Wading in Amicalola Creek

I've been waiting for some warm weather to get into Amicalola Creek to look for more dynamic compositions. I went twice this week - once with my Nikon F2 and a few lenses and once with my new Mercury Camera with a 38mm lens, shooting 6x9. Here's some 35mm images:

I went back a couple of days later with the Mercury and I retook some of the same images. I will print several of these 6x9 images for sure as I was very happy with the results:

I took a few other images not in the creek both days, here's a few of those:

Here's some extra images from the medium format film I shot last night at the top of the falls:

Finally, I did take a couple of color pictures on 35mm - here is one, on E100G:
 

Here's a cell phone picture of the Mercury camera while I was shooting:

First images with the Mercury "Universal Camera"

Around this time last year I backed a project on Kickstarter for an interesting camera designed to be as "universal" as possible - the Mercury Camera.

This camera was designed with modularity in mind and with the appropriate hardware can shoot anything from 35mm to 4x5 film, as well as digital "medium format" backs.

I was interested in the camera first and foremost as a no-nonsense ultrawide lens camera. I talked to the creator and designer about whether lenses like my Schneider 38mm XL could be used on the camera - both on the 4x5 and medium format configurations (in actuality the 38mm doesn't quite cover 4x5 but is great for 6x12).

I received one of the first test units before general shipping happens (soon) and was able to give it a test spin this past week. I went out to Preacher's Rock again and shot a couple rolls of 6x9 with the 38mm XL.

The camera worked as intended and easily handled the 38mm XL. As basically a simple box it was easy to use and did not have the parallelism issues that have plagued me when using this lens on other cameras.

I am now testing and helping to calibrate the Mercury with a large number of lenses. This camera will be an excellent ultrawide camera to supplement my current cameras.

Here's a few images from that afternoon:

 

And finally here is one color shot, taken on Provia 100F:

Flowers at Gibbs Gardens

A couple of weeks ago Meagan and I went to Gibbs Garden to see some of the spring flowers. I shot a roll of Velvia with my Nikon F3. Here's some photos:

 

 

Byron Reece Memorial Trail to Neels Gap on the Appalachian Trail

Last weekend I met up with a fellow large-format photographer at the Byron Reece Memorial Trail near Walasi-Yi, also known as Mountain Crossings. We hiked up the steep ascent of the Byron Reece trail to Flatrock Gap, and then veered left onto the AT where we hiked almost to Neels Gap before turning back.

I shot a dozen sheets of T-Max 100 film, mostly with my 58mm, 90mm, and 150mm lenses. Here's some of what I shot:

Summiting Cowrock Mountain on the Appalachian Trail from Tesnatee Gap

About 5 years ago my first experience on the Appalachian Trail was a little hike at Tesnatee Gap. My wife (girlfriend at the time) Meagan and I pulled off of the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway to take a look and I was excited to hike a little on the AT. It was a bit arduous and we only went a little bit in as we were travelling.

This past Friday afternoon I wanted to go to the Tesnatee trailhead. I didn't realize that was where we had gone 5 years ago but I thought it looked familiar on the map. Meagan came with me again but she was not really wearing appropriate footwear. The hike at Tesnatee is pretty arduous, with some very steep ascents at the beginning and then for most of the second half of the hike up to Cowrock Mountain.

We were slogging up that second half when Meagan decided she was done and so I decided to quickly get up to the summit which I figured was close before we left. I kind of jogged up the rest of the way to the top which ended up being another four or five steep switchbacks up! I was exhausted by the time I reached the top, having also brought my 4x5 camera and kit, but I was treated to a phenomenal view and a fortuitous storm cloud passing by just as I reached the peak.

I quickly pulled my 4x5 out and a 150mm lens and snapped several photos. I used an R25 filter and a 2-stop GND filter on the lens. with T-Max 100 film dev'd in FX-39. Here was the view (cropped square):

I was lucky to grab this shot at just the right time. The cloud was too far to the left pretty soon after. Also, the negative is not the best. My FX-39 developer had apparently oxidized and started to fail. The negative is really thin and underdeveloped due to this but I was able to salvage the negative scan here. I've been researching some intensification methods to see if I can get the negative to a more usable state to print in the darkroom. If not this may be a situation where I actually get a digital negative made up to print it properly because I love this shot. We'll see.

Cowrock mountain is definitely somewhere I'd like to try camping. The sun will rise somewhere in this view in the morning I believe. Off in the distance you can see the famous bare face of Mt. Yonah. There's a couple other prominences on Cowrock that I will have to find another day.