Zoomed In with a Flag: Happy 4th of July!!

I used to post Flags on all National Patriotic Holidays.  I've fallen away a bit.  But heading back with some subtlety:

Zoomed In Here Too!

I've posted a lot of Zoomed In features on my other Blog Here.  But Now one for this blog too!

Ilford HP5 Personal Review

We pick up with HP5 where we ended with FP4, at the Natural Bridge:

I had lost track of my FP4 roll being only 24 exposures.  I had this one last shot that I wanted to take and was out of FP4.  But I had my trusty extra roll in the camera bag: HP5.  So I got the shot that I wanted.  I'll be making more trips back to the natural bridge, so I'll be re-shooting with the Mamiya-7 and T-MAX 400.

Then I made a few more images at the Mayo Clinic Phoenix Cactus Garden:

Above, a barrel cactus, but barely in view.  

Below, zooming through the 'cactus window' for a closer look.

A final image of a statue honoring the Spirit of the Native Inhabitants, given to the Clinic by a grateful patient:

I'll remake tis image with the M7 also.

My Ilford FP4 Personal Review......

My results are back for the Ilford FP4 Film Test and I was surprised!  I followed the exposure advice of the Phoblographer and was pleased with the results:

• Underexposed 1 stop outdoors in bright sunlight
• Over exposed 1 stop indoors

My Panorama of the Salt River Bridge composed of the two images below using Photomerge:

Because of sound advice from someone who had already spent the time figuring it out, I experienced none of the problems that I've had with Film Ferrania P30 or Silberra Pan 160/100.  So I won't repeat what the Phoblographer said in his review........just check it out.


Below, a few shots from the Tonto Natural Bridge State Park.  You'll see more from this location coming soon.

First the view from the North Side.

And views from the South Side:

These turned out a bit over exposed still.  I had used a dark orange filter and took a filter factor of 1 instead of 2.  Next time I will not use a filter factor.  I think the FP4 35 mm is worth another spin around the block.  I do like it better than HP5.

Special view from the top of the Natural Bridge looking through a hole to the bottom:

My next FP4 posting will be the 120 film that I received from my Secret Santa.  The Phoblographer does warn that the larger format has some issues.  We'll see.

52 Rolls Redux: A Ride to the Airport

The Problem Plagued "A-Line" to the Denver Airport.  On the Day we decided to take the roundtrip from Downtown, it was a rare flawless trip.......

##########

-->

Tech Info: Minolta XD-11 with 28-20 zoom lens, Kodak T-MAX 400; Developed and scanned by Old School Photo Labs.

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.

Revisiting the Real Stonehenge

Really terrible images from my 1990 visit to Stonehenge.  But you get what you get at the moment.  It was a once in a lifetime opportunity as I was living in Bristol for 6 months.

It was dark and  windswept as the Salisbury Plain often is.

I really ventured to Salisbury to see the Cathedral.  But once there decided that I might as well take in Stonehenge too.

We will see more sights around Carhenge in the next post.

SUCCESS!

What is This?

Hint....It's something I love to eat......What do you think it is?

As seen along the roadside in Northern Colorado............

Posted Week 433 of the 52 Rolls Project.

A Rainbow for the New Zimbabwe

Best Wishes and Hope for a brighter future:

From our 1998 Trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Needles Highway, Black Hills SD

Rock formations that give the Needles Highway its name:

Note the climber's at the top of the rocks (above).

And two views of the same scene;which do you prefer?

 

From the Black Hills.....

The Fall trip with our Photo Club was to South Dakota, for the Annual Bison Round-up.  We'll get to that later......Let's get started with some silhouettes and skyscapes from the Needles Highway.

A Skyscape:

 

And another silhouette:

First the Needles Eye:

Walker Ranch: 35 mm

Finishing up the week with a few exterior shots in 35 mm.  We start with an Overview shot.  The White house on the right is the 'modern' ranch house.  It is now the residence of the Open Space Chief Ranger.  That's partly why access to this site is restricted.  But having someone on sie also protects from vandalism.

And the back side of the original Homestead House with our guide for scale:

Two images of Donald setting up his shots:

The Hay Barn, with detail of the Door.

Finally, some roof damage on the Hay Barn addition.

This will post as Week #35 on the 52 Rolls Project.