Exploring Garnet, Montana

Garnet Montana is a very well restored and preserved mining ghost town north of Missoula, Montana.  I have to say in regards to this and other experiences, that the BLM does a great job with preservation and interpretation.  We'll start with an overview of Garnet and explore interiors and exteriors through the Holiday Weekend:

Sundays Online: Film is a Journey Worth Taking & 52 Rolls Week 25:52

Tis is also my 52 Rolls Posting for this week.  I'm changing things up for the heart of my Landscape Season and throwing alternate medium formats at you!

Check out Craig Sheaks on Film as a Journey that can transform you......

And Film is a Journey as I finally grasped at a recent B&W Photography Workshop in Condon, Montana with the Photographer's Formulary Crew, and Nathan McCreery as the instructor. Corrected some lazy mistakes I was making, but learned new things too!.  And I was finally convinced to use a spot meter!

Each participant came away with one good image......mine above, which I will have to reprint, because this is on resin coated paper.

Tech Info: Mamiya 6X7, Kodak T-Max 400, film developer Formulary's FA-1027, exposure (spotmeter) f/22 for 2 seconds.

And another perspective on the Film Photographic Journey.

52 Rolls Week #24: Take a Peek Inside

Go to my 52 Rolls Posting to Take a Peek Inside:

Sundays Online: Rockmount Foundations

Our guided tour included a trip to the basement.  All good buildings begin with a strong foundation!

On the walls, the old inventory numbering system is still visible.

Looking at the Details: Rockmount Ceilings and Door

Beautifully restored Brass Ceiling Panels.You can also see the top of one of the 10X10 inch oak posts that support the structure.

The sprinkler system is a retrofit, but blends in fairly well.

Door Handle Details.

Western Lore at Rockmount

Patriotic Jackalope (above) and what Colorado is now best known for (below).

52 Rolls Week #23: A Trip to the 'Top of the World'

The 52 Rolls Project finds us 'at the top of the world' along the Trail Ridge Highway in Rocky Mountain National Park.  I was up there on the first weekend the road opened on the Saturday before Memorial Day.  It almost didn't happen, as they had to blast away some of the snow......

At the top a nice surprise, as the Park Service had made a snow carving to Celebrate 100 Years of the NPS>

And the Visitor's Center at the top of Trail Ridge.  Note the logs on the roof to keep it from blowinf off in high winds.

Rockmount: Famous Hats and Celebrities

The Iconic Stetson Hat, and some of the Celebrity photos that line the walls.

Paul McCartney wore one of their shirts on Saturday Night Live.

Wrapping Up Doors Open Denver at Rockmount Ranch Wear

Rockmount originated what we think of as Western Wear in the 1950's.  Read more about this still family owned business HERE.

Saturdays Online: A Final Perspective

On a clear day I have a good view of Mt Meeker and Longs Peak from the park near my home.  I'm always trying to get the 'perfect' shot from this location:

Here the Mamiya 7 with the 150mm lens. But I remembered that ages ago I had purchased a 210mm lens, and never really used it.  So I took it out to get a closer view:

of course, it would have been nice to have a few clouds.  But here we either have too many clouds or none.  You can see a wisp of cloud starting to form in the upper right corner.

Now for a further test I should taken the Mamiya 645 with its 210mm lens and my 2X teleconverter.  So we will revisit this scene again soon.

And Now for a totally different kind of perspective as Large Format Photographer Mat Marrash talks about why he loves large format, and especially what he has learned from the process.

Birthday at Boulder Chautauqua Park

An overcast day, but checking out the vistas and perspectives for next winter's snow photos of the Flatirons.  Yeah, I'm planning my snow pics already.

Read more about Chautauqua Park.

Burke and James Press Camera at the Cheryvale Barn

Donald with the Burke and James Press Camera.

We ended up with many similar images.

See his postings on the Cherryvale Barn.

52 Rolls Week #22

Week #22 features photographs made on my Birthday.  We had several goals that day (in addition to simply taking the day off from work).

We have a photography Project called the "Barn Project" aimed at photographing 

the last vestiges of rural life in and around Boulder County.

We also dropped by Chautauqua Park (above) for a closer view of the Flatirons.  The weather wasn't great, but we were scoping out future sites to photograph from.  I particularly want to revisit this area in the snow next winter.

And another view of the Flatirons form an Open Space trail head.

More Perspectives of the Birthday Barn

It's all a matter of perspective.  I've tried re-orienting images to remove convergence, and really wasn't crazy about the results.

So here I tried a simple 5 degree rotation to level the roadway, but then the silo tilts way too much:

So the best compromise was to crop out most of the road, so you just don't notice it:

And Getting Closer to the subject also helps:

Birthday Photography

I was determined to have my birthday off and do some photography in spite of the overcast. We had just enough of a break in the clouds for some of the images to be interesting.

Let's start with a Barn Project Series (which will continue on Wed with the 52 Rolls Update):

This Barn and Silo are located within the Boulder County Parks and Open Spaces.  Many old farm buildings have been preserved by the Parks.

52 Rolls Week #21

Last Roll of Holga from Doors Open Denver 2016. Tp view the rest of this roll go to 52 Rolls Week 21:52.