is very unwieldy without a case.
The Graphic 4x5 was intended to take the photography world by
storm as a mass-produced, all-metal framed view camera suitable for
studio work, and with the optional carrying case.
On the other hand, photographers were always looking for ways to save a few bucks. If the camera was to be used exclusively in the studio, a case would have been an unnecessary additional expense. I just dunno this for sure. I have never had a case with any of mine, which were all acquired secondhand.] The case was said to be light and portable enough for location work for architecture or product photography or even scenics. I have actually never seen one, but I believe that the case started out being made of wood, and was therefore quite heavy, it was later made of a synthetic material, maybe Vulcanite. One source cited below says that the case was made from Vulcanite. Vulcanite is a material that was patented by Goodyear in 1946. It is made from rubber and sulphur combined at high heat. It was often used as a artificial replacement for a mineral of the hard coal family that occurs naturally called Jet, from whence the term Jet-Black comes from. Vulcanite and Bakelite were two of the castable materials that were being used for camera body coverings and cases during this time. The earliest Graphic View camera cases were made from wood, as was usual at the time, sometimes covered with leather. Vulcanite was a much lighter and much less expensive material and it makes sense that this case would have been made out of it, at least after 1946 or even earlier as produced on a Patent Pending basis.
The Graflex Graphic is today among the best bargains in vintage view cameras for those wanting to learn View Camera techniques and gain the advantages of image quality aforded by 4x5 film as ell as the movements which can correct visual distortions more efficiently than can even the most advanced post-camera computer software. They are highly sought today by photography students and both amateur and professional photographers because there are still a lot of them to be had, and they are not prone to deterioration if they have not been abused or damaged by the elements. Because the large numbers still in supply against the fairly steady demand, these cameras were then and are today more than ever one of the mainstay go-to view cameras. This is because they were then and are now good cameras.
The Graphic 4x5 view camera became very popular almost immediately. It's monorail design, as opposed to dual rail view cameras, was designed with the rack and pinion under the rail and out of sight. The T-design, or V-Notch as it is often referred to, provided rail sturdiness and great flexibility of movement, both essential for a good view camera. Aluminum was still fairly novel in manufacturing. Owing mostly to aircraft production, aluminum had begun to come into its own during the first part of the 19th Century.
The aluminum base that connects the camera securely to the tripod head was precisioned machined using pre-modern production techniques that were then leading-edge methods. The base is an integral and necessary part of the camera. Although this base is propriatary, there is some evidence that other bases were used as on-hand from photograpers' other existing cameras and that some tripods of the period included bases that were compatable with the Graphics. One fact that may support this is that the cameras could be purchased without the base. I can think of no other reason for this as the cameras were too big and unwieldy to have been hand-held. We must always bear in mind too that photographers of this era had to be self-sufficient and inventive. Just as with parallel technologies that were developing during this time, such as radio and othe remerging electronics, most improvements and developements originated in the field. It was not uncommon for photogaphers to make their own cameras dring this time. Since View Cameras were among the first camera designs ever, proliferating during the nearly one-hundred years leading up to this time, photographers had a lot of old carcasses to scrounge parts from. Photographers, and people in general, often made things for themselves.
Wooden view camera frames were the norm prior to this time. In fact, great pride of workmanship made pre-WWII cameras things of beauty. Subtle or ornate wood grains were coupled with shiney brass hardware and black or earthtone bellows in every-bit as much the fashion statements from camera makers. This camera was a departure from these beautiful old cameras. The distinct aluminum frame and polished stainless hardware was paired with the red bellows marked a new era in good-enough mass production. These were and are pretty cameras, but they were intended to say new, new, new, buy me! You can afford me! Don't be old-fashioned.
Since View Cameras
were among the first camera designs ever, proliferating during the
nearly one-hundred years leading up to this time, photographers had a
lot of old carcasses to scrounge parts from. Photographers, and people
in general, often made things for themselves.
These metal cameras have out-worn wooden cameras. It is interesting to note that one non-metal part of this camera, a not so important one, was the handle grip made on my camera at least of bakelight. Bakelight was a pre-plastic plastic that was being widely used for a lot of things during this period made from a castable concoction of carbolic acid and formaldahyde that would harden. I call Bakelite a pre-plastic plastic dependent upon how you define plastics, which is not a universal thing. It was widely used during the first half of the last century prior to the development of Nylon 66 and other petroleum-based plastic plastics. In one since, I suppose that Bakelite could be considered the first plastic widely used. Bakelite was used for all manner of electrical knobs and fixtures. It was even used to make camera bodies for inexpensive cameras. As it turns our, Bakelite wore pretty well. But it weakens over time and eventually becomes brittle and cracks and crumbles. This happened to the handle grip on this particular camera. Why they did not use a wooden or metal part for this is understandable, but it is a flaw.
This imge shows the newly homemade handle replacement grip.
[I could not leave this alone. After writing about this, I went to the shop and made a quick handle from a piece of wooden dowel. It is larger than life. I have not tried it while taking pcitures, but if you want it smaller or more original, it can be made smaller or removed with a hacksaw. Personally, I think it is an improvement over the dinky little original Bakeight handle grip, as you must turn it to tighten or loosen the movement of the mount. The bigger wooden grip makes this much easier. It will certianly be an improvement over the missing handle grip.
View cameras can be said to be simple cameras, but they are also very sophisticated. This ain't no Brownie box camera. Some knowledge of operation and skill are required in order to produce basic photographs, but a skilled photographer can do so much more than basic photography. The view camera design is among the earliest camera designs, but they are still very much in use today. Two rectangle frame parts called Standards in the front and in the back of the camera, are connected in a light-tight fashion using flexible bellows, which can be tilted and turned on both horizontal and vertical axises in combination in such a manner as to creatively distort the image which is projected from the lens in the front onto the frosted ground glass at the back film plane where it is observed and carefully manipulated and focused.
A flip-up groundglass cover and hood may provide enough darkness for simple subject composition and focus. For finer focus a dark-cloth is used to drape over a user's head and the glass to provide a darker environment for focusing images. Once focused and set, a piece of cut film held in, of all things, a film holder, is then inserted and held in place while the exposure is made. Roll-film backs were just becoming more popular during the Graphic was being produced. Although some roll-film backs were available, even from Graflex, they were not immediately incluuded as an option. Inventive photograpahers have always home-made adaptations. I have seen various such devices used for rollfilm and smaller cut-film sizes.
