rossb

One more shot for tonight. I forgot to bring my 2 stop grad filter so I just went with a circular polarizer on this shot. it was overexposed and has a bit to much grain. Same roll and processing as before.

I went for a short hike today at Pinnacles (3 mi). Just testing my pack, carrying the gear and my new water Hydropak system from REI. It all worked well. Kind of hot out there at about 100 degrees again so I was definitely drinking some water. Anyway my first shot on a roll of Delta 400. 10 stop ND filter stacked with a contrast filter. I really like the Delta films and probably will just shoot Delta 100 and 400 films for a while after I exhaust the misc stuff I currently have. ID11 for 14min.

My wife and I went for a drive today. Stopped in at REI and bought a 2 liter Hydropak water container for hiking and we both got a Clean Canteen insulated metal water container. The hydropak can go inside the pack or tie onto the outside. It's a soft container so you can fold it up when not in use. Hydropak also makes water bladders that are reversible and they look real nice. My problem with that is when I am working at Pinnacles I stuff 4 water bottles in the bladder compartment to give to hikers when I find them in the High Peaks and without water. So there is not any room for the bladder. However when on a photo hike that area would be available so I may add a Hydropak bladder to my kit if I decide I want to. The good news is from now on I am going to be sipping nice ice water out there. That will be nice. Couple shots from the cliffs in Carmel Calif.

The lacing on the bike is a 2 cross pattern. What might make it look different is the spokes do not touch at the second cross. However the spokes are short compaired to a wheel with a small hub flange and of a beefy diameter so it was laced without touching or over lapping which requires a slight bowing. There are many ways to lace a wheel.

A shot I took today at Point Lobos in my Tri X vs Delta 400 shootout. The scene is similar to one I posted before butt the reason is for me to compare with Delta 100 and Tri X. I guess just based on a single roll of Tri X and Delta 400 shot today I would say I like both films quite a lot and I think I am just going to shoot both of these films for a while and try to discover where each will lead me. I do like the 400 speed because I can be free of the tripod while just walking around taking pictures of the Grandkids and such.

I'm currently comparing 120 Tri X with 120 Delta 400. This is a typcal shot with the Tri X from today. I have not developed the Delta roll yet but probably later tonight. Anyway I like the Tri X. This shot is a bit on the contrasty side but I had an orange filter on it. Actually it was a 10 stop ND with an Orange filter stacked. About 2 minutes on the exposure. I shot so many pictures out there and was not taking notes so it's all kind of muddled. Mostly I was just looking at the overall picture, contrast, sharpness and zing. Is there such a thing as "Zing". Maybe next time I will use the yellow instead of orange to reel it in a bit.

Hi Don, I have been using ID11 for about a year. I used the Illford recommended time of 14 min with 1:1. Delta 100 is my favorite film in the 100 speed variety. Not sure about Delta 400 yet.

A shot from Delta 400 at the Farm Lunch place out in the country.. Just my first roll of Delta 400 and my first impression is I like it. It is a sharp film and the dark tones look nice to me. Not so much on the barn but this shot was in the shade so its lucky to look like anything. This is just a sign on the barn. Lunch was great and we will go back soon. There was another shot like this on the barn and the photo was actually the lady that was working in the shop. I imagine this is her husband and he was probably in back baking and stuff. We bought a loaf of their french bread and we will have that with dinner tonight.

A shot of my bicycle from 2014. A few changes have been made since then in components as things wear etc. I just run fenders during the winter and the terrain you see is a good example San Benito County, Ca where I live.

Same for me. 1/3rd into the scene if no specific subject in the scene. Grain of salt is the thing here as I am just an old hack taking photos.

I really like the old bikes. Always wanted a Raleigh 3 speed with the mechanical brake rods which was before the usual flexible cable used today. I ride 3 times a week these days. I have a nice 20 mile loop that I ride over and over. Last Saturday I rode on the Saturday morning bike shop ride. which is a variation of the same loop. It's just different because the starting point is at the bike shop. I did not go on the bike shop ride this morning as I did the Pinnacles Volunteer thing yesterday and I am a bit tired from the hike out there. But after breakfast I am going to do the 20 miler at a slower speed then the bike shop guys ride at and then we are going out for lunch at a local Farm that has very fun venue for lunch on the weekends. I am taking my camera with me as they have some cool stuff that I should be able to take some photos of. I will ask permission however since it's all private property and all. I have Delta 400 in the 645 and am excited to see how it performs and hope to post something up here later today from that roll. I will take a shot of my bike sometime this week and post it. I had it built for me 5 years ago in a custom frame shop. I am an excellent bike mechanic so I built the wheels myself and installed the Shimano group set. Basically I had the frame built and the did the rest myself. Young riders do not like my bike because it's steel. Kind of like digital guys do not like the camera's we shoot.

I like the bike. I guess that is a light generator on the front hub?

My interest is about the print so the on-line thing is not particularly important. My friends and family see my pictures at the house anyway.

Nice shots. I have always meant to go to Bodie and Mono Lake but just never seem to. I have a Nikon N80 and a couple of AF lenses for it but was going to send them off to KEH this week to clear them out. I think the camera is very nice but I seem to have moved on to medium format and currently have more camera's then I have space to keep them. I will always have my FM2n however. That photo of mono lake is awesome.

Our old theater could not keep up with the tech and now it just sits empty. Once in a while there is an acting club in town and they do a play in there.

