Yay, yay, Vacay!

Posted on May 4, 2018 by mfna

I leave for Costa Rica in two days. I’ve never been there before. I decided on this trip a few months ago, and didn’t really get a sense for it until recently. Titled, “A Taste of Costa Rica,” this is a multi-destination adventure with a lot of photo opportunities.

Most of my travel destinations have been to U. S. national parks, or cities (for work, mostly) or for European points of interest (given that I spent much of my youth there). For a change, I’m headed to Central America; I’ve only been to Mexico and the Caribbean to date.

This will be my fifth trip with Road Scholar. I have thoroughly enjoyed the previous trips, always having some trepidation before the start, and then having a fabulous time! I now have faith that the trip will be utterly satisfying! I heard a story a few years ago that demonstrates the passage to faith:

Having trouble with his car, a man asks his neighbor for advice. His neighbor recommends a mechanic. Uncertain, the man takes his car to the mechanic, hoping he will repair the vehicle. The mechanic indeed, fixes it.

Later, he once again has car problems, and takes it to the same mechanic, hoping once again that the man can fix it. He does.

The third time he has car trouble, he takes it to the same mechanic, this time with faith that he will fix it.

Due to work considerations, I need to report every time I travel outside the country. Having to provide hotel names and addresses, I needed to look them up, and the results I found depict outstanding facilities.

Hotel Balmoral, San Jose

Selva Verde Lodge

Hotel Arenal Monoa

Hotel Montaña Monteverde

Wyndham San Jose Herradura Hotel and Convention Center

The first quarter of 2018 is past. Time to take some time out and recharge the batteries. And take some good photos, I hope!

Red Strats

Posted on April 4, 2018 by mfna

It’s been nearly four months since my last post, so I felt like I needed to freshen the place up. Searching for a topic, I thought I’d mention my latest acquisition, a new guitar by G&L.

Some background: After Leo Fender sold his eponymous company to CBS in 1965, he spent some time designing and producing guitars for Music Man and then with partners George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt, founded G&L Musical Instruments. The name stands for George and Leo (not sure what happened to Dale). So, in the truest sense, a G&L guitar is a Fender!

I’ve read many good reviews of G&L guitars but never had the inclination to buy one. There are no shops near my home where I can go try one, so they have always remained in the periphery of my guitar world.

Until recently. Musician’s Friend, one of the online stores I visit, has a “Stupid Deal of the Day” offering, and I’ve purchased a few items that way. One day, they were offering this G&L Tribute Legacy in a color called “Irish Ale” at a price that was too low to resist. So, thanks to a tax refund, I pulled the trigger.

In “Irish Ale” with a tortoiseshell pickguard, a G&L Tribute Legacy

What intrigued me about this guitar besides the color, were the specs. The body is made of Nyato(h) a wood according to the wood database, is common to “India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Western Pacific Islands.” The neck is maple, but the fingerboard is Brazilian Cherry (not rosewood, which is now on the CITES endangered list). I’ve preferred maple fingerboards, but I thought I’d see how this compares.

Now, let’s be fair. My “other” red guitar is a Fender Custom Shop Robin Trower Signature Stratocaster that costs ten times as much. At this point, the Fender plays better, but I have to admit, the G&L sounds sweet, and I am sure I’ll really enjoy playing it after it gets some proper set up,

2006 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster and 2018 G&L Tribute Legacy

The Hat’s The Thing

Posted on December 18, 2017 by mfna

My new fascination is with hats. Fedoras, Pork Pies, Trilbys — not with caps, which so many men are wearing these days.

1980s Flechet Fur Felt Fedora

Facing the weather and the fact that my always thin hair has become terribly fly-away, I’ve decided to upgrade my image by donning headwear that will not only keep my hair in place (unlike a baseball cap), but will add a sense of fashion.

Pork Pie in Navy Blue

To date, I have a small collection of hats. I tend to favor the smaller brims (Trilbys, Pork Pies), but I purchased a 1960s Mallory Eagle that is the best fitting and stylish hat of the bunch.

The author models his 1960s Mallory Eagle

I have on order a rabbit fur Sterkowski fedora. It’s coming from Poland and is due to hit my address any day now. I’ll post more when it arrives.

For now, I have a Loden Green and an Oxblood by Bailey’s of Hollywood, which round out the collection. For now.