Without getting into an entire desertation about the operation and use of View Cameras, may I merely say that there are many useful features that are unavailable on other kinds of cameras by using view camera movements in such a way to distort the image--which effectively corrects the lines that our eyes would otherwise interpret as distortion. Our brains normally interpret the whomper-jawed lines that otherwise objectively hit the film; such distortions--which actually become corrections--are made visually as compose on the frosted glass. Our eyes and brains want to see an image in two-demiensions that as nearly replicate what our eyes see in corrected 3-D, or we become unsettled. A view camera's movements can be used to make these lines straighter and uniformly spaced as we view images in 2-D.
Note a couple of other embelishments visible in the pictures. There is a level on top of the back standard. On top of the front standarda screw is evident. This is the accessory accomodation. It is for mounting a flash, which though awkward in appearance since the flash mounts siedways, it works fine that way. It could also be used to mount anoher level, or a reflector or a flat lens shade. Speaking of lens shades, you could lso buy an optional one for the lens or to mount on this accessory attaching screw, although photographers often used a hand or a hat for this.
Lenses could be bought with the Graphic body. However, there is nothing exotic about the lens-board mount. Mounts for lenses had become very standard by this time in camera history. Lenses were widely available, and although optically superior coatings designed to deliver better color renditions were being developed during this time, black and white photography was still the standard. Color film emulsions were available, but color photography was still in relative infancy. By the time I was born in the early fifties and a few years later observing my dad make color transparencies in the darkroom--Dad was a very advanced amateur photographer. Color photography then only represented a very small percentage of even professionally produced photographs. The big color boom was a decade or more away during the production years of the Graflex Graphic. My point is that a lot of extraordinarily good glass lenses were available by the time the Graphic came to be that could and were used on the camera body.
When choosing a view camera lens, several factors need to be considered as with any camera that can accommodate interchangeable lenses. Focal length as used for any given type of photography is the foremost consideration in my estimation. Once this is established, the optical quality is certainly the primary concern. If you plan to use the lens with electronic flash, which you most probably will if it is used in a studio, you will want to have a lens that is X-Synchronized, meaning that the shutter is completely open at the time the flash fires. Otherwise you may get no image or only a partial image. This was not a consideration prior to the electronic flash, although similar considerations were. Flash bulbs fired at much slower speed. Shutters were designed to be open when the flash bulb had reached its peak illumination. You will see vintage lenses that have no Sync at all, those with M or B Sync, and those with a combination of choices such as B, M, and X that are lever adjustable. There are other variants on this theme.
View cameras can be said to be simple cameras, but they are also very
sophisticated. This ain't no Brownie box camera. Some knowledge of
operation and skill are required
The B that is often regarded as being synonymous with time exposures as activated by pushing and holding town the shutter release for a time as determined off-camera and then closed when the exposure is finished, actually was intended to be used with early flashbulbs--thus the B designation. The idea was to make the studio completely dark, open the shutter, fire the flashbulb, and then while still in the dark, close the shutter. In this way, the only light that reached the film was that created by the flashbulb. The shutter and the bulb were effectively placed in sync in a primitive way. This technique still has some useful and unique applications such as using a method of lighting large objects, such as airplanes at night, called light-painting.
There are sophisticated methods of testing lens/flash synchronization. The easiest and most reliable is to take a series of test pictures and the process the film to see if they were indeed in sync. I they are not, it will be evident. I have always felt that a quick test could be done in the field and ont he fly, by holding a lens up at a distance from your eye where you can clearly focus while simultaneously blocking out extraneous light and clicking the shutter while an electronic flash is attached. If the lens is in proper sync you will see the image and the after image of the flash in a complete circle. I am told that this is not an accurate measure, but it has not failed me in half a century. It's a good trick to know when fooling with vintage cameras.
The lens that I have on my old Graphic View camera is a very optically high quality lens that was designed to be used with one of the original professional quality Polaroid Land Cameras. It is Prontar lens of 127 mm focal length. Polaroid Land Cameras were the earliest examples of instant image cameras which created quite a stir in the days when instant images such as we commonly see in digital cameras was unheard of. The images were not even instant at that, and were not so good in every case. They were also restricted to black and white images at that time. There is nothing also-ran about this lens, however. It is a Rodenstock glass lens--from the late fifties or early sixties, I am guessing. Rodenstock was and still is a highy respected name in optics, particularly cameras. Although as with virtually every other corporate entity, the original Rodenstock is not the same company of superior german optics makers as it once was--it was at the time this lens was produced. Rodenstock was long the maker of the finest optics available.
So the lens works very well on this view camera. I did not do the adapting, but someone did. Other than the lens attachment to the lens board looking a little homemade in the cutting of the metal, it performs flawlessly with the camera. I am not sure that I know exactly how the 127 mm focal length of this lens translates to normal for 4x5, but it seems to be slightly wider than what is regarded as normal for 4x5 View Cameras.
The lens that I have on my old Graphic View camera is a very
optically high quality lens that was designed to be used with one of the
original professional quality Polaroid Land Cameras.
Of course any lens designed or adapted for the purpose can be used with this camera. The aperture on this lens goes from f/4.7 to f/45. While this is not astonishingly fast by today's standards, it is quite fast for the size of this lens. By fast, I mean in its light-gathering power at its widest opening. The shutter speeds range from B to 300. An EV or Exposure Value scale is also graduated on the lens. EV was a popular method of reckoning and changing exposures quickly during this time period. Many old lenses have this graduation, notably Hasselblad, Ziess, and Rodenstock lenses.
I apologize for the shaky phone pictures above. But the one on the left in particular was added as an afterthought to show the mechanism used to keep the lens aperture open while focusing the ground glass. you must push this lever first in and then to one or the other position to hold the lens open. This feature is necessary on a view camera to facilitate focusing as the image is projected from the lens, through the bellows, onto the frosted back ground glass. After the focus is made, but before the film is readied for exposure, the aperture is closed. Then the shutter is once again cocked. The film holder slide is removed and the shutter release is tripped. I recommend a shutter cable-release be used with this or any view camera, as it allows more mobility between the front and the back of the camera.
