I recently decided it was time for a tripod upgrade, mostly out of necessity since I purchased a Nodal Ninja pano head, but I didn’t want to break the bank to terribly much.  After much research on Amazon and Adorama, I settled on the Manfrotto 190XB.  This is an aluminum legged tripod that provides excellent height range for shots that require either very low angle (a few inches) or very high angle (60 inches).  As a photographer who thrives on frugality, I like to get the biggest bang for the buck …

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost.  That is where they should be.  Now put foundations under them.
-Henry David Thoreau

Well I just finished a redesign of ModernDayThoreau that I feel makes the site more approachable and easy to use.  Please let me know what you think in the comments.
Also here is the photo of the week(although not every week as you can tell) for the second week in March

In northern New York at the military barracks, this abandoned building stood out…If you view the original size you can see a disturbing message above the door.

So i decided that the next lens in my arsenal would be a fisheye lens for those unique situations that call for such a wide angle, 180° to be precise. After looking around I decided to try the Pro-Optic 8mm Fisheye since I didn’t want to spend $1000 on the Sigma 8mm Fisheye if I found It wasn’t a type of photography I used to much. Several of the other Pro-Optic lens’ have gotten pretty decent reviews, but I was hard pressed to find any for this lens. I decided to take the plunge and this is what i’ve found.

Taken on the Ponkapaug Trail hike, this little tree was all alone in the field.  Click the image to see the full size.

Last weekend I bravely decided to go for a winter hike in the cold January weather in the hills of the greater Boston area. Blue Hills Reservation is a great spot that offers numerous trails of all different lengths and skill levels (if you’ve read any of my other post you know I’m quite fond of the spot). On saturday, in the low 20° New England weather I thought I’d try a trail that was a little more flat since the ground was so frozen. So, me, my trusty side-kick Erin, and my camera embarked on a small winter quest. Ponkapoag Pond is located on the southern part of the reservation just south of RT 95 and is on a dead end street right off the highway, so you can’t miss it.