The QuickTake 100 camera belongs to Will Hearst- he lent it to me a couple months ago and hasn't asked for it back, yet. I'm thrilled with the ease of getting pictures into my Macintosh: I'm not so thrilled with the quality- but, then, it's a poor workperson who blames her tools.

Cassie, spouse Linda hike in the Academic Preserve. Note the shape of the wild oak...

I live near Stanford University.. my spouse and I and our dog are fond of walking in the hills of the Academic Preserve (also called Big Dish around here because of the giant radio telescope that sits on the highest hill).

The Big Dish

This countryside is classic California oak woodland: rolling hills covered with grasses and dotted by wonderful wild oak trees. In winter, when it rains, it can look like Ireland for all the green. In summer, the grass turns golden and sets off the dark oaks beautifully.

I love to photograph oak woodland. I've shot this area with Hasselblad and Nikon and the Kodak DCS 200 high-res digital camera. These cameras make almost any picture a possibility, given enough skill and knowledge on the photog's part.

By contrast, the QuickTake is relatively lo-res, and has a problem registering fine detail (i.e. the RGB components may not line up producing a prismatic effect around small objects)- you really have to think about a picture to make it successful. The camera does have a surprisingly useful dynamic range- it can capture reasonably good highlight and shadow detail (about on a par with Tri-X B+W film of about 20 years ago).

The wild oaks are the most beautiful. The suburban oaks, with regular water, are more regular in shape. The wild ones, leading a tough life on the arid hills, are far more interesting...

Uncatalogued images...