Smoke in the West

There were always wildfires during the summer. I remember every other year it seemed the grassy Open Space hill North of my childhood home would lite on fire. We would sit at the top of the hill and watch it inch toward us until the dense gray brown smoke would change directions causing us to run back home. I always felt safe though, between the road and wildfire Hummer trucks (as 10 year old this is all I could think about). We knew it would only last a couple hours, the smoke would dissipate and we could venture out on the burn scar with water guns to extinguish the embers. It was all a game, something fun that would happen every once in a while.

Dalton’s Buick Stanley ID, 2021. Fujifilm x100s, 1/600 s, F 5.6, ISO 200.

Dalton’s Buick Stanley ID, 2021. Fujifilm x100s, 1/600 s, F 5.6, ISO 200.

Now it’s different. Living in Idaho in the summer has been different, seeing pictures from my brother not so far away from our old Golden house says it’s different. The burning West feels new to me, days bathed in dense smoke, a pink sun on the horizon and an orange moon. This is not the way it should be, rather this is not what I want it to be. I want to be able to see the milky way in August or just feel the warm cool mixture at golden hour, to not have choking haze when hiking. It feels wrong that late summer should be this way, but at this point it is the new normal.

Nip n’ Tuck Road Stanley ID, 2021. Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L USM.

Smoke in the West is a result of old growth and to believe that it isn’t normal to have big fires would show and ignorance of the anthropocene. Life of the forest, bugs, and even apex predators depend on fire, the familiar cycle of death to bring new life. Putting out fire is an example of our human drive to conquer, to eradicate things that threaten us without regard to its interconnectedness in the environment. It reminds me of the process of wilderness something to be conquered to protect us from the “wild”. And like wilderness our relationship with fire must change.

This topic to impressively complex and I will leave my Gary Snyder environmental thoughts there and clarify my position a little. I don’t believe we should let things burn uncontrolled, especially with our expansion into fire prone areas. Along with fire prevention like following fire restrictions, mitigation, controlled burns we need to respect fire and understand that fire is as inevitable. Fire should be treated like being tornado alley or in a floodplain, it will happen at some point. It’s a context you must live with.

Being the person I am, I feel my job is to observe and I think that wildfire smoke is not bad in all contexts. Smoke can obscure detail and distance it physically changing our perception of our environment. It makes our space feel small and allows us to think more abstractly. In a way it helps us see the bigger picture more clearly. Your view isn’t obscured by details like trees and changes in texture your view is just the silhouette, elevation, shape, and distance. I also find that the smoke brings a comfortably warm and soft light a juxtaposition to the context that created the smoke. Finally, smoke reminds us of our interconnectedness. I have never been to Northern California yet I know I have breathed its particles thousands of miles away.

I’m saddened by the change of smokey summers but I welcome all the context it brings.

Develop Film in Beer!

Yes you can develop film in beer and no it’s really not as dumb and crazy as you may think. The results are actually quite stunning and the look is something I really enjoy! Just to be clear alternative film processing is actually a really common practice. Any weak acid that can be made into a buffering solution can technically develop film and there are a lot of expermenters out there. Film can be developed in coffee, wine, beer, green tea, spinach, and even more natural things! With that knowledge and a $3000 grand prize for a picture that was developed film in beer (Thanks Fat Tire Beer and Field Mag for the opportunity) I knew I had to pull out my dusty piece of paper that suggests I know chemistry and start my own experiments!

Luckily I had film to burn (37 rolls of 120 Kodak Tri-X… only developed 3 rolls don’t worry) and an itch for trying something new. So how did I make images from Beer? Well it is easier than you may think and actually really forgiving for those who are diving into alternative processes for the first time. Here’s my recipe and some important notes to take into consideration.

Materials:

• Film developing equipment (I have a separate blog explaining this)

• Balance: Doesn’t need to be fancy just to be able to measure weight in grams.

• 500 ml Fat Tire Beer: you’ll need about 1.5 per roll of 120 film (~ 500ml)

• 12 g Vitamin C Powder (get medical grade or better)

• 50 g Washing soda (sodium carbonate)

• Fixer: I used Kodafix but any sodium thiosulfate or fixing solution should work.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using a measuring cup, add 500 ml of warm beer (~ 90 F) to a large bowl so the foam doesn’t get everywhere while mixing. To make things dissolve better keep things warm by using a hot water bath.

2. First add 12 g of Vitamin C to the beer and mix till the crystals dissolve completely. Make sure to add this first otherwise there will be no developing activity!

3. Now add 50 g of washing soda to the mixture and again mix till dissolved.

4. At this point the developer is ready to be used. For 400 ISO rated Tri-X I found 15 minutes with continuous agitation worked best. It is a one shot developer and once used the waste should be collected because it may contain traces of silver.

5. Add a stop bath and then fix based on the fixer you are using. I personally stop bath using water with some vinegar mixed in or just rinsing with tap water.

Using this process I got some really fun results as you can see below. For the contest I needed to get the images in fast so these images were shot, developed, and scanned in less than 8 hours! For me this is the fastest turnaround I have ever done which was actually really cool to experience. Not only that but I like the results enough that I will probably do it again. The grain is pronounced but sharp and there is some cool blooming with the highlight as well. Not sure I would like it that much in 35mm since all of those things would be magnified, though I’ll definitely try it out just to see.

Preliminary Review: Minox 35 GL

As I have confessed in the past, one reason I love film photography is the gear. I love spending hours on deep dive explorations of film related gear whether that’s antique large format lenses, discontinued expired film, cheap plastic point and shoots your grandma probably owned, or just dreaming about that Contax G1 or Leica… well anything. And after the million or so hours I’ve spent doing this I like to think I’ve seen it all. But, just as you think that your friends goes, “Hey look at my new film camera.” *points at little black box in the cup holder that looks more like lame toy then anything else* And after 15 minutes of discussion I learned that I would eventually, definitely add this small toy like camera to my collection, the Minox 35 GL. (Thanks Tyler Truksa)

The Minox 35 GL was introduced in the 1976 shorty after the first iteration of 35mm film cameras from Minox. The German camera manufacturer was known for its small 110 “spy cameras” and the Minox 35 GL definitely fits pretty well into this category. Interestingly enough between 1974 and 2003 there were 30 different iterations of this camera sold and all have just slightly different options and colors. Being that it was an automatic camera (aperture priority) and small it became a very popular consumer camera; even won the hearts of famous artists like Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock.

An add for the camera from the 1970s.

So why did I cave and buy this weird plastic camera that makes you guess focus (more on that later)? Well, for me it ticks every mark I have for an everyday walk around film camera. It’s small, light, easy to carry, shoots 35mm, comes with a flash (at least mine did), and has a great lens. On top of that, it looks cool and if I keep it closed no one would have a clue that I’m even carrying a camera. I also really like that it’s aperture priority and therefore easy to just point, check your shutter speed and shoot!

The Minox 35 GL open with the leather Minox cover which let you add a camera strap. The strap is an old climbing sling I picked up used.

With all of this awesome potential there must be some downsides and there definitely are some, especially if you’re just getting into film this camera could cause some extra anxiety. First, the battery in the later models isn’t made anymore and the most readily available batteries (for mine 4 357s silver oxide coin batteries) are slightly higher voltage causing the meter to be off. For my GL the meter is off by at least 2 stops which is a lot considering it under exposes the film by that much (though you can just set the ISO dial to compensate which is no big deal). Second I’ve read the magnetic shutters can be unreliable, though Minox does say that all of their products, even discontinued ones, can be repaired.