Interestingly, even though Rodenstock is now a massive world-wide supplier of quality optics still headquartered in Germany, the web-site reeks with poor translations into English. It is either computer generated or done by a translator heavily stilted with typical Japanese-English proclivities. Judging also from the misspellings found there--I don't think it is computer-generated. Oh well, I guess when you are such a well-known optics company, you can employee the CEO's grandson's girlfriend (or someone like unto) to translate web pages. Who cares??? ? Only OCD old camera buffs with marketing backgrounds I suppose. Unbelievable.
I replaced the age-crumbled Bakelite handle grip with one made of wooden dowel. Here is an IPhone Picture of it after this was done. While I was at it, I included a couple of images showing what a dark-cloth looks like. The photographer places this over his head at the viewing ending of the camera to provide enough darkness and contrast to easily see the image the lens projects onto the frosted ground glass for precision focus and composition. There is a pop-up viewing shade that is used for quick view without the dark-cloth.Showing in one image are two 4x5 cut0film holders. A piece of film is loaded in the dark into each side of a film holder. A dark-slide keeps the film from being exposed until the holder is in place in the camera back and the slide removed. The exposure is then made and the slide is replaced before the holder is turned to the other side or taken into the darkroom for processing. The image of a photographer with his head under the dark cloth standing behind the camera was the stereotypical portrayal of a photographer for nearly a hundred years. I don't see it used much anymore, and for good reason; modern digital cameras do not use this method much anymore, so the meaning would be lost on younger generations. I have sometimes wished for just such a cloth while using digital cameras with a LCD display.
I have had fun taking pictures of nature's photographic bounty over the years. During the past few years I have taken a lot of pictures of dragonflies. Lately, I have found it impossible to not give some camera attention to hummingbirds. According to the experts, this summer was banner for them; I live smack in the migration path of three varieties and I live very close to an Audubon Center that hosts an annual festival commemorating them as they congregate to fatten up prior to their dangerous flight across the gulf of Mexico, where they winter. I have always taken pictures of animals and birds both wild and domestic when the opportunities presented themselves. I have also spent some time actively stalking wildlife for the purpose of photographing them.
For thse interested in taking pictures of dragonflies, I'll prov e a few hints to get you started. It may not be rocket science to say begin by going to a local pond, lake, river, or stream. Even a swampy wet area that stays wet when other areas tend to dry up, sometimes called seeps, can be good places for dragons. Although not all dragonflies stay around water, they tend to stay fairly near water. Dragonflies and damselflies, or Odenates, spend a good portioh of their early lives under water where they are known as nymphs. Nymphs are famously imitated by fly fishermen. After a season under water, the nymph bodies have transformed into dragonflies. They climb up out of the water in spring and summer, crawl out of their nymph shells, and after drying their winds--fly off to live the rest of their relatively brief adulthood as the insect we commonly call dragonflies. Damselflies are closely related, but are generally smaller and have winds that angle more back toward their tails.
There are numerous species of Odenates. There are six broad categories of dragonflies. Since damselflies are a bit more reserved in both their habitat and their behavior, I recommend beginning your photographic excursions with dragonflies. Specifically, I recommend that you look along the edges of whatever fresh water you can find for those dragonflies that like to perch on the tops of weeds and limbs and outcrops to be seen. These guys are also often very curious and will come back around when they determine that you are not a threat to them. They may even land on you. I am always fascinated by how they will sometimes come hover right in your face as if to challenge you or size you up. This is part of their behavior that makes them interesting. I do not know if they are just checking you out, or trying to scare you off. But if you make no attempt to either retreat or to harm them, they quickly decide that they can coexist with you.
The longer you are around on a frequent basis, the less intimidated these insects are by you. You can then cautiously approach within a foot or so of them, so that even the most basic cameras will suffice for photographing them. Of course, the more capabilities you have for close-up focus, the better pictures you can potentially take. I usually have an inexpensive compact camera with zoom capabilities and a fairly good lens with me. Many of my best photographs have been done with one of these, although I also like to go out specifically looking for photographic opportunities along a creek or lake, with more capable cameras that allow greater adjust-ability and greater optical clarity. A telephoto macro zoom lens is what I often use during such cases. If I am wanting truly superb depth of field and clarity, I use a normal or slightly wide angle fixed lens. However, taking pictures with these requires greater patience and more expendable time to find and approach dragonflies and to get close enough to photograph them. I also sometimes use a fixed focus telephoto lens of an excellent quality.
In the order of progression as I have mentioned them, these lenses become more expensive. I want to make the point, though, that they are not necessary, except for the most exacting needs. You can do pretty well with an inexpensive digital camera if you follow a few rules. The first one I have already given you--seek those that perch near the water as they are most approachable. the second is to go during bright sun and warm weather with fairly calm winds. At the first signs of clouds or rain or wind and as evening approaches, most Odenates head for the shelter of tall grass or high tree trunks.
Using auto-focus initially, you may be able to get some nice shots. You'll probably want to set both your auto-focus area and your exposure readings on spot or at least heavily weighted toward the center. Once you try this you will see the limitations your are constrained to. Then you may want to use multi-spot auto-focus. You may also experiment with manual focus or auto with manual focus after option if you have it. Use automatic settings that use small f/stop apertures (larger numbers) or aperture priority with higher settings. Shoot at maximum resolutions. This gives you greater ability to crop after-the-fact if you are not that close to the bugs. If you have to in order to achieve the first objectives, use higher ISO settings, but understand that you will see a degradation in image quality.
I will repeat here a few basics that you may already know, but it never hurts to review their practical application as it applies to specific situations. I try to make my posts usable by the most basic photographers as well as provide a few insights usable by experienced ones. Depth of field is critically important in macro-photography, as the distances make the field of focus so shallow that part of a dragonfly may be in clear focus while another is not. This still may happen at times due to lighting, but there are things you can do to ensure the maximum depth of field.
