Sunday, September 30, 2018

52 Rolls Redux: Preparing for Winter

We take a look back at January 2016 as we prepare for the coming winter.  Continuing with the Holga Theme that started my 52 Rolls Journey.........


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Our First walk along Coal Creek Open Space in Boulder County, Colorado:











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Camera: Holga 120S, Film: T-MAX 400

My Strategy for the project is to use a variety of film types, although I usually shoot ISO 400 film in my Holgas.  I am also, in general shooting two exposures of each scene, so most of the time I will only have 6 discrete images to post.  Also, I've decided to cheat a little bit and shoot two cameras the 120S and 120N, and overlap my rolls by 3-4 days to get a bit ahead and make up for times when I may not be able to complete one roll in a week.  And one last disclaimer when I don't have time to develop the film, I'm sending B&W to Ilford Labs USA and always sending Color Film to Old School Photo Labs.

Friday, September 28, 2018

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Doors Open Denver........The Evans School




Views from the West Balcony of Evans School.



North Balcony View of the Art Museum, and Denver constantly under construction nowadays.....


Sunday, September 23, 2018

52 Rolls Redux: Introduction to A Holga Project

I did say last week that I would be posting in Random Order.  But let's pause and go back to the beginning.....January 2016:


Greetings All!
Happy to be joining the 2016 Project.  
I'm making this a Holga Project...........In honor of our Fallen Plastic Friend.



Note: that at the time of this original posting in January 2016, the Holga was thought to be dead and gone.  But Freestyle found some molds and resurrected the camera brand......

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Como Artist Colony

There are still many 'worker bee' cottages remaining in Como, although it is a mere shadow of it's heyday 1910 population of 475.


Como is largely an artist's colony in habited in the warmer months.  Only a few permanent residents stay beyond the end of October.


The appropriately names 'Tres Colores' house is one of many available for rent during the tourist season.



Friday, September 21, 2018

Moving Klondike Kate

With the renovation of the turn table, it only takes two men to turn Kate around:


Also can be moved by several small children.........


Here for a better view of the Turn Table:


And a final link to Como History and the Como Project.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Como Round House



See the conditions Before the  Roundhouse Restoration here.  And read more about the Project here.



Not sure I like the Lomo 400 color rendition of RED.  Not so good with a bright sky.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Here Comes Klondike Kate

Just got my color film back from Old School Labs.  Funny complication, they scanned my negatives backwards, so I've had to flip half of them.

But here Comes Klondike Kate on film, in color as promised.  



Sunday, September 16, 2018

Why I Won't Post on Community Project Sites Anymore: A 52 Rolls Redux

I've learned a painful lesson with the 52 Rolls Project.  So I won't be posting on 'community project sites' anymore.  And what was that lesson?

Well first there were some benefits, It got me motivated to spend more time on photography. I made new online photography connections, etc.....But now the site has gone inactive with a huge downside that I now am in the process of manually copying every post over again in order to preserve them.  Since I don't own the site, I cannot download my posts directly from WordPress (if you know of a way to do this, please let me know).  So I'm in the middle of copying 100+ posts.......a very slow process.

This is intended as a 'word to the wise', a caveat.  Always keep copies of your posts if you do decide to participate in a project like this.....The digital world is ephemeral anyway.  I knew that, but trusted that this project would have more staying power, but it didn't.

So to keep myself going I will start reposting my salvaged 52 Rolls posts.  So below is my first '52 Rolls Redux': From July 2017


--> We view the Prairie Sentinels at the Cedar Creek Wind Farm:





They are located near Pawnee Buttes, out in the northeastern plains of Colorado.  An effective collaboration between ranchers and renewable energy.  That's why I particularly like the bails of hay scattered among the Windmills.  




On previous visits we only got this close (above); But this time we found a road that passed through part of the wind farm.




And the Pawnee Buttes:





Very strange atmospheric conditions and flat light due to haze from all the many wildfires here in the western US and Canada.  Click here for more from the Buttes.



