I shot a bit of 120 color negative film in the woods over the past week and picked up the processed negatives this afternoon. Here’s the first scan - a good sized oak on the edge of the forest (click on the image for a larger view):
Taken with a Pentax 6x7, SMC Takumar 105mm f2.4 and Portra 400.
When I visited the Allegan Forest on Tuesday, it was an overcast day with flat light. When I returned there this morning the tree was basking in a ray of direct sunlight - though filtered as the last bit of morning fog burned away. So here is a more luminous, less subdued take on the scene (click on the image for a larger file):
Pentax K-3, DA 16-45 f4.
I’ve been visiting the Allegen Forest quite a bit these past few weeks, mostly shooting medium format film. I’m waiting for the negatives to come back from the lab - hopefully by the end of this week. In the meantime, here is a digital snap of a sole maple tree, pushing its way up in a forest of oak and pine (click on the image for a larger view):
Here’s an older image - from 2004 - taken on Portra film, 6x7 format - I walked by this very stand of trees this morning and can report that nothing much has changed. I’m looking forward to scanning this year’s film and seeing what it holds!
One thing I love about autumn is that (these days) it is one of the few times of the year when I feel inspired to shoot medium format color film. As great as DSLR’s get, autumn landscapes just seem to be better on a big beefy negative. Large format photographers are no doubt sitting in butter this time of year…
An autumn scene from October, 2013 (click on the image for a larger view):
Pentax 6x7 with SMC 67 55mm f4 lens, Portra 160.
If the rain holds off I’ll be out tomorrow, looking for fall colors!
You never know what is going to be right under your feet.
Click on the image for a larger file.
Pentax K-3, DA 17-70 f4.
Waves of Paradise is a field recording by Eric Hinchman. Recorded on the Lake Superior, near Paradise, Michigan, this peaceful, meditative recording captures the sounds of waves lapping the shore. I’ve taken many a vacation in little housekeeping cabins just north of Paradise, and was happy to license my photo, Canadian Windmills for the cover image.
Listening to this CD brings me back to those peaceful summer evenings - enjoying the sound of the waves, maybe sitting by a bonfire, and looking up to see both the natural beauty of the milky way in the clear northern sky and the man made light show of the Prince Wind Energy Farm feeding the Canadian power grid on the other side of the straight.
Below is my photo of the wind farm and Whitefish Bay, taken in evening twilight (click on it for a larger version.)
More about the recording, Waves of Paradise can be found here and also here.
The original post from 2007 featuring this photo is in the archives, here.
I broke my Pentax 6x7 earlier in the summer, and while Peter’s Camera Repair in Grand Rapids fixed it promptly, it took me forever to get up there and pick it up, and even longer to get around to testing it. Yesterday I grabbed the only available model and ran a roll of Agfa APX 400 through it.
It works fine! The cat is no doubt contemplating the irony of an empty treat ball and a human attendant who points a black box at him that periodically makes a loud clanking sound…
Pentax 6x7, Takumar 105mm f2.4. Hand held at 1/60th and f4.5. Click on the image for a much larger view.
I was sitting my garden a few weeks ago and spotted a hummingbird among the flowers - a rare site in my urban environ. I came back a few minutes later with camera and a 400mm lens. The hummingbird did not return but after a while I heard a rustling overhead and saw this chickadee hanging on the the downspout…
So I managed to put the long lens to good use after all!
Pentax K-3, Tokina ATX 400 f5.6. Click on the image for a much larger file.