First, realize that the smaller the aperture opening, which means the larger the numerical value of the f/stop, the greater the depth of field. This implies several other things that necessarily follow. The lower the shutter speed, the smaller opening you are able to use. this has practical limits. I remember my dad telling me when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school in Fairbanks, Alaska, as he allowed me to use his Yashica 44 EM Twin Lens Reflex camera in 1964, when I asked which of the combination of f/stops and shutter speeds that the built-in light meter offered, "Any of them". Dramatic pause to let it sink in and give rise to the natural questions that came from that not very satisfactory answer, "But use at least 1/125th for the shutter to stop the action." This is still pretty good advice. Camera shake alone can ruin an other-wise properly exposed photograph. There are more considerations than how much light you have. So, use the lowest shutter speed that stops the kind of motion required. Many digital cameras provide electronic warnings or refuse to take the picture until shaking has stopped at the camera. this does not provide for movement at the dragonfly. Another way of ensuring freezing action is to use the action preset, for Sports shots. This may NOT provide the optimum f/stop, however. One way to accomplish both needs is to use the "A" Aperture Priority setting. Choose a small f/stop such as f/16 or f/22. You will then need to adjust the ISO setting upward to increase the sensitivity if necessary in order to accommodate low light situations. Alternatively, you can use a fill flash, but everything has other ramifications. This may ruin the desirable natural lighting that you see on or in the camera. Choices may have to be made regarding which elements are most important. Don't fret about it, just shoot away with the best application of automatics and/or knowledge that you can muster on the fly, and plan to analyze and improve from there. I can tell you, that this process never ends, but with experience, you gain a broader understanding of what to do when to get what . . . . you want.
Of course, if you are trying to catch them on the fly, you'll want to use a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the images enough to be meaningful. But having the wings blur a bit can be fun too. Get as close as you can to the dragonflies. This becomes easier as they get used to you and decide that they are not a threat. Many of the bigger dragonflies will actually approach you and hover in your face to look you over. I don't know if they are actually challenging you and trying to protect their territories or if they are simply curious. But they are inclined to land on any outcrop. I use this tendency to my advantage and will sometimes place a pointed object out above the others--such as along a pond bank. They will very often land on it to claim it for themselves. The males like to be seen and be positioned where they can see intruders. Use this to your advantage.
Another way to gain greater depth of field in any photograph is to back up. This has its problems when you are taking macro pictures of insects. You are trying to get close or give the appearance of being close. If you are able to get close, using a wider angle lens or zooming out to a wider angle view will provide greater depth of field--but, of course this necessitates getting physically closer to compensate. You never know how close your quarry will allow you to get, so take a lot of pictures as you go, moving ever closer for additional sets.
Conversely, using a telephoto lens will give you a closer view, however, the depth of field diminishes greatly by so doing. Quality telephoto lenses, that is, those that provide critically sharp focus, become exponentially expensive as the magnification increases. But even this factor can be moderated by obtaining good used equipment. I have posted previously precisely about how to achieve this aim.
I generally advocate using just the highest resolution in megapixels that each job requires, but when it comes to these kinds of photographs, I recommend using the maximum allowed for almost all images. The reasoning behind this has to do with the ability to crop and enlarge just a small portion of the image in the event that you are not able to get close enough to fill the frame up. This is very useful, but it may affect the speed at which your camera can process the images within the camera in much the same way that using a fill flash has to wait to recharge subsequent filled shots. Both of these concerns are applicable for each use under given quick-shoot applications.
You will likely notice the advantage of manual focus or auto-focus plus manual tweaking, if you camera allows this function, as you take more pictures. Even as you maximize your depth of field, you may find the focus being not exactly where you wanted it to be. Your camera may choose to focus on the perch rather than the bug. This can be minimized by using spot-focus settings. More sophisticated digital cameras will allow automatic focusing, with tweaking or fine tuning after the focus has been done automatically, but this is usually a separate focus setting. It can be a very useful feature, but your eyesight, the camera display, or viewfinder view must all be considered.
Manual focus surely has its applications with dragonflies and other macro photography work. The aforementioned auto-plus feature has its limits. Some digital cameras offer manual focus assist that imposes a stark outline in one of several choices of colors of whatever is in the clearest focus. I sometimes use this with yellow. In the fall, I may have to vary the color. But familiarity with this feature as well as manual focus without this assistance should be practiced before you get into a mission critical situation. You may want to utilize the memory or so-called Soft-Keys or Buttons to facilitate going from one feature to another.
I am throwing a lot of ideas out there. If these put you off and become confusing, be assured that you only have to use them if you want to. As I have already written multiple times, use whatever you are comfortable with. But a once over of all of the features your camera offers is still a good idea, just to know what you may have the capacity to do with any given camera.
There are other considerations, but this should get you started. You may wonder, so, given all this, what is the best way to do it. The best way is whatever way will get the job done for you. Beyond this, I can tell you what I use. I have a homemade, actually, a home-altered, flash bracket that was originally intended to mount an off-camera flash above a camera, so as to direct the background shadow down and out of the field of view when taking candids of wedding and other such events. Instead of having a flash mounted on the top platform as intended, I have another camera mounted. I use used Sony NEX 5N camera bodies which have a respectable 16 megapixel maximum resolution. Next round, I will probalby ge the next rung up in resolution, but this has proven pretty good, even for the picture books I do.
Onto one camera body, I have a fairly wide angle to fairly telephoto zoom lens mounted. to the bottom body, I have a lens that picks up wehre the other telephoto leaves off and goes several times farther in the tele direction. To reduce expense, I use old Minolta lenses intended for analog cameras, but new enough to tap into the electronics of the Sony cameras. This also requires an intelligent adapter made by Sony, which I am pretty impressed with. It has limits, but it works under most circumstances. I also carry a 2x tele-converter sometimes if I am on a serious expedition--which is not that often. When I am into this serious mode, I wear a photography vest with lots of pockets. I don't like to carry a bag at all. I may also have a compact digital camera in my pocket. I have considered rigging my frame so that I could turn it to the handle side where I would ideally have the compact camera mounted. I have not been compelled to do this, but I may experiment with it.I also have an integrated flash on one of he cameras.
Yes, this is a fairly cumbersome and heavy set-up by today's standards. I came up through the ranks with heavy analog cameras, some which easily weighted twice as much; at least for me, there is a case to be had for being able to hold such heavy and physically larger rigs steadier for slow shutter speed shots without a tripod. I don't necessary recommend it, but it can be an upside. I may have a remote-controlled radio-slave driven off-camera flash either mounted on the rig for the non-integrated flash camera--still a smallish one--in a vest pocket. I may have a very good prime fixed focus lens or two as well, but this is getting more esoteric than I usually want to get. If it become too much more complex and heavy as to adversely effect my mobility, I will likely find myself less motivated to go take dragonfly pictures.
