Photography by Naomi Drew
I have no idea what the name of this bush is, but it always fascinates me when I see it on my walks through the botanical garden. I should look for a tag. It’s such a cheery plant, and the long seed pods seem rather impossible given the pom-pom shape of its flowers.
My world really doesn’t look like this, but sometimes it does feel like this!
I have been soooooo busy with everything! People, projects, classes, etc., etc. I finally got out for a bit of a hike, and brought my camera along, too, loaded with Portra 400. I used my Olympus OM-1n, which is a favorite camera of mine. The lens was the 50mm I had attached to it. Interestingly, my tape that I put on any camera with film in it told me I had loaded the film on 3/6/2021, exactly one year to the day that I was out and about!
I am always rather “hmmmmm” about Portra 400. A lot of people like it, but in post I always need to do something to it. I probably should just not use it for anything but portraits since that is what it is intended for, but I don’t often take pictures of people.
Anyway, the hike was fun – and kind of scary since I went by myself and part of it was rather steep, with fall-offs that could be treacherous. Getting old is not fun, and losing a sense of independence in some areas is not where I want to be. However, prudence was there insofar as my husband knew where I was, and I had my phone.
This is a little sage plant, newly growing in the moist soil above a creek. I couldn’t get a really nice shot of it by itself, and that is when I set my exposure and took multiple images to stitch together. In the end, I liked this composition, and just messed with it until I got something I liked.
I took this photo a few years ago with my pre-WW2 Voigtlander Brillant. It is a simple camera that gives lovely results, as only a vinage camera can. I wonder if it is from their uncoated lenses.
I haven’t been to the local botanical gardens since last year, where this picture wast taken, when I fell down a hill and came home looking like something out of a horror film. A bit trepidatious to return, I admit. However, after the rains of last months, I know I have to go. The hills are greening, and the air of spring is in the air.
Definitely time to get out. I think more Ektar is definitely indicated, too.
As one year ends, we look back. As a new year begins, we look forward.
Happy New Year, everyone!
I re-scanned some Portra 400 I took in 2015 with my husband’s old Ricoh XR-10 camera from the last century. I have a Pakon 135 scanner that digitizes 35mm film. It is a real life saver, slow, and overall, reliable. There are some quirks that go with it, such as crippled software which I have worked around, but it makes scanning film very easy.
A few days ago, my husband replaced the old hard drive with an SSD in the vintage laptop I use exclusively with the Pakon. He removed the old HD and mirrored it. After that, he used an interface of some variety to make the old machine – an eMachine from 2005?? – running Windows XP (the only software that the Pakon software will work with) – think it is using an old HD. Yeah, techie stuff. So, I needed to see if the Pakon would still work – and it does! Now let’s just hope the old laptop will continue until I die, and the Pakon, too. What is interesting, too, is that my wireless mouse dies and resurrects itself periodically on the eMachine, so I ordered a USB cabled mouse and a USB hub to see if some of the other laptop quirks can be resolved. The laptop has a touchpad, but I don’t like them at all.
Besides checking out the workings of the new HD and the Pakon, I finally got around to seeing how to save the scans as negatives so I can process them using Negative Lab Pro 2.3 and Lightroom Classic. The Neg Lab Pro website gives very good directions – far better than when Nate began the product – and this scan, which you can enlarge on Flickr, shows how nice it all works out. The beauty of the film is still there, even digitized.
I think this combo is a ball hit out of the park! More to come.
Looking through a window to take a picture is always interesting. Reflections show up as well as the subject matter inside. Here, a classroom empty during the winter break.
Nikon FM3a, Nikon 50mm f1.2 AI-S, Kodak Tri-X 400.
Nothing like a line of trees with a grassy lawn between – wonderful in summer’s heat, to watch shadows, and just watch a day move by with a good book to read.
A really nice guy out doing his job. He asked me for directions.
I had to work to catch this one – I didn’t want him to know that I was stalking! He was on the local campus, hoping to make a delivery to a PO box, but the campus was closed, the students were gone, and the doors were locked.
The chapel at the local college is a favorite subject of mine. And since today is Christmas, it doesn’t hurt to think and reflect a bit about the holiday, before its commercialism. It is the story of hope – and hope is always something we need, no matter what we believe. It is a day to enjoy our blessings, and a day to reflect and dig deeper than the bottom of your stocking.
The Glass Aerie 