The Laguna Niguel Reserve in Infrared

 I went to the Laguna Niguel Botanical Reserve on Monday, Oct. 5th, determined to obtain a few IR images. I took six sheets of Rollei 400 IR film. I also took my Holga Pan 120 camera with some color film, and of course, my cellphone camera. 

The weather was perfect, very bright with much IR light being scattered about, and there were also clouds! I know I would get some good shots. 

This tree is not very memorable as a normal color composition, nor even as a black and white, but I gave it a shot on IR. I am satisfied, although the upper leaves could have reflected more IR light.

This is my wonder landscape. I love this shot. It goes to show, mix an expansive landscape with trees and some clouds in the sky, and magic happens. 

I love this scene as well. It was taken as I was climbing down from the top. I thought that a dark bench would really stand out among the vegetation, and it did. I wish I had tried this with my R72 filter and my digital camera. I think I should be able to obtain color IR images that way, from what I have seen in videos on Youtube.

This is a very colorful scene! That white vegetation in the front has no color, but with regular light, it is filled with flowers. No worries, I used color film with my Holga Pan too. 

Another instance of landscape wonder. I was sure it would work when I took it, and I am so happy to have been right. 

This was the last IR shot I took that day. It was of some cactus. I was not happy with the composition, but I thought, I am about to leave, I am tired, I am sweaty, I want to go home, let me force the shot. I guess it is acceptable. Now I know that IR does work with cactus.

And that was it for my infrared shots at this location. I will certainly return, because I have a strong feeling that the leaves will change color soon and will be beautiful. I may not shoot infrared again, but I will try to shoot some medium format color shots. I am happy with these photos. 

The Norco Power House

 I picked up a big order of slides from the lab this past Monday, Oct. 5th. They charge $4 per sheet, and I had dropped off 25 sheets, so I had to pay $100. It was a deal for me, but since their equipment is having hangups, I had to wait a few extra weeks. 

This is the Norco Power House in Trump country, the city of Norco. Yes, it is Trump country, a please populated by working-class whites who love to pretend they are still living in the prairies. This is horse country, but I went there to find this landmark. As I wrote before, I really struggled because I couldn't find the access road, but finally I did. You need to walk down a horse trail that is a block away. No signs about access to the Power House, you just figure, this trail leads in that direction, and if you follow it, it does.

This is a slide image. This is only a partial scan, I can't scan full 4x5 images (yet). I love the colors, though. It is like looking through a window at a palpable reality, that is the power of slides.

My photos from inside that building came out also! It is a mess in there, as you can imagine. The dirt floor is littered with glass shards, bent beer cans, stains and droppings of all sorts, as well as wrapper. I felt I needed a Haz-mat suit to enter in there, but I took my chances. I also estimated my exposures. When I scan those I will upload here, but this exterior shot turned out to be easy. The sun was hitting it directly, what more could I want? Well, maybe the sight of a horse and rider walking along the road, but I'll pass. They are probably Trump supporters anyway.

No te quería ver rojo

 From my visit to one of the local botanic gardens (I think this is from the South Coast Botanic Garden), I took a few 4x5 slide photos. Now, slide film is not inexpensive, especially in this size. Only two major companies are producing it, Fuji and Kodak. I was using my mainstay, Fuji Velvia 100, and it costs about $100 for 20 sheets, which is, of course, $5 per sheet. More if you add sales tax and delivery. Then, since I don't process slide film at home, I have to take it to a lab. The one I use is Pro Photo Connection in Irvine, and they charge $4 to process each sheet, so the net cost is about $10 per individual sheet. It is worth it, one may say, if one is able to nail the exposure, because holding one of these slides up to the light is an amazing feeling. I feel as if they are my equivalent to stain glass windows in a church. It gives me a thrill to see them, so I am extra careful to choose well-lit scenes, never in the shadows because I don't want muddied colors or a bluish hue, and I try to be careful with exposure so that I always use f16 and 1/125 shutter speed when taking the photo with my Travelwide.

So, what happened? Easy. I was shooting black and white sheets also, and I was using my Red 25A filter to increase contrast and darken the skies. This is fine for black and white, but not fine for slides. So, I switched to slides but forgot to remove the filter, and voilá, a red slide. That and a double exposure on the other slide. I can't correct the hue, so, here is the original and here is the more monochrome version.

As Mexican people say in their colorful way of speaking, "¡Ya ni la ch*ngas!".

The Laguna Niguel Preserve

 I had to go, I had to. I feel as if I can't go to places on the weekends, especially during periods of excessive heat such as we are currently experiencing, because people go out in droves to these places. I need to avoid these droves because of the possibility of infection. I feel the fear rising in me as I pass someone not wearing a face mask, and I want to run and hide somewhere. So, I limit my trips to the weekdays, when I know that most of these public spaces are much less crowded than they would be otherwise.

