Posts

Behind the photos: Ferns on the cliff face

Image
The setup used for the digital IR photos: Due to the discontinuation of High Speed Infrared film by Kodak (I do still have a very limited supply, however, my darkroom is presently out of order.), I started experimenting with digital infrared techniques. The hot mirror, which filters out most IR light, on the Nikon D70 is not quite as sensitive as other cameras (including my D200), so, with a R72 filter, which only passes IR, (although, if you hold it up to a light, you can see through it a bit), you can use it to do IR photography. Exposures are on the long side, however, so a tripod is absolutely required. In addition to the tripod, a wireless release is recommended, but not an absolute requirement (mine is missing). The filter, however, is a tad expensive, particularly in the larger sizes, such as the 77mm filter used by my 19-35 Tamron lens, so my initial experiments were with a 52mm filter. About a year ago, I went ahead and bought the 77mm filter, which is what is used for the ...

Franklin and the Green River Gorge mining operations.

Image
While the town of Franklin was abandoned in the early 1920's, several mines at Franklin operated into the 1960's, including two mines down the hill and across the river. (a third mine across the river was operated until the town was abandoned) Because the town was situated above the Green River Gorge, there is a considerable climb down to the river from the access to the town site, and an incline was used to access the mine operations across the river. Recently, my friend Peter and I went down the northern most of the three paths down to the river (first path from the trailhead), which was the access to the last mine in the area, which was closed as an explosives test during the 1960's, as I had heard about an abandoned mine cart in the river that's most visible in the summer when the water is at its lowest. I brought my digital IR equipment (D70 + R72 IR only filter), the D200, set to black and white, and the Lomo Fisheye down with me. The abandoned mine cart ...

Behind the photos: "A tale of three photos: The snow berries of Jenkins Creek Park"

Image
This is the setup I used to take the snow berry photos: This set up consists of a Nikon D200, Nikon 105mm F4 Macro lens with the dedicated 52.5mm extension tube mounted on a macro focusing rail, all mounted on a Bogen/Manfrotto 390 tripod. Not pictured is an electronic release, that I use to avoid introducing additional motion when releasing the shutter into the camera system which may result in a blurry photo. This specific lens, and the 55mm lens I have as well, will by itself (without the extension tube) do a 1:2 reproduction ratio, or 1/2 life size. The extension tube allows the 105mm to focus to a 1:1 reproduction ratio, or life size. However, the extension tube "costs" some light for the exposure, however, the built in meter will compensate for that. It also will not allow the lens to focus to infinity, so with the extension tube on, the lens will not focus to normal ranges. It also includes a tripod collar, similar to that found on longer telephotos/telephoto zoom...

A tale of three photos: The snow berries of Jenkins Creek Park

Image
The park behind my house has these berry bushes (possibly snow berries) all over the park, and they are handy subjects for some macro work. We had a white Christmas for the first time in 9 years and I was inspired to take these first two photos while wandering the park: This photo was taken about a year earlier: Thanks for looking, and as always, feel free to comment!

My apologies for a lack of posts, and the B-29 bomber Fifi.

Image
First of all, I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts, I've been pretty uninspired, my Darkroom is out of order, and I've been more focused on building an IT career. One of my off and on interests has been military history and military aviation. A few years ago, the Commemorative Air Force's B-29 bomber Fifi, one of only two flight worthy B-29's, visited the Seattle area, for the first time since the 1980's. Fifi was built at Boeing's Renton Factory, which now produces 737 airliners. My dad and I were able to visit her while she was at Boeing Field and the Museum of Flight.   The B-29 was innovative as one of the first pressurized bombers, for increased comfort for the crew, and to enable her to function as a very high altitude bomber aircraft. The pilots, navigator, and flight engineer all share the nose of the aircraft with the bombardier, unlike in previous bombers such as the B-17 and B-24. The navigator's position, situated behind the...

New blog posts coming!

Image
Sorry, I haven't been too active with my photography over the past two or so years, so there hasn't been much to post about, but I do plan on getting back out into the field soon with some fresh work. In the mean time, I will explain about one of the ways that I find about many of these sites. While I first heard about Franklin from a newspaper article several years ago, after I got into Geocaching in 2005, I discovered that there was a geocache there, which my dad and I visited in 2007, and that site visit sparked the idea to use IR film to photograph the site later that year. Many of the other sites that I have posted about, I first learned about through Geocaching, including remnants of the Pacific Coast Railroad line to Black Diamond and Franklin, the Newcastle operations, and others as well. This abandoned mail truck is a good example. I will be posting more photos of it to come, along with other new sites, and I do intend to finish the Roslyn project as well. I recen...

Misc. IR 1

Image
A few of my other IR images. A goal post at a nearby elementary school A picnic table at the same school An old tree at a nearby park.