For this reason, the little compact pocket automatic Sony or any other brand remains a viable alternative. Most of my insect pictures are taken coincident to other activities whether it be hiking or fishing or traveling. It is virtually always there. I have worn out at least three of these, which does not cast aspersions on their quality. They are what they are, and they are not expensive. I am happy with them. I also am considering trying a waterproof and shock-resistant variant of a compact digital camera for even greater versatility and rigors.
During the Fall or late Summer, Odenates will couple to mate--even in mid-air. This provides unusual photographic opportunities. All Odenates are predators. They eat many harmful insects. Some also eat one another. I recently photographed something that I regarded with both fascination and horror. One female Pond Hawk was attacking another from behind and devouring her. The one being attacked might well have been able to escape but for the smaller male who was simultaneously mating with her. Such photographs place both amateurs and professionals on a par as they are able to participate in scientific research and input these photographs, along with dates and times of sightings that go into a database used to learn more about these animals.
Although I have spent a lifetime as a professional photographer to one degree or another--sometimes pursuing it full-time, while at other times only part-time, I am also an amateur Naturalist. I am currently pursuing a course of study that will certify me as such. This is only important to me as it helps me better understand plants and animals in a desire to help protect them from extinction, control them as a good steward over the environment and simply learn more about them. The more I learn about these animals the more incredulous becomes the whole idea of anything less than an intelligent design, and the less probability it seems to me that e everything evolved accidentally, as it were.
It is hard to ignore fossil evidence of Natural Selection playing a part in animal and plant diversity, but it is a huge leap with a gazillion unexplained gaps jumping form one species to another. Evidence of dragonflies goes back millions of years before even dinosaurs walked the earth and then fell extinct. They have survived Ice Ages and climate changes longer than most other beings. Yes, I feel sure that improvements via Natural Selection has played a role in this diversity, but the nuances in design and behavior that makes these insects so incredibly interesting shows the creative hand of both an Artist and a practical Creator, perhaps even with a pleasing sense of divine humor.
Although I accept that I may be able to make some scientific contribution, even if by mere accident, by taking these pictures, my motivation is primarily amazement and appreciation for their beauty. If I can capture just a smidgen of that displayed by dragonflies and other insects and birds, humming and otherwise, and all the other subjects nature presents, I will be well-satisfied. This is not hard for anyone to do.
I have expressed in at least one previous post how at one time, having become burned-out as a photographer, because I did not allow enough time to take these kinds of pictures in preference to those that had immediate and demanding commercial application, that I had all but stopped taking pictures. I found more enjoyment in collecting old relic cameras, most of which I had been contemporary with, and writing about them. This was well and good, and I did make a significant contribution with related posts, but it did not scratch that creative itch that photography had scratched early on, and did so for so many decades. My wife bought me a simple little compact digital camera to carry in my pocket. I had several highly-featured digital cameras and had kept myself up-to-date with software and technology, but the u.ndeniable accessibility of the little Sony camera, got me taking pictures again.
With the little pocket camera, I found myself unable to squelch that part of my minds-eye that had become finally honed over a lifetime with a particular style of composition and rendering images more or less the way I see them screamed too loudly to be ignored. It was intuitive. I used the full automatics for the most part at first, but fairly soon, the understanding of the mechanics and physics of photography kicked in and I found myself using them to make manual adjustments or tricking the automatics into shortcuts to the same end. The gift, or curse, came back. I am limited and contained more by circumstances now, but the eye and the inner voice is there alive and well. This is what dragonflies and flowers and birds and grand-kids and a thousand other things have given me.
If a dragonfly of these varieties is startled and leaves his perch, don't give up or dispair. they will ften circle back around and return to the same or a narby perch. Sit down or just stay still. You may even want to take opportunity to advance to a better position, counting upon his return. If he does not return, his perch may well uickly be occupied by another dragonfly.
I will never allow this voice to be overpowered and silenced again. I hope that other photographers will take note and beware that this does not happen to them. Feed the creative need a little all along. If ever you feel photography becoming drudgery, step back and take steps to change whatever it is that is doing this. It is not the fault of your camera. It is your own abuse of your gifts. Stop it.
If you are taking photographs for identification purposes, take as many angles as possible.
This picture book introduces children to Odonates, the scientific name for dragonflies and damselflies. I use a little amber dragonfly of the variety that hang out by our pool to narrate the tour of a few other friends. His name is Peter, thus Pete's Dragons, an obvious play on the animated movie Pete's Dragon, singular. Peter is pretty sure that he is a not only a dragonfly, but a Fairy. Who are we to judge?
Although it may seem obvious to some, increasingly, it is not; I am sometimes quizzed by those heirs to the digital world who did not cut their photographic teeth on film cameras or even the earlier digital cameras regarding the use of manual functions such as exposure, aperture settings, and focus. Coming from the ancient world preceding greater electronic technology in cameras, it is second nature to me since it at one time was the only way available. But this is intended neither to disparage the younger crowd, nor to imply that I do not fully enjoy the increased versatility afforded by the latest and greatest technology. I am, was, in season, a hearty technology buff and often among the first to try new features whenever it was offered. I have been less so in recent years, not for want, but for practicality. I cannot always justify and even less frequently fennigle the use of the newest stuff. I might could, but I don't.
Still, I will answer this question of manual feature usage with a few examples. I am not saying that there are not other work-rounds or that these are the best ways to get from point A to point B, but in some cases it may be exactly the best way. The first case in point will default to a common automatic point and shoot with manual override capabilities and the second will be a more sophisticated camera that offers both a full range of automatic settings as well as manual capabilities.
I was going to comment about these, but is it really necessary? I rest my case. However I will add to my endorsement of a couple of other hybrid features. Manual focus with a mode that allows you to tweak and adjust minutely after the auto-focus is done, is useful--however, it does not replace completely manual focus. Here's why. What we used to call Zone Focusing, relies on either a scale on the lens barrel that corresponds to the aperture setting, indicating what is in acceptable focus at any given f/stop. It is especially useful in fast-moving photography such as sports.