It was a hard decision. Go to Alta Vista garden in Vista, CA? No, too far, how would I pick up my order of 4x5 slides from Pro Photo without making a long round trip? Go to South Coast Botanic garden again? No, it is too soon, the same for the Sherman library. I'll wait until the fall colors arrive in a few more weeks. I wanted to go to Casa Romántica in San Clemente but it is closed on Mondays. That left the Laguna Niguel Preserve, and I am glad I went.

It takes a while to get there. It isn't as far as, say, Encinitas or Vista, but it is "deep in the heart of southern Orange County". I am always afraid to go down here because the area is relentlessly prosperous, that is, every house is valued at a million or more dollars (at least), and I think I will encounter rejection. Far from it. The people are very tolerant and open-minded, I see much less signs of Trump support, and people by and large wear face masks. This is not Norco where a business can be flying a giant Trump flag that says "Fuck this bullshit!". Southern Orange County is not redneck Trump country, and it is among the rednecks where you find the most fanatical Trump support.

I arrived just as I thought I was lost. I turned in to a park to consult my cellphone and see if I could get some directions, and low and behold, that was the park I was looking for. The whole hillside was the preserve, and it looked very spacious and well maintained. Nothing like modest Corona park where the homeless have claimed all the open spaces and are defecating behind the shrubs. 

It was hot, but I got my cameras and ventured out. I had six sheets of IR film I needed to expose, and they are currently drying in the bathroom at 10:54 p.m. as I write this. I also took cellphone photos. Here are a few:

First thing you have to note is that you have to climb. There are wood stairs everywhere, plus paths that curve up. It is a hillside, this is not a flat space.

Second, the zones are not as differentiated. I saw desert plants, all carefully laid out, but it wasn't until almost the end that I found the zone with roses and a statue. It was beautiful. This whole area is beautiful. I took a roll of 120 color film (6 exposures), so I am hoping to get back something brilliant in color. And I did shoot my Rollei IR photos with my 4x5. 

I was tired at the end after about two hours, tired and sweaty. Now I have visited one more garden. Here is my list, in no particular order:

1. Japanese Garden at Balboa Park (paid admission)

2. Open gardens at Balboa Park (free)

3. UCR Botanic Garden (pay for parking)

4. LA Arboretum (paid entry)

5. California Botanic Garden (pay $10)

6. Huntington Library (pay $25)

7. Descanso Garden (paid)

8. Sherman Library Garden (pay $5)

9. San Diego Botanic Garden (pay $18)

10. Laguna Niguel Garden (free!)

11. CPP campus rose garden and Japanese garden (free, but $8 for campus parking)

12. South Coast Botanic Garden (free because I went on Free Day)

Still to visit:

San Clemente Casa Romántica

Alta Vista Garden

Santa Barbara Garden

++++++

There are other gardens, of course. The Fullerton Arboretum is closed so I can't go there. Also, the UCLA garden and the Cal State Long Beach gardens are closed. There is a Buddhist retreat open, I hope to go there. Hopefully I can take a trip to northern California too. 

That is it. I'm tired and will go to bed now. It was a long, long day for me today. Tomorrow I'll be Zooming again, but this week, I have tests to give, no lectures except for one (on Thursday). I will make it, but wow, I really need a break for a week. 

Also, my niece keeps on having anxiety attacks. It is getting very worrisome to see them. She gets over them with encouragement from her grandmother or mom, but still, I am worried about how often she has them. 

Fall color from 2019 before the world jumped off the deep end

 These are scans from a few 4x5 Velvia compositions I took in the fall of 2019. The world was a much different place back then, although of course, we still had that maniac in the White House. I picked up the scans today, Monday, Oct. 5th, from Pro Photo Connection in Irvine. I stopped by there on my way to another botanical garden in Laguna Niguel.

Love those azure skies of Velvia! It makes me think of Azul, of Modernismo, of Rubén Darío. 

There are old ladies who wear their hair in this style and color. (I couldn't resist, Lucille Ball!) Love the somber note, there was almost no one on campus, or else, it was just a very quiet moment. It might have been during final exams week, in December.

I'll scan a few more images in the next few days. There are some howlers in the order I picked up today, including when I left my red 25A filter on the lens and took slide photos. I was not thinking, but when I look at those images, there was nothing that was outstanding. Now, it is 5:16 p.m. and I need to start working on school material. Back to the grind, but not, not on location as in these photos, it is all online grind. 

Citrus Park in Riverside

 Well, I was not doing much of anything on Sunday, and it was, as they say, "hotter than heck", so I could either continue to stay at home and probably end up taking a nap, or go out and doing something. I decided to be active and go out, and take my 8x10 pinhole camera.