One of the biggest reasons for buying this camera is the lens. According to the internet it is one of the best point and shoot lenses out there beating the Olympus X models and even rivaling Contax glass. Being that I scan on a Epson V550 I’m not sure I will be able to see that sharpness, but when I get back to WUSTL I will definitely put a frame or two into the Hasselblad X1 to see how it compares to the Nikon 50mm F1.8 ais which is my other 35mm lens. But, from what I can see it a pretty good performer given the sized and design.

Jump Creek ID 2019. Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

The test rolling I’m sharing are from a trip up to Stanley and Jump Creek with a great new friend. I never really need an excuse to go out and explore, but a new camera and a curious mind to coexist with sure makes it easy to escape for awhile. As I tend to do when I meet people like Eleysa is I get lost in conversation, focused on them and me in that moment. Usually this means I hike 20 pounds of gear which I never use and I get distracted from being present everytime I reach into my camera bag. But, I found the Minox allowed me to be fully aware of the possible images around me and allowed me to enjoy my time to a fuller degree then I usually would. In fact this was the only camera I took when I went to Pine Flats Hot Spring and I think it was a good choice.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL and FC 35 Flash, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

On another note, I think these images are my favorite from this summer. Not only was it a new shooting experience with a great new camera, but I realized that what makes images good in my book is more than color, sharpness, and composition. It’s the ability to share life with others, to be an observer and recorder of time passing and the relationships, friends, and places that build context for living. Recently this is what has been missing from my work, people to share it with. If you ever read this thank you so much Eleysa for sharing time with me and letting me fall in love with making images again! I think I’ve thought about this trip and our time together more than just about anything this summer.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

First impressions, I can’t get enough of this camera! It’s easy and honestly fun to frame through the little plastic finder and press the button. I find that I don’t mind guessing distance because I really do shoot further than 20 ft away often and I find that I can stick to a smaller aperture to maximize depth of field when not 20 feet away. I also find that it helps me slow down, giving me that slow process and intention I love film for. The other thing I like is that it is really not so intimidating to hand to a friend, I know the camera will do the hard work and being so small people don’t shy away from it like they do with the Pentax or other cameras I own. Finally, I just love that it is smaller than the size of my hand, literally. As I’ve mentioned before I love the form factor of the Fuji X100s and that is really why I still own and love that camera, but the Minox 35 GL is even smaller! All in all it will be great fun to have this camera around, can’t wait to keep playing outside and elsewhere with this in my pocket.

---

Technical side note:

Minox GL, Fujifilm C200 shot at box speed, V550 scan using negative lab pro.

This was my first test roll and I just want to share what I learned and what I’ll change going forward. First things first, the lens does seem to be sharp but you do need to hit the right distance to see it! What I mean is that the hyperfocal distance scale on the lens will give you an “acceptable sharpness” not tack sharp so going forward I will make sure to guess the distance not just put infinity at the hyperfocus line on the lense. I’ll also make sure to put the film through the Hasselblad X1 to really determine the sharpness. In short, not sure my copy can rival Contax glass but it is perfectly fine for what I use this camera for.

The second thing I noticed is some unflattering flaring from the lens. Being a Canon shooter I love my sun stars that you see when shooting stopped down. Sadly there are no sun stars with this lens and I even found that the lense produces some colorful patterned flair that can really reck and image like this image in the forest. It’s not the end of the world but not ideal for sure.

Finally, the exposure seems to be really quite good! Way better than most aperture priority cameras I’ve used especially other point and shoots. I also love the x2 exposure switch, I believe I used that on the hammock shot and it really made a big difference. To really put it to a test I think the next roll I put in will be a roll of Provia 100f slide film, this will allow me to really test the sharpness and the ability of the meter!

---

The Alice Lake Hike, Sawtooth Wilderness

During the 4th of July I decided to head out Stanley Idaho to further explore the Sawtooth Wilderness Area and simply rejoice in this wonderful place. Being a little more tied down to the valley this year I wanted to make sure my first visit was full of comforts and new experiences. This year my goal was to get deeper into the actual wilderness area and experience the alpine lakes that are plentiful here. Alice Lake is almost a cop out when it comes to hikes in the Sawtooths because next to Sawtooth Lake it is hands down the most popular hike there. That being said, as I have found, popular places are that way for a reason. So I filled a cooler full of food, grabbed the sleeping bag, hiking boots, and of course my cameras (only 5 of them).

The original plan was to wake up at 2:30 am and start the hike at 3:00 am in order to make it to the lakes before sunrise. This plan, as you may imagine, fell through because for one this was my first time hiking the trail and two I noticed the parking lot was “day use” so my anxiety kicked in since 3:00 am is not the day time. I did still wake up at that time though and made the last image in the set which is the center of the milky way above the Sawtooths. I’ll talk a little bit more about the astrophotography potential later on but there’s nothing like a partial moon perpendicular to the milky way. I then drove just outside the trail head near Pettit Lake and slept till 6:00 am, then started my hike.

The road leading to Pettit Lake. 2021. Fujifilm x100s.

The hike is a 7 mile out and back trail that starts at Tin Cup Trail Head, it took me about three hours to get up to the lake. What’s nice is that the trail follows Pettit Creek most the way and unlike a lot of the alpine lake hikes the elevation gain is quite gradual with only a short section of switchbacks. I loved the way the trails went in and out of the forest meandering in a nicely predictable way. That morning there was very little wind with just the right amount of chill to keep you going up and up.

In the square image you can see Pettit Lake and the tip of the far side of El Capitan. The light you can see hitting it is the reason why I wanted to be up there during the sunrise, because McDonald Peak is slightly higher it cast a shadow onto El Capitan which can be captured in a lake reflection. That being said, I think I made the right decision to start the hike later so that I got the warm glow of golden hour streaming through the forest as I made my climb. There is something so wonderful about mornings in the alpine.

The view from the last switchback. 2021. Fujifilm x100s.

End of Pettit Lake close to the wilderness boundary. 2021. Fujifilm x100s.

Pettit Creek near the beginning of the ascent after the wilderness boundary. 2021. Fujifilm x100s.

If you have ever traveled with me then you know that I like to journal (I actually have a couple journal/notebooks for different things whether it’s personal, travel, or just ideas for art or inspiration, but I digress. In me travel journal I make sure to record dates, time of travel, miles, and other helpful observations like light, temperature, or bugs. I also just write about the place itself. I think going forward I’ll start sharing some of these rants/thoughts here.

“I swear mosquitos were invented to annoy, pester, and ultimately ruin the grand catharsis that happens around alpine lakes… It’s hard to describe the feeling of being surrounded by pokey granite, with remnants of snow from winter, and the lively chirps of birds. There’s an energy that surrounds this place one difficult to describe to others who haven’t experienced it. I don’t know if it’s the 30,000 or more years of evolution that has taken place unhindered by the Anthropocene or if its crossing that defined line that warns of everything the word wild means… I do love this place even enough to stay here writing despite the pesky mosquitoes. ”

— Travel Journal

Alice Lake. 2021. Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 18-35mm F1.8.

Alice Lake. 2021. Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 18-35mm F1.8.

As I mentioned before I took this image around 3:00 just as a partial weaning noon began to rise. This is the best time for astrophotography in the western hemisphere. It is the time where we get long nights of exposed milky way and many dark nights to see it. The major reason why I want to go back and spend the night at Alice Lake soon in that the moon is directly opposite the center of the milky way in the sky giving the best of both worlds. A dark sky from which the milky way can be seen easily and just enough ambient light to cover the foreground. As far as I can tell the milky way should be right behind the mountains North of El Capitan which should make a stunning image if I can pull it off.

