It’s been a bit longer than usual between this post and my previous one (about podcasts that I listen to) and even longer between this one and my previous photography related post. I think I got hit with the almost annual it’s-winter-and-it’s-too-dark-to-shoot-anything-and-why-am-I-even-bothering-with-this-hobby symptoms. I’m through that now though (I hope), especially with a few sunny days that we’ve had in the last week or so! Of course when I write this first part of the blog post it’s pouring down with rain again, but I guess you can’t have it all (and I am not outside in it, but rather inside, tapping away at my keyboard)!
Dad enjoying a bit of the sunshine at the beach.
I’ve managed to rustle up a few shots I took at Lomma Beach, a coastal community about 10 kilometers (or 6 miles) away from home, a place I’ve been to so many times throughout my life that I can’t even begin to think of an actual number. There are pictures of me as a toddler on that beach, so that ought to give you an idea of how long I’ve been coming there…
I was there on New Year’s Day to get some fresh air with my dad, and to shoot the VERY, VERY stormy weather that was happening that day, and it was pretty difficult to even stand still, let alone try to shoot anything sharp. Also, I managed to botch the roll from my Canon 650 SLR during developing so I don’t have any shots from that camera on that day. Still it felt very good to come back on a calm, sunny day to shoot again - to redeem myself almost with the same camera and lens!
Bike “rack” that gets a lot more use during the summer months.
I’ve said it before (and probably written it in this blog as well), but there’s just something about going to the ocean that makes things feel easier somehow. I don’t know what it is about seeing that unbroken horizon line or feeling the sea breeze tickle your nostrils…it just feels reviving to me. Of course when it’s blowing a full gale like it did on New Year’s Day the stay can be pretty short, but it still felt good to be out there. This week it was almost dead calm so I stayed a lot longer!
The volunteer rescue boat coming in from the ocean. From what I could see they didn’t bring anyone in…thankfully.
Like I said above, these are shot with a Canon EOS SLR and Tri-X film and they were VERY grainy and spotty as they came out of the developing tank. At first I wondered how the heck I’d been able to mess them up so badly (Tri-X on a modern film SLR shouldn’t look that bad). Then I realized that those chemicals I was going to discard and mix up a new batch…yeah, I never actually did that…and that was three weeks ago! So no wonder these looked the way they did! I’ve since replaced my chemicals so in the future my rolls won’t look as bad as this one did! Fortunately I could clean up a fair bit of the spots and streaks in Lightroom before posting them online! (hiding your mistakes I guess you can call it).