I got in the car at 3 p.m. and drove to the Citrus Park, knowing it would close at 5 p.m. I took plenty of IR film, too. This park is mostly empty because they charge a fee to enter, not much, only $5, but it puts off many. It is a little out of the way too, so I like it because it is private, mostly.

It was in the mid 90s, I recall, and there was sauna-like heat. I decided to just walk around without the 8x10 pinhole camera and get my IR shots. I walked around, and I remember, this was one of the parks I visited in July of last year when I was so disabled by grief at the passing of my father. This time I didn't record myself. The reason it reminds me of my dad so much is because it is dedicated to the citrus industry, and they have rows and rows of citrus trees, many of them dangling oranges, lemons, etc. My dad worked in the citrus industry as a picker for many years, and throughout the park they have banners with photos of citrus pickers, extolling the virtue of their work.

I walked around taking photos on that hot day, and while I doubt that the citrus trees will be the right vegetation to showcase the IR effect, I will at least have dark skies. If you walk around you can find corners that are hidden, and I found a hidden circular feature surrounded by flowers. It was in the shade, though, but maybe, at an earlier moment of the day, it will be lit up and, if I arrive then, might have a chance at taking a photo.

Walking back I had taken my IR shots and decided to try for a few 8x10 shots. I figured, I had 30 minutes before the park was supposed to close down, why not? The camera is unwieldy, though, and by then, the was cloud cover that cut down the amount of direct sunlight as well as a breeze that was getting stronger. Both are bad for pinhole exposures because a pinhole camera needs lots of blinding and direct sunlight, and if the vegetation is to come out sharp for exposures that last several minutes, I will need the air to be still. There were two strikes, there was cloud cover and there was a breeze.

I went ahead and framed two exposures, one with the trees and a patch leading upwards, and this one, with a building and some vegetation on the side. I wanted to see how well it caught the dark wood.

I developed this negative on Sunday night, and scanned it today, Monday, Oct. 5th. It is a primitive scan, but we all know this, I am using the flatbed and scanning at 1200 dpi. 

Well, the vegetation is blurry but I knew it would be. The breeze did its' work and blurred what was not tied down solidly. The building, however, came out well. I like it, that wood tiling was very dark. I gave the camera 6 minutes of exposure. 

I am beginning to appreciate the 8x10 pinhole camera a little more, but that doesn't mean I don't want a camera with a real lens that will give me sharpness. Mort, the printer from Norway, contacted me today to let me know that he has a frame for his 8x10 WillTravel camera that he can sell me, and I will buy it. This might be the last 8x10 pinhole in a while, or at least, until I finish processing all the pinhole negatives I have exposed but put away in a dark bag to process later. It is a pain to process them.

A mixed bag

 More photos from my walk around town on a Sunday morning. I've already talked about my wasted IR frames, I should not have taken the shots I took. Here are a few taken with regular black and white film. This is Fomapan 100, taken with my Travelwide camera.

I had completed my walk which lasted longer than I was anticipating (an hour and thirty minutes!). I was arriving at the city center and was going to just get in my car and drive away when I though, I have two film holders with four sheets, I should grab a few shots. No planning, just spontaneous, and what was worse, I mounted my red 25a filter on the lens. Why did I do that if I was doing building closeups?

I went into this open space near one of the entryways facing east. There was some color in the bushes which I knew would not come out in black and white, and I was using my red 25A filter. What in the devil possessed me to take this shot? I was using a slow shutter speed too, but not slow enough for Fomapan 100 film. After scanning I had to lift the shadow areas considerably. What was I thinking? I guess I just wanted to waste film.

I walked around to the other south-facing area and tried to frame a shot of the building next to the trees. Fall is coming, the leaves are changing colors and turning into a Brazilian medley (yellow and green)! But if the leaves were going to be dark, what possessed me to take the shot with a filter? Why, why, why? The negative was very thin and I had to lift the shadows in post-processing. This is what I obtained. 

This is my only acceptable shot. I got close to the building and tried to frame as I could. There was a man with his dog running loose on the empty lawn. I was in a hurry to get away from here.

There is another courtyard facing north, and I had been wanting to take this shot. It was too contrasty, though! I knew I could not frame it with most of it in shadow but a bit area in direct sunlight. The contrast would have been way too high, so I aimed for the shadow area, and wanted to capture the landscaping. This is not a shot I should have taken. What was I thinking? I had to lighten the shadows considerably.

And that was it, a medley of low notes with one acceptable one. I need to be more selective, I cannot just snap away. I know that, but I wanted to get all my frames shot this time, because I was intending on developing the film at home as soon as I was done. This was a mixed bag.