It is easy to use with or without a scale on your lens. You simply manually focus on an object at about the same distance that you want to shoot a scene at--one that will fill the frame and show the action as it comes within a given range. You then choose the smallest aperture setting (largest aperture number) that provides a shutter speed that sufficiently stops the action. You then wait until the action is within that range, pan with the motion, and shoot. The farther depth-of-field provided by the small aperture opening maximizes the depth of field.
I have recently used this method to photograph dragonflies in mid-air. The reason the autofucus with manual tweaking does not work well while using this technique, is that it takes too much time refocusing and does not settle down quickly enough for you to tweak. Straight Manual Focus works best for this.
Another consideration is the exposure. Depending upon the sophistication of your camera, the exposure might best be preset for the area where you expect to take the pictures. Doing this manually may be the best choice. You may just have to experiment. If the auto-exposure is up for the task, it can really be helpful. But it may also have a hard time trying to guess what effect you are going for.
Manual adjustments to provide a good combination for freezing action versus gaining greater depth-of-field and working in lower light situations are important concepts to understand, although, increasingly, presets provide for more situations using quickly settable icons. The way I use these icons are usually not for what they were intended or suggested to be used for. but it does not matter. If you understand the concepts behind why the settings work, and/or if you experiment to discover exactly what these settings do, you can then file that info away in your mind and use them under whatever conditions they work for your needs. I use these setting to cheat for simplicity and quickness quite a lot. I like presets for this reason, although there seems to always be times when manual settings work better.
Okay, so I like the first try with the free offer. I expanded the book to 12x12 amd more and bigger pictures, edited text, and forty pages. I ordered several more copies. I did not want to go hawg wild as we say here in the South, without seeing a finished book. They did hteir job, but I am not too confident of my own proffreading abilities. Stranger things have happened than ME making such mistakes. This is a good example of a company putting their money where their mouth is. They also piggy-backed another half-price coupon that I used.
I got the trial photo book back from Shutterfly. I had an offer for a free book. I got a hardback 8x8 with the twenty pages offered of a recent scenic float trip of the nearby Ghost River my sons took me on for a Father's Day gift. All I paid for the book was postage. Using Shutterfly's onboard software, the book was a cinch to layout. The turnaround was a matter of days and I had it in hand before I thought much more about it.
I am impressed sufficiently that I doubled the number of pages to forthy and added pictures to flesh out the book in the 12x12 hardback format and ordered half-dozen copies--for which I will pay list price less 20% from a coupon I got in the mail today. These guys are great marketers, but mostly the product is as advertised, an increasingly rare find.
I will gift each of my sons as well as our river guide friend with a copy, keep a copy for my coffee table, and place one on consignment at a country store near the river where kayakers stop. I may also provide a copy with the local library. I will imprint an email and web order URL in the book. This is all part of a continued postcard marketing effort that I first began dabbling in nearly forty years ago. I can surely tell you that it is a much easier prospect today then it was then. There is always a market for good scenic postcards by those who exercise a bit of enterprise making them and selling them wholesale.
Shutterfly's offer worked for them too. I will be ordering more books. I have a good dozen picture books of various photographic themes that I have long had in the making. Their freen photo book offer got me off of dead center and has brought those projects to the forefront so effectively that they are likely to actually get done this summer--likely within the next couple of weeks.
My earliest photographs were oriented toward storytelling. My mom was a writer. My dad was an advanced amateur photographer back in a day when photography was the high-tech photography of choice of the technically-inclined. Life Magazine, Look, and the Saturday Evening Post were picture vehicles that told the news in storied form with pictures. I had aspirations of becoming one of those photographers. Little did I understand that that particular medium would be so fleeting. Televison and moving photography supplanted them before I was even an adult. But I had already become a committed photographer for several newspapers. A savvy old newspaper editor taught me the importance of each photograph "telling a story".
I adapted my story pictures to my own stylized portraits of life in snapshots. People liked this style well enough for me to support my family for a good number of years, until I evolved and moved on to another aspect of my career. Still, I almost habitually seek to capture the life stories that unfold around me. The commonplace inevitably becomes cherished memories. Digital technology is especially adaptable for capturing our life stories.
There is something about freezing a moment in time for our later reflection that is lost in video capture. The ease of keeping an ongoing journal as it happens, along with our written thoughts, that makes it seem unimaginable to not participate in this process.
I sometimes fancy that these images and thoughts will mean something to future generations and perhaps help them in some way to not have to repeat the same mistakes that we make--or even give them a leg-up legacy of what did work--a blueprint of sorts for how to live effectively. I think artists have had similar aspirations since it all began. Else, what does it matter? I think we have a good shot now of succeeding in this. But I have always been an optimist.
The online marketing tools are in full bloom for any enterprising photographer. I just put together a photo book to try out a free promo for an 8x8 book using some of the same pictures I used in my previous post about The Ghost River, Wolf River float trip I took. It looks good online and it was easy enough. I could not get the promo code to come back up in the offer so I could plug it in after spending the time opening an account, choosing the photographs, and writing text to fit the text boxes--and I thought I had been had.
I opened a Chat dialog, but Rabish (Out-Sourced again) could not help me unless I had--guess what--a promo code from the offer. Then in an amazing stroke of good fortune and memory, I remembered that I had had the foresight to copy the promo code--and it was still in the clipboard. I tried it and it worked. The postage was reasonable. I hope the book is nice. If it is, I will reorder sufficient to gift each of my sons a copy and give one to the young guy that served as our guide. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Shutterfly is a big outfit and I am sure this kind of thing is old-hat to many. But I just have never used them much. I plan to. I am going to attempt to plug in source code they provided for sharing the online book and an offer now. I hope it works.
In order to display these images fully or to make the small ones larger you may double-click them.
To most people, the Ghost River, a section of the Wolf River near Memphis, particularly in the summer, is at best nasty black-water slough--or at worst, a haven for life-threatening perils such as snakes and toxic plants. Indeed this picture illustrates at least some credence to their views. Scenes such as the one below abound along the river. Though they make a pretty contrast of colors, this picture consists of deadly toad-stool surrounded by lush Poison Ivy. The poison Ivy is abundantly hanging from the trees that overhang the river and they easily brush against your face. You need to readily identify the tell-tale triple leaflets and be ready to dodge them if possible. It is not always possible. But you'd do best to leave these toad-stools alone. Bright colors mean beware.