Milky way above the sawtooths. 2021. Canon 7D Mark II, Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 a 7 image panoramic stitch done in Lightroom Classic.

The Stroke Mine Shaft (Part of The Climax Molybdenum Mine)

There are times when I’ll be looking out the window while driving and see a scene and it gets stuck in my head. Stuck enough that when I get home I think about the light, colors, composition, how the scene looked. My mind then focuses on how it might look when I see it again, is it a good image on its own, was it the weather, was it the composition, would I get a ticket for pulling over? My mind spirals endlessly and makes me a little crazy, but I’ve learned the only way to get it out of my head is to go back and make an image. Chances are if this sound familiar then you probably own a camera, possibly have a photography website and tell your friend you’re a photographer…

Anyways I’d like to welcome you to one of these moments I had on my drive back from St. Louis. More specifically, on a ride back from Leadville, Colorado while I was sitting squeezed between my aunt and uncle in the back of my fathers Lexus. From inside the comfortable car I saw this geometric building whose window’s warm light juxtaposed the dark low hanging clouds that shrouded Mt. Democrat. The light was just starting to fade and the moody weather started to blow snow in the air and all I could think was this utilitarian, metal covered structure looked so alien in the ruggled mountains at 11,000ft. Fremont Pass is a harsh place where winter stays for a while and the cold can inhibit even the hardiest of plants and animals. Something so anthropocene, extracting raw materials in a place so incompatible with human homeostasis.

Being so consumed by this weird structure left by the past, I went out the next evening with my tripod and kit. Spring in the Colorado mountains can be quite unpredictable with sun one hour and a snowy blizzard the other, but this evening it was still. Not a gust of wind and quiet enough to hear every little creature and crunch of footsteps. That evening I made some images that I’m really happy with (below), met a curious fox investigating my tripod, and… got even more consumed by what I saw. Not only the physical juxtaposition of nature and anthropocene but of not knowing how or why this structure was here. So that why I’m writing this, to share the context of this image and to try and explain why taking the image wasn’t enough this time.

Storke Shaft Headframe near Leadville CO, 2021. Canon 7D MarkII with Canon 70-200mm F2.8 USM

The Storke Shafter in 1991. Credit: Mike and Pat Kaas

It had been about 5 years since I made the trip from Copper Mountain to Leadville and at the time I don’t recall being as disturbed by the infrastructure on Fremont Pass as I was this May. Now it’s ugly, but when the mine was in full operation between 1924 to 1980 it was the largest producer of molybdenum in the world. It was said that for a while it supplied three fourths of the worlds molybdenum which is an ore used primarily for metallurgy. But what was the building I photographed?

It took some time to track down what it was actually called, but the map below is the Climax Mine area and Fremont Pass. The “U” shaped turn in the road is where the intriguing structure is located and It turns out that the building is the headframe of the Storke Shaft. This deep hole was the entrance to the underground mining operation. There was actually many more buildings on this side of the pass before 2003 when everything but the headframe was take out, as you can see from the picture on the right.

From the map one can immediately see the impact of this mining operation. When coming up from Copper the first thing you see is a dam that holds back the toxic tailing pond which was designated a Superfund Site by the EPA in the 1980s. The white spot in the middle is the open pit operation that was conducted after the underground operation was deemed too expensive. In that area is the mill where much of the ore is processed. It is all an interesting sight one that can be interpreted as either an amazing human feat or a travesty but either way this is what we have currently. For more information about the history of the Climax Mine and pictures of what this place used to look like visit this Link. It is a great short summary put together by the Leadville Mining District and National Mining Hall of Fame.

So how do I feel now? Well it’s mostly out of my head, at least for the moment. The one thing I know is that I am going to go back with a couple rolls of Portra 400 with my Pentax and take images of all the infrastructure and buildings here at dusk like the image of the Storke Shaft. I think I may try and shoot both digital and film but the idea I want to come across is the intrusion of this human built infrastructure in such an inhospitable place. The utilitarian buildings, all matching, may make for a really interesting series of images ones that could be used to communicate what went on near Leadville, Colorado.

Visiting my Brother in Southwest Colorado

The first stop was in Norwood Colorado just down the road from Telluride. The fire station there is forming wildland fire crew and my older brother Michael is there now training. So it was a good excuse to see him and take advantage of being close to some of the most amazing places in Colorado. I ended up staying for two days just so that I could see the sights (get to Telluride) and just soak up the idea of being a fireman in a rural place. I truly had a blast running around those guys and exploring a new place just in the backyard. Here’s some pictures of the trip!

Engine 5 and 7 of the Norwood Fire Department, Norwood CO 2021. Fujifilm x100s

What was cool was that the day I showed up they decided to do short patrol around the station, although i guess this is pretty normal. So we took both wildland trucks out to the edge of town and emptied the water tanks at one of the fire fighters houses. In an urban area when the tanks are empty you would just fill them back up at the station but for a wildfire things are different. After we emptied the tank we drove to Miramonte Reservoir to refill (like you might on a wildfire). I absolutely enjoyed riding in the big fire truck and spraying water from the auto-water cannon.

Getting snack from engine 7, Norwood CO 2021. Fujifilm x100s

Engine 5 and 7 of the Norwood Fire Department, Norwood CO 2021. Fujifilm x100s

New Sheridan Bar in Telluride, CO 2021. Canon 7D MarkII, Sigma 18-35m F1.8 Art

Beyond the cool fire truck rides and joking around with all the guys, I did end up making it out to Telluride for the day. My brother had deflated the idea of the place the night before saying that it wasn’t really worth visiting, but I would entirely disagree. Yes everyone there (except the old guys baked by the sun…) seem like rich granolas. But, I would happily become a granola if I could live there. I’ve never been to a place that’s more photogenic, other than maybe switzerland.

After a couple passes of the downtown area I decided to climb the hills and walk through the neighborhood there. The mix of ultra rich modern homes mixed with dilapidated wood homes was intriguing to me. On one side of the street was a huge beautiful newly designed home and the other was a small leaning house with a couple bike growing from the porch. Regardless of build though each lot had a spectacular view of the green luscious mountains that surround the area, and were all a least a million dollars.

While I didn’t get the classic image of main street Telluride (mostly because the light was bad) I was invited to photograph the +100 year old bar at the New Sheridan Hotel, on the left. After spending a couple hours walking around the downtown to find the right light, and not finding it. I abandoned that shot and decided to drive to the end of mian road in Telluride where I found two waterfalls tucked high within the Aspen and Fur. The second I spotted them I knew I had to get closer so I grabbed my tripod and hike to Bridal Veil Falls and got the image at the top of this post. All in all a grand adventure

Two Minutes Between Frames Can Make all the Difference!

This might be my current favorite image. I’ve always told myself that there is no such thing as a favorite image because the next picture I take better be my favorite. Though, this is not usually the case and making images that I am truly proud of has become harder then ever recently. But, it’s funny because whenever I need inspiration to create this is the image that always comes to mind. A favorite image is quite subjective and I’d say there’s a difference between the best image I’ve ever taken and my favorite photograph. This fits in the favorite category because technically it’s a bit soft on a low resolution sensor, but has everything a good photograph should.

