An Exercise in Masochism: How I Got Started Hiking with my 5x7

On top of Mt. Garfield.

As with many of my projects, this hiking thing didn’t start out with the intention of being a project at all.  I found the old Kodak 5x7 camera on Ebay while searching for interesting 4x5 lenses. The lens being sold with this particular camera was a 203mm Kodak Ektar: a well-known portrait lens that has a similar but not as dramatic bokeh effect as the famed Aero Ektar. When used with a wide open aperture, the out-of-focus area in the background has a somewhat swirly appearance which some, (including myself) find appealing. I was able to purchase the camera and lens for short money: around $200, which is basically what the lens was worth. 

Image from my hike on Mt. Tom made with the 203mm Ektar. This is a poor example of the swirly bokeh but its the only one I could find without digging deep into my backups. Note the foreground out of focus area and how it appears to be in motion. That’s the Ektar trait. It’s really cool for portraits.

Although I did use this lens a few times on the 4x5, it sat on the shelf more often than not. So back on the 5x7 it went. It also happened to be the only lens I owned that covered 5x7. Lens coverage is a topic for another time. For all you theory nerds, here’s the wiki on lens image circle if you want to read a bit more about it.

The 203mm Ektar in all its snow covered glory. This was on Mt. Tecumseh. It was flurrying all day.

Back to the hiking part… Around this time,  I was doing a fair amount of reading about the early days of photography when men on horseback would ride out to some uncharted land to document the surroundings, map the area, and generally be badass adventurers with cameras.  

Talk about a couple of badass’s with cameras. I don’t know if I want this much adventure!

Image of the Kolb Brothers. Emery and his brother Ellsworth. Sometime in the early 1900’s in the Grand Canyon.

Photo: Northern Arizona University, Cline Library, NAU.PH.568.8408

I loved these stories. The difficulties the early photographers faced were significant: literally needing to carry the camera, glass plates, AND the darkroom out to these far away spots. Along with food, cookware, camping gear and horse/mule stuff…whatever that may be. I’m not a horse guy so I have no clue what that entails. I wanted in on some of that adventure–which is harder to find in the era of cars, nice gear, and the internet. But I was willing to partake in the small amount that I could find and the way I saw to get there was to go hiking with my 100-year-old camera. 

My first hill, Mt Moosilauke, was a bit of a test run to see how miserable this was going to be and due to the potential difficulty, I assumed this to be a once and done trip. I was a little nervous because it had been a few minutes (years) since I had hiked with any real weight and Moosilauke isn't the easiest of the 4000 footers by far.  Especially given how heavy the pack was…about 35lbs. This was also September in New England so of course the forecast was for light rain and 40º.  Cold weather gear was a must. Just a little more weight. 

Mt Moosilauke. A bit far away from the rest of the 48. Known to have its own weather and many complain about the frequent cloudy summit. It’s unfortunate because it has some really amazing views.

The short version of this hike: Get up really early, meet one drunk guy at the trailhead (yeah, that was a little weird), hike nine miles through drizzle and clouds, endure one wasp sting, see one completely socked-in summit, and take fourteen images.  I was back at my car right as the sun broke out for the rest of the afternoon. 

The Iphone video below from the day I did this. It was a rough day to be on top. Windy and really cold.

Hey! It’s me on the summit. I have since taken a self portrait of me on the summit of every mountain with the 5x7.

It was hard. Really hard, in fact. But I was hooked even before seeing the images. Being alone in the forest with this camera. Observing nature in the search for images and really slowing down to take it all in.  My experience on this well-traveled, not-far-from-home trek was nothing like the early days of photography but maybe this is a little bit like how those photographers felt while in the wilds of the frontier. Being a part of their surroundings. Doing things that not many do. I'm sure their experience was far more dramatic, with some legitimate fears of getting eaten by bears or a multitude of other possibilities of death, where mine were limited to the possibility of getting stung by another wasp. Which thankfully didn't happen a second time. 

Once home, I got to the darkroom as soon as I could to develop the negs and I was amazed at how well they worked out. Seeing the scanned images and the magic of the big 5x7 negatives revealed that this was not a once and done hike but needed to be a real project. 

