Indigo Lake and Homemade Buns!

I came here yesterday morning to finish the roll of T-Max in the Fuji GSW690III but when I saw the clear water and beautiful reflected colors in the morning light I was glad I had my Canon 7D with me. The above photo and the one after the 'jump' are two of my favorite Indigo photos - and that is saying a lot - because I have taken lots and lots of photos here over the years.

GSW690II Part II

I like that title - really gets to the heart of the matter. Anyways - I shot my second roll of film(first roll here) through the Fuji GSW690III - this time I used Kodak T-Max 100. I didn't notice a giant difference between the Fuji Acros I used last time and the T-Max I used this time. I shot half the roll in Barberton and finished the roll this morning at Indigo Lake. As I said last time, I really like the way this camera makes you slow down and really consider what you are doing - I have to check my hand held light meter, really make sure I've focused right(different kind of focusing than the SLRs I usually use), and really make sure I want the shot knowing I only have 8 exposures on fairly expensive film(not to mention the time involved in developing). I developed this roll for 7 minutes - 30 seconds longer than the last time I developed a roll of T-Max - I think that I had slightly better results with the longer time. 

I'm already halfway through a roll of Fuji Velvia 50 in the camera - I'll post those soon...

Our Growing Garden

A little photo-essay-update on Laura and my garden. We planted a few things this week and a few new things have popped out of the ground. Our hops and peach trees also seem to be doing really well - I'll have photos of those soon. My garden posts will be an ongoing feature all Summer long...

Climbers 2013

I love the roses that grow on the side of my house - I've been cultivating them for years now and they do better every year. 

One thing I've never been quite sure how to take care of is this amount of brightness and color in digital photos. If you were to look at this image full size you would see that the rose is over-saturated to the point of losing detail - but if I tone down the saturation the colors of the rose don't stand out the way they should. This only happens with colors toward the red end of the spectrum. I've never printed a photo with this kind of blown saturation so I'm not sure if it is just the limited colors of a computer monitor or if it would be blown out in print too. I think I should get this one printed to find out - and maybe do a little reading to see how to better handle this kind of photo.

Willoughby Brewing & Pickle Bills

Bookending yesterday's trip to Headlands beach were trips to Willoughby Brewing and Pickle Bills. Willoughby Brewing Company is a brewpub/restaurant in Willoughby(obviously). Their beers were absolutely fantastic and we had some great pizza there too. Its a large place with an industrial feel - we ate out at the bar on the covered patio. Their Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter is a must try. 

After Willoughby and a walk on the beach we stopped by Pickle Bills in Grand River(probably only a quarter mile from Headlands Beach). Pickle Bills seems to be two places - the seafood restaurant on the first floor and the patio bar on the roof. Since we already ate we had a few beers upstairs. It was pouring rain off and on but the area immediately around the bar was covered. We sat out enjoying the view of the river and Marina. I can imagine the place draws quite the crowd on a pretty Summer evening. It actually had the feel of being on vacation somewhere on the east coast. We'd like to get back and try the food soon.

Headlands Beach State Park

Laura and I made a brief visit to Headlands Beach State Park near Mentor today. I hadn't been there since a grey day in 2006 - and it was grey again today. We went for a short walk on the beach before a rain shower hit - we ran back to the car and got drenched in the process. We both promised each other we would return when the weather is nicer.  I still managed a few fine photos though.

Morning Daisies

Yes - I've walked and photographed the train tracks between West Market Street and Hawkens Avenue tons of times - its my little strip of nature here in Wallhaven. I like it in the Spring and Summer because it is also a good indicator of what is happening in the Valley - the same kind of wild flowers and plants seem to grow in both places.

Colour

When I was shooting the Fuji in Cuyahoga Falls the other day I stopped at this sign in front of an artist's studio - I loved the color so I reached for my 7D. This is a shot that wouldn't have had any meaning in black and white....

Fuji GSW690III Test Drive

I took the borrowed Fuji690III, or "The Beast", out to Cuyahoga Falls for a spin today. I had the camera loaded with Fuji Neopan Acros 100 black and white film. I made the 8 exposures then came home and developed it. I realized I was doing something kind of dumb in the middle of the developing process - I was using a film I had never used before, in a camera I had never used before, and with a dilution of developer(HC-110 (E)) I had never used before. The problem with this being that if something didn't look right I wouldn't know which part of the process had gone wrong - my exposures or the development. Fortunately I like to think I'm pretty skilled - but it was probably more luck - and all 8 of the photographs turned out really well. 

