April 18, 2015. This is cheating, of course, and about the only way I am going to get a sunset out of a black and white film. I used an eight-point star filter and redscale film to generate the effect.
I hate this cell phone tower. Getting around it requires some acrobatics. Here, I just left it in.
April 18, 2015. Cezanne had his Mont Sainte-Victoire. I have The Saddleback which I have captured from various angles.
Redscale is a special film made by Lomography. I enjoy it for the bright orange tones it lends to the pictures. I used a Bronica ETRSi shooting 120 film for this landscape taken along O’Neill Regional Park’s Live Oak Trail. The grass was the perfect shade of yellow to contrast with the mountain.
May 5, 2015. The north end of the lake is perhaps my favorite. There is a grove of sycamores, an amphitheater, and a rocky point where fishermen like to hang out. I haven’t photographed all of these features, but I have plenty of years ahead of me to catch up.
May 5, 2015.
The Lago Santa Margarita is a place where I like to go to enjoy a walk. I usually use my cell phone to capture what I see there.
We’re going to Senegal in October with stops in London and Paris on the way over. It will be an eight to nine hour time difference from my home in Orange County. I’m in the process of choosing a set of cameras to bring with me. My Nikon D70 with a 32 GB SD card is a surefire pick as is the Nikon N8008 armed with a couple of zoom lenses and a pinhole lens for a little variety. After that I less certain: perhaps the Fisheye, the La Sardina, or my new Holga come to mind. A new tripod should complement the package plus a Samsung HC-V250 camcorder.
Filmwise, I will be bringing along my Agfa Precisa, some Ilford black and white, and maybe some Fomapan.
Senegal is flat which means that it will be a special challenge for me photographically. We’re planning to go on safari once (hence the need for a telephoto). There are plenty of interesting places such as Lake Rose (which lives up to its name), mosques, old cities, a huge statue called African Renaissance (the largest in Africa), the infamous Ile de Goree where Obama walked through the Door of No Return, and numerous markets. “Senegal, Land of Many Colors” is how an Italian friend described it.
The pictures should start showing up in November.
May 16, 2014
I did not enjoy this wildflower season as much as I did last year’s. The heat brought too many flowers to bloom too quickly and I missed many of the main displays though I did encounter a few species that were new to me including Hubby’s Phacelia.
Black sage is a common plant in the border zone between the coastal sage scrub and the chaparral. I found this tower of blossoms on the east side of Whiting Ranch.
May 21, 2014
This strange flower grows on rocky ridges in these parts. I found this beauty along the crest of Whiting’s infamous Billy Goat Trail.
The ragged edges of this flower are not a sign of decay, but the blossom at its best.
Date: June 14, 2014
I encountered five rattlesnakes last year. This elder sprawled across a hiking path in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park that I was descending. I worked my way around him and took several shots with my zoom lens.
I don’t believe in killing rattlesnakes. They eat rodents and rodents carry fleas which carry plague. Rattlesnakes are my friends, though ones I keep at a safe distance.
Date: April 26,2015
An 1812 earthquake brought down this church. For many years, the famous swallows of Capistrano lived on the upper walls.
I took this while looking for places to take pinhole photographs. It is fortunate that I got these because I screwed up the winding of my pinhole film and obtained many blurry double-exposures instead of what I wanted.
Photo-shopping, of course, came afterwards.
Date: April 26, 2015
After I finished taking my pinhole photos, I wandered around with my digital camera as well.
Let me tell you this: nothing attracts a photographer like a sign saying that you shouldn’t take pictures, particularly when there is no good reason for it.
Am I within my rights? Yep. If you don’t want something photographed, it is up to you to hide it from the street.
