Some Time Spent In Nature

It wouldn’t be me if I wouldn’t have waited over a year to share any new photographs. This post is a bit by chance already. We recently bought a house and I found a few rolls that I forgot about while unpacking. Fortunately, this spiked my curiosity, so I dropped them off at Mike’s a couple weeks ago and recently got them back.

Half of the photographs were of cars and the rest were of random scenes from random days with friends. I’ll have a few posts to share though, which is nice. We’ll start out with a handful from a day spent with Cody Martin.

The following images were taken at the Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve up near Grafton, Wisconsin. I was shooting Fujicolor C200 on a Nikon FE2 that was gifted to me from Cody after I regrettably got rid of my FE. I recall at the end of this trip the rain started falling and the mosquitos were real bad.

Lion’s Den Gorge is one of my favorite places to visit. Something about tall, brown bluffs topped with greenery along Lake Michigan. I definitely recommend paying a visit if you’re in the area and haven’t been.

Road Trip to Tulsa

Back in March I took my annual road trip down to Tulsa, OK to see close friends. This was year four in a row and a trip that I look forward to every 365ish days.

I promised myself I’d shoot a roll of film on this trip and stayed true to that. The following photos were taken with a Leica M5 on Fujifilm Superia Premium 400. In my opinion, the film was a bit too fast for my environment, so I shot fairly closed most of the trip. I learned that the M5 has a bit of a vignette once shooting pretty closed.

I’m still trying to figure this camera out. The sad thing is that I’ve owned it well over a year and haven’t been intentional about using it. That said, here are a few of the photos that turned out enough to share.

A few honorable mentions:

  • It was the second trip in my new-to-me Honda Element.
  • The first mirror selfie is in the bedroom I’ve stayed in the last four years. Almost feels like a second home now.
  • It was the first time I ever eaten at a Waffle House. Worst coffee ever, but the foot was special.
  • The second day it snowed. Leave it to a Wisconsinite to bring the weather down with him. Fortunately it was pretty much gone by the next day.
  • We played lots of disc golf, ate good food, and had good conversations.

It’s 2022 Already.

Welp. A few months have gone by since the last time I shared anything. Somehow we’re in a new year. I’m at that age where I understand now what it means to watch life pass you by. Fortunately, I had multiple moments last year where I realized where I was and took it all in. Here’s to hoping I can do the same this year despite the chaos.

As for taking photos, I’ve made great friendships recently that have been inspiring me a bit. Although we met through car culture, they all are passionate about making photographs and it was only a matter of time before I was inspired enough to get out with them. That and finding something to do to pass the time during Wisconsin’s cold winter months.

The following photos were taken with an Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom 80 DLX I bought from Crivello’s for $20 last year during a walk downtown with a friend. Film stock is my favorite, Fujicolor C200. And yes, the selfie is for proof that I indeed make these photos.

Tangible Images

Over the years I’ve experimented a little bit with Polaroid cameras. I’ve owned an SX-70 for the last couple years and have only put one or two rolls of film through it. The film can get kind of expensive, but I’m going to try to start capturing at least one Polaroid a month (and when I say one, I mean one that actually turns out somewhat decent).

Anyhow, here’s a handful of Polaroids that I have shot that I like.

On another note, I finished a roll of film that I’ve been working through recently. It’s the last roll that I’ll be putting through the camera. More info on that to come in time.

The last of 2020.

I understand that we are already a quarter into 2021, but I’ve yet to finish a roll of film this year. Below are a few of the most recent photographs I’ve taken and had developed (recent as in 2020). Some were taken on my Voigtlander Bessa R, some on my Olumpus StylusEpic Zoom 80 DX, and others on my Kiev TTL 6×6. I’m currently working on a couple of rolls in two cameras and will hopefully have some new work soon.