Death in Texas

[cooltouch]

Tree death, that is. This past summer was one of the most brutal on record for the State of Texas. Houston City officials have estimated that as many as 10% of the city's 660 million trees died due to the summer heat and drought conditions. If my own house is any indication, I'd say that number is conservative. At the beginning of the summer we had 12 trees in our yard. Now we have 9. A 25% loss. Three old pines -- the three tallest trees on our lot -- didn't make it. The last time it got this hot here was the summer of 2000, and that summer we lost two old pines. So we're down to one left now, but we still have five oaks, a couple of mulberries and pecans, and a small assortment of other species.

I had a tree service come out late last month to cut down the dead pines and remove them. It was sad to see them go, but what can you do? After they had been cut, I counted tree rings. The youngest was 64 years old, and the oldest was 77. Our house was built in 1948, so the youngest was just a sapling when the house was new.

I decided to do something constructive while the crew was busy taking down the trees -- try out some of my recent photographic acquisitions and use the tree men as subjects. Last month I was the successful bidder on a Canon EF, aka the "Black Beauty."



It arrived in great condition -- a solid Exc+. Fortunately, everything works on the camera, which was a relief, because there are very few camera techs who work on the EF anymore. It is a very tricky camera to work on.

The EF was Canon's first camera with an Auto mode: Shutter Priority AE. Well, if you neglect the Servo EE finder for the Old F-1, that is, which converts it into an SP AE camera as well. The EF also works very well in full manual model. Like Canon's A-series cameras, it displays the shutter speeds you select, but only displays aperture values that it recommends, not the one actually selected. The EF has shutter speeds from 30 seconds to 1/1000, plus B. 1 second to 30 seconds are electronically controlled, the remainder are mechanical. A somewhat uncommon feature for a camera like this is mirror lock up. It uses the same basic 4-in-1 combination self-timer/mirror lock up/depth of field preview/stop down metering module that the F-1 and FTb use. Like the FTb, but unlike the F-1, it has non-interchangeable focusing screens and no motor option.

I selected three Tamron lenses to be used for my little photo shoot: 24mm f/2.5, SP 80-200mm f/2.8 LD, and SP 300mm f/2.8 LD IF. For film I shot a roll of Ektar 100 and Memories 200 (bought it at the 99 cent store for 99 cents), which appears to be made by Fuji and is likely repackaged Fujicolor 200.

I scanned the images on my Epson 4990 scanner. I just didn't feel like using my duplicating outfit for this because I knew that Ektar would give me fits as I tried to convert it. Memories/Fuji would most likely convert over with minimal difficulties, but I shot only 24 exposures of that emulsion, whereas I shot 36 exposures of the Ektar. So, I lost some resolution because of the scanner, but I figure the images will be good enough for display here. The prints that I got back from the photo finisher showed results that were very sharp, but I'm not getting that same impression when I look at the scans. Oh well. Here goes:

Tree-climbing guy. Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8, Memories 200 (Fujcolor)




Tamron SP 300mm f/2.8 LD IF, Ektar 100






Tamron 24mm, Memories 200


I was hand-holding the camera/lens for all shots. The sky was overcast -- probably 1 to 2 stops off 'bright sun', which was just about right. I wanted to shoot with the camera on the "A" setting, mostly just to make sure the AE system was working, but I also wanted to shoot with my lenses wide open or close to it. So I just paid attention to the aperture readout the camera was showing and adjusted shutter speeds accordingly.

Every photo above had some image manipulation done. Several required that I adjust the color -- the Memories 200 film expired October last year, but I think the color shift is more likely due to improper storage. I ran a high-pass sharpening filter over those images that needed it. And all of the images got some increase in contrast.

[iangreenhalgh1]

You gotta give kudos to any man who would operate a chainsaw at a fair height off the ground while tied to a tree!

[mo]

Great photos Mike and great subject,I wonder if it costs the same in Texas as over here for tree removal?? For a large sized Gum tree about $500-$1000au easy.

Towards the end of our drought when you looked at the surrounding bush/forest you could start to see large parts of it starting to die...turning brown, especially the smaller trees.The rains came and everything has grown and recovered.

[cooltouch]

Mo, I was getting quotes from $800 to $1000 per tree, but then our gardener recommended a service that was willing to give us a quantity break -- $500 a tree. They did a good job; if we have need of a service in the future, I'm calling them first.

I agree, Ian. This guy was totally at home up there. His feet didn't touchdown until both those trees had been cut to within about four feet off the ground. (See the last photo for the two trees I'm talking about.)

