Donald C. Bruce, Photographer and Uncle, 1936 to 2024

Don Bruce was my uncle, 1936-2024, and an avid photographer.  His photographs are peppered with "selfies" taken in mirrors.  Unlike the selfies taken with cellphones today, he always reversed the images during printing. This was the only way he made it into the photographs. 

He started me out with a small 35mm Braun later loaning me his Leica-flex.  I learned everything about taking a photograph, setting up the camera, and developing film and printing photographs from him.

 

Time away...

 I've unintentionally taken a nearly 5-year break from serious photography.  I can't explain why.  Many events distract and cannibalize free time.  Perhaps I simply drifted away for a bit, lost in the currents of other life events.  I've recently found a new motivation for photography, the birth of my first granddaughter.  

 I have also come back into possession of the Leica flex that I started with.  This camera was the first 35mm with an adjustable focal length that I used around 1978.

Black powder

When shooting a black powder rifle, the shock of the percussion and the subsequent smoke hide any detail of the blast that produced them.   Luckily I was able to capture that moment in this shot.

Wedding in Tuscany

We hiked up to the local hill top castle town, Certaldo, during our stay in Tuscany at Tre Stelle winery.   The church was being readied for a wedding later that afternoon.    The bride and groom's car drove up as we were taking in the scene - you can't get much more perfect than that can you.   Great opportunity to capture a local event.

Nighttime in San Gimignano

This shot was taken during a lighting festival of the hill town - San Gimignano-  just after sunset.   ISO was set at 1250, 55 mm, f2.8 at 1/24 sec.

Trevi Fountain

This is a time-lapse photograph I took at Trevi fountain in Rome.   I set the ISO to about 50 and the shutter to about 1/5 of a second at aperture F/11.     Final processing was done in Adobe Lightroom.

Eagle II

Two more photographs of the Eagle as it took fight and flew away.

Eagle

This eagle was perched on the branch in a shallow wet land area near Ft. Casey.    I was able to get within about 100 yards before it decided that I was close enough.

Digesters

The digesters were too stubborn to completely go over with the digester house.    Amazing to see these riveted steel pressure vessels - each 90,000 gallons in size, lined with 6+ inches of brick.

Guitar Making

Click to take you to a gallery of images documenting my construction of a Hauser inspired classical guitar.