Never Enough Dalí

Posted on November 15, 2017 by mfna

I took my now-annual one-day trip to St. Petersburg, Florida last week. As a Knight of the Order of Salvador, it’s incumbent on me to attend the annual Investiture and Elevation Ceremony, which takes place every November. It’s also an opportunity for me to view the current exhibit. This year, it’s Dalí and Schiaparelli. Elsa Schiaparelli was a fashion designer (1890-1973) who collaborated with Dalí and other artists of her day.

The House of Schiaparelli continues to this day, and some recent designs were on display as well as some of her original Dalí-inspired works. Unfortunately, the layout of the gallery was such that photographing items was challenging, to say the least.

But there were also Dalí works on display, from the museum’s own collection, some of which I had not seen in years. And I had never seen the Zodiac.

I found humorous Schiaparelli’s commandments for women.

(Sorry about the awkward angle and distractions. I couldn’t find a way to photograph this without trampling other exhibit items – which I’m sure the museum wouldn’t appreciate!).

The weather was great, and I managed to do everything I’d set out to. Lunch at Casey Key Fish House, purchase salami and landjäger sausage at Geier’s, and a last-minute trip to Old Miakka to visit dad.

Puhan Headstone, Old Miakka Methodist Church

Then I attended the Order of Salvador ceremony, and went for dinner. My hotel manager had recommend a Vietnamese “fusion” restaurant, La V, where I had — what else — pho!

Pho at La V

Sometimes the quickest trips are the most satisfying!

A New Appreciation For The iPhone Camera

Posted on October 27, 2017 by mfna

While I sit in the airport lounge on a four hour layover, I thought I’d take a little time to put down some recent impressions on the iPhone. You see, for the past two weeks I have been traveling without a camera. As such.

Yet I still have my phone. And I found numerous photo opportunities, and the only recourse I had was to pull out my phone.

As has been my experience with cameras (both film and digital) in the past, I have found that activating the shutter is only the second step in photography. The first is composing the picture. The third is developing the photo.

Right now, software developers are releasing next-generation photo editing programs, and it’s almost hard to keep up. Just recently, new and beta versions of ON1 Photo RAW, Aurora HDR and Adobe Lightroom have seen updated versions with new features (and new licensing schemes, in some cases). Both have released beta versions, and ON1’s beta is public, meaning anyone can download it for free!

My recent travels have taken me to major cities: New York and Boston. Armed with only my iPhone 6s and a laptop with photo editing software, I managed to capture some very nice photos.

Fort Point, Boston, MA at dusk

Taken from the Evelyn Moakely Bridge.

Artist Gianna Stewart created this foam “iceberg” that “floats” in the water.

In the photo above, I used Adobe’s new Lightroom CC (the old version is now named Lightroom CC Classic). When shooting a wide shot, Apple’s iPhone exhibits pronounced barrel distortion. I used the Geometry tool in Lightroom to straighten everything — with a single slide and a click!

Manhattan Skyline in Black and White from the original color photograph.

Another example of straightening (I may need to adjust this one a bit more).

Boston Financial District

Finally, an “arty” photo I snapped on the spur of the moment. What two streets typify New York City? (well, maybe Madison Ave. But you take what you can get).

Getting Right-Sized

Posted on October 13, 2017 by mfna

Has it really been nearly six months since I last posted? According to WordPress and my site logs, apparently so. Time to rectify that.

The summer has been mostly work, work, work. But I managed to get in some “me” time recently, and that’s what this is about.

I struggled to find a vacation that would address my interests, wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, and which could be taken at a convenient time. I searched and searched, considering trips to Alaska (still on my must-do list), a Mediterranean cruise, a visit to Machu Picchu, and other exotic travels. Long flight times, added “single traveler premiums” and other disincentives caused me to pass on some otherwise very enticing possibilities.

Then, I happened to visit my Road Scholar account and saw that a trip I’d put on my wishlist was available, the single premium wasn’t too horrible, and addressed one of my interests directly: A photo journey through Utah’s national parks! I quickly booked it, and the die was cast.

In preparation, I took a day trip and drove to Blackwater Falls, WV to test my camera skills, hiking endurance, clothing choices and mindset.

Blackwater Falls, West Virginia

I felt I was prepared.

A discussion of Road Scholar will have to wait for another post. Suffice it to say that this was my fourth adventure with them, and each has been a very rewarding experience!