There was a time when I would throw a canoe on my car and go out somewhere all day; if I thought to tell anyone where I was going, it was usually in passing. Those times are gone, but not the desire.
At had plenty of gear with me on this trip. I was not sure what to expect. I have done plenty of whitewater in both canoes and kayaks. This is not that. But it does have its own navigational perils in the form of obstacles and current pressing you against trees and stumps to get hung up on--so I had my good stuff stowed in dry-bags with the intent of breaking it out after I got a feel for what I was facing. I had a small Sonypoint and shoot in a plastic bag to start with.
It was a Father's Day gift of sorts. I have
wanted to do the Ghost River Section of the Wolf for pictures for a long
time, but it would have been irresponsible for me to have done so
alone, because it disappears into a cypress swamp where you
sometimes have to pick the channel out. It can take forever. B has a
young church friend who has made the float numerous times, so he
arranged to have the guy guide us this trip, not knowing exactly what to
expect. C was happy to join. I have devised a specially outfitted
sit-on-top kayak that allows me to recline onto a beanbag, or I would
not be able to go at all. My rig is wider and longer than a river kayak
should be. With me on it it also draws a lot of water, so it is not as
fast or nimble. Each took a turn coming back to assist me. They were
literally paddling circles around me--but at least I was there.
I am old school. I am all about clear, properly exposed photographs. Although I have always been prone to experimentation with special effects so that I know how to do them and their possibilities when they are called for as tools to project my own interpretations of my environment--or as called for to illustrate particular products or points--I have seldom used special effects for the sake of special effects alone.
I used a soft software filter on this photograph after-the-fact in keeping with the motif I had revised on the fly from a pure documentary-style representation of this kayak trip. I arrived at this idea when I was unsure of whether I wanted to crack out my good gear and have it exposed to the elements. But most of these images were created in the camera, without special filers or software. Let me make a few points about this. I have long advocated a no excuses approach to delivering the goods when it comes to professional photography--meaning you must come through--no matter what. This approach means you must be prepared for any and everything. You must bring back-up gear and back-up to back-up gear. You need access to three of most things and four or six of other things--depending upon their propensity to failure.
This point made, I will make another divergent point. Sometimes you decide to punt. My little Sony was already on the blink. I seem to wear out one of these a year. I take more pictures than most people. My experience is that regardless of the brand, they have a particular life-expectancy. This may be a result of heat on the electronics, accidental abuse, wear on the mechanical parts, and what-not. Whatever the cause, this camera was perfect for the occasion since it did not really matter if it got ruined.
This was a pleasure trip with pictures to be taken on speculation and my own art purposes. Later trips may be more earnestly in pursuit of a particular photographic mission--but this one was a trial photographic trip. I had to learn the river, my limits, my kayak, and the navigability and the time it takes on the river--and how much of this I can endure in my current health and the summer heat.
I had flexibility regarding what kind of pictures I came back with. I was not very careful about splashes and paddle-water dripping on the camera. This likely did not help the camera operation, but the big thing that arose from this was that water drops and smudges got on the lens front and started creating partial blurring of the images. I wiped it dry a couple of times at first. Then, while looking at a couple of the images, I had an idea to go with the flow and in fact crank the effect up a bit, in order to convey a sense of the action and environment of this float trip.
If you have followed much of this and others of my weblogs you know that I have a thing for dragonflies. I photograph them a lot around my home pond. During this trip I saw some new varieties from thin and delicate as is this one to some of the largest have ever seen. I could spend several days on the river just making dragonfly macros--and likely will.
My
concentration was more on navigating though the trees with the swifter
current and paddling hard in the slower swamp than on taking pictures
this trip, but I did take some with my little go everywhere point and
shoot--which was on the blink, possibly from being splashed once too
often or maybe dipped below the water line during a down-stroke since I
had it dangling from my wrist. It was five hours on the water, an
hour longer than it should have taken--with me in tow. At the take out I
volunteered to sit with the kayaks while they all went to get the other
vehicles--seeing how I was literally unable to get out of my boat for a
while. My arms and abdomen were simultaneously knotting into cramps. I
was hot and exhausted to the limits of my endurance. It was about like I
thought it would be. For them it was a easy boat-ride; for me it was
fun, but only in a perversely challenging way. I loved it. They came
home to a surprise big-number birthday party for one, while I sat in a
chair and hydrated and then comatosed until morning--unable to attend
the birthday party with my wife. This morning I got good reports about
the party. I am glad it went well. I know my boys understood.
So in order to amplify these accidental effects produced by the smudging and water drops on the lens--I chose to select the Pop camera setting that automatically pumps the color saturation up and slightly posterizes the images--meaning that it captures fewer levels of gradation. I also chose to creatively throw some images out of focus, and to use slower shutter speeds in order to show motion-blur. Some of the images were intentionally angled to convey the sometimes whomper-jawed view that I got as I bounced around and turned this way or that while getting past stumps, trees, and logs in the current. Occasionally, I would play back an image I had just taken and based upon what it looked like I would adjust the effective vignette resulting from the water and smudges by wiping only part of the lens.
So on the one hand, I would make a regular, clearly-focused, if slightly over-saturated image, interlaced with a creatively blurred/smudged lens image. These were not falsely produced filter-effect. There is nothing wrong with such effects if they do the job, but you know the effects are authentic if they result from accidental, though channeled natural smudges resulting from the water drops and river crud.
I also used creatively under and over-exposed some images. I sometimes do this via the exposure-compensation control that allows this, but only if I am going to uniformly do several images this way. Otherwise, I point at a spot brighter or lighter than the spot I am about to photograph until I get the lightness or darkness I want. I then press the button down half way, which on most modern cameras will hold that exposure setting, while I point at the scene I am photographing. Then I push the button the rest of the way to take the image. This quickly becomes intuitive to do and requires little thought. It is merely cheating the automatics into doing what you want them to do.
Some of these become quite abstract. Standing alone, you might not get it with these, but in the context of the other pictures in the series you do.
Double click images to display them fully.
Catalpa trees are native to Tennessee. These are the cigar-trees or fishing-worm trees that are famous for their symbiotic worms that typically come to feat on their wide leaves once or twice a year. These Catalpa Worms are caterpillars that are often said to be the best possible catfish bait. They make good fishing worms for most types of fish. I have one that I planted in my yard next to my pond. I am concerned that the caterpillars have quit coming during the past few years. It may be a sign of the wide-spread unintended affects of commercial poisons from crop-dust or other pollutants.
I tend to be politically Conservative, however, when it comes to the environment, I want to ere on the side of caution. Although fishermen may survive the extinction of Catalpa Worms, humankind would likely not survive the extinction of honeybees (I accidentally first typed hineybees; I have never encountered these, butt they don't sound so good.) upon which we rely to pollinate so many of our foodstuffs.
An interesting by-note about Catalpa Trees is found in a supposed story about the name. It came from the attempted phonetic transcription of the Cherokee Indian name of the tree, which was purportedly Catal-pha, with an "f" sound. A mistake was made and never corrected--so instead of Catalpha the name became Catalpa.
The Wolf River is not just another Southern black-water river. The clay from farming land runoff and the typical tannins from cypress trees other swamp vegetation are certainly apparent, but the origin of the river is artesian. So remote and inaccessible is the source that it was only a couple of decades ago that a group traced and found the definitive source of the Wolf River. It is less than forty miles from this stretch of the river, across the Tennessee-Mississippi river somewhat close to historic Holly Springs, Mississippi. The entire Mid-South Delta region enjoys extraordinarily pure water pumped from natural aquifers that filter the water over the years it takes to seep below the surface into the subterranean counterparts to the Mississippi River. Layers of delta sand deposited from the Mighty Mississippi is free from the pollutants above ground.
The water is cold as is all spring waters. At its source, an anomalous set of natural land features causes the underground river to erupt above ground into a swamp area full of cypress trees and dense jungle-like vegetation atypical to this area. The cold spring water flowing through an area that does not otherwise sustain such above ground pure water sources, provides a unique habitat to sustain a very odd ecosystem for the area. It is prized and studied by naturalists and scientists. The Wolf River is not a nasty brackish slough that mayn people assume it to be. The river is alive and teaming with species of fish, animals, and plant life not generally found in this area. Along with the catfish one might expect to find in muddy-looking Southern streams, many other game fish are also found--including Smallmouth Bass that are prized by sportsman.
Although my son and I were psyched into believing that this was a poisonous Copperhead snake when it brushed up against him and then I, subsequent objective identification from the pictures with the forced encouragement from those who viewed them made us realize that the mere power of suggestion and lifetimes of culturally-induced panic had caused us to wrongly label him. Copperheads do not typically hang out in trees. This is a common Banded Water Snake.
Given twenty-four hours of more calm reflection gave way to this reality. It provides a good commentary on life and the prejudices people are saddled with and carry with them. I am usually, not much afraid of snakes, or so I thought. Having one suddenly brush against your face and nearly fall into your lap, without the benefit of your glasses does have an unsettling effect upon you. We had been hearing for days, and the complete half of the float trip, about the abundance of Copperheads on the river. To locals, all snakes are either 'Moccasins' or 'Copperheads'--both poisonous.
Indeed, these species are plentiful enough--I have several of each that live on my small rural acreage nearby--but there are many nonpoisonous varieties as well. The ratio of these harmless water snakes to the poisonous varieties that live on the river and hang from the trees is likely weighted toward the harmless ones. Still, if one cannot, or will not differentiate the dangerous from the harmless, the common adage held by most folks surely reenforces the fears of snakes. The only good snake is a dead snake. While I do not intellectually believe this, we are sometimes want to look for alternatives when we feel that our lives are in the balance. Don't get me wrong; prejudices are not always bad. Stereotypes are often born of necessity--and often hold true. While it is not always a good thing to be prejudiced and it certainly is not fair to all recipients of our judgement calls, we are just silly to think that we are without any. It would be impossible to get through one day, let alone our lives, without exercising judgements.
Each time we are faced with decisions, we analyze the facts as we know them, and we decide which course of action to pursue based upon these facts or what are often, probably most often, suppositions. This is why continual education and exposure to more and updated information is so important.
The great American religionist, Joseph Smith, penned in the Doctrine and Covenants 131: 6, It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance. I believe this, although I am guessing this meant complete ignorance, as we are all ignorant or conversely enlightened to one degree or another. I think of this each time I see someone go out of their way, even backing up their automobiles on these rural highways and byways to run over a King Snake or blue racer crossing the road. Although I take opportunity to wax philosophical on this issue of prejudice and ignorance--I simultaneously admit that one is inherently useful and the other is sometimes unavoidable.
I am not among those who soapbox and point fingers about this. We are the sum total of our experiences, including our culture, our environments, and often the luck of the draw. But it is only when we stop being willing to revise our conclusions given new information that we are guilty of any inexcusable wrongdoings in the form of our prejudices and incorrect judgements. Therefore it is sometimes best to simply resist being terminally judgmental--when snakes are not being rubbed in our faces.
In case you did not extrapolate the reason for the name of this section of the Wolf being called The Ghost, The Ghost River, or Ghost Lake it is because within this section the river often fans out into a vast swamp within which the channel or river part becomes a ghost being hard to track without a lot of trial and error. Even with the channel having been marked by avid conservationists and outdoorsmen who work hard to preserve this river, you can count on getting lost in the ghost once or twice per trip, because it is ever-changing with the season and water supply.
Please note that I have a large number of photographic images that I have make available exclusively for use at no-charge without restrictions other than a proper credit byline. This gallery includes some of my most recent photographs. These images are both copyrighted and discretely watermarked. They may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without my express written permission. A nominal fee may be charged for using these photographs for any purpose, commercial or otherwise; however, I often authorize and encourage their use for noncommercial purposes at no charge--for merely adding my credit or formal byline as my own form of advertisement.
Until automatic ordering is in place, please email me with your request for written permission and/or prices for using these images. Include your Company or Personal Name under which images will be used and a brief but full description of how you wish to use photograph(s)--listed by the image number. If you are in need of a particularly themed photograph, please contact me with a description of your needs, as I have several million photographs that remain unlisted and unpublished.
Please DO ask for my very reasonable prices and send special requests for photographs to meet your needs. I also have Themed Posters and LTD Edition and Original Images (Includes Negative and/or Only Digital File), and One-of-a-Kind Photographs available for Collectors. Regards, D. Patrick Wright