I had known about this list of the 48/4000 for a long time, which are the forty-eight summits in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that are four thousand feet or above. Hiking “the list” is a popular thing to do. I just never saw myself as a peak bagger but once the list was in my head and that first one was summited…well, ya might as well climb the rest. Besides, once completed you can submit your list and get a patch! Yay! At least I can look forward to that. I knew that this would be miserable at times. Hiking with 35 lbs (or more, depending on the season) is no easy task, but I knew it would give me just a tiny taste of that adventure and maybe a little bit of what those early pioneering photographers went through. 

So that’s one down, forty seven to go. 

Had one sheet of film left so I figured I would take advantage of the sun that was non existent on this hike.

The last shot!

Going forward, I have decided to summit these mountains as singular hikes per mountain. As in not hiking multiple summits in one day. Because why not make it harder?  To date, I have hiked 34 of the mountains and I plan to finish the list by the end of next year. Or maybe continue on to the New England 67, or maybe the Trailwright 72, or commit to doing a Grid? But I don’t think the camera would hold up that long. This poor old wooden box has already been through some serious shit and is showing it.

Below are the best images of this hike.

Looking at nature and the clouds passing through the trees.

Just below the summit. Heading down.

Looking back up the way I came toward the summit. I was just out of the cloud cover when I grabbed this image.

On the way up. The first view. I don’t know which mountain is in the distance.

The behind the scenes of that first shot. I love slowing down a bit and really seeing and experiencing my surroundings. A dude hiking up saw my camera pointed into the woods and asked what I was taking a picture of. Just a little bit a nature, I responded.

Thanks so much for reading! A select few images from this hiking series and my road trip project are currently on display until December at The Conant Gallery in Gorton MA.

If you made it this far and you want to see more of these on the regular, make sure to subscribe to my mailing list to get the heads up! I promise I won’t slam your inbox with daily spam. I don’t have the time for that either.

A stroll in the Swiss Alps

I was doing a lot of self reflection on the plane over to Switzerland. I even wrote a blog post about my thoughts. I may share them at some point but I decided to back burner that whole thread because it ended up being just a bit too personal. So instead I am just going to share this trip and the amazing scenery we immersed ourselves in. 

I certainly took lots and lots of photos, but this wasn’t a photo specific trip. Just a vacation / bucket list adventure to use up the last of summer. The inspiration to go hike Switzerland was my wifes idea. We both love hiking and the Swiss alps is in the top ten places to go if hiking’s your thing. We were there for eleven days total with six of those days hiking and a few just lounging and being a tourist. 

For those of you that have been following along with my regular blog posts, I did suffer some camera indecision similar to my Grand Canyon trip earlier this year. Find that story here The Grand Canyon Post  But my more sane mind prevailed. So in an attempt to stay light and nimble, hiking wise and for the abundant train travel, I only brought along the wife’s Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless and the kit 24-105 lens it came with. The lens is kinda crap but I’m hoping the decent body will make up for it. This is supposed to be a vacation after all, hence the single digital camera.

Here’s but a few images of our experience:

Train station in Zurich. On our way to the jump off in Meiringen. Side note: Meiringen is also known for its claim to have been the place where meringue was first created!

View from the summit of Planplatten and the Alpine tower. Our prep hike and altitude climatization was taking the gondola up to about 7380 ft above sea level and hiking back down into the valley. The timing for this trip just happened to coincide with some late blooming wild flowers which were everywhere. Even though I prefer black and white, I had to show off some of this color. It was like walking through a postcard.

Thunderstorm rolling through. We are about to head down so this isn't a good sign.

Halfway down on the prep hike, really hoping to not get struck by lighting. It started to rain just as we headed down. And of course stopped as soon as we finished. About a five mile hike down the hill.

First full hike day (12 miles) and first real view of some serious mountains. View of the Wetterhorn. We would pass by the base of this several hours later.

Looking up at the back side of the Wetterhorn.

Looking back toward Meiringen, where we started. Headed over the Grosse Sheidegg.

So many cows. And so many cowbells! Like the constant traffic noise in a city, around here its the constant rings of a cowbell. The farmers use them to locate the herd in foggy conditions. Which is quite frequent. Every farm animal has one.