And a little reminder of what eastern Colorado looks like.  Everyone thinks of mountains, but half the state is in the Prairie.........



Tech Info:  Minolta XD-11 with Tamron 28-200 zoom lens and dark orange filter. Kodak T-Max 400 film; Developed by KellyBlackDog and scanned on my Epson v700.


 Post will be in random order.........Not chronological.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

What I'm Still Learning About Camera Systems and Lenses

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I've recently re-read an article by Lee Johnson.  He talks about his experience with his favorite Hasselblad camera after 10 years of working with it.

The article has given me food for thought regarding camera systems and what is really required for good photography.  For example, Lee talks about picking one camera and one lens for a project and sticking with that choice.  I've never tried the one-camera one-lens approach to shooting, or at least not consciously.  But in practice I do.  Despite having all of the available Mamiya 7 lenses in my toolkit, I usually use the 43mm or 50mm wide-angle lenses.  Although I am trying to be aware of when the 80 mm normal lens might be more appropriate.  And when I'm using my 35mm, my go to lens is the Tamron 28-200 zoom.  So this has become a part of my  practice because it just makes sense most of the time.....






The above image, made with my Mamiya 645 and wide angle lens ( the wide angle lens always a favorite regardless of the camera I'm using). Interesting that he notes the need for a faster shutter speed to avoid mirror vibration.  The Hasselblad must have mirror lock-up?   My Mamiya 645 does, and Hassies are better, right?  So they must have that feature?????  I usually avoid this problem by using my  Mamiya 7 rangefinder....no mirror, so no mirror vibration.  But for my work the day I made this image, good old mirror lock-up was in play.

He makes 10 points, and it's not my goal to replay and comment on all of his ideas.  It's a good article and I agree with most of it.  The point is, we all can be more thoughtful when choosing the equipment that we use in each circumstance.

......Recently I rediscovered the value of cameras other than the M7, although that relationship remains strong.  I typically use my 35mm Minolta X-700 as my "roadtrip ready to go camera".   I'm now getting back to my M645 and Minolta 35mm cameras for macro photography.  Something that you can't do with a rangefinder. 

I guess the point I want to make is choose the right camera for the task!  If you want versatility in a film camera and especially  if you are just getting started, choose 35 mm because the cameras a cheaper and there are lot's of lens possibilities.

For the truly adventurous, another interesting entry point for film photography is Plastic Cameras.   But that will be discussed elsewhere.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Some Results from the Diana F Macro

You'll remember that I bought a bunch of lenses for my New Diana F.  My Diana infatuation still hasn't burned out.  I ended up adding the macro lens for that "Project Shoot".  So here are some results.  It has a focusing distance of 6 inches.  So not as 'macro' as expected.




I'm writing an article abut my Diana experience.  I'll let you know when it's published.


Saturday, September 1, 2018

Down the Rabbit Hole, Or.......

Or, why I need to STOP focusing so much time on Twitter.  Number 1, it detracts from my blogs and Number 2, I'm not sure that it is increasing traffic to my blogs.......Number 3 '#' used to mean Number!

Because of Twitter, I've gotten caught up in all of these short-term 'shoot for a theme' projects (like #camerachallenge and @PortraParty).  I think I got caught up in it because of my success with #filmjune.  Nothing like 'winning' something to cause a distraction from the real purpose of my photography.

This is supposed to be my thoughtful and meditative artistic expression.  I've never been one who required (or even sought) instant gratification.  If I needed that I wouldn't be a film shooter.....

So for September, we are returning to first principles.  More writing here....more thoughtfulness, less emphasis on Tweeting!  This blog forwards to Twitter, but I'm shooting for myself, not for Twitter Projects.


I've been doing some macro work lately.....OK it was a Twitter Challenge.  But.........


The Weather has been unpleasant (hot and very polluted)  so I haven't been out in nature the past couple of months.  Therefore I've worked with what I had....My Garden.