My first trip with Road Scholar was also to Utah, where I visited Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon (North Rim) national parks. This trip was a ten-day journey around a circle which included Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley and Lake Powell/Antelope Canyon. The difference: Specifically intended for photographers.

The longest vacation I’ve taken to this point was seven days. I wasn’t sure I would know how to handle a longer time frame. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

Scheduling made this trip different. We would frequently arise early in the morning to do a sunrise shoot,

Bryce Canyon at Sunrise

Camera

NIKON D7500

Focal Length

55mm

Exposure

1/80s

ISO

200

Bryce Canyon at Sunrise

and often would eat dinner around 5:00 p.m. so we could do a sunset shoot.

Panorama Point, Capitol Reef

I love this area of the country. In this day and age, where we measure the time of our lives in hours, days and weeks, the visible geology of this land shows how time is measured in millions of years! The enormity of the rock formations, the petroglyphs etched thousands of years ago, all serve to remind me of how truly small we are in God’s tremendous universe!

Wow

Wow.

The capstone to the trip was Antelope Canyon. I have been enthralled by photos taken in this Navajo-owned marvel, and hoped I could come away with one or two “keepers.” I shot over 250 photos during my 90 minutes in the canyon, and at current count, have at least 19!

Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

And guess what? I have been invited to exhibit my photos! This is a first for me, and I’m really flattered, excited and honored to be asked!

Lower Antelope Canyon

smart? Or not?

Posted on April 21, 2017 by mfna

The wheels were already turning as I made ready to move into my new home. I had previously noted the existence of an electric vehicle charging station

and I knew instinctively that I was going to have to find a way to put it to use. After all, despite the resistance to (and I freely admit my participation) new forms of fuel, there is a part of me that believes electric vehicles are the wave of the future (at least until fusion power becomes the norm).

I did some research. I went to CarMax and looked at a used Nissan Leaf. I went to a Chevy dealer and checked out Motor Trend’s 2017 Car of the Year, the Bolt. I read about BMW’s i3 (and oh-so-sexy i8!). But YIKES, the cost of these cars — even used!

But one car came across my browser page: The smart fortwo electric coupe. Designed and sold by Mercedes-Benz (the name is actually an acronym: “Swatch, Mercedes ART”), this little two-seater has a quirky appeal (to me, at least). I don’t need a new car; my 2014 Mercedes-Benz E350C4 with only 19,000 miles on it is just a doggone fun — and attractive — car. And I’m going to keep it!

I found several smart electrics (or “ED” as they are unfortunately named) in the area. I went and looked at one in a lot, and kept coming back to one I saw online. I called the dealer, an independent used car seller, and said I wanted to check it out.

And check it out I did. In fact, I wrote a check and drove it out (away)!

It’s a 2015 and had 17,400 miles on it. I put $1,800 of tires, brakes and service into it to bring it to manufacturer’s spec, and now it’s my “local runabout.” It has a range of about 90 miles, and a top speed of about 76 mph. A/C AM/FM with AUX and USB inputs, a charging plug (for my phone) and surprisingly roomy!

I’m not sure where this is going to lead me. I’ve been saying this is my way of dipping my toes into the EV pond. Time will tell.

Moving Day!

Posted on April 5, 2017 by mfna

I have grown increasingly disappointed and frustrated with the management of the condominium association where I live. To the point where I started looking for a new home.

Okay, there’s more to it than just that: my growing guitar collection and desire to have somewhat of a photo studio have made me realize I’ve outgrown my digs.

So, I started looking. And I found some places that were “acceptable.” The real estate market around here is such that no sooner does a property go on sale, someone snaps it up. I had several such experiences.

I guess that made me anxious and willing to settle for less. Which led me to almost buying a home that failed the home inspection. But, as both my realtor and God know better than I what’s best for me, I finally landed on the “right” home!

The previous owner (a bit anti-social, according to the neighbors) apparently worked in the security field, and so the home came equipped with a security camera system (active) and a home security system (inactive). It also comes with an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE), commonly known as a charging station.

Which leads me to research and probably buy a small electric car, for local errand running and tooling about.

https://fredpuhan.smugmug.com/Random-Shots/Smart-fortwo-electric/Smart/i-qCnWVLD/A

https://fredpuhan.smugmug.com/Random-Shots/Smart-fortwo-electric/Smart/i-pzJc3zb/A

https://fredpuhan.smugmug.com/Random-Shots/Smart-fortwo-electric/Smart/i-82t6fT9/A

(The above photos are not of the car I’m likely to buy. I saw this in the lot of a dealer and just shot photos of it).

