Good Glass is Forever

Yes, a long time since my last post... but I've been busy behind the scenes, I swear...

This little stream view is from a field testing session last week, a few miles up the road from home. I had no intention of shooting anything worth looking at, I just wanted to run some new lenses (and this one old one) through their paces to verify that everything works as it should (unlike with digital, you can't just press the preview and see what you've done).  This Schneider 135mm lens has been sitting in a closet at my father's house in Massachusetts since I finished school (more than 30 years ago-wow!), but I was pretty sure that it could still work, so I had him dig it out and mail to me here in California... I especially wanted to shoot the same scene under the same conditions with both this and 2 newer Rodenstock lenses I recently bought that are the best you can get. I was prepared for this one to pale by comparison, but surprised to find that I can see little if any difference in sharpness, so I guess this will do fine as a "normal" range lens (135-150mm in 4x5 format is equivalent to 50mm in 35 format) without any further shopping, at least for now. Back in my student days I used to use this on an old Crown Graphic press camera.. I still have that too, but am not planning to coax that back into service anytime soon:)
Why mess around with film in this day and age you ask?  That's what I have been asking for years too.. I loved digital right from the start and will continue to use it, especially for paying work, but recently I've been feeling the need shake up my way of thinking and working artistically... getting back to the "old" ways, so to speak. I'm sure moving away from the big city to a slower paced life had a lot to do with it. Seeing these first samples of Fuji Velvia back from the lab with their incredible, clean detail and rich color convinced me it is certainly the right decision. Really just a matter of adding some new tools/options to the old bag of tricks. If you like to produce large prints, like me, then there are some definite quality advantages too, that I will talk about coming up...
Too bad I ran out of DOF in the upper right corner here, otherwise I kind of like this shot, but I was only experimenting after all. (A little tilt on the front standard would have fixed that, but I forgot!)

Tree and Hoodoos (Diggin' in the Archives)

Southern Utah, just inside the east entrance of Zion N.P., from Fall, 2008. I realized I have a good number of exposures from this trip that I have never even processed, let alone printed. I guess I was so concentrated on the foliage shots when I got home that I put some of this other, less seasonal stuff on the back burner and never went back.  Late September - early October in the area is just about as good as it gets if you love the outdoors (and photography)... the foliage of the aspens in the high country, the brisk air and the soft light are all truly outstanding. In this particular area you can park by the road, gather your gear and wander freely up on the rocks for hours without being disturbed by another soul, while you explore the amazing shapes and textures.  I really have to get back there this fall.
I'm still a few weeks away (I know, I keep saying that.. but seems like it never ends) from finishing up critical work on the new house and finally getting free to make some trips, so I'll be relegated to retracing more old steps in the meantime.

End of an Era

One of the last seascapes I made before moving away from San Diego.  Kind of an uninspired shot, at least to me, perhaps because I know pretty much every person in the city with a camera and tripod has probably shot this scene at some time.. I tried to resist but finally stopped on the way home one night when the timing seemed right.
Actually I am still back in town more than I had planned to deal with clients and the wife still wants to shop there, but I guess that is not altogether a bad thing... good to be busy.  Anyway, this is sort of my farewell postcard shot.
Still struggling to get out and do some new work, or even dig up and write about older stuff on here recently.. my mind is always on something still to be done around the new house.. summer is short here in the mountains and I need to finish some things while the finishing is good.
Probably it's the change of pace and quiet surroundings after so many years of city life in Boston and SD, but I am also inspired to be wading back into the weird and esoteric world of large format film photography.. something I have not done for more years than I want to talk about. (Not giving up digital completely, no way). But, it was the thing that first inspired me while in school and many of the photographers that did originally or still do impress me work in that medium, so I'm going to give it another go as soon as I can assemble a workable rig out of some old equipment I already have and some newer stuff too.  I have some thoughts about how I want to work with it and at the very least it should make for some real interesting topics of discussion here soon.  Filter factors, bellows factors, depth of field, reciprocity... my head hurts already!  Stay tuned:)

The Monster

I must admit I've been back and forth on this one more than a few times. I liked it quite a lot initially, then began to feel that it was not really that interesting, now I am back to liking it again! I've said it before, but it normally takes me some months or even more to get "detached" from images to the point where I can really judge them impartially, like seeing someone else's work for the first time.  Some other photographers I've talked to say the same thing.
This shot definitely makes me think of some alien spider creature about to chop off my tripod legs for daring to take it's picture. In reality, it's the remnants of an ancient Bristlecone Pine, probably laying very still right here in this spot at 10,000 ft. elevation in California's White Mountains, for many hundreds if not thousands of years. Click the image for a larger view on this one.. the texture of the wood is amazing.
I wish the redwood decks on my house were this durable.. I am going to be spending most of the summer repairing and refinishing them:)