Film!

 Over the past month or so, I've shot a roll of Tri-X (black and white) on my 1980's vintage Nikon FM-2. I just received the digital files this evening. Clearly, I'm out of practice in the old ways, quite a few misses in exposure and focus. But there will be a few keepers. I quite like this one. Only slight post-processing, a tweak of levels and a minor crop.

I'll probably shot some more, but most likely color. It was a little hard to find a place to develop B&W.

Quotated - In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp ...

How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.

John Burroughs

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This is from the film days, pre-digital.  Scanned from a 4x6 print.  If I recall correctly, this was taken in the parking lot of the Girl Scout campground on the north-east side of Edwardsville, off Fruit Road.  Way back in the 90's.  Not sure if it is still there or not.  It's absolutely a Girl Scout campground, though.

Near Hardin, IL

I've been doing a "throwback" project over at 365project.  Sometimes with backstory, sometimes not,  but today's post has a story, and one I figured to share here:

Today's throwback comes with a bit of a story, Hope you don't mind. But this humble image is a "moment" in my photographic journey.

I took up photography in early high school, back in the mid 1970's. And over the next 15 years or so, I was pretty active, mostly black and white, and mostly developed / printed myself. But as life evolved ("real" job, wife, house, kid#1, kid#2), I started slipping toward "snaphot" photography. And when we moved to the midwest in 1989, my darkroom never came out of the box. Fast forward to a cold January Saturday in 1996, and we decided to go eagle watching ip the Mississippi River. Since we only had 1 set of binoculars, I dug up my SLR and zoom lens. Not even thinking photos, just another way to eagle watch. But I did drop a roll of film in.

And during the course of our explorations (and we did see lots of bald eagles), we passed this old barn. And something clicked. I pulled to the side of teh road, left my wife and kids in the car, and hurried back to take a couple of pictures. And that broke the dam, and started the renewal of my passion.

So this one is special to me. I looked at Google-Earth and Google maps, and was able to find the spot. And the barn is still there. The raod in the background is Degerlia Hollow Road, so I summpose this is Degerlia Hollow...

This was taken with my (long since retired) Nikon FM2, and scanned from a 4x6 print. 

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Ypu can check out the whole Throwback album here:
https://365project.org/lsquared/throwbacks

Quotated...

"I more fear what is within me than what comes from without...."

Martin Luther

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Another real oldie, from fall of 1978 (IIRC).  Taken on a backpacking trip in Central PA (Tuscarora Ridge).  I did a lot of soul searching on this trip, probably some key (though small) steps towards growing up.  The quote is rather relevant to that time 48 years ago.  Of course, I'm still trying to get my act together... 

Throwback Thursday (Belated) #42096 - BP Revisited

Sorry folks, I fell behind.  Missed 4/2/15's throwback, and I'm a day late for 4/9/2015.  I'll try and be better.

From sometime in 2002 through the early 2008, I was pretty active at BetterPhoto.com.   It was a fun site, it inspired my "rejuvenation" in photography, and I met a lot of cool people.  But, for me at least, it kind of ran its course.  Now, in the spirit of throwback, I figured to post some of my favorite (or at least notable) images from those days.

This is a real oldie.  Shot on (slide) film back in fall of 1978. Scanned and tweaked sometime along the way.  This is from my old backpacking days, at the old fire-tower on Tuscarora Trail, in central Pennsylvania.  One of my favorite places, though I haven't been there in decades.  The tower was right here:  39.950251,-77.936867. 

Throwback Thursday #42026 - BP Revisited

From sometime in 2002 through the early 2008, I was pretty active at BetterPhoto.com.   It was a fun site, it inspired my "rejuvination" in photography, and I met a lot of cool people.  But, for me at least, it kind of ran its course.  Now, in the spirit of throwback, I figured to post some of my favorite images from those days.

 A real oldie, originally shot back in summer of 1981.  

This is (or was) Duke Homestead, in Durham, NC.  Taken in my college days when I did some work for the university newspaper.  I had been sent to shoot a tobacco spitting contest.  Funny, no photos remain from that.  Meanwhile, I posted this to BP several times, in a couple of versions.  Hoping it would get noticed, but it never did. I'm probably seeing it through "father's eyes"...   I still love the tones on this, though the composition could've probably been improved.  This is from my old Canon TX SLR, way before digital.

Man's handiwork - no more than the molehills that dot the fields

I've been reading Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Complete Sherlock Holmes", in and among other stuff....  I founf the following at the beginning of "The Adventure Of The Golden Pince Nez", and was quite struck by it:

  "It was a wild, tempestuous night, towards the close of November. ... Outside the wind howled down Baker Street, while the rain beat fiercely against the windows. It was strange there, in the very depths of the town, with ten miles of man's handiwork on every side of us, to feel the iron grip of Nature, and to be conscious that to the huge elemental forces all London was no more than the molehills that dot the fields/"

Great stuff...  I always like things that remind us that all of Man's handiwork are inconsequential to the huge elemental forces.

Or as a later wordsmith put it:

History shows again and again

How nature points out the folly of men...

The image is a real oldie, at least 15 years back.  I'm sure it has been posted here several times.  But hey, call it a throwback!

Throw Back Thursday - Early 1981

I've probably posted this one to the blog before.  But, if so, it was a while ago.  So here goes.  This is from my college days, the apartment I lived in for Junior / Senior year.  I'm pretty certain this was summer of '81...  Besides a very young me, and my Guild Jetstar bass, there's some fun stuff in the background. 

No clue why I'm wearing a button down shirt, rather than a polo or tee.  Maybe I was late doing laundry?

You can't really tell, but the shelves behand me are typical college chic:  cinderblock and pine boards.  Note the 9" black-and-white TV (directly behind my head), with the "rabbit-ear" antenna just to the right.  Working down, 2 shelves of record albums (12" Vinyl).  Below those, cassette tapes!

I still have that bass, although it has been disassembled for a long while.  Still have that leather strap, too.  And I still have all the records... 

#TBThursday

Throwback Thursday, Early 1975

An old polaroid of me.  It's labeled "Early '75", which would put me a bit past the 1/2 way point of 14.  Freshman year of High School.  But it may be a year later... late '75.  I seem to recall it being around Christmas...

I've always liked this picture, although it hasn't weathered the years so well.  Makes me look like a happy, well adjusted young man.  LOL.  And you have to love the Peter Tork haircut!

Throwback Thursday - Early 1979

Continuing with the Throwback Thursday theme...  This one is from Freshman year of college,  taken in my dorm room in Gilbert Adams at Duke University.  Pretty sure it was late spring, '79 (rather than fall '78).   And yes, I frequently sat on the floor even back then!  I have no clue who actually snapped this one, but it was with my trusty Canon TX.

Throwback Thursday - October 1989

Everybody seems to be doing the Throwback Thursday "thing", I figured I'd join in, for today at least.

This is me, 25 years ago this fall.  Just a couple of months after I moved to the midwest and became an application engineer.  I foolishly told my boss I'd like to attend this conference, he responded by volunteering me for a presentation.  Lesson learned.

This was my first large technical presentation; first speaker at the inagural Multi-Amp (now Megger) User's Conference in Dallas, Tx.  I don't know exactly how many people were there, but probably only 100 +/-.  Not sure if the conference still exists, but I presented there a coupleof times in the 90's.

I didn't know about this photo until it was used in the brochure for the next year's onference.  This is scanned from that brochure. 

Frick Trucking

Another from the deep archives.  Shot on film in the late 90's