Photographic field trip, a social shoot

Engine cowlings

Photography is pretty solitary most of the time. Stephanie shoots toy cameras while we walk and wander, but I don’t often hang around with other photographers. When I do, I often get questions about shooting film, or I just tend to zone out all the digital gear talk and wander off. It’s not very social, to say the least.

Part of that is where and what I shoot. I sometimes like to shoot in the woods, and not everyone likes to hike. I sometimes spend days in the 4Runner, wandering the mountains for ghost towns, and that’s not everyone’s cup of tea either. I spend countless hours bicycling and shooting while I ride. While I love and appreciate that Stephanie shares these interests with me, I don’t expect it to be everyone’s cup of tea.

So it was nice to get together with the Rocky Mountain Film Photographers and visit an airplane graveyard and shoot.

The propeller house. Hundreds of prop blades

The group is pretty small, and very new, so for a first outing, it was fantastic. There was coffee, a bit of grub, and a good amount of shooting. We had to leave a bit early, since we needed to drive to Lyons, CO before 5, but it was still a good day.

I think I shot the smallest camera there using my Canon 7. It was fresh back from the shop, and I had missed using it, so I burned the last of that odd Rollei CN200. It turned out to be a good choice. I also shot some Ektar and Portra. I still haven’t gotten the hang of the Ektar yet. I know it was supposed to replace their positive emulsions, but I don’t think it is as good as hey were. I shot the Portra at the wrong speed, since it was loaded in to a film back for my Kiev 88CM that was still marked as holding Velvia 100. Even though I blew it, it still performed pretty well. Aside from shifting green in the shade, it wasn’t bad at all. I also burned some Delta 400, but I haven’t had a chance to develop it yet.

Rescue

I almost never take my Kiev out. It’s heavy and awkward, and I lacked a proper strap for it. I picked up a cheap one to use with it that worked well enough. It’s going to let me carry that monster out more than I have in the past. I like big negatives, and this let me get some even though I did not take my large format out. I’m still waiting for the CLAC to be done so I’m limited to medium format as the largest I can produce now. But it’s a satisfying result, so I want more this summer.

Being social was a good thing. I’m voting more photographic field trips and coffee in the near future.

Throttle

Shooting with film people prevented the digital gear talk, and I’d never looked though the back of a 8×10 before. That is a huge, startlingly clear image. I’ll need to master my 4×5 first, but some day. Thanks to Dan for orchestrating access, and it was good to meet fellow photographers.

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Photographic field trip, a social shoot