As Michael Jackson used to sing in his hit album from way, way back in prehistoric times, back in the 80s, "Why, why, tell them that it's human nature...", or better yet, tell them that it is the Hidden Valley Nature Reserve in Riverside. I went yesterday (Sunday, January 17th) to escape from the doldrums at home and try to photograph something. I would have liked to go to a botanic garden or to the ocean, but those were out of the question, the pandemic is killing more people than ever in California, and on a hot day with temperatures in the upper 80s, I was sure that southern California, deaths or no deaths, would be out and about, many of them without masks. So, I went to the local reserve. After all, I have not shot any 4x5 photos there.
It was hot and very windy. My baseball cap went flying several times, and I could easily have lost it next to the cliffs. The winds were strong in this one, as Darth Vader said when speaking of the force in "Star Wars" as Luke Skywalker was trying to destroy the Death Star. The winds were strong, but still, I walked around. There were more people than usual, which made me nervous, but I did my best to keep my distance, even if I had to walk into the undergrowth and away from the paths.
I took five 4x5 photos, four of them in black and white, one in color. The conditions were not the best, the sun was blasting and there were little to no clouds, and if I was using a red filter, which I was, and using a shutter speed of about 1/15th of a second, the wind did not allow me to hold the camera steady. But it was good to go out. I walked about and returned after about an hour and a half. Life goes on.
Photos developed in Arista 76 developer, this was Fomapan 200 film, taken with the Travelwide camera with the 90mm lens, using a red 25A filter, f16, 1/15th shutter speed, 9 minutes of developing, 3 minutes in fix, scanned with the Epson V600 on Monday morning after I let them dry overnight.
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