Looking back into Grindlewald. The hike was challenging and the throngs of tourists that were met at the top was disorienting. You can hike up or take the train. Most opted for the train. I found it similar to hiking Mt. Washington in the Whites. You work your butt off getting up only to be met with hundreds of people that took the train.

The Eiger. It's hard to imagine someone climbing the face of this. Lots have lost their lives trying.

Headed down into Lauterbrunnen. Our longest day of 15 miles. The descent, equally as punishing as the ascent, was long and very steep.

Our planned rest day visiting the Jungfraujoch. Which is the saddle between the Eiger and the Mönch.

Susan looking out from the saddle. 11,362 ft above sea level. We took the train up, thankfully. Unfortunately so did several thousand other tourists.

The Great Aletsch Glacier. As seen from the Jungfraujoch station.

I cant express how steep this actually was. This image does not do it justice. Headed down into Golderli.

More thunderstorms. Thankfully we were down from the hills when these rolled through. This amazing view was from our bedroom window.

Our favorite stay. The guesthouse in Golderli. We even got a yodel serenade that evening from one of the other guests. Thanks for the good chat Katherine and Johan!

It's hard to imagine living in a place so beautiful.

About 2 miles out of Golderli and the start of a very long and what was to be our hardest day. We are headed to Kendersteg over the summit of the Schwarzhore. A total of 5000 feet of elevation gain over 4 miles. And I thought the Whites in NH were steep.

More cows wondering what we were doing walking through their field.

Not the greatest image but wanted to include it to give a little perspective on how nuts this hike was. The arrow is pointing at Golderli where we started. You can see the guesthouse from here. The circle is two guys that were behind us. This is a good example of how rugged and steep this was.

From hard to harder. That's what this signs says in not so many words. Going from a red and white to a blue and white trail. Ropes stuck into the loose rock was the only thing preventing us from sliding down the very steep 1000 feet scree slope that was awaiting us on the descent.

The summit of the Scharwhore. 9138 feet above sea level. Thanks Italian guy who was willing to take our pic!

This section really tested our fear of heights. There were sketchier parts but we both were too nervous to take pictures. We were way too concerned with stying on the trail. 📷 @meepthesheep

Over the crazy Scharwzhore summit. Looking down onto a glacial lake.

Typical trail sign. Not the easiest to interpret.

Didn't expect to see some long horns. These were not the friendliest as they had a couple of calves in the herd. They made it known we weren't welcome.

Got caught in a thunderstorm on our last day. We were kept company by this cattle dog at a cheese house. The people working here were kind enough to let us stay on their porch until the storm passed.

The end of the last day. Headed to Lenk. Roughly 60 miles of hiking some of the most insanely scenic spots I've ever been to.

“why don't I just shoot these with digital?"

I was in the studio the other day making a few portraits of my friend Robbie Maynard with the 8x10 Deardorff. I, using my internal voice, externally said “why don't I just shoot these with digital?” loud enough for Robbie to hear. Pure sarcasm, of course, but definitely something you shouldn’t say in front of a fellow film guy. The thing is, shooting with an 8x10 is hard, really hard,  and I was annoyed and slightly flustered. Add in a moving subject, a person, and it becomes even harder. My frustration was totally my own fault. Just the typical fight with the camera. I was moving this knob when I should've been moving that knob…There’s so much to remember and I’m still a little new to the Deardorff. As intuitive as it is, it’s a somewhat busy camera to operate. 

After the shoot was done and my friend left, I was feeling only mildly confident that I got some decent images. This feeling of self doubt is common, even among some of the most accomplished photographers. So, much like everyone else, I second guess…always. But what I was thinking about most was why I do this with such an antiquated and expensive process. The easy route would be shooting these with my forty-something megapixel Nikon. The images would be guaranteed! I could tether to the computer, see the shots right away, and make lighting adjustments on the fly. It would be sooooo much easier. But easy is not what I want. So why?

