Category Archives: Photographs

The Arnolfini Wedding

Paintings

The first recorded use of the fish eye lens.

If you had to choose the finest ‘photographic’ painting in London’s National Gallery, it would certainly be Caravaggio’s ‘Supper at Emmaus‘. No photographer has ever captured the moment so well.

And your second choice from that collection would surely be Botticelli’s ‘Portrait of a Young Man‘ for its singular focus and color pallette.

But the Arnolfini Wedding would not be far behind. Painted in 1434 it is the oldest of the three and arguably the most technically complex. It’s all there – advanced perspective, lighting to put Vermeer to shame, tight composition.

All the indicia of wealth are there – the fine clothing, the costly surroundings, the little dog, the fruit carelessly disposed at left. The man is in charge, dour as he may be, the spouse newly pregnant looking up to her man in supplication. She is so much property. But there is sublime magic here and it’s in the convex mirror which Jan van Eyck has cheekily included right in the center. Look closer.

The first vision is of the backs of his subjects. Look closer and you see van Eyck and his assistant. And van Eyck doubtless got paid for painting himself. Wonderful. And the cheeky bugger has signed it ‘van Eyck was here’.

What photograph ever accomplished as much?

King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

Photographs

Towering might.

The giant sequoia that grow here at elevations of 5-7,000 feet are the oldest known living things, with ages up to 3,200 years. A half-day drive from San Francisco, these adjacent national parks are less favored by tourists than Yosemite, which is all the better. However, quite why many parents see fit to bring their infants remains a mystery – their children would be safer at home and certainly cannot comprehend what is on view here. And their incessant screaming hardly helps with the spirit of place.

I spent a couple of days there with my son, staying at the only game in town – the Wuksachi Lodge – and we had a great time in the 50F daytime crisp weather. At this time of the year several roads remain closed but the major throughway – The Generals’ Highway – was clear with no snow in sight.


Winston atop the 6,725 ft Moro Rock overlooking the Great Western Divide.
The thin air at this altitude makes for a solid workout on the way up.


Sunning among the giants.


Fallen giant. Beetles have created an abstract art form.


The General Sherman tree showing fire damage to the bark from hundreds of years ago.
A youngster at 2,200 years or so, the Sherman in Sequoia NP is 25 feet in diameter and weighs over 2,000 tons.


We enjoyed picture perfect weather.


Many sequoias grow in close proximity to one another.


Thick bark confers fire resistance and high tannin content prevents disease.


Siamese twins.


The Generals’ Highway runs through the parks – a miracle of roadbuilding.


The light snow cover on the peaks testifies to California’s drought.
Instead of building a water pipeline from nearby Canada, our politicians – devoid of imagination or business acumen – are enforcing conservation.


Death from toppling over is the major cause of the giants’ demise, owing to the shallow root structure.


The 1,700 year old General Grant tree in King’s Canyon – sequoias routinely shed branches as they grow.

All snaps taken by my son Winston on his Panasonic LX100 except for the first, taken by me on an iPhone 6.

Big boys:

Local roads:

If you enjoy a nice drive the route below is recommended – it goes through both parks and skirts their west side along Dry Creek Drive (a B road, but drivable) via Three Rivers in the south-west corner, as beautiful a loop as you could hope for, and mostly deserted on the weekday we did it. The pointer denotes the Wuksachi Lodge – maybe the most overpriced motel in America:


Click the image for route details.

Bikers should check out The Mountain House in a lovely location where Dry Creek Drive and Highway 245 meet.

Coulterville

Photographs

Magic.

Coulterville, on the west side of Yosemite, is best approached, on two wheels or four, from Mariposa, the site of California’s oldest operating courthouse. No, there are no cops as they have no place to hide while trying to raise the donut and coffee fund.

I have done this trip several times on two and four wheels but it is now very special indeed as the road has been newly resurfaced and is glass smooth. Who the bureaucrat who spent all this taxpayer money on a road used by a dozen cars daily was, I do not know, but all us petrol heads are glad to know that the squares who do not appreciate internal combustion are subsidizing us in this effort. Heck, looking at the magic strip of tarmac that is the Mariposa-Coulterville road, aforesaid apparatchik is likely a petrol head too!

The trip may exceed the destination, yet Coulterville is very special indeed. Just look:

All snapped on the Panasonic LX100 at ISO400.

Not for the tall

Photographs

At Alice’s Restaurant.

The fabulous Ford GT40, winner at Le Mans, 1966-1969.

Any time Ford sets its mind to making a great sports car it does so with ease. Sadly, they rarely make the effort, preferring to churn out garbage like the Mustang.

Panny LX100.

Seen at Alice’s early this morning:

iPhone 6 snap.