Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Natives of the Florida Keys often refer to themselves as Conchs, and for good reason: They have been drinking.” ― Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland
It’s been chilly (and snowy) this past week, here on Daisy Hill—even more snow coming in two days— which got me thinking about warmer climes and warmer times, which then got me thinking about the time when Mary and I visited Key West, Florida.
Audubon House
The Geiger House in Key West is now known as the Audubon House, and was built by Captain John Huling Geiger in the 1840s as a family residence. Four generations of the Geiger family lived in the house for nearly 110 years.
Originally slated for destruction in 1958, the Geiger mansion was saved by the Mitchell Wolfson Family Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization.
The home’s restoration was the first of its kind in Key West and sparked a restoration movement. Today, the home and its furnishings reflect the elegance and comfortable lifestyle enjoyed by a wealthy family in Key West in an era when frequent shipwrecks on the offshore reef created a flourishing ship wrecking salvage industry.
Interestingly, John James Audubon did not live or stay in the house but spent six weeks in Key West during 1832. Local myth is that he retrieved a branch from a tree in the gardens that are part of the Geiger home to use for a painting.
How I made these photos: The photograph of the front of James Audubon House (above right) was made with a Panasonic Lumix G2 and Sigma 19mm f/2.8 Art lens that was designed for Micro Four-thirds cameras. Exposure in Program Mode was 1/800 sec and f/3.2 and ISO 200. The flower image below was photographed in the gardens of Audubon House and was made with that same Lumix G2 and Sigma 19mm f/2.8 lens combination with an exposure of 1/1250 sec at f/3.2 and ISO 400. The image file was cropped into a 16:9 ratio then processed in Topaz Labs’ Adjust.
If you read my post, I don’t think I’m an Equipment Freak, you won’t be surprised to learn that I made these images using a camera that was introduced in 2010. But there’s a funny story (at least to me) about this particular camera. I don’t remember ever owning a Lumix G2, don’t have one right now but, at the time, I was in love with the Micro Four-thirds format and was rapidly acquiring mirrorless cameras, many of which I later sold. I guess EXIF never lies?
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