The “why” is a question I have been asked so many times that you would think I would have a scripted response at this point, but I don't. I don’t because it’s a tough thing to answer as it can be a bit of a moving target. I do love the old camera gear. It looks cool with all the machined knobs and things. I love how finicky it can be (sometimes), the nostalgia, the history, and the fact that it’s not easy. But ultimately, even though all those are contributing factors, none of those reasons are the reasons I still prefer film and large format. So while I was sitting in my crummy ikea office chair listening to the sounds of a freight train passing on the neighboring tracks, and contemplating my choices in life, I had an epiphany. 

A memory popped into my head. The memory was from a bunch of years ago, of the days I was still assisting on large photoshoots. One of the photographers I worked with had a handwritten message in gaffer’s tape on his camera case. I just happened to notice it during some down time on set. The message read “ Magic not perfection.” 

This simple little message has always stuck with me but I had always thought of it in the commercial sense. Strictly relating to the job of the professional photographer, it is true: perfection is not always the best thing to work toward. Capturing the moment, the story, the character of a portrait subject…seeking perfection can get in the way of that. 

What I didn’t see in this message until that epiphanous moment was how it relates to my film photography. The fact that these cameras aren’t as good is the reason why they are so good. 

There's no debate, modern digital cameras are better in every technical aspect: better color rendition, higher dynamic range (by a lot), better resolution with bigger and better sensors. The flaws are many with film, including the expense, the weight, the added step of processing, the colors that can be off a bit, and the fact that anything less than medium format gives you a pretty low resolution image. But film has a quality that is hard to reproduce. There’s an organic feel that seems more natural, more lifelike. Digital is hyper real, too exact. I see film as more the artistic representation than the technical perfection achieved from a digital sensor. And one other thing: you can hold your original in your hand. It’s tangible. 

Just yesterday a commenter on one of my instagram posts asked why I use the old cameras. My answer was an analogy: these old film cameras are like an old tube AM radio–the warmth of the sound, the glow of the dial and the tubes illuminating the inside, and the nostalgic emotion it creates, vs listening to music on spotify in all its digital glory. 

Sure, the old radio couldn't be considered Hi Fi, but it sure is magical. Just like these old cameras. In all their faults and flaws: magic, not perfection.

Below are a few of the images I made of Robbie Maynard. You can find Robbies work on his Instagram Here and his Youtube channel Here

Sometimes a vacation should just be a vacation.

View from the South Rim looking North. Day one, 7am, headed off to walk across this.

About a mile down on the Bright Angel Trail.

I was really struggling the night before we left for Arizona over which camera/cameras to bring to the Grand Canyon. Read my previous blog post about it here. 

When you have so many choices and you're such a nerd about this stuff, it can be a real dilemma. So after much deliberation and an almost sleepless night (not really), I decided to just bring two digital cameras: the Fuji X100t and my Nikon Z7II. Blasphemy, I know–Digital!!! On a vacation! I almost couldn't believe it myself but I really just wanted this to go easy. It was going to be a lot of weight with the camping gear, three days of food, and lots and lots of water. The idea of carrying a brick of film and a heavy camera just seemed stupid. And ultimately I swing both ways as I’m not a film purist. 

So the die was cast and the digitals won out. Did I regret it? Well, yes and no. What I regretted was bringing both the Fuji and the Nikon down in the canyon. I ended up only using the Nikon once to do a few night shots. And all that weight was carried for nothing because the shots sucked. I used the Fuji almost exclusively and it performed amazingly. Such a great camera. And it was light enough that I could just keep it around my neck and pop it on and shoot whenever the desire struck. There was no way I was pulling the Nikon out that was buried deep in my pack for the following reason: IT WAS HOT! I mean really hot. Like the hottest temperature I have ever been in. As it turned out, there was a massive heat wave that hit AZ when we were hiking. Day one was averaging 105-107°.

The Devil’s Corkscrew. This is what this section is actually called. It’s one of the more exposed sections of the trail headed to Phantom Ranch. How this section is situated means there is also no airflow. It was 107° as we headed down this switchback.

The Colorado River! Only a little over a mile to get to Phantom Ranch.

Bright Angel Creek. We spent a lot of time sitting in this very cold water trying to cool off. It was around 105° that evening.

Morning of day 2. We hit the trail super early to beat the sun and to get to Ribbon Falls before the heat of the day.

