One-Hour Film Processing

I recently went analog, shooting 60 frames of Real RAW. Yep, you guessed it: Film. The motivation was to go full frame 35mm. To read a comparison of film and digital photography, see http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/filmdig.htm. Since receiving my first digital camera as a gift from my wife Lisa at the dawn of the digital age a decade ago (at least when the cameras became somewhat less than impossibly expensive), I’ve shot film a few times. But getting it processed has become progressively more risky with local one-hour labs. So I made a rather frivolous and admittedly subjective test with a couple types of print film; Kodak 200 and Fuji Superia Reala 100. I expected bad results and I wasn’t disappointed. But I didn’t expect that the Superia Reala would be the loser in the comparison, though it had nothing to do with the quality of the film. The photos shown here are all of the Superia Reala, and a good demonstration of why one should avoid one-hour processing “labs”. Click on the photos to view the larger image. You will see the processing defects.
The Kodak 200 is a standard consumer film. It’s for taking a picture of Aunt Amy and vacation snapshots. I took it to a one-hour Kodak processor. It turned out the way I expected. The negatives look sharp. But the prints are fuzzy and the color is slightly washed out. There were no scratches or dust on the negatives, however. The Kodak Machine was apparently clean.
The Superia Reala is an elegant, more expensive film. I bought it at a well-known chain photo outlet out of the refrigerator and took it back for processing to the same place, which uses Fuji chemicals and machinery. The color rendering of the Reala is more to my liking than the Kodak, which is just personal taste. The color prints were a hint over saturated for my eye, though not quite as fuzzy versus the negatives. The first photo above was the best example of the roll, since it had numerous pieces of dust incorporated into the image during the processing, in addition to the apparently standard scratch that spanned all the frames of the roll. I also looked at the film with my loupe and the images are sharp. The processing machine needs to cleaned, but keep in mind that these one-hour outlets are set up for volume and any machine maintenance panics the clerks.
In the 90s it was almost safe to have a local processor produce prints, but those years are only visible distantly now and in the rear-view mirror. The unserviced Fuji has put me off the local processors. I’m going to try using a pro lab, and do it by mail, since the best reviews I can find point to a place seventy some miles away. Oddly, the pro lab is very competitive in it’s pricing, and the basic digital scanning produces an image close to the resolution of my Nikon D200.

Ranunculus

or Look Ma, No Macro Lens In the fall I planted over a hundred ranunculus bulbs. Lisa highly favors that particular flower, and it typically is in bloom in the days around her birthday in April.
The photos in this post are of those ranunculus, which have been in bloom for around 10 days now (now being March 28). I don’t own a macro lens – a lens specifically designed for photographing small objects like flowers or bugs. These were shot with a Nikon 18mm-105mm AF VR zoom lens.
In the case of ranunculus, the use of the word “bulb” is a misnomer – they are shaped more like spiders or multi-fingered claws. But because of their shape, they were something of a bargain. I picked through the bulbs at Parkview Nursery, my favorite local nursery, carefully counting out 8 dozen of various colors, since the bulbs were sold by the dozen. It seemed a fitting amount for the area I had to plant.
When I planted the bulbs, I found that several “extras” were nested in the fingers of larger bulbs. I hadn’t noticed the nested bulbs when I counted them out, so I ended up with over a hundred, though I hadn’t aimed for that result.

Chasing Light

Though my alarm was set for 3:30am, I woke a half-hour earlier on the 20th of March. The bike was gassed up, the cameras and tripods packed, so I was showered, warmed with decaf, encased in leather, and on the road toward the Salton Sea at 3:30. The sea is always a crapshoot, as far as what kinds of waterfowl may be present. But the gulls and pelicans never seem to leave, which is alright with me, since I like watching the pelicans. All of my previous visits to the sea have been during the middle of the day, but this time I was chasing the light. Wanting to catch the birds in the early light, I planned on arriving at the old resort pictured below about a half-hour before sunrise.
	Near the northern end of the lake on the eastern shore is a long-abandoned resort.
I don't know what the resort's name was, since it was in such a bad state of "repair" until a few months ago when restoration work started on it. The restoration has partially returned the resort to what I suppose was its former glory, and the width of the southern breakwater has recently been expanded with the "sand" typical of the sea, the tiny shells of various marine creatures. The “magic” light is volitile, changing quickly as the source of sunlight continues to higher above the horizon.
	This photo, a view in the opposite direction of the one above, has quite a different quality of color, though it was taken at nearly the same time.
	I liked the way the low-angled sunlight illuminated the pelicans on the water.
	The next four photos were shot in the direction of the shore from the southern (newly-widened) breakwater.
	Hunting breakfast, the pelicans cruised back and forth in the sheltered water inside the breakwaters.
	As they swam gathering breakfast, they turned in and out of the light and shadows.
	They don’t seem to bother each other when they catch something, but when a gull flys in to take a fish, the nearby pelicans rush the gull. I assume it’s a profitable strategy, or they wouldn’t repeat it so consistently.
	As on the last ride to the sea, there was a single Heron, a Snowy Egret in the area. This may be the same individual that I've seen before, but I don't know, since they all look the same.
	The same egret as above, standing sentinel on the southern breakwater.

