Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

Erice, a medieval town located atop Monte San Giuliano at the north western cornet of Sicily, reigns above Trapani and has also a view of  Monte Cofano. It is absolutely delightful and I always visit it when I return home to Sicily. I never get tired of it although it has become a little too touristy for my taste.  It has however become the site for many important international scientific and economic conferences. The color ones were scanned from the Kodachrome II originals and are from 1972  while those in black and white are conversions from scans of  Agfachrome 50  shot in 1969. They have lost their color but do make for nice black and whites after a little Photoshop post production work. The camera was the Canon FT with the Canon 28 mm F 3.5 FL lens; a true optical gem.

These romantic shots - using a special filter on the E PL-2 - are of an olive grove in the countryside outside Castelammare on the way to Scopello. It was a warm April morning and the light was just perfect for this ethereal setting. Minimal post editing was needed.

This wonderful and kind woman is one of my neighbors in Sicily. She is very generous and shares many vegetables that her husband grows in his garden. Here she is working on fava beans that were of course of the out most freshness so she could make pasta con fave.

Once more to Segesta from Agfachrome 5O slides shot in the summer of 1869 with the Canon FT and the canon 28mm F 3.5 FL. It is surprising that these slides held their color so well. Other Agfa slides faded. I believe that it was the labs that I was using. One probably was careless in the wash process.   This spectacular Doric temple of a Carthagenian origin has stood the test of time and countless tremors that have all happened around it. Segesta was what instigated Athens to attack Siracuse thus beginning the decline of Greece and the subsequent rise of the Roman barbarians after the conclusion of the Punic wars. Yes, to us the Romans were barbarians. They were not Hellenized.

No trip to Sicily is complete without a trip to Monreale a small town overlooking Palermo famous for its church and more so for it;s cloister. Each pillar is decorated differently in stunning mosaics. No two are alike. The Church itself is also very beautiful. The structures date to the early twelve hundreds and always  been centers of pilgrimages and later on tourism.  I have posted recent photos of Monreale since I try to go there every chance I get, but these date back to the summer of 1969 and were shot with the Canon FT and the Canon 28mm F 3.5 FL on Agfachrome  50 that shows some fading. But they have assumed an old look that I do not find unpleasant.

Yes indeed, the foliage is all gone. These are the last shot's I could muster for this fall. All from Forest Park in Queens, a veritable forest but a very needed place to escape from the city's congestion.

Every time a new version of an operating system becomes available, it's a mad run for drivers and updates in order to make programs compatible. Actually it's not as hard as it sounds as many programs will wok with the new operating system. Nikon Announces Applications That Will Be Windows 8 Compatible With every new operating system comes a variety of improvements and functionality, but also issues of compatibility (especially when dealing with Windows). Nikon has a variety of programs that they'll be testing for compatibility and also a list of programs that they won't be. Once the programs listed are tested, Nikon will decide which ones to invest the time into to make them compatible. The lists are below. Nikon also says that there are no plans to provide compatibility to anything using an SCSI or serial connection. Software Nikon plans on testing: ViewNX 2 Capture NX 2 Camera Control Pro 2 Short Movie Creator Nikon Message Center 2 Wireless Transmitter ...

Clinton Street Atlantic Ave near 7th Avenue Atlantic Avenue Prospect Place DUMBO More scans from my many slides in my archives. Scan we must or all will be lost. Most of these were shot with the Nikon FTn with the 35mm F 2.8 Nikkor.