On day two, I felt the highest temperature that I have ever felt. It was somewhere in the range of 122-125°. The Wife had this little digital thermometer hanging from her pack. The thing maxed out in the heat.  All it said was HHH. That was about 20 minutes after getting back into the sun after lounging for most of the day by a waterfall in a slot canyon. That thing went from 117° to HHH real quick. I looked up the thermometer brand specs when we got back and it tops out at 122°. It was all we could do to stay cool. So yeah, I wasn't super excited about taking pics. 

This is known as The Box. The first 4-5 miles after Phantom Ranch. It was a very pleasant 80° in this section relative to the heat at the Ranch.

Not a bad place to chill for the day. Ribbon Falls, which is a tiny side canyon and doesn’t get much sun. It’s easily 30° cooler here than in the main canyon. We stayed here for most of the day.

What an amazing place. You can climb up behind the falls!

These two ravens knew what was up. They chilled with us most of the day bathing in the pool and playing in the water.

After leaving the paradise that was Ribbon falls we stepped out into this. Taken just before this little thing maxed out. It was a struggle to make it to Cottonwood Campground in this heat.

Susan trying to find some shade in a place where there is none. Luckily there was a little stream soon after this where we could drench our clothes and cool off. Getting drenched was the only way to lower your body temp. When it’s this hot, sweating isn’t enough.

My sub par night shot. It’s pretty cool to get such a good view of the Andromeda Galaxy (lower right hand side). The only images taken with the Nikon.

The morning sun on the third day. We pushed hard to get out before that sun was on us.

Almost there. We had left Cottonwood at 4am to beat the predicted heat of 125° at the bottom of the canyon. Made it out and on the North Rim by 10am. Not too shabby. And it was a cool 78° at 8000 feet elevation.

View from the North rim. We just hiked across this!! If you line up the last cloud on the upper right and draw a line down to the rim, that’s where we started.

In the end, it was a great trip. Three days in one of the most beautiful places I can think of and three days of not worrying about making pics for money. I would absolutely do it again, but maybe not in the summer. And maybe next time I will rent a mule to carry my gear so I don’t have to struggle with one of the toughest decisions that a photo gear nerd has to make.

It's not always perfect.

I don't know what the actual metric is to be considered a viral video but relative to my small instagram following, this reel I posted not so recently went viral. The instagram algorithm gods shined their light on me that fateful evening in Las Vegas. This all happened while I was out there shooting for my neon project. It was just a quick 8-second reel. Didn’t even show the final image. Well that's because I couldn't. I made the reel about ten minutes after I took the shot and this is not digital so I wouldn't see the final image for at least a week, or in this case actuality a month… ya know, sometimes life gets in the way. 

The Reel

Within minutes it had several thousand views. I chalked up these initial 2800 views to just good timing. Sometimes that happens with Instagram. Hitting the timing is part of the game. I checked it again about 45 minutes later while eating some amazing pizza from Pizza Rock. Seriously good pizza, by the way. If you’re ever in Vegas and want good pie… the reel was at 30,000 views! WTF? By the end of the following day it was well into the 100K range and climbing fast. It topped out around 230k views a few days later. I couldn’t believe it! I was famous! Not really, but I did get a bunch more followers for whatever that's worth… 

This isn't some brag about how amazing I am because I had one not-so-viral, viral reel. Just to be clear, I don't have that much of an ego. I am certainly not amazing… yet ;) My point after this long winded story is that the image I took, the image at the center of the reel, was an utter failure. It didn’t work. It was poorly exposed. I obviously messed up my calculations, and to top it off something went wrong when I developed it. The negative was thin and useless. It was crap. I blew it. The irony was that this was my most popular post by a massive margin. 

Our failures are something we don’t often hear about or talk about. Social media makes it seem  that we are all KILLIN IT!. We are all busy! Selling left and right. So much work that we have to turn clients away. Life is amazing and there are never any mistakes. It’s no secret that social media is a lie but we gloss over these failures even when we chat with our peers, friends and clients. Why can’t we just admit this shit is hard? It really does take 10,000 hours to get good. I think I’m up to at least 15,000 and I still feel like I’m not there. I have been shooting with film on and off for 25 years and I still fuck up… all the time. 