I bought a black powder rifle kit one time for about $75.00. Finished the stock and did the brown thing of the metal and took it out and shot it a few times. I could hit a barn door with it but barely. It sat around for a while and then I took it up to the local gun store and got rid of it. That guy got his license taken away because he was selling weapons to felons. I thought he was such a nice guy but maybe not so much.

I used to spend some time in Portland. My youngest daughter went to the University of Portland so I drove up there quite a bit. Had no idea about the train back then however or steam trains in general actually. The lady that does my taxes is a train nut however. They make vacations out of seeing the trains, riding them and such. She wants that coffee cup and key but I said it cannot be done as it was a gift. Besides I think of Ed when I see the cup sitting there. He was an amazing and friendly person. He told me when his wife passed away he caught his kitchen on fire trying to make a meal for himself. He had never cooked anything before. I do want to visit Portland, Vancouver and Seattle in the next year or so. My wife retires in 18 months and we were going do a road trip to celebrate or head out to Hawaii. I have only been to Kaui is all.

The Daylight Express 4449. There is actually a lot of information out there as the train is still maintained and apparently they bring it out sometimes for a run. Rich guys can buy a ticket and go for a ride on Ed's old train. I would sure like to take a photo of it sometime as it blows out some smoke and such.

I thought I would work on exposure today with my new hand held meter and using different filters from 2 stops to 13 stops of light. Each time I metered the scene with an incident meter and then used my phone calculater to determine exposure using Math. I shot the same scene with a 2 stop ND (4x)), 10 stop ND (1000x), 12 stop ND (4000x) (stacking the two) and finally a 10 stop ND stacked with a red filters which has a 3.3 stop light reduction (8000x) All of the shots came out pretty nice except the last photo which was the 10 stop ND + a 3 stop red filter. It was 1 top overexposed give or take. I am not going to repeat that last frame as it's not likely a set up I would use anyway. Anyway in my back yard. The cup and key actually have a story. Years ago I was working in the ICU at the Hospital and this old guy who was a volunteer came in to chat with me a couple times a week. He was a retired railroad man and was in fact the Conductor on a steam train (the 4449 I think). It was called the Daylight Express and it ran from San Francisco to LA and was a passenger train. Anyway he was the Conductor and that was in the days when the train speed and time was based on a pocket watch. He showed me his watch and explained about how they used to have them calibrated and engraved and stuff. His watch was awesome. His Dad also was a train guy and he had his watch also. Anyway I used to chat about trains with him. Mostly asking questions as I do not know about the trains hardly. He came in one day and gave me the cup and the key as a gift. Apparently every 6 months back in the day if you were a good employee they gave you a small gift. This was one of those gifts that he received. It has never had a beverage in it. He said the key opens all the box cars and he gave the stuff to me. Anyway when I am just wanting to experiment with film, developing or whatever I set up his cup and key and take shots of it. Ed has since passed away. I willl try and find a link to the train he was a Conductor on and post it. The train is awesome.

I messed up on that response. Anyway your correct and I probably should call the Police when stuff like that happens. I will think about it. My wife's advice was to not go where homeless people hang out. She said I was asking for it and lucky to not get a punch in the face. She said the Police will not do anything about that place or they would have many years ago.

Actually with 35mm my favorite film is HP5 but in medium format the film has a completely different look to it. I have not been shooting medium format very long so I am still experimenting with what I want to shoot. Arista 400 is not bad. To much grain for landscape skys however most of my photography is not landscape. That is just what I post here as I do not post family photos on the world wide web. Anyway I like Delta 100 very much and will probably take that on my next trip to Yosemite.. I ordered 3 rolls of Delta 400 and 3 rolls of Tri-X last night and will shoot those. Then I am going to decide which film I want to shoot on a regular basis. I use ID11 developer at a 1:1 mix and ordered enough for 15 liters of stock solution last night.. I purchase from Freestyle Photo in LA. Anyway for 100 speed I have settled on Delta 100 and for a 400 speed film I have not decided as of yet. Since I was threatened at the beach yesterday by these dog people who apparently claimed a public beach as their turf I am going to stick to State and National Parks for my landscape photography. That means less landscape photography which will work out ok given the cost of medium format film. Every year people treat me more aggressively. Not sure if it's the times or because the older I get the more vulnerable I appear.

Just a side note. The movie Dunkirk was shot 100% on medium format film. If you are ok with military movies then this one is a movie to see. An IMAX theater is the best venue otherwise you watch it in a cropped method. I just went on the spur of the moment and when I was watching it I was amazed at the photography and looked it all up when I got home. Now I am going to San Jose next week and watch it at an IMAX theater. The article said for 2 minutes of recording they used 1000 feet of film.

Thanks for the tip guys but I am just not going to buy HP5 is all. I will try some Delta 400 and Tri-X and see how it goes. I want to shoot 400 speed as I can hand hold the medium format easier for shots of the grand kids.

A shot in Santa Cruz with HP5 in 120 format. That film seems lifeless to me. I guess I wish I could find something in between Arista 400 and HP5. I am out of film so I have to try something different. Maybe I will try Delta 400. It's a beach where people with dogs go. There is a leash law but it's not enforced so a real risk for you gear if using a tripod. Basically the bigger dogs will knock it over. I believe most of the people are homeless so if they ruin your gear you will not be compensated for it. Anyway I do not want the shot enough to get the Police involved or anything and will just move on to other places. It's a big coast. In this shot the sky is actually fog but the film just made it look lifeless. Or maybe the photography made it look lifeless. I guess I should accept responsibility over a brand name film loved by many.