Town Hall

I have been looking for a couple of places to shoot more black and white images. I realized a couple of weeks ago I had been driving by one of them for several months. Just a little over a mile from where we live is the Stockton Town Hall. Originally built in 1877, it is a great place to shoot.  I hope someday to gain access and take a look inside . The hall has not been in use for quite some time. I was told the last time it was used was for voting and basically the only thing inside is voting equipment.

I do not understand the small windows on the backside of the building.  They are just big enough to put ones head through. Ventilation maybe? I will ask around and find out.

 Film grain is hard to beat.

Easy Targets

I got out this morning to shoot a roll of black and white film. The morning was nice and crisp for a change. I ventured out to a couple of places I wanted to visit but have not really had a chance to for some reason or another. 

This self-portrait was made with my digital camera. I am unable to make self portraits with my large and medium format cameras. I need to invest in a squeeze bulb that will give me several feet to make an exposure by squeezing air into a line to trip the shutter. I found this place by wandering around a park with my black and white goggles on. Seeing color is easy for us. Black and white on the hand is not so easy. As I write this entry, that roll I exposed this morning is drying. Once they dry I will be able to make some prints. There are a couple of images from the roll I feel will make good prints.  More to come...

One of the places I visited this morning was a railroad display near downtown.

  

This wagon has seen better days.  Makes one appreciate how much things have changed in the last 100 years.

As I was leaving the park I noticed some flowers that caught my eye as they swayed in the dappled light. These flowers towered above me creating a great background of  blue sky and clouds.

 

Burnt Image

In past posts I have mentioned that there is an image of a barn that eluded me due to my own neglect on a winters evening. Since then I have driven past it a couple of times. Last weekend caught me alongside the interstate camera in hand.

While I know that I cannot recreate that winter evening, this image leaves me satisfied.

Gently Used

    Last winter, I purchased an old Ricoh camera for twenty bucks. In the camera case was a couple of lenses, flash,  light meter, and some filters. After looking through the contents of the case, I went to town and bought a battery that powers the light meter inside the camera. It worked. The light meter in the camera is like the one found in a Pentax K1000. A simple needle on the right hand side of the frame as one looks through the viewfinder. In hindsight, I wish I would have started photography classes with such a camera. I placed the camera back in the case and placed it upon a shelf in the garage where it sat until last month.

    My daughter, Megan, visited here last month and since we were developing film and making prints, I thought it would be perfect time to run a roll through the camera. Early one morning while Megan slept, I pulled out the camera and cleaned it up a little and loaded a roll of T-max black and white film and out into the yard I went. Here are a couple of results from that roll.

Colorado Blue Spruce.

The Ricoh did okay and I am satisfied with the results. The only drawback I found with the camera is the mirror hits really hard when the shutter is released.  A tripod or monopod needs to be used with this camera. Did I use one for these pictures? What do you think?
    

The Bride

We were leaving. I walked past them. I knew there was only one way to get where they were going. I paused. Click. Done. The whole time leading up to the image once I walked past them. Less than a minute.

Visit

Last month my daughter, Megan, came to visit. We had a blast hanging out.

This was a lot of fun. Megan and I went though the entire process from loading film, taking pictures, developing film, and then making prints.

Movie Night.  What a blast. 

Summer Night

A couple of nights ago went out to try to get a picture of the Northern Lights. They had been fore-casted for our area. I enjoyed being out there. I spent about three hours total waiting for a glimpse of something I have never witnessed. So while I waited I made some exposures.

  


I live about seven to eight miles from town and still have some light pollution. I waited but never saw them. Next time I will scout a better location for the event before-hand. Something with a better view.