So in light of this admission, I want to share some of my screw ups and the Vegas image I took on that evening the instagram gods looked my way.

The crap image that just didn’t work out. It took some doing to make it look even this good. The negative was so thin in the shadows that there was almost nothing there and the sign was so blown out that there is literally no retrievable detail. I stomped on the shadows to get even the littlest detail. Doing that really highlights the dust.

This silver print below is another wonderful example of failure. I spent at least four hours in the darkroom working on a set of five to sell. I cropped and fussed, dodged and burned, even did a reel about making it, In the hopes that I could use it for marketing to help sell the image. The thing is once the prints dried they looked flat and lifeless. And the image just wasn’t that good. In the bin they go.

Failed silver print of the salt flats at Rye. I don’t keep the botched prints around. I tear them up and turn them into scrap paper to write notes on.

Above is a failed glass plate from my hiking series. I can’t even begin to know what happened. Maybe Exposure, Maybe development? Both? Either way I wasn’t paying attention that day.

I recently did some portraits of Bill Miller (@billtmiller). For the most part they all worked. Except for two shots. I opted to switch lenses and try a wide angle that I hadn’t used before. It had multiple settings for the flash sync. Of course it was on the wrong setting which caused the flash to not sync with the lens. The image below is the result. The light you can see is the incandescent I was using to help focus. Not only was it two lost exposures, but the expense in film is also on my mind. That’s about $16 in film.

So here’s to admitting and owning your mistakes. They can’t all be winners! Actually the reality is most of them are losers.

To quote David Yarrow ( if you don’t know who he is look him up) : “If you get ten amazing shots a year, like ten really amazing killer images, that’s a good year.”

You just have to get out there and keep shooting. Eventually you’ll get to the point when you can get ten really killer shots in a year. I certainly know that I’m not there yet.

The Photographer's Dilemma, What Camera to Bring?

How many times have you spread out your gear next to your luggage and thought, which cameras am I bringing? This can be one of the hardest decisions when you're a camera person like myself.  

How many times have you seen images like the one below ? I can’t remember when I took this but it was years ago and I was headed somewhere good! Also this was before I got back into large format.

I am headed back to the southwest to visit family but also to do a rim to rim hike in the Grand Canyon. For those who are unfamiliar, a rim to rim is when you hike from one side of the canyon to the other. You can start from the south, the more popular route, or the north, but the goal is hiking the 25-ish miles to the other side. Some real nutty people do a rim to rim to rim which is south to north back to south. Or the reverse, starting from the north. 

Our Rim to Rim. This is one of the more popular routes.

Now back to the dilemma at hand: what to bring for camera gear? This hike includes two days of camping, so that means not only cameras in the backpack but tent, sleeping bag, food and with this being a very dry and hot location, lots of water. The water sources in the canyon can’t always be relied on so you need enough to get to the next water source. It’s recommended to carry at least a full gallon. That’s 8 lbs. Add the camping gear, food for a two day trek, safety gear/headlamp, clothes, and the weight of the pack itself. So as you can see it starts to add up real quick. Without any camera we are already looking at 25-30 lbs with the water. 

Just a few options. The 4x5 is not in this photo. That is at my studio for unknown reasons.

Let’s have a look at my options:

The 8x10 Deardorff. Not a chance. Maybe if I could hire some pack mules. 

5x7, Still really big and gear intensive. The holders are large and heavy. Yes, I hike with it all the time but that’s just the camera and safety gear. I did an overnight with this camera once. The pack was pushing 50 lbs. I’m not doing that again. 

The 4x5…you could probably pull this off but you would still be adding a minimum of 15lbs to the pack. And that's with only one lens and maybe five holders. Space is a concern with this and the reality is you would be hiking 25 miles with only 5 holders (10 shots). Unless you brought more film and a changing bag which is more weight. I leave this one for the day hikes. 