Memorial Cook-Out

My brother had family and friends over his house on Sunday for a cook-out to celebrate the holiday. I shot all afternoon with my Canon 7D. I like to treat family gatherings as event photography - I just like to capture the moment and get good candid shots. As with most photographers, I'm not a fan of the "hey, everyone look over here" shot - there is nothing real or interesting about those...

Flea Marketing

Laura and I have an annual tradition of getting to the Hartville Flea Market on Memorial Day Weekend. If the weather is nice the amount of vendors and junk to buy is just amazing. This year the wind was a little chilly but I think it was better than the near-pass-out-heat of last year. I'm usually on the hunt for old cameras and tools and Laura like to find classic jewelry and Browns memorabilia - we also search for random little household items. This year we ended up coming away with more produce and plants than other treasures but we always have fun no matter what - some booths are just cool to peruse as if they were museums...

Neopan on the Bridle Trails

I'm proud of the above photo - everything came together perfect: the light, the lens, the camera, the time, the place. This shot is gonna be near the top of the list when I start making black and white enlargements.

I shot this roll of Fuji Neopan 400 over a few days of hiking on the Wetmore and Langes Bridle Trails - as I said before - my new favorite Valley spot. There is still a lot of parts of the trails I haven't explored yet - so expect more photos like these. I actually switched it up with the lenses a bit on these trips - I started trying out my 50mm Rokkor macro lens and used a cheap wide angle I have - the wide angle isn't very sharp but I still like it for certain situations.  ....but I still shot more than half the roll with my trusty 55mm f1.7 Rokkor.  

"The Beast"

I was shooting the breeze with my friend Rick the other day in his photography studio - we were discussing old cameras and developing film when he told me he had something to show me. After searching a few of his cabinets he pulled out this monster, a Fuji GSW690III. It is a rangefinder that takes 120mm film and makes 6x9 exposures(kinda an over-sized Leica). I started to mess around with it a bit and Rick asked if "I'd like to borrow it and try it out?" Of course I would! "You're gonna get some strange looks walking around with that this weekend!" No doubt. I loaded it up with a roll of Fuji Neopan Acros 100 - a film I've never shot before. I also ordered a roll of Fuji Velvia 50 to run through it next, which should be a perfect combination(as long as I expose correctly(no light meter on this behemoth)).  I'm pretty excited to use this.

I should have some photos posted next week.

From Rome to Home

Last week I developed a roll of Fuji Neopan 400 that I thought I shot entirely in the Cuyahoga Valley - but to my delight the beginning of the roll was from my last two days in Rome. It was kind of a throwback to my younger days when I would start a roll of film at and event - only to not finish it until I went on vacation(or something similar) - when it would finally get it back from the lab I would be surprised by the early part of the roll that I had forgotten about. I don't think this experience has ever happened to me digitally. Anyways - this Neopan has travelled thousands of miles for you to visually feast on - gorge yourself.

Dead Film, Dead Camera

I had my trusty Nikon F3 loaded up with one of Kodak's now discontinued slide films, one I had never shot before - e100gx, it was a slightly chilly, and misty morning after a late evening rain. I was crouched down in the woods surveying the spring eruption of color near Furnace Run. I focused in on a rain drop covered group of bluebell flowers. Ready to click, but no meter reading, change the settings, nothing, press the shutter button, nothing, turn it on - turn it off, turn it on again, nothing. A digital day it was as I reached for my Canon 7D. "Dead batteries" I figured and made a trip to Batteries + after shooting. New batteries loaded in the F3 and ready to go - flip the power on - nothing. The F3 was dead.

Downtown

Yesterday I went for a solo photo walk around Downtown Akron. It had been a while - I mostly followed the Towpath trail through the center of the city with a few side detours. These are photos I took with my Canon 7D - but I only had my 7D with me for its meter - the reason for this will be explained in tomorrow's post(slide film with the F3).

Breakfast Picnic

This morning my friend's Greg and Terra had a few of us over for breakfast. They, as well as our friends Brad and Leslie, are vegan - so we ate a delicious, healthful, vegan breakfast. Sitting outside eating a drinking coffee with good friends was a perfect start to a day. I took some shots that were just average because of the spotty, bright sunshine - I realized the problem and was able to fix it with some fill-flash. Never forget about your flash just because the sun is out!

Flash and Flowers

On today's hike I came upon this big tree - I had my flash with me but no modifiers or light stands. I decided to set it up on the tree in the same direction that the sun was setting - the shadows are pretty harsh but I liked something about it - not my usual style but maybe that's what I liked. I took a few that were much more balanced but they just looked real boring...