They have some excellent wooden replicas of Philadelphia landmarks in the model railway section. Here is a detail of the top of Philadelphia’s City Hall, featuring William Penn.

Here is an album of photos I made there: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TznK3HHZFODVhLBy1

And one of them for a taste:

I kept playing with my new camera today. Here is an example of a photo that I decided came out of the camera just fine:

And here is one that took a little editing:

I aimed my Fujifilm X-T2 at some bright white flowers in blazing sunshine right in front of our house a few minutes ago, playing around to test the camera’s auto settings. I got this super-dreamy shot, created when the camera compensated strongly for the bright light. I also have a RAW version of the image that I can edit, but I kind of like the effect produced in this JPG, which was made in-camera.

I will be traveling to Paris in the summer. Of course, I want to bring along a good camera. My Canon 70D DSLR is a really good camera and one I have learned to use fairly well in the two and a half years I have owned it. It has one problem, however: as with all DSLRs, it is a bit on the heavy side. At the end of a very heavy (but also rewarding) semester, with the prospect of walking around Paris for hours on end making photos, I treated myself to a well-reviewed mirrorless camera, the Fujifilm X-T2. The camera arrived yesterday evening and today I found a short break from the drizzle that’s been going on for most of the day to walk around in our yard making some test photos with the Fujifilm. For now, all I am doing is letting the camera operate on its automatic settings for everything. Here is a sample photo, in the JPG version produced in the camera (I also record a RAW file when shooting, and I can see a substantial difference between the two, with the JPG version generally brighter and with less saturated colors; I do find the JPG version of the test photos I have made so far well-done).

I have been remiss in posting here. The reason is the heaviness of the Spring semester that just ended. Well, that and a certain amount of inertia. It’s so much easier to just share something interesting or funny one sees on social media!

To start the ball rolling again on regular posts here, here is a photo I made a couple of afternoons ago at Lake Galena, PA:

Glad to see this new feature. Here is a recent sunrise shot I made, which is stored in Google Photos.

https://dimitrios-diamantaras.smugmug.com/Pennypack-preserve-walk-2016/

I took a healing walk in the Morris Arboretum with my wife and a friend. I’ve been stressing since the day after the election about the future of the country, and indeed of the planet, but walking in nature was a healing experience, as always.