So now we are at the medium format options. I have my newly acquired Kiev 88, which is a strong possibility but it is about as heavy as a brick. I also have a crummy Yashika twin lens–that's not the best option as most of the images I get from it are soft or have camera shake unless you're really careful. And then we have the digital options. Which I’m not opposed to. I shoot digital for commercial work so I have a full suite of nice gear and lenses. And I have the really cool and fun Fuji X100T. I love this little camera. It’s light and can fit anywhere. 

This post is doing double duty. It’s discussing the plight of most photo nerds but it's also allowing me to think this through out loud. I’m leaning towards the little Fuji and the Kiev 88. It’s adding about ten lbs but that may be manageable. The jury is still out. I have another day to decide. Maybe I won't bring anything and just enjoy being in the Grand Canyon…HAHA that’s not happening.

What would you bring on a trip like this? Share in the comments below.

These three panoramics are from the last rim to rim I did back in 2019 shot with the Fuji X100T. These are pretty great. It’s been a few years since I looked at them. Maybe I’ll just go light and only bring that.

The last day, grabbing the car from the south rim. Looking north. Shot with the Fuji X100T. May 2019

View from the North Rim. Shot with the Fuji X100T. May 2019

Thunderstorm view from the South Rim. Shot with the Fuji X100T. May 2019

Neon in black and white?

The famous Las Vegas welcome sign

Doin my thing!

It was the winter of 2022 and just before Christmas when I made my first images of the Las Vegas Neon. I was craving some desert landscapes and a little more sun and warmth than the current winter situation in southern New Hampshire (think cold and snowy). More so than other locations in the southwest, Vegas is relatively cheap, and is a great jump off point for spots like the Mojave National Preserve, Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon, and lots and lots of open desert—so off I went. Viva Las Vegas!

One of the first images I made for this series. Shot back in 2022

This wasn't the first time I have been to Vegas. For years I have always had a soft spot for the place. Even got married there once…that’s another story. It’s not the gambling or casinos. It’s the kitsch, the grit, the entertainment history (big fan of the Rat Pack) and of course the neon. 

Also from 2022. I love that the guy is wearing a Santa hat. The El Cortez is also the oldest casino in Las Vegas

And the result! The front Facade of Circus Circus

Which brings us back to this project and my Christmas getaway. I shot a few images on black and white of the neon in Old Vegas. Why black and white? That's all I had with me and even though I thought they would look dumb in black and white, I blasted off a few. I didn't have any illusions that I would be able to balance the dark street with the bright neon (which metered almost as bright as daylight) so I just metered for the signs and hoped for the best. Turns out I really loved them in black and white. They ended up having a real pop art sort of feel to them. Some background came through but a lot of them were just blackness with a giant white sign. I really loved it.

Fergusons Motel. A few blocks past the Fremont Experience and getting into the grit.

So a few years later, again around Christmas, I returned and made this a real project by dedicating the trip the neon tour of Vegas. I spent a total of four nights capturing the glow of neon on film. I’ll be headed out to continue this series, hopefully soon.

Hastily Purchased Kiev 88, the Hasselblad Knockoff

I’ve always been a sucker for something interesting. Add a little foreign mystique and we have a real winner. What are we talking about? The one and only 1600F Hasselblad? Close, but not quite. Even better (not really), a rare Kiev 88. A real legitimate Russian knockoff of the Hasselblad 1600. 

This little gem of a camera that caught my eye at the Photographica show, which is a giant photo swap meet, hosted by The Photographic Historical Society of New England (PHSNH), was perhaps purchased in a bit of haste and maybe with a little pressure from some other potential buyers at the swap table that were expressing interest. I couldn't help myself–I jumped at it. $200 ain't nuthin, but it’s cheap for even a fake Hasselblad. Besides, there was no way I was going to let those other camera nerds beat me to this! I did have a little hesitation: it wasn't perfect by any means. The focal plane shutter (the only shutter, unlike the ‘Blads leaf shutter in the lens) was a bit lazy at the slower shutter speeds. And for light leaks? I had no idea what the shape of the light gaskets were in. 

Photo of me in Midtown NYC. Taken by Susan Cook.

Fast forward a week later and here I was in Midtown Manhattan attending the AIPAD show.  For what was going to be a long-ish weekend in NYC, I decided to throw caution to the wind and put a few rolls through this thing. 

