Film Advance

(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.

Early morning at Tower Point Regional Park.
Camera: Olympus OM-10; Lens: Olympus Zuiko 28mm f/3.5; Film: Kodak Ektar 100

At this time of year we’re often right on the flight path of Pacific storm systems.  The resulting lighting conditions often make for dramatic photographs. I’ve often wondered what it must be like to live in a place where the seasonal changes are less pronounced. Do photographers living in southern California, for example, ever feel like they’re missing out? Or perhaps the equation is just different. One tends to photograph what’s at hand, so I suppose that if big weather systems aren’t a regular part of one’s photographic life, something else settles in to occupy that creative space.