Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

These photos of Scopello, the tuna fishing town that is in the territory of Castellammare is now a big tourist attraction because it offers  natural beauty and superb swimming in very clean water. But along with tourism comes the concomitant ugliness in the form of bars, restaurants, parking areas, traffic, souvenir shops, and all sorts of signs pointing to places to stay; not to mention the ads and the "typical" ceramic on the walls of shops. These may be made in Sicily but but more likely come from China. The place has assumed an artificial look. I only go there off season to avoid all the congestion. In the late sixties and up to the seventies, there were mild tourism and the place still looked unique. Now it looks just like any other touristy place on Earth. Too bad as the soul of the place has been sucked right out of it. At least, I have my old photos and my good memories of this place. I want to share some with you. This is the start of a new series that I ...

These scans are from slides ,mostly Ektachromes that I bought in 100 ft rolls and developed in Unicolor chemicals. The lens was, as I recall,. the Nikkor 35mm F 2.8. They show a world that is now gone. This was the period when ads portrayed smoking as cool.

Specifically Forest park in Queens. A true forest in a way.  Shot with the E PL-2, my trusted companion.

Sad news Imaging Resource has published an obituary of Bryce Bayer, who passed away recently. Often called the 'father of digital imaging', former Kodak scientist Bryce Bayer invented and gave his name to the so-called 'Bayer Filter' - a mosaic pattern of red, green and blue filters which allows silicon sensors that are only sensitive to luminance to capture information about the color in a scene. Patented in 1976, the RGBG Bayer Filter has since become essentially ubiquitous, being used in virtually all digital imaging systems from medium-format backs to smartphones. Go to http://www.imaging-resource.com for the obituary.

The annual apple pie baked by my wife Marcy...delicious and all natural With he realization that for many in the Eastern USA this will be a sad day, we nevertheless wish that all of you do the best you can to have a good Thanksgiving Day and overcome your difficulties. Remember than none of this will be of any importance in 100 years.. We also hope that the violence around the world would cease  but that maybe too much of a hope in view of man's  innate tendency toward violence. But we can always hope.

Mount Etna, the most active Volcano in Europe is the pride and joy of every Sicilian. It has figured heavily in Greek mythology and it has stood as a constant reminder of nature's absolute power. Needless to say, a trip near the top is something one should do at least once in a lifetime but not more than once. When I fulfilled this duty to my ethnicity back in the summer of 1972 together with my wife Marcy, the volcano had recently erupted; something it  does this with great frequency,  many roads that led to the top were damaged. We did manage to get as high as was allowed and what we found was a world unlike any other that we had seen. A totally barren world full of dry lava and rocks. Vegetation was doing it's best to show it's puny face but it was only an effort. in futility. Nevertheless it was a very exciting day made more so by my wife's fear of heights. Anyone visiting Sicily should not miss the trip. My daughter did id a few years ago and almost ...

This old barn next to a stream that was basically used to feed a mill is now part of that ever popular antique shopping areas that are springing up almost everywhere. Most of what they sell is really not antique but people like old things when they have all the new ones.

This is how things look in North Eastern Pennsylvania. All the glorious foliage is gone as the earth awaits its winter snow cover.

Red onions are absolutely necessary for any Thanksgiving meal. But alas, you have to go all the way to Sicily for these. Actually, the onions in the Sates are very good if one knows how to shop for them.

There are times when black and white conversion is necessary especially when you are dealing with slides that aren't Kodachromes. These are shots taken in the summer of 1972 with the Canon Ft. The place is Siracusa in Sicily. It's definitively not Syracuse, NY. The interesting thing is how the ruins have survived and are right next to the city's streets.