The real reason I’m writing this is that I was going over images and noticed how much this image stood out compared to ones taken slightly before and after. Also, how this image basically just made itself no fancy preparation, previsualization, just a button press. It’s a truly fleeting moment, the gold standard in photography, where minutes before or seconds after wouldn’t yield the same result. A blend of happenstance, luck, and existing to witness a moment, all intersect to create the perfect image.

The story of this image starts, like many others in 2019, with a trip hosted by the College of Idaho Outdoor Program. We spent three days climbing in Smith Rock State Park where I took some of my favorite images of the year. That first day we arrived later in the afternoon just in time to scout some crags and set up camp. As we ate dinner and settled in we could see the clouds darken and felt the cold wind of an incoming storm. I remember sitting around the campfire bundled up and not ready to move away from the warmth, but some feeling to make images as the earth shadow rose was too strong. After setting up the tripod and noticing there was only a half battery in the Canon (I still had two days left there), I grabbed the Fujifilm x100s which had two expendable batteries.

It was dark out and the sky was hard to see with the naked eye but I know from the faint city glow there was something to be had. So I mounted my little camera to the big tripod, stopped down to F/4 for sharpness, set the camera to 200 ISO in order to keep the grain down, and set up a 2 second timer to reduce shake. It took me nearly 15 minutes to focus the camera to infinity before I took a series of shots. It was amazing the subtle tones and color the camera picked up and how quickly the scene was changing between each 30 second exposure.

Somewhere in this series the picture seen above was captured. The churning of the low level clouds and subtle light from dusk peaking through creates drama in the sky. The tent in the foreground was lit up perfectly to match the ambient light and the warm glow projected on the clouds from Bend Oregon, draws the eye to the bottom of the frame giving context to the image. The best part was how a car’s light from some distance away gave the foreground densionality and a matching warm glow that ties the clouds to the ground. A million things came together here all completely out of my control and all making a striking image.

However two minutes later the image changed completely. The images below shows the same location, same shot, on the same day but 1.45 minutes later. Let me know which image you like better but for me it is a pretty obvious choice.

Smith Rock, OR. 2019. Fujifilm x100s on a tripod. Two minutes after the image above.

This is absolutely another striking image and if this was the only shot I got that night I would have been thrilled. But, it wasn’t and the first shot in my opinion is much better for a multitude of reasons. First, the ambient light dropped enough to overexpose the tent in the foreground and the orange glow is now extremely bright compared to the first image. This makes the light feel unbalanced and makes the exposure look to dark and contrasty. Second, a cloud above the tent caught some warm orange light from the setting sun causing it dominate the sky. I usually love to see color like this in the sky but for this image it draws attention away from the main subject (the tent and the idea of camping) and clutters the scene overall. Finally, and most importantly there is no warm tungsten light in the foreground around the tent like in the first image. This renders the main subject in a more 2D way that looks more boring when compared to the first images. Within just about 2 minutes an image went from my favorite to just another blue hour shot. Below I’ve put them side by side so you can make your decisions.

First image.

Same scene but 2 minutes after the picture on the left.

It was also interesting how I couldn’t get the colors to match either when editing. This is probably due to the ambient light falling, although if I spent enough time I could probably get them to match up. I’ll also confess that there is a fair amount of local adjustments in both images to further even out the tonality.

Anyways, what I’m trying to convey with this is the importance of just being present to witness the light changing. Sometimes photography is as easy as that. This picture was taken with an 8 year old camera with no prior preparation or planning, no fancy accessories, and while others were asleep. It’s not the gear, the hours of class or practice you’ve had, or the youtube videos you watched, it just getting out there and pressing the button.

Let's Talk About Gear (Or Rant About Photography Clubs)

Just a still life of the Canon F1n that I wish didn’t brake. The S.S.C lense is truly amazing! (Shot on Canon 7D Mark II and Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art)

One of the things that I find fairly helpful when I go to a new place is joining a local Facebook photography club. Now these clubs can be hit or miss and when I came to St. Louis I found a large club with a pretty good group of people. There have conversations about cool places to shoot, constructive criticism of recent work, the occasional photo meetup, and my personal favorite gear talk. When I say that gear talk is my favorite thing to read, what I really mean is it makes me want to smash all of my cameras on the ground and burn them.

Now I’m going to start with the fact that, all in all, I’m happy with the STL photoclub and really don’t usually mind the gear talk either. That being said there has been a recurring questions that just really sends me off the rails, one that I thought was worth sharing because I find it important and personally relevant. The question always amounts to something like: “I just bought X camera and X lens with this other X lens and I’m looking for a third lens. What lens should I buy next?” This question always gets answered by 15+ people with lens recommendations that range from reasonable answers to, “oh you should get the Canon 300mm F2.8L” (a $7,000 lens). No, no you should probably not do that.

What I hate about this recurring question is that it triggers and entirely unhelpful conversation and makes people focus on things that mislead them. In my opinion there is only one answer to this question and it is the reason for writing this. My answer to this question would go something like this:

“If you don’t KNOW what lens you want, save your money till you find out you lens you NEED. Be patient and let your process inform your decision (Not random people on the internet).”

The idea of talking the time to let what you do as a photographer inform the way you purchase photography equipment is a really important lesson for anyone to learn. I think in fact it is one of the most important lesson you can learn if you want to make great images. Doing this will not only save you money, but it gives you a healthy dose of artistic limitation. I know for me it definitely did, so I want to share my process for buying gear.

My process for acquiring gear requires me to answer the following question, does this piece of equipment allow me to make something I can’t with my current gear? This is a hard question to answer honestly sometimes and often requires you to take a step back. Milestones like needing a F2.8 constant aperture long lens, a large aperture wide angle for astro, or a camera with 10 frames per second are all things that let me take images I want to take. If I was a portrait photographer I would have boughten an 85mm F1.2 or a 400mm F4 DO if wildlife was my focus.

What I’m getting at is that if you answer that question above honestly to your personal style and process you’ll know the gear you NEED. The idea of wanting gear goes out the window. If you can’t honestly answer that question then you need to spend more time discovering or experimenting. Sometimes it takes a great deal of time to learn what you need and what options there are, this is an important part of the process. This isn’t always easy and I’ve definitely fallen into the trap of buying random things I shouldn’t have.

To be perfectly fair I can almost never answer that question honestly when it come to purchasing film cameras and equipment. Impulse buys happen often and I don’t usually get much capital out of these cameras. Though, they feed my photography curiosity, inspire me to go outside to shoot, and keep me thinking creatively. Making good images is all I really want, but fostering a sustainable creative process has quickly become the goal. This is what film often does for me further complicate the question above.

Not sure this helps anyone or just brought up more questions (it did for me). But, I think we can all agree to stop going onto photography discussion boards or commenting on Facebook about the gear you should buy because no one should be able to answer that question but you.

The mighty Pentax 67 with the 105mm F2.4 Takumar. (Shot on Canon 7D Mark II and Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art)

Snow in St. Louis

A couple days ago we got a nice snow storm and I knew that I had to go out and shoot some images. On my walk back from lab I took my plastic Canon Snappy LXII to take some images with the on camera flash in the chucking snow. I’m excited to see how these images turned out, but after the short walk I decided I needed to bring some real cameras. So I loaded up the Pentax 67 with some expired Velvia 100 and nabed the Fujifilm x100s to go out to see what I could get. The flacks were big, the contrast low and there were a couple images I know would look amazing on the 67 with punchy Velvia film. The images I’m sharing here are all from the x100s and the film will be developed in probably a year, I hope you all enjoy.

If You Want Something Make it! (How I Made my Hangboard)

This is something that I think is important if you have the means, time, and perseverance. Ever since I was a kid I liked to use my hands and explore how things worked. When I was little I would literally take anything and everything apart into pieces throw it in a box so I could later us those pieces to build things (I will tell you before my mom does, I never did build anything with my myriad of parts). Now every summer when I have time and access to tools I push myself to either fix or make something that I need/want. I think this is a practice we should all do. More on this later but having this mindset will reduce consumption, reuse what we already have, and it will let you learn new skills.

This summer I wanted to make a hangboard and never really got around to it because I didn’t have a router. But, this winter I not only had a router but I also had an old pine desk my parents were going to get rid of. So what better to catalyze a project then having free wood, good tools, and some free time! Now, for those of you who don’t know a hangboard is it is used to strengthen your upper body for climbing, particularly your grip strength. In all honesty I really don’t need a hangboard because I simply don’t climb enough or at a level where it would be advantageous, but they’re pretty cool looking and they’re made of wood.

Close up of the work table, the problem with pine is that is it is soft which proved nice for a novice router operator but not so good in the long run…

So how did I make mine? Well instead of doing a step by step guide in detail that will bore you to death and show you how little I know, I’m going to first share with you my thought process and then things that I would change if I were to do it again. We’ll first start with the tools I used, you can make these lots of different ways so if you don’t have what I have don’t fret:

Tools

• Old Sears router with gate, 1/4” chuck size

• 3/16” round over router bit with bottom bearing

• 1/2” straight bit that has a 1” cutting length and a top bearing.

• Circular saw

• Jigsaw

• Electric sander

• 80. 120, 220 sand paper

• A bunch of sturdy clamps

• Electric drill with a 1” bore bit

That’s about it, you’ll also want a broom since you will be kicking up a lot of saw dust during this process. The first thing I did was measured everything out using a piece of cardboard, honestly a good place to start for any wood project. This does a couple things, first it makes you measure everything and lets you see and feel the real size. It also create a template of sorts where messing up doesn’t ruin expensive wood (or a small supply of wood from my desk). After the cardboard looked good I went out and bought a nice flat piece of pine I could use as a real templet. I bought one 1/2” thick piece of pine from Lowe’s and then measured and cut the holes in it using the drill and jigsaw. Once I had the template I cut out the right sized piece from the desk, it is a pine desk that is 2” thick butcher block (why I used a router). I then put the template over the 2” thick piece, secured it with clamps and did 1/2” deep passes with the straight bit till I got to the depth I needed (about an inch). After I made the holes I went over every edge with the roundover bit then the classic sanding regiment of 80, 120, then finishing with 220 grit.

Raw wood after rounding over, if you look closely you can see some of the inconsistencies that happen because of the way I clamped my template.

Making of the template from the pine slab, took a bit longer than I was hoping.

Saw dust will get everywhere, it was literally shedding off my hat for a day or two.

The above paragraph makes it sound easy and that the result came out the way I expected, but this wasn’t really the case as about 60% of the time making it was fixing problems. So what would I change? First, I would make the template out of MDF (little to no softness) that is an inch think and I would screw the template to the wood piece instead of just clamping. This would solve the majority of my issues which happened when the template moved or wasn’t high enough to get a 1/4” - 1/2” cutting depth for each pass. The other issues was the roundover bit I used was too tall being at 7/8” so I couldn’t easily get a shallower depth on some of the holes like I originally planned. With these changes though I believe I’d get a much more consistent hangboard.

Well all in all I learned a whole lot and used a router for the first time. I was also able to make something that I didn’t need but really wanted which for me is the most important part. The problem I have with consumption is that people often look at something they don’t really need, order it and then barely use it with it ultimately going to the landfill, a waste of resources. This project came about after I saw all the wood my parents were going to just throw away, being the person I am I decided I could make something from it. Now I understand that not everyone has nice wood for free, an old router, and time to tinker but if you do this will truly change the way you perceive the things you have. The hangboard for example reused something, taught me new skills, and since I made it I won’t just throw it away (Hopefully put it to good use). A true win, win, win.

Anyways, I’m going to make something of this fix it or make it series because I think it is important for people do and I think sharing things like this can make a true difference. On the list for 2021 is making my own 5-panel hat (yikes! literally have one clue how to use a sewing machine) and making a canoe paddle from wood I find on the way to my grandparent’s cabin. Keep an eye out!

Birthday Drive and Photo From Loveland Pass (with a Gear Update)

So I mostly wanted to share some images from my short drive up Loveland Pass for my birthday. It was really just a way of getting out and taking advantage of the sun and good weather. Loveland Pass is a very important and popular pass as it is the only way over the Continental Divide other than going through the long Eisenhower Tunnel, it also grants the quickest access to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area from Denver. For me it is a familiar drive and a beautiful high alpine area (12,000ft) that I’ve never tried to photograph till now. Hope you enjoy!

Also I only had the 70-200mm F2.8 with me since I dropped the Sigma on the ground the third day I was here in Colorado. This forced me to shoot in either a wide normal perspective (Fuji x100s) or long telephoto perspective which made me really stretch my creativity. Luckily my lens is repaired and heading back so I’ll hopefully be able to do some astrophotography before I go. The final thing that I acquired recently was a brand new tripod that I found at a local thrift store. It is an Enduro Cx213 carbon fiber tripod with a nice head which I was able to pick up for $20. A good price considering just the legs are worth $350 used on Ebay! Pretty excited to finally have a lighter carbon tripod that will hopefully be my new travel companion.

View fullsize

Fuji X100s, Summit of Loveland Pass, 2021

Fuji X100s, Summit of Loveland Pass, 2021

Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 USM, Arapahoe Basin, 2021

Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 USM, Arapahoe Basin, 2021

Fuji X100s, Arapahoe Basin, 2021

Fuji X100s, Arapahoe Basin, 2021

Fuji X100s, Arapahoe Basin, 2021

Goals for 2021

I am lucky to have had the ability to travel home for winter break. I get to wake up everyday with the view that you see above. This is part of the Gore Range here in Silverthorne and it is now my new home away from home. My parents sold their house in Golden and have moved to Silverthorne in a nice place right next to Blue River. It’s a pretty tough place to be especially when you realize that I’m 10 minutes from Copper Mountain. Anyways, I’ve been wanting to share some images from up here and share some thoughts I had this past year.

Many people will say that 2020 was one of the worst years ever. For me it wasn’t, it was a time of growth contemplations and discovery. Which will often happen in the context of a tough year, if you have the right mindset . I was finally able to find closure from a relationship I was stuck on, I made my own prints for the first time, bought a new film camera (one from the bucket list), and I hit my first block as a photographer. This year was also one of the toughest semesters of engineering school I’ve had. It felt like there wasn’t ever time for a break so being here, away from St. Louis, has been much needed.

View fullsize

Canon 7D MarkII, Canon 70-200mm F2.8 USM, Silverthorne CO, 2020

View fullsize

Fuji X100s, Copper Mountain CO, 2021

I have a couple photography goals this year. The first is that I really want to get published. I’m not sure why this hasn’t been a goal in the past, but for whatever reason I finally feel ready. I want to get published in order to provide further context for making images and sharing what I think is interesting. Making images for myself has always been enough, and being able to document what happens around me has always be what drives me to create. That being said I’ve realized that my images can and probably should be used to tell stories that can be shared with a broader audience. So this year I’m hoping to get some images published in some way. I’m looking at the revampt Outdoor Idaho Magazine, Idaho Magazine, and really whomever may be interested. If you’re reading this and you’re like, “I know someone that would love to publish this guy,” please don’t hesitate to reach out!

