After weeks of frigid weather it’s amazing how 35 degrees Fahrenheit can feel positively warm — a nod to relativity. The scooter spent considerable time in the garage this week but this morning I dragged it to the road. Nice ride into town to drink tea and talk photography.
I had more prints to show today. The 11×14 prints don’t really fit well on the Vespa. They ride in a grocery bag hung from the purse hook. Looking at that sentence I realize why I’ll probably never be a Harley rider.
Wandering towards Saint’s Cafe I find an opportunity for a self portrait in the window of a local optometrist. Still not making selfies but maybe this is a step in that direction.
Paul Ruby, fresh off a cruise to the Bahamas, inspects the 35mm contact sheets from the past couple weeks. I notice that the older you get the closer the contacts get to your face. I’ll have to start shooting larger formats to compensate for old eyes.
Science fiction writer Daryl Gregory makes an appearance at the left of this picture. I’ve known him a long time now having met him when he and my wife worked together on a writing gig. He gave her the name, “Fireball”.
One of the 3 Prints Project prints from this week — my Belgian Sheepdog Junior on a snowy path at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. Not sure when this was taken — an image on the last three rolls of film left to be processed this week. Now I have to shoot some new rolls of film.
This is youngest daughter and Yamaha Vino scooter rider Aleta inspecting the ducks at Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. I think this photo was made either right before or right after breakfast at Cafe on the Park.
A tree that caught my attention at Black Moshannon State Park. I have many tree photos that caught my eye.
On the way home, a last stop before a mountain of chores and some editing on a manuscript for work. For a few moments I considered riding on past the house, down the road, keep going into the afternoon. But the grown-up side of me took control.
Until next week…
Gorgeous pictures! I’ve always loved the stripped-down drama of monochrome photographs.
As for selfies: Direct pics are an exercise in vanity, but reflected selfies… They are art..
(That’s just one fella’s opinion, of course.)
I’ve always been intrigued by reflections in general and seeing myself in particular. Guess I’m surprised I’m here!
And still like black&white photos!
The roads in your area are clear! Most everyday, I would be wary of the salt/beet joice whtever they lay on your roads in the winter, your Vespa probably needs to be hosed down after a winter run…
The selfie of you would make me not to ever go to the optometrist ever again…
as compared to the view of Junior telling you the photographer t “come on, follow me, chase me I want to play. BTW I seem to recall you reeived Junior when he was a year or more old, was he a rescue dog???
BTW my cleaned, lubed and adjust Pentax gear has been returned. Not that much needed to be done with them. There’s some Ilford HP4 here on the office shelf, thawing sitting on top of towel, waiting to be loaded. My monochrome photography stopped years ago, and the film ended up in the deep freeze, and it has stayed there through three different house moves, (and twenty odd years) always kept frozen as the house moves never were long distance moves. So stood on my head more or less yesterday Sunday February 8 and dug down below the rolls of unexposed E-6, as well as one preserved roll of KII-20 exposures which I am keeping just because.
Sheet film for the currently unused Speed Grapic as well as other types of 120 size film.
I may send the Mamiya C330 out for a CLA, have an 80mm, as well as still in the original boxes unopened of a telephoto and wide angle, Got the whole bit forty years ago from an estate and only have used the 80mm for 99 percent of my photography in black and white as the Speed Graphic was often just way too bulky and awkward.
So like you shall do some B&W contacts, and if I realize like you the contact sheets have to be seen closer and closer may go to 120, if only because the images are larger…
The Speed Graphic I may sell; have had two people after it. There’s two problems with it. My body strength thanks to continuing illness is a whole lot less and that Speed is heavy. Also I’d have to tray develop the film there are simply no close by labs that do so. There’s one lab in Tronto however it process only once a week. As noted the Speed needs work.
So shall used the remaining B&W 135mm film, then swithc to 120 perhaps. The 120 is similar to your Leica, the old style method of photography.
Just went downstaris to the file cabinet. Bingo! one or two Kindermann stainless steel tanks in a back corner c/w two reels of 135, one big reel for 120. That’s good, shall obtain chemicals from my local shop (lucky that iH ave three older brick and morter shops available to me, all are doing quite well thank you. One does the CLA’s and he’s up on the escarpment above Hamilton; he keeps going selling the brands nobody else wants including Pentax. the other half ofthe store is the exclusive area retailerfor telescopes both new and used. The telesope guy also rebuilds zoom lenses for cameras and the like.
Understnad the manuscript and home bit. Wwhen you’re the editor it still falls on your shoulders to be the last person to proof things before they got to press. Wondering what your lead time is for the printing of the Agricultural quarterly? In this day and age
of shorter and shorter lead times would expect happenings a week before press time are often accomodated…
’tis mOnday morening here on the west endo f Lake Ontario, another secen inches of snow last night, now cleared away. I used an lectric power snowblower with a 3/4 horsepower electric motor which replaced the original half horsepwoer, far better for pitching the snow. I simply plug it in and slowly push down the drive, Mind at the bottom the power drops a bit on the extension cord however it does the job. Have had this device handle drifts of up to four feet deep without trouble, best purchase for winter ever and that was some sixteen years prior.
Have fun, TTYL
Bryce
The roads are on and off. Couple that with the cold and my increased laziness and the Vespa doesn’t get as much action as it has in previous years. Just hell to get old. And I don’t often hose the scooter off. The salt and grime just do their dirty work. Another example of my laziness.
Junior wasn’t a rescue dog. He lived with his mom and sister but he couldn’t be a breeding show dog because of his ear fault — floppy ears. So he was adopted out as a companion dog. I think they really wanted to keep him though. We’re happy to have him.
I bought a Mamiya C330 new back in 1978. It was a great camera and those Mamiya lenses are tack sharp. Sold it some years back because it was just sitting. Still have a 135mm lens for it. Looks good except fungus has grown inside the lens elements. Makes a nice soft focus portrait lens but I could never find a home for it.
The next issue of the magazine is in production now with all the article manuscripts beginning to arrive. The printing is pretty quick — usually ten days from the time we send in our files until the magazine is ready to mail. But the editing and design usually takes a month to turn around. Could go faster if it was the only thing I had to do.
No snow coming tonight but predictions of subzero temperatures. Ugh…
Speaking of old eyes, this seems to be the right time to tell you that I’ve enjoyed your blog for a long time, but the grey print is tough for me to read. Any chance of going back to black print?
Looking forward to many more blog posts.
I darkened the text up a bit. Hope it helps with the readability. I was just using the standard setup with the WordPress theme. It’s almost black now.
Thank you! So excited to see your newest blog post and know you had responded to my request.
“They ride in a grocery bag hung from the purse hook. Looking at that sentence I realize why I’ll probably never be a Harley rider.”
Brilliant. Thanks for the laugh.
I try to be macho and manly but fall short if so many ways…
“the grownup side of me took over….” that’s too bad…..let your inner adventurer overwhelm those “responsible” thoughts! 🙂
I’m trying Dom but I have a serious case of the “old man mellows” at the moment.
It seems like the next three prints post is overdue . . .
Matt,
Definitely overdue but I fear my film days may be drawing to a close. Lots of reasons, not the least of which is a growing feeling of guilt over the huge amount of water used in the darkroom. The next couple months may see me unloading the 8×10 and the Leica gear. So if the Three Prints project continues it will be a digital version…