Bus Stop

Put Away The Selfie Stick

Nikkormat FTN 35mm f/2.8 Tri-X 400

          Many times in my life I get caught up in the work of photography and consciously put the camera down to be able to relax and enjoy time with my loved ones.  I mentally separate taking good photographs (for work) and personal photographs (to look back at).  I rarely put any thought into the photographs I take for memories and deliberately try to not be technical about them.  I lazily just want to remember the time and the place I was with her most of the time.  

          This day was a special day for my girlfriend and I.  It was one of those days when you knew you were with the right person, at the right place, and at the right time.  I guess you could say I was feeling more generous than usual about making personal photographs other than the routine iPhone selfie.  It could have been the love in the air, or maybe it was just before I had built up that wall of bitterness toward actually thinking about content in my personal life.  I don't really remember developing this roll, but when I recently scanned it, nostalgia flooded my being and I realized how nice it was that I took the extra effort that day.  These two images are nothing special technically, but they tell the story of that day back to me in a way that lets me relive it in all of its enchanting glory.  

          I want all of my images to sing to me the way this roll of Tri-X did, and so I believe it's time for me to put away the selfie stick and find the beauty in capturing real memories again. 

Dog Sledding

Nikkormat FTN 35mm f/2.8 Tri-X 400

Red

          Red.  No other color has so many distinctive cultural meanings.  Red is the color of love but also the color of war.  It is the color for passion and fear.  It is said to be the most visually stimulating of all the colors, which is the reason fire hydrants and fire alarms have adopted the color.  The same reason a bold red lipstick is sure to grab the attention of a keen bachelor.  Red always has us looking, which is why I pulled over to get this picture of a lone red shopping cart in an empty Target parking lot.  Too flirtatious to ignore.  

Jury The Adventurer

Rolleiflex T2 f/3.5 120 Tri-X 400

          Jury is my go to adventure guy (if he isn't already off adventuring) I can almost always count on him to tag along.  This was the beginning of winter and I wanted to do an easy test trip to set up all my ice fishing gear and perhaps catch some beautiful fish as well.   Jury who is a prolific outdoorsman and photographer shares my love for film photography.  He brought a borrowed Pentax 67 and I brought my Rolleiflex 3.5 and some rolls of Tri-X.  We took turns shooting each others cameras as we waited for some fresh catch.  Being the photogenic guy that he is I ended up with some frames I thought to be adequate and therefore they ended up here.  Unfortunately we had already shot all of our film by the time we started pulling out the trout.  You can visit his website here --> http://www.jjrkphotography.com/

Tales From Yesterday

          As I drove down the street looking for something worthy of being the last frame on my Pentax 67ii, I caught two people out of the corner of my eye sitting at the bus stop.  The first thing I noticed was the matching blue outfits and the green cage they rested in.  I quickly turned off at the next turn and came full circle around the block.  I parked at an old motel.  The motel looked pretty beat up and I was unsure if it was still a functioning business.  There were a few cars parked in the lot so I parked there anyway knowing I would only be a few minutes.  I had to cross a grass section of the motel which had an abandoned pool in the middle of it and thought it might make for an interesting picture.  I figured it wasn't worth a precious 6x7 frame so I kept on my way toward the bus stop.  

          I lugged my giant Pentax 67ii over to the nice couple and asked my usual question, "May I take your Portrait?"  The nice woman reacted the way most people do, a polite but off guard "sure" followed by a, "wait, what is this for?" Of course I explained who I was and what I do with my images.  She had a sweet and comforting voice that made the interaction quite pleasant which made sense after she explained to me that they just moved to Grand Junction from Texas.  Southern charm is a real thing.  She happily proclaimed, "We've been together for 25 years!"  The man remained silent.  This bus stop was on a busy street, and I couldn't fit the couple in the frame with out being in the street.  So I was trying to frame, focus, and consider all aspects of photography while dodging traffic in the middle of the road.  Needless to say I was pleased that the picture turned out and that I didn't get hit by a car.  I gave them a business card and was on my way.

          As I headed back feeling satisfied, I once again looked at the swimming pool wondering about its photographic possibilities.  I got in my car and picked up my Nikon FE (which still had 10 exposures left) and thought I could spare a couple 35mm frames.  I left the car running and walked back over to the pool.  I have been working on having a higher hit rate with my film so I was taking my time.  Framing a few different shots and then bailing because they weren't good enough.  I spent a couple of minutes doing this.  I framed a shot and thought to myself "man it would be awesome if there were a person in this shot"  With my eye still looking through the viewfinder just thinking about the scene, I heard a disturbance in the peaceful decaying motel parking lot.  An angry Eastern European man was cursing and yelling as he ran into my frame.  I wasn't sure if the commotion was directed at me or not but I held my ground and took the shot.  I was excited because I got my wish of someone coming into my frame, but I was also panicked by the quickly approaching angry man.  When I pulled the camera off my face it became very clear that I was definitely the target of the hateful curses that flew from the mans mouth.  I started backing up as he got closer.  The man had very broken english, and I could hardly understand what he was screaming at me.  Although I couldn't make out his words, the red color of his face and the yelling told me he probably didn't want me there.

          I was almost certain by his body language that he wanted a fight.  I threw my hands up and walked backwards and he drew nearer.  I said I was sorry and that I would be leaving.  He yelled "WE ALL AMERICANS NO RIGHTS FOR ONLY YOU!"  I assumed he meant that I was trespassing and although I am a free American, there are still rules.  By this point I was already behind my car door with him in front of my car.  I apologized profusely and told him my intentions were not to offend him.  He kept interrupting my apologies with an impressively loud "LEAVE!" so I did just that.  Here he is in all of his red and raging glory.

Nikon FE 55mm Portra 400 (Exposed for 200)

Painter

Down town Telluride for the day by myself, I fumbled with my camera to get the shot as fast as I could with out the painter seeing me.  I was glad to have color in the Rollei for this one.