Horses

In the San Jacinto Mountains there is a stretch of Route 74 that passes through Garner Valley. On the motorcycle, it is my favorite road. There are times when I want to get out and blow the dust off, but I don’t want to spend all day in the saddle. On those days I’ll frequently head for that stretch of highway, also part of the Historic Palms-to-Pines Highway. It simply feels good to ride it. I’m very much at home there, and I frequently wish that it was two or three hundred miles long, rather than a few miles. I usually putt through at 45 to 50 mph, pulling over for anyone traveling faster. I figure that at a slower speed, the ride will last a bit longer.
	In addition to Lake Hemet, Tahquitz Peak, the large western meadow, and the stands of tall pines, one great attraction to me is the horse ranches.
	The ranches seem to have been there forever. Though not because they are weathered or run down. They are of a piece with the land. They simply fit.
	I don’t know or profess to know much about horses. I rode a few times when I was a kid, but not long enough to develop much skill.
	But I like looking at horses. Even in paintings, where I typically don’t care for animals. And it is easy to see what a horse is for. It only takes a single glance...

Amboy 2010

	On March 13 we rode east toward Amboy through gusting winds at the east end of the San Gorgonio Pass. The pass is nearly always windy, which is why hundreds of wind turbines dot the east. Note the wind-bent trees in the photo at the right, a view of the San Jacinto Mountains from the rest stop at Whitewater.
	Part of my riding group after a quick dismount in the Sheephole Mountains, specifically the Sheephole Pass. From Left; Danny Underwood, Tim Devantier, Brandon McKee, and Dave Cooper.
	Looking down toward Bristol Dry Lake
	The view toward the lake.
	The view from Amboy Road about a mile south of the dry lake. The flowers were among the few that we saw. Though we had a fair amount of rain in the past two months, more time is needed before the plants will uniformly display blooms.
	Bristol Dry Lake. The "dragon's tooth" mounds of sand in the middle distance are the result of mining operations. The earth of the lake bed is periodically reformed with heavy equipment, and large areas are flooded with water to leach the salts from the ground.
	The facilities at Amboy Crater include a rough dirt entry road, graveled parking lot, bathrooms, and a shaded picnic table.
	Though not yet blooming, the plants were quite green near the crater.
	Danny Underwood and Kim Lawrence taking a Coke break at Roy's in Amboy.

A Quick Scout

Winter. Here in Southern California that means that if it isn't storming, it is probably a good day to jump on the motorcycle and ride. Today, February 28, was one of those good days. There was no water falling from the heavens and heavy objects were not flying by sideways-like in the Santa Anna winds.

In the morning I stood in my front yard for a few minutes, looking at the blue dome of sky and the soft rim of cumulus in the horizons, before starting the bike and packing the saddlebags while the engine warmed up. 


Given the large amount of rain we've had this winter, it seems likely that there will be a bumper crop of wildflowers through the spring. I decided to get out of the city, and into the nearby fields and hills where the blooming will take place, and scout out how the early flowers are doing. It would give me an idea of when to take weekend rides with at least one camera in the saddlebags. 
   















The photo above is of the farmland around Nuevo, California. Note the erosion of the freshly worked field from the recent winter storms.

  


Above and below: wildflowers along the edge of the field in the first photograph.

I did quite a bit of book and online research, but haven't been able to positively identify the yellow flower. If you can identify it, leave a comment and I will update the text of this post. The lavender flower may be Green Skeleton Weed.

I thought this barn color fit right in with the hillsides. This photo was made near (a few feet from) Washington Street in Riverside, California.