About Me

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Spofford, New Hampshire, United States
Jeff Newcomer had been a physician practicing in New Hampshire and Vermont for over 30 years. Over that time, as a member of the Conservation Commission in his home of Chesterfield New Hampshire, he has used his photography to promote the protection and appreciation of the town's wild lands. In recent years he has been transitioning his focus from medicine to photography, writing and teaching. Jeff enjoys photographing throughout New England, but has concentrated on the Monadnock Region and southern Vermont and has had a long term artistic relationship with Mount Monadnock. He is a featured artist in a number of local galleries and his work is often seen in regional print, web publications and in business installations throughout the country. For years Jeff has published a calendar celebrating the beauty of The New England country-side in all seasons. All of the proceeds from his New England Reflections Calendar have gone to support the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program at the Cheshire Medical Center. Jeff has a strong commitment to sharing his excitement about the special beauty of our region and publishes a blog about photography in New England.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

2017 Retrospective Part 3


Bunelleschi's Dome, Duomo, Florence



In this third edition of my 2017 retrospective, I am picking up a few less dramatic loose ends of the year’s activities.   Loose, but nevertheless important parts of my photographic year.  Finally, I will touch on the most exciting part of 2017, both personally and photographically, our family trip to Italy.






Fenway Park

On a good year we will get to Fenway to see the Red Sox several times.  This year it was only once, but we had good seats and a chance to join our daughter Abigail and her boyfriend, now fiancée!!, Grayson.   Before the game, we enjoyed seeing all the team’s kids frolicing on the grass.  It still takes my breath away when I first glimpse the brilliant Fenway green



We had beautiful July weather and, although the sox were not victorious, it was a great time. Photographically I had a chance to use my little Canon SX50HS with its ridiculous 1200mm zoom. At sporting events, I am never sure that my monster DSLR will be allowed into the venue, but my little SX50HS is unobtrusive, and still has that great reach.  Also, its tiny sensor provides a wider depth of field for the action shots.





Full Moon Rising

Full Moons provide great opportunities for exposing for the detail in the cratered surface while there is still light in the evening sky.  It is the one time when the bright moon and dark sky do not create impossibly stark contrast.  This year I only got out for one full moonrise.  I planned to catch the early December super moon rising behind the holiday decorated Nubble Lighthouse in York Maine.






Using Photographer’s Ephemeris, I was in the perfect position along the beach south of the light.  Unfortunately, the clouds did not cooperate.  I was only able to see a momentary sliver of moon as it first peaked above the horizon.  It was not yet in the perfect location over the lighthouse, but, zooming in, the reflected sunset light made the moon appear like a golden sunrise.



It was not the perfect result for which I had hoped, but it was still a dramatic shot and a nice trip to the coast, and Susan actually came along for the shoot!




Learning Lightroom

The last couple of years has been all about Adobe’s Lightroom.  Lightroom is an amazingly powerful program for managing editing and sharing digital images.  Its database image management system makes it a choice for many professional.  Although Its editing tools are not as robust as those in Photoshop, it is capable enough to meet the needs of most amateurs, and its intuitive workflow makes it much less intimidating to master.



I am now finishing up the fourth offering of my Introduction to Lightroom Course.  The course has been a lot of work, but it is also great fun to share my understanding with so many enthusiastic participants.  Each session has been an opportunity for me to discover more about Lightroom, especially since the program keeps evolving.  Part of the my learning, has been to write blog articles about special aspects of the program, and this year, I have published eight blogs, from the mysteries of the Lightroom Catalog to what’s new in Lightroom CC Classic.




Check out more links to image editing articles in my Blog Index.



Our Villa in Tuscany



Adventures in Italy

Piazza del Campo, Siena

Last autumn, Susan and I explored Italy for a three-week celebration of her birthday.  We traveled to Rome, Florence, Bologna, Lake Como and Venice, but the most magical part was nearly a week sharing a villa with our children and their significant others in the Tuscan countryside.  Beautiful landscapes, great food and even better wine. It was amazing.  After Tuscany the kids followed their own itineraries but still joined us for parts of our explorations of Florence and Bologna.



Gina and Jeremy Florence


Best Family Lunch, Montalcino


Of course, I did bring my camera along and I am only beginning to wade through the 4,000 images.  You can see some in the blog articles and the Italian gallery, but there will be more to see and to write about whenever I can get to it.





Lake Como
Bologna Market
Grande Canal Venice





















January 2018 Storm


That should be sufficient looking back for now.  When it comes time to review, I am always surprised by how much we have done in a year.  I still have thousands of pictures calling for my attention, but now we must look forward to 2018.  The winter is beautiful and pristine, and Spring is coming!





Jeffrey Newcomer



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