... after a month of excessive agonizing, i finally made the decision that my wonderful sigma 100-300 f/4 zoom lens wasn't doing anybody any good sitting on my breakfront, and that i'd rather turn it over to someone who would put it to more use ... i sold it on ebay to a wildlife photographer in seattle, then bought a new (read that "refurbished") nikon 18-200 f/3/5-5.6 zoom with image stabilization ... you youngsters in the audience won't think much of this, but to photographic "old timers" the concept of a lens with an 11x zoom range is historically synonymous with the idea that "if you try to make a lens do too much you'll end up with a piece of glass that does nothing well" ... of course, these opinions were fixed in an age before high-speed computer ray tracing design, common use of rare-earth glass, and the inexpensive milling/molding of aspheric lens elements ... so ...
... so, keeping to a philosophy dictating that "to be young one must think young," i took the plunge and traded the much appreciated sigma zoom for a lens that will fit in my motorcycle carry bag, doesn't require the use of a tripod, and thus should be a much more versatile photographic tool ...
... after a few days of shooting my living room lamp, cars and passerby's outside my window, and roger and eric and ellen in the bookstore, here's a sampling of images from my first few outings with the lens ...
... first things first, being a photographer and thus possessing a different vision of the world than that of home depot, find some peeling paint ...
... then a short stroll across the two-penny bridge ...
... a result of still melting snow pack up in the mountains, the kennebec is flowing strong for this time of year ...
... taken from the railroad track embankment above the iconic falls ...
... i rode my motorcycle down to rhode island, a pleasant trip except for the fact that all the instrument and dash lights on the bike burned out just as it was getting dark ... a defective resistor, i fixed it the next day, but for awhile i was making my shifts by engine noise alone ... mike took me on afternoon errand outing, during which i snapped pictures ...
... these flowers were in a little greenhouse in roch's supermarket parking lot ... i thought of how ma so liked to shop at this locally owned grocery store, and how she would've so appreciated these pretty flowers ... i smiled at the thought ...
... on the left of the porch, according to only living witness, my brother, is where i was baptized—for the second time ... protestants got me in japan when i was born, then, i guess just to cover all the bases, when we came back to the states and were living in west warwick grammy snuck me out of the house for a catholic sprinkling ...
... like the paint, photographers love bark, too ...
... i'm a sucker for giant pink flowers ... someday i'll remember their name, but, for now, i'll just wait for a pleasantly informative email from beth ...
... when i was a little person mike would walk me down these streets, going to a movie or to enjoy a "new york style" hot dog ... nowadays there are lots of panhandlers and people with really baggy pants wandering around, but in what looks to be a new building the hot dog place is still doing business ...
... if you can catch it, and i mean "if," 'cause it's one of those billionth-of-a-second things, my brother has the coolest grin ...
... it disappears when any recording device activates within his vision, to be instantly replaced by his bent eyebrow cryptically amused stare ...
... we went up to roger williams park to take a look at the venue in which i will be photographing a wedding tomorrow ... the botanical garden is filled with beautiful plants, although i must admit that although these giant leaves were intriguing the ripe-and-ready-to-pick bananas were my favorite ...
... a most pleasant place, i think it will make for a wonderful backdrop to the wedding ...
... we finished the afternoon with a late lunch at a former speakeasy in cranston ... excellent food, excellent service, and a most friendly goose, too ...
... i'm getting comfortable with the lens ...