[mo]

Same here, some serious money in tree removals,You just have to know the right person.
You had some hard light to work with but the film seems to have handled it ok.

My friends husband did this sort of work until he fell...some serious damage (thankfully recovered) he had to go into another line of work.

[Minolfan]

What a pity of such large trees!
Most amazing in your pictures for me is that the guys work with a chainsaw without eye protection!

[Excalibur]

Nice shots and showing some pop and......... a good subject to cover not using a blower to remove dust spots before scanning

[LucisPictor]

Really great shots! Well done!

And yes, it's a shame to see trees that big die!

[cooltouch]

[rbelyell]

michael, great sentiment and great use of your new equipment. i know we always do all we can to save any of our trees, and when some inevitlably die, we feel terribly about it.

on a lighter note, are you loving ektar or what? just wish it was less expensive!

[Attila]

Sad to see this great trees when they destroyed I can imagine your feeling.

[cooltouch]

I have mixed feelings about Ektar. Price-wise, it's not so bad. I buy it from a local camera shop for about $5 for a roll of 36 exposures.

Sure I love its fineness of grain, and I think it does a good job handling colors. But when I scan it with my Epson, I invariably have to correct for color because earth tones don't scan accurately. A light brown, for instance, scans as an almost lavender color.

And Ektar gives me fits when I use my slide duplicator with roll film stage with it. Too much "Ektar Orange" which means too much cyan in the reversed image. I still haven't figured out how to get rid of it all.

Yes, Atilla, it's sad. But there wasn't much we could do. We were watering our lawn and our trees every morning last summer, but I guess it still wasn't enough.

[fuzzywuzzy]

[woodrim]

You coward!!! I cut them down myself Draw an X on the ground and see how close I can get. I also pray a little that it doesn't go the other direction. Seems I have a few that die each year. Same happened up in New Jersey when I lived there - I lost my elms to Dutch Elm disease.

[kryss]

Hi,Michael,Happy New Year from Canada. Nice score with the camera & great shots with the 80-200 2.8,I just received a mint copy just before Xmas & haven't had time to shoot with it yet.All the best for 2012,Regards.

[joy division]

nice action series.

[tikkathree]

And your country has fewer health and safety restrictions than here in merrie olde England. Hereabouts you can't go near a chainsaw without helmet, facemask, ear defender, chainsaw proffe boots and leggings.

[woodrim]

[visualopsins]

Rules are different for businesses and home/landowners. Even I have earmuffs and safety glasses. Sure there is rigid H&S here; see not everybody always complies. At home on the land there are H&S recommendations, of course.

Rare skills shown here! What for is that battery(?) box on back of his cap? I wonder where the wood went...nice and air-dried...

Plant some more trees!

[cooltouch]

Kryss, I haven't had my Tamron 80-200/2.8 for very long, either. Prior to this episode, about all I'd done with it was taking shots of a few birds hanging around my dog's food dish and water bucket.

Here's a common grackle perched atop the dog's water bucket, shot with the 80-200 Tamron and my EOS DSLR:


And a 100% crop of the above image. I don't recall if I ran any sharpening routines on the photo. Perhaps a bit of USM.


I took similar images of grackles and doves with my Tamron 300/2.8, but I've removed them from my computer and archived them all to DVD. Don't feel like going through the the DVDs right now. But I have some more up at my website from a recent airshow that I took with the 300/2.8. I'm thinking that I might have already posted some of these here, but hey, I don't mind showing them again. I really do love that lens. And the 80-200. It's only partially off-topic, since I'm still discussing the lenses used when the tree cutters were here.

A very rare Grumman F7F Tigercat


A Vietnam-era MiG-17


The Canadian Snowbirds Aerobatic Team

[cooltouch]

[kryss]

Beautiful shots of aircraft Michael,I spent 9years with R.A.F in UK on Avro Vulcans before coming to Canada.A local guy has a Tamron 300 2.8+1.4x teleconverter,in absolute mint condition,says he just spent $300 on CLA by Tamron I assume,wants $1100 for it but since I shoot mainly Macro cannot justify buying, but I am having hard job to resist,still available after about 6weeks on ad.

[revers]

I know the pain of loosing a tree, I have spent the last 39 years planting them on our property. This fall I cut down three Elms that died that grew wild.

I have transformed a bald hill into a park-like setting since 1973 with trees.

[cooltouch]

[cooltouch]