Fall is coming… here’s an old shot from 2005 that I just got around to working on. An oak clearing in the Allegan Forest in early autumn, shot in 6x7 film format click for a large file):
The tool shed in Bachelor Cemetery near Fountain, Michigan. Someone meticulously hand wrote out a list of family names and the corresponding grave plats. I guess that someone was Justin. Click an image for a larger file.
Pentax LX, FA 28-105 f4-5.6 zoom, #29 deep red filter, Rollei IR 400 pushed to 800 and stand processed in HC110 1:100 for 75 minutes.
Been a while since I posted a Holga shot - so here goes. A few weeks ago I wandered through a clearing in the Allegan Forest, but saw nothing except for grasshoppers and flies. No dragonflies, butterflies, snakes, toads or other interesting subjects. I had a Holga with me and took this shot looking back into the scrappy dense woods that look all the more dark when you are standing in bright light. Click on the image below for a larger file.
Dragonflies have been scarce lately. I must just be going to the wrong places - my last few trips to the Allegan Forest have yielded only a few encounters with straggling Blue Dashers. The red meadowhawks that usually appear in high summer have been absent so far. Yesterday I visited the McLindon Trails to see if this park would bring a change of luck. I can’t say that dragonflies were out in abundance - they weren’t - but I did manage to find a few red meadowhawks. And since it was not breezy I was able to continue experiments with stack focusing in the field.
Here are the two stack focused shots I was able to get. Two shots of a whitefaced meadowhawk (click any image for a larger file):
And a non-stacked shot of a red meadowhawk:
And finally - a blue dasher from last weekend:
That’s probably it for August of 2013 - come September the Autumn Meadowhawks will probably dominate the scene…
Here are snapshots from a Chicago vacation, taken a few weeks ago. I’ve been in a film mood these days and decided to forgo the DSLR and take a film camera (Pentax Mz-S) and lots of film (Tri-X mostly) for this trip. (Technical notes at the end of the post). It was a good plan and I thoroughly enjoyed burning through film and developing it once home.
We spent three nights in Chicago, arriving late afternoon on Wednesday and leaving on Saturday afternoon. Most of these images were taken on Thursday, since Friday and Saturday were devoted to museums. I’ve arranged them in chronological order based on the time of day at which they were taken, more or less.
Click on any image for a larger file.
Morning
Buckingham Fountain
Tall Ships
Tall Boats
Trees Near the Waterfront
Running
On the Sea Wall
Afternoon
Detail
Hanging In Millennium Park
Abundance
Want
On Navy Pier
Chicago River
Waiting
Evening
Evening Reflections
Zombies Prowl
The Orchestra Plays
Wrigley Building
Carbide and Carbon Building
The NBC Building
Evening Street Corner
Carriage Ride
Dark Alleys
After Evening
Spirits Three
Dreamland
Peace
Technical Notes: All photos were taken on Tri-X 400 or on Arista Premium, a film that is quite similar to Tri-X. With a few exceptions, development was either HC110 Dil B for 7.5 minutes (ISO 400) or for 16 minutes(rolls pushed to ISO 1600 for night shots.) I developed the first 4 rolls in HC110 Dil H but was not happy with the additional grain.
Been slow for dragonflies this summer - too cool, too wet. But the fields are verdant green even now in August… Here are two Halloween Pennants. There is a field in Allegan that in recent years has been a sure bet for these and the somewhat similar Calico Pennant. The name - Halloween Pennant - comes from the males who can take on a bright orange and black coloration, the colors of Halloween, of course. This first image suggests that the most. To be honest, I see very few that are actually orange and black.
Click on the images for a larger picture.
Another trip to West Virginia last week, and another deer photo… Pentax Q, 06 Telephoto (15-45mm f2.8).
A few single exposure (non-stacked) shots of blue dashers. click on any image for a large fie:
