Film Advance

(Camera: Hasselblad 503cx; Lens: 150mm f/4 Zeiss Sonnar; Film: Fuji Acros 100)

An interesting thing happened on the way to this picture. I came upon a stand of red alders and carefully set up my camera and tripod. I spent more time than usual trying to get just the right camera position to include the trees I wanted, and exclude the ones I felt were just clutter. In fact, I spent so much time framing the shot that I neglected to set the shutter speed on my camera and wound up underexposing by two stops.

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(Camera: Olympus Stylus Epic DLX; Film: Kodak Ektar 100)

We don’t get a great deal of snow here in Victoria, so when we do, it’s quite an event. And perhaps because it’s so rare, it seems especially beautiful. I took this picture after waiting out a sudden squall in the shelter of a big, Douglas fir tree. In a matter of minutes, it was all over and the sky turned a brilliant blue. On the right edge of the photo, you can see the storm retreating across the Juan de Fuca Strait. It was exciting while it lasted.

(Camera: Canon Sure Shot A-1; Film: expired Kodak Gold 400)

Although the days have been getting longer since the winter solstice back on December 21st, from this latitude, all the extra daylight has been added to the evening, with later and later sunsets. If, like me, you hate getting out of bed when it’s still dark outside, then the extra daylight so far has been of little consolation. That slowly began to change a week ago, but it’s this week when things really begin to take off with nearly an extra minute of daylight tacked onto each morning. Sunrise today was at 7:59, but by next Monday it’ll be at 7:53 — 6 minutes earlier. Now we’re getting somewhere! Continue reading →

(Camera: Olympus OM-G; Lens: Zuiko 50mm f/3.5 Macro; Film: Kodak T-Max 100)

I’m struck by how often shapes and textures recur in nature even on vastly different scales. One of the things I most love about macro lenses is how well they distort our perception of the everyday and familiar, and give us new ways of seeing. The details in this close-up shot remind me of early Landsat images of river systems and the spines of mountain ranges. Yes, its’s a photo of a frost-coated leaf, but it’s really all about patterns and structure.