No Adjustments Needed

 I am always impressed by how my Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim (VUWS)  stacks up against much more sophisticated and expensive cameras in my collection.  I shot a roll of Kentmere 200 in the little point & shoot, aiming it often at subjects which I had previously visited with some high-end cameras.

The VUWS has been one of my most productive cameras over the past twenty years. In the past I mostly shot color with it, but that choice has been relegated by film prices to the digital realm.   The 22mm two-element lens handles black & white just fine.

 

Some Rain Would Be Nice

 I have been carrying around the Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim for a couple weeks, trying to finish off a roll of Kentmere 200.  I got close to the end with an early walk to the river.  Only a trickle of water in the Rio Grande these days.

 Just enough for Roxie to get her feet wet.

 The riverside forest looks surprisingly good considering the heat and sparse rainfall.

 I am told that the Yerba Mansa is blooming profusely and there is a. bumper crop of wolf berries, though I may not make it to that part of the river to see them this year.

I was disappointed with the results from the Kentmere 200 as the first roll I tried some time ago showed a much nicer spectrum of tonality.  I can't rule out processing issues, but doubt I'll shoot another roll of the 200 any time soon. 

I'm also unhappy with the GIMP photo editor at present as it seems to be under constant revision.  I had it working pretty well for a while,  but now some of the tools seem to interfere with each other. 

Alternate Realities

The practice of photography often emphasizes maximum control of every vairable.  Pinhole photography on the other hand offers the possibility of relinquishing control to some extent to venture into exploring the unknown and unexpected.

While one has awareness of an ultra wide view and a near- infinite depth of field, exactly how those will be expressed in the captured image is hard to accurately foresee.  I frequently mount my pinhole camera on a small tabletop tripod because I like the low angle views which that allows.  A side effect of that choice is some guesswork in aim that often results in the inclusion of unanticipated elements.         

While sunlit scenes can be captured by the pinhole in a second or two, a shaded subject typically requires an exposure of eight or ten seconds, and picture making in interiors can require many minutes to completion.  In that length of time people may unexpectedly wander through the field of view, leaving behind ghostly traces of their passage.

Much of the above was part of my experience on a recent stroll through Old Town Albuquerque with my pinhole camera.  The subjects at hand were all very familiar, but the pinhole gave me images of a novel character where my other cameras would likely only have duplicated past experience.

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PS:  I lost two frames from this roll of Kentmere because I could not see the dim frame numerals through the ruby window.  So I have poked out the window. I'll report back about the issue after the next roll.

No.1 Daughter

We enjoyed showing my Portland daughter and her spouse some of the things we like about Albuquerque.  One of the hits was breakfast at the Church Street Cafe.

Kentmere 200

 I loaded a roll of Kentmere 200 in the Leica IIIa and went to Old Town close to noon on Friday. The old cars were lined up on the shady side of the street in front of San Felipe de Neri church.  The owners sat in folding chairs along the sidewalk.

Afterward I walked around the Old Town streets to grab a few hip shots before stopping for lunch at the Tiny Grocer just off Old Town Road.

I thought the results from the new Kentmere looked pretty good.  Still, there are so many variables in shooting any film that it is not a good idea to jump to conclusions without shooting several rolls under a variety of conditions.  I have another roll which I'll try to get to soon with the Nikon S.