Monthly Archives: July 2012

It’s Sunday evening and I’m still out of town.  When I’m out “there”, anywhere, the search for the perfect cheeseburger, continues!  One of the attendees of the conference told me about a place near my returning airport that has a great reputation for their cheeseburgers, so, I had to find out!  In fairness I have to say they were unique, and the huge piece of Cheddar/American cheese that smothers the burger was some of the best cheese I’ve ever eaten!  The burger however was pretty pedestrian, not bad, but not something that would rate a high ranking.  On the strength of the cheese alone I would have given it a 3.3.

 

So the  search goes on, but I really do appreciate people sharing with me places they love, it leads to some top burger picks!

 

However they are a dairy store and their ice cream sundays, were something to write home about!!!

 

the pilgrim

At the New England Camera Council Meeting I’ve been attending, I got to see and briefly test a new lens that, before the test I had little interest in, now I am very interested.  The lens is Nikon’s latest Super Zoom, a 18-300 AF-S VR DX F3.5 – 5.6.  On a DX camera, which it was designed for, it is a whopping 28-450 Equivalent.   It is well built and feels substantial without being too heavy or burdensome.  Of course that would not matter if the lens was not sharp.  My test revealed that it appears to be another shocker, maybe even sharper than the 28-300 FX lens which has become a favorite.  If that were not enough, it focuses very close even at 300 so it is essentially almost a 450 mm Micro!  Once again it is tack sharp too!  The two images at the top show it at the 18mm setting and then extended to the 300mm setting.  The thought of traveling with a 10-24 or 12-24 and an 18-300 (15mm to 450mm equivalent) is pretty exciting, if I get a consignment lens, I will do a full test.  Here are a couple of shots below that were done to just check it out, pretty impressive lens!  Oh yes it will sell for just sub $1,000.

 

 

Then Wayne Bennett shot this image of me handheld!!!

 

 

Interesting,

God Bless,

 

the pilgrim

I arrived in Amherst, CT yesterday afternoon at the end of a long airport day, but immediately enjoyed the company of two dear old friends, Bill Durrence, and Bob Watts.  We were joined by a friend of Bob’s from the area and our new TSR for New England, Alex.  We had dinner and shot the sunset from a beautiful 840 foot peak overlooking the Connecticut valley.  The haze made a landscape tough, but was perfect to tone down the setting sun for some flower shots, (above).  You know i don’t shoot flowers that much, but last night proved once again put any subject in great light and the result can be pretty amazing.

 

I shot the D800 hand-held by running the ISO up to 1600 and 3200 to get really fast shutter speeds, the wind was also blowing the flowers pretty hard.  I waited for lulls and let the shutter speed make the difference.  These are not clinically well made images, just too much wind, but it was a very nice evening with great friends and the photography was secondary.  Enjoy!

 

the pilgrim

 

Somebody’s looking at you baby…..

 

 

O.K. gotta go, it’s time to……..

 

Sorry! Had to do ti!

I shared the other day that I hope to get to New Haven for a shot at Louis’ Lunch, well it’s not to be, I just don’t have time and they are closed on Monday when I do have time and am flying home.  But last night while sitting in the hotel I thought I might Google, “the Best Burger in Alcoa”  where the Knoxville Airport is located.  I usually go to Five Guys and they are not bad at all, in my Top Fifteen, but as chance would have it, (I actually don’t believe in chance), I got a hit, the plac ethe local really like is the Hot Rod 40’s Diner, sounded good to me, so off I went and was overwhelmed!  I will save you the suspense, it tied as the best Cheeseburger in America!!!!!!  This place has it all: enough memorabilia to run a His Light Americana Workshop in the building, a great waitress, back to her in minute,  the burger was perfect exactly as I ordered it!   10 oz of great beef, cooked to perfection, I had to do a little seasoning myself, but hey, no sweat.  The shoe string fries and home-made potato chips (no I didn’t eat them all!), were great.   The atmosphere was pure, down home, “What can I get you sweet heart, down home, southern warmth!”

 

My waitress, Daniella, certainly held up her end of the bargain, she was friendly, got the order exactly right, (can’t tell how seldom that happens!), and took very good care of me!  Gotta love Tennessee folks!

 

So if you’re ever in Alcoa and want one of the best burgers in America, drop by Hot Rods 50’s Diner!  Enjoy some of the fantastic memorabilia!!!!

 

the pilgrim