It was another day of scorching temperatures. We knew it was going to be this way, even my seven year old niece can look up the weather on her cellphone and inform us of what to expect. That was why I cancelled any plans to go out. I was going to make a quick trip to Freestyle, but decided against it. When the body refuses, the mind has to obey.
I did go walking, however. It was a pleasant enough walk, although it still annoys me at how many people I encounter on the streets who are not wearing facemasks. I used to encounter no one on my walks before Covid, but now, maybe people are afraid of exposing their cars to the virus, even if they go out and expose themselves. Seriously, I am sure it is the stress. Many people who would be very busy are less so now, with less business, and people feel so much anxiety that they need to do something to relieve it. That goes for some of the people I see, because in the last few months, most of the people I see on the street are homeless people walking around or pushing carts or riding on bicycles. They never wear face masks.
So, I stayed at home and put some finishing touches on my syllabuses and on a lesson plan for next week's class. I also worked on some other matters related to school. In the afternoon, as the clouds moved in (but did nothing to stem the heat), I got fed up and decided to develop some sheets of 4x5 black and white film. It is a good exercise, I started at about 5:28 p.m. and finished about half an hour later. It was quick, and since these sheets were with my fresh Arista 4x5 film, there were thankfully no problems. The sheets were well exposed.
Here are a few more scenes from my trip along the Angeles Crest highway yesterday.
These rocks are just off the exchange from the 138 highway and the 2 freeway. They are named after the Mormons. As I said before, I thought it was very colonial to name topography after invaders, and wish we had native names, but the people in the area must have been cleansed a long time ago.
By the way, these were quick scans. Normally I place them in holder and do the preview, and I chose the option of applying Digital Ice to remove little imperfections, and it takes a long, long time to scan. This time I didn't, and scans came in at about 3 minutes each (as opposed to 10 to 15 minutes). I will do that from now on, unless, of course, I have dirty negatives, in which I can use all the help I can obtain from software.
Another scan of the Mormon rocks. I love the austere beauty, and the tonality. I think I am getting the hang of using Arista 200 film and the Clayton F76 developer. I developed for 8 minutes. After scanning I did some minimal editing with my minimal photo program.
Here are a few scenes from the valleys and hills as we drive up into the mountains. This hill reminded me of the cinematography of Gabriel Figeroa, the famed Mexican artist who collaborated with so many directors during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. I loved this hill. It also reminds me of the old Wyndham Hill covers I used to see at the Tower Records in Westwood when I was an undergraduate at UCLA. I loved those lonesome and serene landscapes, and even the minimalist music from those artists, although it was a commercial package, still appeals to me. It reminds me of loneliness, of dreaming, of lying down and reflecting on the world. I was young back then, just having hit my 20s. Now, I am on the other side of the hill. I hate to crack about it, but I am "over the hill".
This scene tried to capture the billowing smoke from the Ranch 2 fire that ended up aborting my trip to Mt. Williamson. I was returning from the Mt. Islip parking area, and had parked at Inspiration Park and driven up into the hills. Another austere and lonely landscape. I spoke to almost no one during this trip yesterday, and that was what I wanted.
More scenes from the area around Inspiration point, but I didn't wait for the light. The trees on the hill were in shadow, and I should have waited until the sun lit them up. I didn't, so the contrast range is too big. I know I should have evened it out, but I just wanted to take photos.
The contrast range is better here, I waited for the sun to hit the trees on the hill. It is the same scene as before, but with light. Lux, I should not have been impatient. I this photo is better. If you continue along the dirt road, as I did, you hit a ski resort. Nothing to see up there, it was of course closed and there was nothing to see. I want wilderness, not sky lifts.
So that was it, I still have about another dozen negatives to develop from my trip. That will be for another day, for now, I just want to lie down and see photography videos. It is 9:52 as I write this, and I just finished scanning some photoday slides from long ago. One final thought that has been on my mind: it seems as if the choice of Kamala Harris to be Biden's running mate will bring no benefit to the ticket. I have read so much carping from people who are unhappy with her. The left is unhappy with her because she was a strong prosecutor, and meanwhile, blacks feel she is not "black" enough while Asians feel she is not "Asian" enough. She is strong, assertive, and extremely intelligent, but that might not be enough. You can't please the Democrats, it seems, and if they keep it up, they will go down in flames, I fear. Just like so many times before.
Finally, I will try to go to Freestyle tomorrow. The air will still be boiling, but I want to pick up an order so that I have materials to work with when I plan a trip on Friday. I will be teaching two online classes on Thursday, and tomorrow, Wednesday, I have to attend a virtual department meeting. The slog begins to try to get to December.
I'll conclude this entry and include a few scanned slide photos of the photodays in another one. Move on, move on, nothing to see here.
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