View fullsize

Canon 7D MarkII, Sigma 18-35mm F1.8, Silverthorne CO, 2020

The second goal for this year is to start focusing on a a personal body of work. As I’ve said before I usually get inspired to shoot by documenting life around me. But, as I dive deeper into my film photography I want a more artistic challenge. What really made me want to start a personal project is the passing of a really special person named Paul Kresge. Paul was, among other things, my dad’s “ski instructor” a true playful child at heart who intentionally dusted his wisdom and passion onto every person he encountered. He was a true staple in the community in Summit County and I had always had it im my mind that I was going to do a short photo series with him. Some photographic project that would attempt to show others who this amazing person was. Sadly he passed away and I was never able to complete this project.

So this year it is my goal to not assume these people, places, stories, or things that I find exceptional will last forever. I want to start a body of work with the general context of Stanley, Idaho focusing on the people who live there and make it special. I now have some money saved so that when something pops into my head I will have the means to create it and hopefully be able to share it with all of you.

Film Scanning Review: $15,000 Flextight X1 v.s. $120 Epson V550

This review of sorts has been in the making for a long time. When I got to Washington University St. Louis the first thing I did was join the photography club. There I learned that the department had a pretty special scanner in their lab. At first I was told they had a drum scanner, sadly this was not the case but they did have the king of the CCD type dry scanners, the Flextight X1. This is a $15,000 CCD scanner made by Hasselblad, the world renown camera manufacturer from Germany. All I can say is that I’ve been itching to run some slide film though this scanner for a while now and I finally got to make some archival scans.

This year I was finally able to play with this wonderful machine and I can say it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Before I had access to the X1 I did all of my 35mm film scanning on an Epson V550 with the proprietary software. The results from the flatbed scanner never made me really happy although I never really knew anything else. The V550 does a fine job for 120 sized film but for 35mm it lacks the ability to pull the quality locked into the positive image. So I will attempt to compare the two scanners and share what my thoughts are.

First lets start with some specs of the scanner to try and understand why the X1 is so much more expensive and try to justify why someone may want this crazy machine. The Felxtight X1 scanner is a CCD dry scanner with a maximum optical resolution of 6300dpi, Dmax 4.6, and auto focus for the flex type film carrier. The Epson v550 is a flat bed scanner with a maximum resolution of 4800dpi (true resolution is probably closer to 1500dpi) and Dmax of 3.4. The final difference is the software used to convert the files. Hasselblad has its own software and file type to keep as much information as possible in the file from the scan, these files are large too with a 35mm scan being about 450 mb! While I mostly scanned positive film I will include a color negative example to compare how the two scanners convert negatives. The purpose of this comparison is to show the final product. I’m not going to simply make them the same because the files these scanners produce are very different. With that out of the way let’s look at some pictures, hover over the photo to know which scanner is which.

View fullsize

Flextight X1 (Nikon FM, Provia 100f, Delhi ID 2019)

View fullsize

Flextight X1 (Nikon FM, Provia 100f, Delhi ID 2019)

V550 (Nikon FM, Provia 100f, Delhi ID 2019)

View fullsize

The first image was taken in India on my Nikon FM, I believe that it was shot at F2.8 on Fujifilm Provia 100f. The Flextight scan was done at 6300dpi and the v550 was made at 3200dpi and I would say the difference is astonishing. Not only is the Flextight scan close to 50 megapixels, but I honestly believe it’s picking up 50 megapixels of resolution from the film. The V550 on the other hand looks mushy with little detail in the cropped image even though the resolution should be somewhat comparable. Another big difference is the dynamic range, if you look at the gentleman’s jacket or the highlights on the jeans you can see just how much more detail can be pulled out using the X1 compared to the V550.

The next image to be compared is a medium format frame from the Mamiya C3 with a the Sekor 80mm F2.8. It was shot on Kodak Ektar 100 in the Sawtooth National Forest forest two years ago now. It’s one the sharpest frames I have on 120 so it should serve as a good comparison. It’s important to note that the Flegtight’s maximum resolution for 120 film is 3200 dpi which means both negatives were technically scanned at the same resolution. So this is probably the best apples to apples comparison of the two scanners.

View fullsize

Flextight X1 (Mamiya C3, Kodak Ektar 100, Bonanza ID, 2019)

View fullsize

Flextight X1 (Mamiya C3, Kodak Ektar 100, Bonanza ID, 2019)

View fullsize

V550 (Mamiya C3, Kodak Ektar 100, Bonanza ID, 2019)

View fullsize

V550 (Mamiya C3, Kodak Ektar 100, Bonanza ID, 2019)

I’d say all the same things apply here as they do for the 35mm example, higher dynamic range and more sharpness. The other important improvement over the V550 is the color accuracy. This comes as no surprise to me because the Epson software has always bugged me when it comes to color. I was always disappointed in this photo because I could never get the rust to truly look like rust, or get the sky blue while still holding a warm tone. The amount of information locked away in the X1 file is truly impressive. When editing the X1 file the amount of latitude I had rivals even the Fuji x100s sensor which is an impressive feat on its own.

So what’s the verdict? Am I going to shell out $15,000 on this scanner? Well let’s just say if I had $15,000 I would be half tempted. This scanner is absolutely impressive and it makes me want to shoot Provia the rest of my life. The way it renders the grain in an image is really magical and the color and ease of producing an image is also something to lust over. But, $15,000 is a lot of money and there are a lot of other options out there that can do a good job too. To be honest I was surprised at how well the V550 did compared to the Flextight X1 it’s undeniably better but the results of the flatbed are still pretty darn good (at least for 120 film). Also, there’s the Nikon Coolscan scanners that have a very similar image quality for just about $4,000, though these machines are starting to get hard to find. Anyways I will be very sad when I don’t get to use this scanner anymore and I have hopes to take advantage of this scanner for as long as I have access. If you have any questions about how I scan my pictures or about these scanners just comment or send me an email.

---

Update: 8/16/22

My last year at WUSTL I did one final comparison with specifically slide film and the X1 scanner. If you’d like to check out the comparisons please hit this link!

Shooting Film

Why Shoot Film?

Most people think that film can't compare to digital, that Kodak is dead, and film is impossibly hard to find. Well I can tell you that it's not only easy to find film but it is readily available and the selection is just as good if not better as back in the day (well maybe not). Kodak is still pumping out lots of film and companies like Illford and Fujifilm are here to stay. Finally, film cameras aren't being made anymore and what’s out there is all that’s left so the race is on.

Something that you find out real quick is the best image quality you can get from any medium still comes from film. Large format film cameras can produce wall sized prints with more quality then an 11x14 made with my $1400 DSLR. Not only does film allow you to capture the best images possible, but shooting film is an entirely different experience. You have one ISO, the cameras are usually more limited in the available shutter speeds, and oh yah you have 36 pictures max.

Types of Film  

• Black and White Negative Film - Obviously this is kind of film produces a negative B&W image and is the easiest to start with and often the cheaper film to buy. It is usually a silver halide based chemistry so developing this film is very easy but often expensive because of the silver waist produced. Another important piece of jargon is the newer t-grain films v.s the older traditional grain. There are pluses and minuses of both but I find t-grain to have sharper looking results but traditional film has more freedom.

