Me and the Minolta have been busy

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I've been out a lot with my Minolta SRT-101 lately and I have quite

a few pictures to show you guys. In fact so many that I'll probably have to post a few new topics. And using 3

different kinds of film too! :) <p>

 

This first picture is a Masonic Temple, not too far from where I live. (I've noticed that there seem to be a lot

of Masonic Lodges in San Bernardino for some reason). Surprisingly, no creepy guy in a cloak and hood came out when I took this photo. This was with Kodak Tri-X.<p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/MasonicTemplesmall.jpg"><p>

 

About a week ago, I went up to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains to get some landscape photos. I

actually took these next pictures with a new film, Adox CHS Art 100. Well, it's new for me anyway. I've seen it in the catalog for Freestyle Photo Supplies before, and I've been wanting to try it for a long time. It's supposed to have an

old style emulsion with a lot more silver than other films, and supposedly gives a different look to pictures. I

finally decided to buy a couple of rolls. <p>

 

This was with a yellow filter on the camera: <p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/BigBearLakesmall.jpg"><p>

 

And here I used a 135mm telephoto lens (with no filter):<p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/BigBearLakebsmall.jpg"><p>

 

When I was developing the prints, I noticed right away that there was definitely something different about this

film. It really DOES have a different look to it. I can't quite explain it, but somehow everything looks

sharper and the pictures have more "texture" than other B&W films I've used. I could see more foam and ripples

in the lake, and in general it just seemed to have so much more detail. I guess it picks up more detail because

the film has more silver. It also seems to be a lot more forgiving with underexposure than other films. It

doesn't loose detail in the shadows. But in any case, it's awesome and it just might end up becoming my new

favorite black and white film. I say this reluctantly, but I just might end up liking it even more than Plus-X.

Well, as long as I keep getting pictures like these. It's beautiful.<p>

 

This is a path near the lake, also with the same film. <p>

 

<img src = "http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/PathatBigBearLakesmall.jpg"><p>

 

And nearby, I came across a small creek that had the clearest water I had ever seen in my life. The water was so clear that it looked completely transparent, and you could see the rocks at the bottom as if the water wasn't

even there.<p>

 

<img src ="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/CreekatBigBearLakesmall.jpg"> <p>

 

Okay, here are some pictures I just took within the past few days. I just got this roll developed today,

actually. I took all of these with the same camera (Minolta SRT-101) but with Kodak Gold 200 film. <p>

 

I had always seen this water tower (at least I think it's a water tower) from a distance from the freeway. A few

days ago, I was in the mood to go bike riding and get some pictures. I took a little journey to try to find

where this tank was so I could get some pictures of it up close. And after riding my bike for several miles, I

found out it's WAY out in the middle of nowhere, at the south end of the city. <p>

 

It's surrounded by a fence and there's a few abandoned buildings nearby, but I'm not sure what it's for.<p>

 

<img src ="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/004_4small.jpg"><p>

 

On my way back home, I came across this place - "Far West Meat." On the front of the building, they claim that

they're the "Home of the Hot Links." <p>

 

<img src = "http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/008_8small.jpg"> <p>

 

Then I found this old car. I have a feeling that it isn't going anywhere, any time soon. It's a shame though,

I'm sure an antique car like this has a lot of history and a lot of stories to tell. I wonder who rode in it,

and everywhere they went...<p>

 

<img src ="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/011_11small.jpg"> <p>

 

<b>Now this next picture is hilarious. Just imagine how much THIS would confuse visitors:</b> <p>

 

<img src ="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/016_16small.jpg"><p>

 

Yup, it's actually possible to be on the corner of "Del Rosa and Del Rosa." It's actually Del Rosa Drive and Del

Rosa Avenue. Couldn't they have been a little bit more creative when they were naming the streets? I mean

obviously, one existed before the other...did some city official just have a weird sense of humor? I think we

should make this street corner into some kind of landmark or tourist site, kind of like the Four Corners. It's

the only place in the city (or maybe in the world) where a street intersects itself. <p>

 

And this last picture is a long exposure I took of the freeway from a bridge. I set the aperture to f/11, and

the exposure was 15 seconds, if I remember right. I was trying to get light trails from passing cars. But I got

a cool and even weirder effect. This was late at sunset, almost at nightfall, and yet the picture looks like it

was taken during the day. And the freeway looks empty, even though there was a lot of traffic at the time! You

can faintly see light trails from passing cars...<p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/022_22small.jpg"><p>

 

Okay, that's all for this post. Thanks for looking, and I'll have a lot more to show soon!

 

 

 

 

<p>I've not used Adox in a while, I love the results I got with Adox 25 (after I got vuescan) .<br>

Some great shots Chris, especially the clunker and the riverbed.</p>

<p> </p>

<p><em>"Antique car"</em>...hmmm...I remember those cars and it doesn't seem like <em>that</em> long ago. Nice shots, Chris. It seems that you and the Minolta are bonding well. The SR-Ts are nice cameras to use and the metering in them always seems to do quite well. Looking forward to seeing more.</p>

<p>Del Rosa & Del Rosa reminded me of trying to give a frustrated New Yorker directions in Montreal... Finally he snapped and said 'This is a STUPID city!!! All the streets have the same name!!!" I looked at him, perplexed and asked how so - he answered "They're all called "RUE"!!!"..<br>

True story, I couldn't make this up if I tried. What really shocked me was that the man appeared to be a rather distinguished, well spoken, seemingly educated older gent...</p>

<p>Chris, I love the effect the first few shots accomplished, I am sure they positively glow as prints. Great results - and isn't trying new film fun? I know, stick with one film and learn the crap out of it (and one or two developers) is the "smart" way to do it...But I love trying a variety, especially since they all bring so much character to the table!<br>

I don't know if the amount of silver in an emulsion (I presume you are speaking of an old-school, what's called "thick emulsion" film) really adds to the film's ability to capture detail though... I know it lends a look all its own, in my experience seems to give an exposure latitude that if not actually bigger seems to be more forgiving, and of course then there is that "look":)<br>

I have a couple old school films like that (Bregger 200, etc.) and I love the look they give, I also love the way they print. </p>

<p>As to the man in a dark cloak, you should know better - have you not seen the Monty Python tutorials on "how to recognize a mason"?</p>

<p>Great series. Always a worthwhile pasttime to run some film through those old SRT's. Although I have lots of classic gear, I keep coming back to my SRT's more than any of them. Currently I have six ranging from SRT 100 to the SRT SCII.<br>

Good choice of film. I think sticking to one film is good advice for beginners, but once you's mastered a film/developer combo, it's certainly okay (and fun) to try others. SInce Plus-X has been discontinued, it's good you found another medium speed film that you like.</p>

Mike, thank you. My SRT-101 has definitely been my workhorse camera lately.

 

But I just wanted to say that Plus-X has NOT been discontinued. It was only discontinued in 120 size rolls. It's still available in 35mm. I just bought several rolls of it too.

<p>Chris -- You should visit Seattle some time. BOTH streets (east-west) AND the avenues (north-south) are numbered, and there's ten (I think) different addressing and numbering districts, making it theoretically possible for there to be 20 streets with the same name (er, number), i.e. up to 10 different intersections of, say, 40th and 40th. In practice I don't think happens more than four or five times with any one number, because many of the potential "intersections" end up being in a lake or in Puget Sound, and some of the streets are named instead of numbered.</p>

<p>It's actually not that bad once you get used to it (there are directionals after the street names specifying which addressing district its in), but it does trip up every newcomer at least once.</p>