When you see a good looking girl it’s usually easy to take a nice photo. Here’s an example…
![](https://i0.wp.com/joelheffner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/beforecropping.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1)
The problem is that there’s a load of distractions. The easiest cure is cropping. Here’s the cropped version.
![](https://i0.wp.com/joelheffner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cropped.jpg?resize=177%2C300&ssl=1)
Cropping can help…a lot.
When you see a good looking girl it’s usually easy to take a nice photo. Here’s an example…
The problem is that there’s a load of distractions. The easiest cure is cropping. Here’s the cropped version.
Cropping can help…a lot.
Over the years I’ve used a 4×5 view camera, Kodak Instamatic cameras, a variety of Nikon 35 mm cameras, Mamiya C330, Hasselblad, several iPhones, several digital cameras, and other cameras that I’ve forgotten.
My favorite is also the camera I’ve used least often!
Why? It’s very slow to use. You have to add film one (4×5) sheet at a time. Because it shoots at f/109 (that’s not a typo) I have to carefully calculate the exposure time. I don’t do my own darkroom work (anymore) so I have to send out the film for development. So what camera is it?
This one.
I got it on eBay several years ago. Dennis Wilder made it. Unfortunately, he doesn’t offer them on eBay anymore.
On my daily walk in the Staten Island Mall I noticed this in a corner that I usually don’t walk near. A photo booth! I haven’t seen one in many years (actually decades). When I build up my courage (and am not embarrassed) I’ll go in a take some pictures. It should be fun!
Whenever my wife and I visit Chester, NJ I always stop by and look at their Blue Star Memorial.
For those who may not be familiar with the Blue Star Memorials, they are described here.
It wasn’t that long ago that I used film in my cameras. I must admit that I never saw a vending machine that dispensed Kodak film. The 127, 620, and 120 films were much wider than the better known 35mm variety. I had cameras that took all of them. The good old days?!?! Very cool machine!
Although I rarely alter photos drastically, I played with this one. It’s a picture of the Mohonk Mountain House. [Incidentally, it’s a great hotel.]
Before we left for the day, my wife asked me to take a picture of a flower. This is it.
When we came home, she asked me to take another picture. Same flower, a few hours later.
Unless you are in a studio setting, you sometimes have to wait for just the right time to take a photo. It pays to be patient.
The best way to show off your garden and learn about other gardens is to see pictures…on blogs.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many gardening blogs by flower clubs! And the ones that do exist are usually not maintained. It’s not unusual to look at a club’s site that talks about their recent show…in 2015.
Considering that you can create a website in a manner of minutes (yes, minutes) and you can create one for free…I’m not sure why there aren’t more of them. If your club wants to get started here’s a quick list of things to do.
Gardening is very popular. Blogging is very popular. It’s no wonder that there are so many excellent gardening blogs. However, the first and probably the best gardening blog had no photos. It was begun on March 30, 1766 … by Thomas Jefferson!
Jefferson was an avid gardener who kept meticulous records of his garden. He probably thought of it a diary. We call them blogs. Here’s an example of the first entry that Jefferson made.
The collection makes up The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson. It consists of more than 500 pages of information about his garden.
You never know who might visit your garden. Here’s one of my wife’s “friends” admiring here succulents.