Back to the Arboretum

 I was fortunate to be able to return to the LA Arboretum today. I left at about 10:05, and arrived at about 11:15 a.m. The drive seemed a little heavy on the 60 and 210 freeways. But, I felt the necessity of visiting. I had not gone anywhere these past few days, staying home as I did to be available while a room was being refloored. I feel bad for my brother-in-law, he did so much work.

Well, I arrived and started walking in the other direction. Usually I go counter-clockwise, but this time, I went to the rose garden first. It was a good change, and many of the pathways have been cleared. They used to be closed off because of Covid restrictions, which meant, they wanted visitors moving in only certain directions. Now those are going away. There were still about 30-40% of visitors wearing facemasks, and I was wearing mine for the first 20 minutes, but then the heat got to me. I am going to trust in my vaccination. So, I took off my mask and didn't put it on again.

There were scant people today. I think it was because, by then, after 11 a.m., it was hot. I think we reached the mid 90s today at the garden, but I kept walking. I was starting to feel very tired, though.

My main mission was to take photos with my digital camera, the Nikon D750. I want to complete a photo book, so I needed about 50 photos to upload, and by the barest of margins, I was able to obtain them. I took about 180, but was able to edit down to 50 usable images. I finished the book. I won't order it, though. I just don't want to keep spending so much money, especially since I had to put in a quick order for 4x5 slide film. It seems that Fuji Velvia 100 will no longer be sold in the USA because of EPA designations about it having a carcinogenic substance, so of course, there was a run on the film, and it was not available at the usual places. It is listed as "discontinued" or on back order, but you know how these things go. We saw it happen to Fuji 400H when it was retired, so I was able to find a place (a photo lab) and I ordered two boxes of the film. So there went $200 up in smoke. No photos books for me this month.

Here are a few photos from my trip to the Arboretum today. I took three cameras, my Nikon D750, my sprocket rocket and my Holga. I finished a roll of Tmax on the Sprocket camera and also used a roll of Provia slide film. I used a roll of Lomochrome Purple on the Holga. I've already sent them off to a lab to get them developed.

With no further delay, a few Arboretum photos:

C'est la vie.