• Color Negative Film - Like the B&W this film produces a color negative image. This is the most readily available film next to B&W on the market and has many choices. The easiest way to think about it is there are cheap color neg film and expensive. Cheaper film will have more noticeable grain and be less sharp when compared to more expensive film. However, unless you have the inclination to print your images it won't really be noticeable. Color negative is C-41 chemistry and is mcuh harder to develop on your own but very cheap for labs and photography stores.

• Color Positive (Slide) Film - This is not only the most exciting film you can buy but it is by far the most expensive and hardest to develop. The E-6 chemistry is expensive and doesn’t keep well, pair that with slide film being the hardest to find on the market nothing about it is cheap. The reason this film is so cool is that it produces a positive color image and therefore the detail and colors of this film is much more spot on and real. The other issue is the exposure latitude on this film is also reduced. This means that for high contrast scenes this film usually can't capture detail from highlights to darks. That being said if you get the exposure right, the detail slide film offers is unbeatable and therefore its the first choice for professionals.

View fullsize

Nikon FM, Nikkor 50mm F1.8 Ais, Kodak Color 200, V550, Bogus Basin, ID

View fullsize

Mamiya C3, Sekor 80mm F2.8, Fujifilm Pro 400H, V550, Bruneau Sand Duns, ID

View fullsize

Canon Snappy LxII, Fujifilm C200, V550, Caldwell, ID

What do I Shoot?

I shoot with a lot of film cameras currently and the list is always changing as new deals and film come out on the new and used market. I will save the discussion about the types of formats and good beginner film cameras for another time. It’s an a totally different discussion. I currently have a camera that shoots all formats except 6 x 4.5 medium format and the biggest and baddest of 8 x 10 film. The newest edition is my Pentax 6x7 with the 105mm F2.4 lens and it’s quickly becoming my favorite camera. I also shoot with a Nikon FM with Nikkor 50mm F1.8 ais, Canon Snappy LxII, an Anniversary Graphlex Speed Graphic, and finally my trusty Mamiya C3 with a Sekor 80mm F2.8. They all have their place in the quiver.

But back to the main point, why shoot film? For me it’s complicated and not easily explained. Though in short, it inspires me. Tearing open another roll of film just helps me point a camera and take images almost like having multiple tools allows you to complete the job correctly. Some cameras inspire projects by the way they render the images or diffuse tension in a subject. Others are pocketable and need just to be pointed and shot. It’s the lack of flexibility, knowing you have only 10-36 shots, and you need to finish a roll to move on, that’s what I like. I like the slow aspect and not being able to review your images. It’s hard to explain but film cameras have life to them that is hard to feel or see with a digital camera.

But the greatest reason why I shoot film is that it is the way I remember life going by me. I can record these fickle moments on something that will be around for ever. Something I can touch and feel just like the memories that catalyzed the images themselves.

View fullsize

Nikon FM, Nikkor 50mm F1.8 Ais, Kodak Color 200, Yosemite, Ca

View fullsize

Canon Snappy LxII, Fujifilm C200, V550, Moab, UT

View fullsize

Canon Snappy LxII, Fujifilm C200, V550, Galena Summit, ID

Update, since it's been a while....

School has definitely kept me busy this semester, but so has my photography. I have spent more time buying and selling gear/supplies than I ever have before. I Think it comes from buying a new camera and being inspired to create images, but also I am starting to fall into how I want to use my film photography. Its funny how often I reach for a film camera instead of a digital one these days and no I haven’t figured out yet how to choose just one camera. Over the past month I’ve sold two lenses, sold a broken camera, received my CLA’d camera that was still faulty, sent that back, bought 8 rolls of expired 120 slide film, sent 5 rolls of 35mm slide film to the wrong house, the list goes on.

Pro400h, Pentax 67, Takumar 105mm F2.4, V550 Negative Lab Pro, Stanley ID

The craziest thing to happen and the most stressful thing that I’ve had happen for a long time was the week+ I thought my 16 rolls of developed negatives were lost. The second I got to St. Louis I sent my shot rolls to be developed at ProPhoto Connection in Irvine, Ca. It ended up taking longer than usual as they had to wait to develop my E-6 film and ever time they sent an update the address was wrong on their form. Long story short the box never showed up at my door and I was broken. The thought of all those images from 2017 to now, from India to Idaho were going to be lost was a lot to take in. Luckily the package was found by USPS and later returned to me safe and sound. The pictures shared on this post are images from those rolls that I thought I’d never get to see. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I am busy but I’m going to do my best to keep updating this blog with new content and Ideas. I’m hoping to share with you all perks of using Negative Lab Pro, film comparisons, and personal projects that I’m working on. So keep your eyes out for that!

Fujifilm C200, Nikon FM, 50mm F1.8 Ais, Yosemite CA (2017)

First Week Back in STL

Well it’s my first week back in St. Louis for my second year of grad school and it’s going to be pretty busy I think, but so far so good. So much so I decided to break out the acrylic paints and try out some natural abstracts while I still have time. I’ve never actually painted before, at least since elementary school, and while I was moving things for my parents this summer I found a small kit and decided I should bring it along to STL. So here we are with brushes, paint, fancy paper form a set of cards I bought and used literally once.

I’m not going to lie these designs are definitely really close to a person I follow on Instagram but I swear I picked original colors and two are of my own creation. I was honestly surprised at how hard it was to mix the colors that I really wanted. Luckily the set I have has like 18 colors or something so I’m at least not starting from primary colors which would have been a real bummer if I had to guess. Anyways I really enjoyed doing this. It was a great way to spend some time today and yesterday and I find it really satisfying to try something new

These Shoots are Always Fun!

The photography I love the most is being able to tell stories visually and take people to the place I go. But as a photographer I also like a challenge when the conditions are right. This is the second time I have done an engagement shoot and honestly I’m starting to really enjoy doing them. For me it’s easy to find the right composition, good light, and press the shutter button to make an image. What hard is the amazing guy feeling ready to commit to a person for life. In a sense I feel like I got the easy job, but at the same time the pressure to create a perfect image with little influence from me sure makes it a challenge.

For this shoot I scouted the location a couple days before the actual event and the smoke was so think I couldn’t even see the sun. It honestly worried me and I thought an image with those conditions freaked me out a little so I hope the conditions would change. Luckily things got much better the day of the actual event. The sun was a beautiful golden orange and it was diffused like it was golden hour. The shade was impressively comfortable so I ended up just waiting under a tree for both of them to show up.

My nerves always get going when things like this happen, even though all I have to do is get the picture. So hiding behind the bush, I framed up the picture on the right. Luckily the light was good, the lens focused perfectly and I was stable enough to get the shot. I knew that after getting this image all I’d have to do is break the tension and do some portraits. I think everyone was shaking but after some time we settled down and made the rest of the images. Enjoy.

I Did a Thing.....

So I may have just spent more money than I should have but I got a honest to goodness good deal on this beast. This has been a dream camera of mine for many years and I always told myself that if I had the means and good deal came along I need to buy this camera. The camera I am speaking about if you don’t already know is a Pentax 6x7 MLU (mirror lock up) which was manufactured in 1976. The lens it came with is the second version of the legendary Super Multi-Coated Takumar 105mm F2.4 that I’ve probably been lusting over since I’ve been shooting film.

