Here are photos I took with my Fuji GW690ii camera last February, Feb. 17th. I used HP5+ film, with a Red 25A filter. I was careful with these scenes, and I developed in Arista D76 yesterday, Feb. 23rd, and scanned them today, Wednesday, Feb. 24th. I am very pleased with these images.
I've taken to taping my red 25A filter to the front of my kit lens for my Nikon D750. Why didn't I think of this before? It works, I get the filter effect that darkens the sky, plus the camera can and does focus correctly! And no spending so much money on black and white film and chemicals nor so much time developing and scanning the images. I should not have neglected my D750 nor my other digital cameras (I also have a Canon digital setup). Now, it is too late for the big $300 expenditure of film I made last week, I will have to bite that bullet, but for now, I really don't want to spend more money on film unless it is for large format (4x5 or 8x10). Although lately, for almost six weeks, I have not used my 8x10 at all, and I have about 20-30 negatives that I still need to develop, but I just have no motivation (nor energy, but mostly, motivation).
I will continue to practice with my digital camera (in monochrome setting) and my filters. Today, after zooming with my two morning classes, I ate and dug out about a dozen or so dandelions in the front yard, then, despite the over 80 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, I returned to Hidden Valley. It was unusual, though, I saw many police vehicles stationed at the three parking lots. They had their canines with them. Today must have been a training day for the dogs, and I saw officers (in full uniform in the heat) walking out and planting little bundles here and there. I am sure it was for the dogs to find. Thus, there was no walking deep into the trails, I just took a few cursory shots and left.
Photos taken with my Nikon DSLR (D750) on Monday, Feb. 22nd, 2021. I joke about this being a quick trip because, first of all, I was tired after spending about an hour and a half at the Sherman library and garden, and second, because far too many people were not wearing face masks. However, I desperately wanted to visit the beach and see open water.
I have to admit, I've been remiss. During the long months of the pandemic, I was hunkering down at home, depressed and scared and with little motivation to go out and do anything because I was sure the virus was just waiting for me. Then, I delved deeply back into film photography, and started ordering more and more emulsions and taking out my old and, yes, somewhat antiquated cameras. I neglected my Nikon DSLRs and had them hidden in my old backpack. Lately, though, when I consider the frustration I feel with rolls, especially with my 3D printed cameras which seem like real prima-donnas, I find myself missing the ease of use of my digital equipment. So I started taking it out again, because it has been almost a year and it was time to do something different. Also, the expense of film was really adding up.
Here are a few DSLR photos taking with my Nikon D750. I have to admit, I was "chimping" like in the old times, but I loved the fact that I could adjust exposures and not have to wait nervously for a week or more to receive my developed rolls from the film labs, only to find my hopes crashing. I love this garden, although it was only the second time I have visited. No, I didn't take any cellphone, these are big digital files, and I took over 250 photos. I am uploading only a few. The light was not the best, we had harsh bright light because we are in another heat wave in southern California, and temperatures are near or above the 80 degree Fahrenheit range. But I did what I could, although many of the colors look washed out to me.
The garden is located deep in conservative Orange County. There are very wealthy and conservative sectors, and this one qualifies as such. One could still see large Trump banners flying over some of the ultra-rich domains of the people who live there, and afterwards, I drove down to the Corona del Mar beach only to find way too many (white) people who think they are invulnerable and who don't bother to wear facemasks. It made me very, very uncomfortable. But the garden was another domain, and people wore masks and kept their distance.
