and some other stuff.
I saw some nice work on the Facebook Pen-F group done on Kentmere processed in Ilfosol 3. I wanted to see how that combination compared to what I get with developing in PMK Pyro. I thought the results weren't bad, but they don't seem to me to be quite as nice in regard to tonality and fine grain. I'm thinking I may try the Ilfosol 3 with some medium format Fomapan next.
I first came across Tlaloc, the Rain God, in an arroyo near Rincon in southern New Mexico. The depiction of Tlaloc was on a rock face overlooking a hueco, a natural rock tank that collects rainwater and holds it long after the late summer monsoons.
Sometimes dons strange disguise
To walk among us
When I was in the process of redesigning the web site I maintained for displaying my rock art images I decided to create a Tlaloc-like figure as the favicon, the icon for the site that is displayed in the head of the browser. At the time, New Mexico was deep in a long drought and it occurred to me that each time a visitor clicked on the url of the site, the Rain God would be called. Perhaps not a guaranteed drought remedy, but it seemed like it was worth the gamble.
I closed down the rock art web site not long after moving to Albuquerque. Mike Elek picked up the html code and images and preserved Sacred Places: New Mexico Rock Art as part of his vintage camera site, but the Tlaloc favicon did not go along. I then decided to reuse the Tlaloc favicon for my Everything Else website that I use for digital photography and various other purposes. So, Tlaloc is still working to ameliorate our dry spells.
My recent visits to view the rock art at a couple sites that are part of the Petroglyph National Monument got me to thinking about the production and life span of images. Indigenous people throughout the world created compelling visual records of important aspects of their cultures which in many cases have endured for thousands of years. They did so using the simplest of tools along with patience and perseverance. This petroglyph found at Crow Canyon, for instance, depicts important qualities of Navajo culture including their reflex-recurve bow design which they brought centuries ago from the far North.
By contrast, the millions of images produced daily using our technologically advanced methods and tools have life spans which can mostly be measured in hours, or even less. Publishing them online or storing them on hard drives enhances longevity only an insignificant amount. If a lasting impact is a goal, then trading a camera collection for a chisel and hammer would probably be a good choice.
Albuquerque had a fine sunny Wednesday, so I decided to take a hike through the Piedras Marcadas section of the Petroglyph National Monument. Access to much of the site is limited by rope barriers, so photography is best undertaken with the help of a telephoto lens. With my camera of the day, a No.1-A Folding Pocket Kodak Special, I had to limit most of my photo making to panels close to the trail.
The film was Fomapan 100, processed in HC-110b. In the camera, FPP 120 to 116 spool adapters were used to hold the roll film firmly in place. Eight rotations of the winder takes the film to the first frame. Two-and-one-half rotations separates succeeding frames.
I also made quite a few shots of the rock art with my little digital Canon A1000 IS and I'll post some of those on my other blog.
The arrival of wintering Sandhill Cranes is usually heard before it is seen. Their strange, trilling calls carry for great distances in the winter blue sky. It is a sound that came from the sky a million years before the first humans appeared anywhere on the planet.
We took the dog for a run in the big public open space on Albuquerque's West Mesa which is bordered by some small volcanic peaks.
In the past we have seen coyotes, Cooper's hawks and rabbits for the dog to chase. On this day the only sign of life was the curled up carcass of a centipede.
There was the whine of engines to the South, so we drove down to the Maloof Air Park where rc models are flown.
All the flying model planes these days have electric engines driven by 22 volt batteries. There are a few with props, but most are ducted fans.
The field has an 800 foot runway which is used by the radio controlled craft. There are also areas for helicopters and for control line flying, but nobody does that anymore. Over the years I have visited the site, the planes have gotten bigger, faster and more maneuverable. One fellow showed me a big model of a troop carrier that could eject parachutists on command. I'm looking forward to getting back to see that.
I've been somewhat intimidated by the prices for lenses to fit my Olympus Pen-FT, so I was surprised recently to find an ebay listing for a 100mm telephoto for just forty bucks, shipping included from Japan. It was clearly a risk on several levels, but there are no blemishes on the glass or the external surfaces and the focus is smooth. The small size of the lens is a bit shocking, particularly because the 100mm actually corresponds to 140mm on a full-frame 35mm camera
* * *
No complaints about the image quality from the 100mm; it seems to me that the contrast and resolution are up to what I expect from Olympus. However, the 3.5 maximum aperture did challenge my focusing ability with the cloudy day lighting.
My Nikon EM developed a problem I was unable to fix. I haven't used the EM a lot, but I liked it for it's compactness and reliable performance. I decided I would like to replace the camera, though it seemed unlikely I would find another for the same cost of $10 which I paid at a neighbor's yard sale.
To my surprise I did find another Nikon EM on ebay for $13. A test roll of expired film showed the shutter and meter working, but all the images had a broad stripe light leak near center. I scraped the old seal material out of the channels on the back of the body and replaced it with black yarn. What actually got rid of the leak, however, was a strip of black foam which I installed near the back hinge. I then shot a new roll of Kentmere 400 while walking the dog around the neighborhood, and that showed the new seals to be performing properly.
So I'm pleased to have a working Nikon EM again, particularly because I nearly always have used the camera with the nice little 1.8/50mm Series E lens which probably would not get much use otherwise.
I've been going back and forth with 100 and 400 Kentmere for use in my Olympua Pen-FT. The images from the slower film is slightly smoother, but at the on-line display size the difference in grain seems inconsequential to me. For processing in PMK Pyro I increase the exposure by a stop for both films, so higher speed gains some advantage in terms of motion control and depth of field, and I think the tonal range is also a bit better. This last roll was Kentmere 100.
I have a couple rolls of color in the refridgerator, so I'm thinking that should be the next step for the Pen-FT. I may also shoot one in the Mercury II-CX to see how the performance of that old half-frame compares to the Olympus.
