A found shot as I was getting ready to prepare dinner… Pentax *ist, FA 50mm f1.7, Ultrafine Xtreme 400, Rodindal 1:100.
Just a few dragonflies from June 14, 2014 - first, a few shots of a Carolina Saddlebags:
I am reasonably sure there are Carolina Saddlebags and not the very similar Red Saddlebag Dragonfly based on the red pattern on the lower wing - BUT - there is the possibility that this is a Red and not a Carolina.
And here are a couple of documentary shots of Dot Tailed Whitefaces - mature males, showing the Dot Tail and White Face markings clearly:
Taken with Pentax K-3, A* 200mm macro, flash, etc.
Back to an old project… A few years ago I experimented with B&W film exposures of sunlight in the woods, usually in the middle of the day and by definition in full sunlight. The project had mixed results but I feel a call to get back to it and to try to capture what I see and feel at those times. A couple of weeks ago I took another run at it and took a few rolls of 35mm B&W film in lush green foliage using an #11 (XI) green filter. Films is so slow - developing, scanning, printing to a digital file… I have more to go but here is a promising photo:
Pentax Mz-S, FA 20-35 f4, TMax 100 (expired 2010) stand processed in Rodinal 1:100 for 1 hour.
Pam and I took the Hidden Kalamazoo tour today, peering into some seldom seen aspects of Kalamazoo’s architectural past. It was a fun afternoon… Here is a grab shot of the interior of the State Theater, a “palace theater” built in 1927, originally hosting silent movies and vaudeville acts. (Click on he image for a larger view.)
The theater still brings in a great mix of live performances. It was designed to simulate a Mediterranean villa where you are sitting under the open sky, and the ceiling is adored with stars in an dark blue sky like you’d see at late twilight. I recall going to shows there in the mid 1980’s and they used a cloud projector to create the image of high overcast clouds gently rolling by.
Pentax K-3, DA 17-70 f4 zoom. Hand held 1/8th of a second at ISO 3200.