So today I was visiting my forums and the following question was asked...

"What is an 'enlarger lens'? I have been trawling evilbay aimlessly for some time looking for a bargain. I have come across several nikkor lens listings labelled as 'enlarger lens'. The one I just saw was 50mm F4. Are they just normal cameral lens? (I have some rather thick pieces of glass for an Otocon Durst (film) enlarger. Is this lens for that sort of thing?"

The answer as posted:

"They are indeed the latter - designed for use in optical printing. You can tell the Nikon ones because they're branded "EL-Nikkor". Other brands made them as well. They're not really suited to use as camera lenses because they don't focus properly at distances that are useful in general photography (unless you want to rig a bellows contraption). "

However this discussion got me thinking, way back when I was a munchkin, I started off with a Kodak 126 Cartridge Film Camera, as I watched my dad use his whole assortment of Nikon cameras. As I got older I guess he finally trusted me and let me use his Nikon Film Cameras. Taking pictures on those cameras were incredible. In high school, I had a friend that had his own dark room and we would always go out shooting and then go and develop all the rolls of film we had shot. Then as I entered college, chose my major, I still found time to take Photography and Photojournalism classes where we were given assignments, and then had to develop and print the photographs for a weekly critique session both from the professor and our fellow classmates.

Well my point being the days of the dark room, film is fading fast. I still love taking that occasional film photograph (I still am considering building a darkroom in my basement), but with the age of the digital camera, Photoshop and other post processing software, the term "burn and dodge" has lost a lot of its luster. Not saying any of that is bad, but just sort of reminiscing about the way I grew up in the world of photography and where it has come today. I am sure kids of today, will all have their digital media cards, instead of film, use Photoshop to edit their photographs and zip them off via the Internet to their favorite printer to get their prints in under an hour.

So therefore today's word of the day: Technology: The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.

A long, long time ago, at a university I once attended, I had a college photography/photojournalism professor that once gave us an assignment of "take twenty five steps from your front door, and take 10 photographs from all angles". So armed with my camera that day I proceeded with the assignment gaining knowledge on how to view the world so differently. Coming back to the present day, I have decided to work on a second photobook, with a similar assignment, however, I didnt take twenty five steps but just walked out onto the deck of my house, set up the camera and watched for Mother Nature to work her magic. So far the working title of this photobook is entitled, "Views And Sights From My Deck". But here are a couple of the photographs to be included:

Catching a sunrise...

Watching the storms...

Then after the storms...

Finally I have to give credit to where credit is due, my deck, where all these photographs were taken...

 

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks this will be going to print. It has been a project that I have worked on and off for during the last five years capturing and collecting these photographs from my archive.

Every now and then the photojournalist in me bites. Today, after having storms all morning, it felt as if the animals would soon be walking two by two and I should be building an ark at some point, instead of taking photographs. So armed with the D300 this morning, I did not have to venture very far to find flooding around the neighborhood. I happened to catch these as I was coming home for lunch. Good thing I had the camera, but I guess if I didn't it would give me an opportunity to try photographing with the Blackberry...

Just past the intersection VallyBrook Drive and Weldon Springs Road here in O'Fallon, Missouri...I had to find another way home...

Walking around, this is the backyard of the people that live on ValleyBrook Drive. Its not supposed to be a fast flowing stream. Take notice of the white fence line to gauge how deep the water is!

Got most of my Florida Key's photographs edited. I'm sure there will be more down the road, but here are a sample for you to enjoy. I have sold several of them to buyers across the country so if you are interested in them, feel free to ask. Leave a comment here and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Click on the photograph during the slideshow and it will bring up the title as well as a description of the photograph.

A couple of days ago over at Flickr, a fellow photographer got into a rut and had no ideas on what to photograph. I shared this list with him, and thought I would post the same list here should anyone need a list of things to photograph when you get into that "photographer's block". Its that syndrome similar to "writer's block" but instead of a pen, its a camera.

Here is how it works...

 You pick an option from each category and then find things to photograph that match that criteria! Let chance decide! So you could be shooting a self portrait, with a wide angle lens, at night...

Of course you can always add more items to it, but this is just a start. Hope that helps somewhat...