Sunday is moving day! I’m both dreading it (a lot of work + expense) and anticipating it!

Culinary Delights, pt 2.

Posted on March 7, 2017 by mfna

I lied. I was going to make one post about two different dinners, but I found I couldn’t do it. So, here is Part 2: The Dalí Dinner.

For years, I have made attending the annual Salvador Dalí Museum a key part of my year. In the beginning, this event was called a “benefit,” as the funds raised by attendance costs helped pad the museum’s treasury. Having now been established as one of St. Petersburg, Florida’s prime attractions (attracting more than 50,000 visitors each the first of this year’s two months), the annual dinner has now become the place for the rich and famous to be seen.

This year’s dinner was especially meaningful for me, as I was seated next to the newly-elected museum president, Karen Lang Johnston — at her request. In fact, she told me, “The Morses [Brad and Mary Ann, son and daughter-in-law of museum founders Reynolds and Eleanor Morse] wanted you at their table but I insisted you sit at mine!” What an honor, and how far I’ve come since sitting in a corner somewhere.

Diners are seated in the gallery, among the artist’s masterpieces. This year, we were appropriately seated in the Honorable Eugene and Karen Lang Johnston Gallery, where Dalí’s “The Ecumenical Council” hangs.

The Ecumenical Council, by Salvador Dalí

Food this year was catered by Parkshore Grill, the parent company of Café Gala, the museum’s own eatery. Hors d’oeuvres were served in the Foyer and Gran Sala and included oxtail, lobster ceviche and shrimp skewers.

Roasted Beet Salad

The first course was a Roasted Beet salad with Mango Habenero Vinaigrette, Toasted Pepitas, Queso Fresco, Pomegranate Seeds, Petite Green Beans.

Delicious!

The seafood entree was Grilled Open Blue Cobia with Guajillo Chili Sauce, Avocado Mousse, and Crispy Pork Belly.

Grilled Open Blue Cobia

The meat entree was Cocoa Chili Rubbed New York Strip Steak with Mole Verde, Sweet Potato Puree, and Crispy Corn Tortilas (which oddly enough, were absent from the plate). Dessert was Cactus Pear Mousse, Toasted Coconut Mexican Chocolate Truffle and Pistachio Guava Macaron.

Delightful!

Cocoa Chili Rubbed New York Strip Steak

Cactus Pear Mousse, Toasted Coconut Mexican Chocolate Truffle, Pistachio Guava Macaron

The Menu – 2017 Salvador Dalí Museum Dinner

Culinary Delights

Posted on March 7, 2017 by mfna

Some people eat to live. Others live to eat. To me, one of life’s great pleasures is enjoying a variety of foods; I’ve said repeatedly over the years that I would try anything once. Whether it be a rich, hearty bowl of phở

Phở – Comfort in a bowl!

enjoyed communally, or a seven course meal served privately by an internationally-trained chef, food is to me something to titillate the senses, as well nourish the body.

I had the great pleasure of experiencing both this week, and then some!

To start, I spent five days and nights aboard the cruise ship Carnival Paradise. Not being given to hyperbole, I wouldn’t say the ship lived up to its name, but it’s pretty well known that the food aboard cruise ships is one of the allures. The buffet dining is satisfying, the pizzas cooked on the spot, and the formal dining offers a gustatory treat.

But nothing compares to a chef’s table. Offered on the cruise, I jumped on the opportunity and made sure several times that my reservation was in place. It was.

Sadly, I didn’t think at first to use my cell phone camera, so I missed taking some shots of a few of the hors d’oeuvres. But I did make sure to shoot the menu,

Seven courses of inventive, excitingly savory food.

which lists each of the seven courses. Not as lovingly and detailed as the chef presented them, but it’s the best I can do.

The evening began with a brief tour of the ship’s galley. Preparing food for 2,200 people is not a task taken lightly, and a staff of over 60 people work in around-the-clock shifts to make sure it’s right.

In the galley, we enjoyed our hors d’oeuvres. Shown here is the Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow, Chocolate Bacon, Apple Ribbon. Wow.

Also pictured is the Double-cooked Lamb, Tapioca. Even pictures can’t describe the delicacy and sensation of myriad spices and ingredients.