Random thoughts from the Pacific Rim
Here’s another shot from the Mission of San Juan Bautista. There is a beautiful rose garden near the bell tower of the mission with some of the largest roses I’ve ever seen. Some of the flowers were as big as soup plates.
Photo taken with Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
On our road trip to east-central Nevada in 2006 we stopped at the Cathedral Gorge State Park for a break from driving and a little hike.
The park is in a very arid landscape where the sediment formations of an ancient lake bed have been shaped into grotesque towers and narrow canyons by millions of years of winter rains and summer heat. The “caves” near the entrance of the park are in fact deep and narrow canyons and this is where we wandered around for a while and took pictures.
Many of the walls of these formations look like melted wax or – more likely – extremely soft clay that is being washed down by rainfall and then hardens again for a little while when the sun comes out.
Walking through these tight canyons was very strange and disorienting, since the path often splits and many of the branches of the canyons end in little twisted dead-ends with overhanging, seemingly melting walls. It looks like a giant maze designed by the crazed assistant of Picasso.
Photos taken with Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
Still re-scanning old negatives… In late 2006 we traveled through large chunks of Nevada, mostly on Highway 50 and 93. This picture is from somewhere south of Ely in east-central Nevada, where mountain ranges rise to the east and west of the highway.
The main roads in this part of the country are excellent, but nearly always deserted. We stopped at this dirt track that seemingly disappeared into nothing somewhere near the mountains and had a quick picnic with sandwiches we had brought from Ely.
All around us the landscape was empty and quiet. It was the kind of silence that makes you welcome the odd pickup truck rushing past.
Photo taken with Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
I’ve posted a different photo from the Spruce Tree House in the Mesa Verde National Park before, but during my recent re-scanning campaign I found this very nice shot of the same place.
I have fond memories of our stay in Mesa Verde. It was late in the season and some of the sights were already closed in expectation of winter. The park was nearly deserted with only a handful of tourists on the loop road and small groups of deer strolling freely along the roads and parking areas.
The Indian ruins in Mesa Verde are simply stunning. Most of the little communities were built into naturally hollowed out areas along the cliff faces in the steep canyons that run through the mesa, and many of them are hard to reach even with ladders and metal stairs in place of the old climbing paths that the original inhabitants used.
On this specific autumn day the light was glorious and it bathed the ruins in a flood of yellow and gold. We will be back another time, I am sure…
Photo taken with my Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
I remember watching doublefeature movies in the St. Francis on Market Street in the early 90s for a few bucks. It has seen its last matinee a long time ago…
Photo taken with Palm Centro
Every now and then I go back and re-scan some older negatives that haven’t received the full-sized medium format scan treatment yet.
Almost three years ago we went on an epic road trip through a large part of Arizona and Utah and among many other amazing places we spent a day in Monument Valley. It was a glorious morning with a quite remarkable sunrise over the distinctive rock formations of the valley.
We drove along the self-guided road that passes through the park and took many pictures. I had brought my Kodak Medalist, but for some reason it felt even more cumbersome than usual to use, so I only shot one roll of 620 film on that morning, which was probably a mistake since the wide landscape with the harsh lighting conditions was perfect for the Medalist’s lens. Here is one of the eight shots on that roll.
Photo taken with my Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
I took the Kodak Medalist on our trip down to San Juan Bautista and shot one roll around the mission. This was the first picture that stood out when I looked at the negatives and I’m very happy with it.
We were at the mission building a little bit late in the afternoon when the other tourists had already left and the mission was closed for visitors, so it was easy to set up this shot without having to worry about other people walking into the frame. Since I only have eight shots on a roll with the Medalist, I’m always very slow in setting up to make sure I’ve crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s before I hit the shutter.
Shot taken with my Kodak Medalist on Ilford Delta 100. Click for a larger view.
The trees in the parking lot next to our office turn mysterious at night…
Photo taken with Palm Centro
A California Poppy in the garden behind the Plaza Hotel in San Juan Bautista.
Shot taken with Canon S2IS. Click for a larger view.
Just found this – it’s remarkable what modern technology has done to the arts.
This is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen for a while, and all it took is a group of people with a camera and a couple of buckets of paint. Very inspiring.