Now I haven’t gotten any film developed yet, but I just had to write something up about why I ended up pulling the trigger and spending a pretty penny on a film camera. This is hands down the most money I’ve spent on a film camera and I’m not going to lie I’m a little shook. That being said it was a sound purchase. First, I knew that if anything happened to the camera or if I end up hating it then I can sell it for more than I bought it for, which is always good. More importantly I know that if I was to ever make money on my film photography this would most likely be the way. It’s the aesthetic that I’m after and the quality that is unbeatable by digital (at least my stuff). For me these reasons are more than enough to take the risk and see what happens.

Like I said I haven’t actually got any film back from the camera, I’m actually currently shooting through the first roll but I just want to give my first impression of the camera. First this thing is really heavy and really big, mine weighs in at 5.5 pounds and is probably three times the size of my Nikon FM. It is really well built and feels rock solid, my copy has a partially cracked viewfinder which is a bummer but doesn’t cause any issues to the final image. The other thing that I need to worry about is that the shutter is triggered using a battery so if that dies so does the camera.

All I can say is that like all film cameras there are things to love and things to work around, but there is one reason that beats all others for purchasing this camera and that is It makes me what to shoot. I’m not sure exactly why but I’ve recently been having trouble getting myself outside and making images. With this camera I have been much more inspired to shoot. For me gear can be a catalyst for creativity and sometimes you just need to bite the bullet to help get over the lows that inevitably happen.

I will be sending film to be developed the second I get to St. Louis and I can’t wait to share the results with everyone!

Order Your Prints!

They are finally here! Woooo! This is very exciting for me and I hope these go to people who will enjoy them for years to come. For more information about the prints themselves and why I decided to do these prints please scroll through the blog for click here. I was originally going to hold the sale of these prints on Instagram but I felt a little overwhelmed about keeping things straight so I will be using this order form and taking options off as they are sold. That means if the option is till up on the form then it is still available.

Finally, I am always open to making prints of my images and I can always print any photo you see on my Instagram or my blog just contact me in some way with the idea you have. I can offer quotes for different papers, finishings, and give ideas for groupings as well. Without boring you to death scroll through the images below and choose the number that matches the image you want. I will email you with an invoice to re-check your information and order.

Thanks again your support is very important and helps me create more in the future.

Print Information!

While this is the first time that I’m having a print sale, it’s not my first time printing. Any image you see here is for sale and all you have to do is ask. That being said most people don’t ask which is fine and has allowed me to hone in on papers, labs, and media that I’m am truly happy with. Anyways, I want to make this post to share with you the thoughts and decisions I made for the first summer print sale I’m having. If everything turns out well and people are interested I have plans to do a summer print say each year. I guess we’ll see…

The prints this year are largely from Idaho in the Stanley/Donnelly area with images from Colorado and India as well. I chose images that I thought would complement the paper I chose and images I thought are of the highest quality. The two goals I have with this print sale is to make the highest quality prints possible yet affordable and to make them have the least environmental impact possible with a sustainable lifetime cycle. Finally, with everything going on right now I want to take a portion of the proceeds to help people in need.

The photos below are the 20 images I am going to print for this years print sale. They will be 8” x 10” inch prints done at a professional lab here in Boise and will come professionally packaged. Each print will come with a small letter describing the print and how it was made, that will be finished with a small doodle from me. I’m hoping to get these sent out by early September but I’m not going to put a specific time down until I have the prints in my hand.

Paper/Printing

I was looking for three things specifically when I choose paper: quality of final printed image, archival stability, and sustainability of the product. I’ve printed enough images from cheap online labs or at home on an all in one printer that I know it would be unfair for me charge people for this type of print. So I spent some good time finding what’s best for a final print I want to sell.

View fullsize

The paper I’ve chosen is a super premium natural fiber inkjet paper from Hahnemühle. This paper has everything I’m looking for and more! Hahnemühle is a German paper company that has been around since 1584 and have focused on making fine art papers since they opened. They were the first company to make inkjet specific papers in the 90s and are still known as the premier fine art paper company. (Many art galleries only accept prints on this paper!) The coatings on this paper allow for a perfectly even and dense coat of ink important for high resolution prints and to prevent fading over time. In addition to the coatings, having a natural fiber base ensures that these prints will not fade for at least 100 years and with the right printer maybe even 300 years. Finally, Hahnemühle papers are made out of all natural fibers including cotton, bamboo, and even agave. While this is more expensive to make the process requires less water, chemicals, and overall energy to produce.

I’ve also chosen to work with a local lab in downtown Boise so I can be more involved with the printing process to ensure the final print quality before doing a run. I also think it is important to cut down on shipping costs along the way if they aren’t necessary. I’m going to share more about the lab I use in another post after all the prints are shipped so look out for that.

Packaging/Postage

The packaging is another important part of the process because if the print doesn’t arrive safe then what is the point of going through all the trouble. I decided to go with a semi-rigid 90% recycled cardboard mailer. These are great because they should protect the print from bending, but still lets me ship them in an economical way through the USPS. I also specifically chose USPS because they need our support as they have been beaten and battered the past couple years. They are a pivotal service our government offers and in my opinion still the best and most reliable option there is to send mail.

View fullsize

A close up of the papers texture and finish.

In addition to the outer packaging it is important to protect the print more directly in the cardboard mailer. As an artist who wants the prints to come in the most premium way I really wanted to use a plastic sleeve to protect a bit against moisture, finger prints, and abrasion. At first I thought I could find a recyclable sleeve but I guess those don’t exist. I also looked at PLA plastic sleeves which are “biodegradable” but they were also a bad choice. It turns out that PLA degrades in the “wild” in 100 to 1000 years so it will most likely still contribute to plastic pollution and will actually contaminate batches of recycled plastic if recycled. It’s also only biodegradable in the right industrial composting conditions that some composting facilities don’t even meet. Finally, these plastic are made from biofuels like ethanol which exacerbates agricultural problems like over use of man made pesticides, algal blooms, and many others.

In the end I chose to use glassine paper because it is recyclable and acid free meaning it’s an archival way of storing your print. As far as I can tell isn’t made from recycled material but it is a low density paper that can be reused for packaging, storage, or just recycled. The one downside is you can’t see the print through the protective sleeve but like all sustainability efforts you must make sacrifices.

Philanthropy

Our world has changed immensely in just a couple of months and there are a myriad of issues that need to be addressed. I’m am privileged to be able to spend my time in Idaho making very little money and being able to work a little for my parents. The point of this sale is not to make a huge profit or really profit at all my hope is that this money can do three things: cover the expenses of printing and packaging, fund developing film, and to contribute to philanthropy. In short I want to be able to pay for my art and to help those around me.

For this summer sale I want to make a donation to Outdoor Afro. They are a national non-profit working to inspire Black leadership and connections in nature. I chose them because while I’ve been lucky being at the College of Idaho where I could share my passions with a diverse group of people, my upbringing was nothing like that. Before this year and recent discussions, I never really realized how disportionate Black and Brown people of color are represented in the outdoors. My goal is to donate 15% of the profits and even more if all the prints get sold. For more information on Outdoor Afro clink the button below.

How to order

Currently I am working on the best way to order these prints so that I can update you all when the prints are sold. Remember there is only one of each print available and it will be first come first serve! My current plan is to post each picture on my instagram story and have people direct message me on there. I will also try to have a form to fill out on my blog the day the prints are released on my Instagram as well. To make a payment I’m going to try and use only Venmo and PayPal once you have messaged me. My hope is to have the prints up for sale by the end of August and ship early September! I’ve never done something like this so the process might not be super smooth so bare with me.