B&H was closed due to one of the many jewish holidays.  I realized this, of course, after a long walk across town, so I headed over to 42nd Street Camera, which was actually on 32nd street and grabbed 5 rolls of film: 3 rolls of Ilford FP4 and 2 of HP5. Might as well ruin a bunch of film if you’re feeling like ruining film. 

After a little brush up “how to” video on youtube, the camera was loaded and ready.  What's that, you say? I should know how to load one of these? Cut me some slack…It’s been a few years (about 20) since the last time I had to load a film back. 

Three days of tooling around the city and all 5 rolls were spent. Got into the darkroom to develop these right when I got back and low and behold they were perfect! 

Well…Not so much…. Terrible light leak from where the dark slide goes in. Not all was lost but some frames were definitely gone. Minus the massive light leak on some of the frames, the images overall looked pretty good. My takeaways are, I need to use a faster shutter speed for a larger handheld camera and I love a waist level viewfinder. It makes for discreet street photos. I am by no means a street photographer. I will leave that to all the Gary Winogrand wannabes. But I think I made some ok photos. 

Was there any buyer’s remorse? No way. I had a blast shooting this thing in all its simplicity. Just need to import a new film back from the Ukraine and we are good to go!

Well this was an intense experience.

Totality!

About twenty minutes to go!

Yesterday was the event of the year, for the east coast and some of the middle parts anyway. A total solar eclipse! I had only ever seen partial eclipses and the last one was when I was a young kid and it was a bit cloudy so all it did was get a bit dark. This time was the real deal.  Bluebird skies predicted, the totality in the afternoon, and somewhat close to home. Just a quick jaunt up close to the Canadian border. Easy 2.5 hour drive. 

4 am wakeup and on the road by 5 made for light traffic. Newport, VT was the destination, just at the bottom of the large Lake Memphremagog. Got there right at 7:30 as predicted. It was still a bit sleepy in town but that would change quickly. The parking lot that we chose to make our home for the next 10 hours was a local grocery store with ample parking and good views of the sky. It quickly started to fill up. Cars jockeying for position, trying to decide what was the best way to face. Tents and hammock chairs getting erected, a guy selling cans of coke for $2 (I didn't understand the logic of this because we were in a grocery store parking lot, after all) and “eclipse rocks” for a buck, rocks that he tumbled personally “up until the day of the eclipse,  and guys in animal suits who drove from Maryland just for this. I think they were Furries…if you don't know, look it up. People with cameras and long lenses setting up hours before the event…needless to say, it was getting wild. 

For my wife and me, our setup was simple: old lawn chairs from the 80’s, the ones with the multi-colored weaved webbing (you know the ones), and a cooler with some food and my camp stove to make some coffee for later. Old school stove top percolator. The best. 

Workin Hard, Makin Magic

Yup! I bought an eclipse rock!

For camera gear I went a little light. I brought out the stuff I shoot with for commercial work. No analog for this one. Nikon Z7 ii and a 70-200 f/2.8. Longest lens I own. Thanks to my late father who also was also a bit of a photo nut, I had one of those mylar looking filters used to photograph the sun. It worked perfectly. I tethered to my laptop using Capture One software which made on the fly adjustments incredibly easy. And even easier when totality happened. I was able to control the shutter blind by repeatedly hitting Command K. After all, the enjoyment is actually watching the eclipse and not looking at it via a computer screen. 

Leaving totality.

It was around 2:30 when the eclipse started, 3:30 totality, and 4:30 finish. It was long lead up to the main event. I made way too many pictures, perhaps out of bored anticipation until we all knew it was getting close by the waning of the light. What was a sunny day turned into a surreal, desaturated twilight. Then just a sliver left, and Boom! It was nighttime in an instant. Except for this now black hole in the sky surrounded by white fire. What we saw was what amounted to the shortest and without a doubt the most intense, beautiful, and unbelievable three minutes of my life. Then just like that, sunshine. It was over. The dark-ish twilight faded back to full sun and except for us and a few other photographers holding out for the full cycle, everybody started packing up to head out. Two hundred thousand people headed off to clog the inadequate Northern Kingdom highway system for the next 8 hours.