Thursday, July 30, 2009

I panicked.








Earlier this week, I panicked. My office is a bit of a disaster because I've been working two jobs, traveling a lot, and getting ready for my last scheduled photo exhibit of the year (yay!), and my husband uses the room as a catch-all lately, so his laptop, cords, and other miscellany are lying about. I finished editing my Polaroids from Idaho (these above and several others on Flickr) and figured it was high time I get my Banner negs developed. I shot two rolls in Flaming Gorge (or so I thought) that were still sitting on my desk, and two rolls in Idaho (or so I thought again) plus one still in my camera. I glanced over at the two rolls next to me and wondered where my Idaho rolls were. As the minutes passed, I became increasingly panicked, thinking I'd lost two rolls of film. After about an hour of searching over and over through the same pieces of luggage and camera bags, I gave up and took my only two rolls to Nichols the next morning to get developed. Well turns out I'd lost my mind apparently. I'd only shot 1 1/2 rolls at Flaming Gorge, and 1 1/2 rolls in Idaho, with that half still in my camera waiting to be finished. Every little 4x4 negative is accounted for and I remembered that this is why I don't like being as busy as I have been. I forget stuff and unnecessarily panic. But the Polaroids are nice.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

A Case of Bug Spray

Welcome to Idaho





Two weeks ago, I had to (got to) go to Idaho for work. My aunt joined me since my husband was in Minneapolis for work, and she was so kind to do so. She was such a good sport as I dragged her through middle-of-nowhere sections of the Boise, Sawtooth, and Salmon-Challis National Forests, nearly 150 miles of dirt roads (one road alone was 70 miles of dirt), swarming mosquitoes and biting flies, and one of the most rustic places I've ever stayed. In the four days we were on the road, I added 1100 miles to my odometer as we drove from home to Boise to Cascade to Warm Lake to Stanley to Ketchum, and back home, and all but the home to Boise/Twin Falls to home parts were jaw-dropping gorgeous. Mountains and trees and lakes and wildlife around every corner. I must return to the Sawtooths with my husband and kayaks, good hiking shoes, and a case of bug spray. Thanks for road trippin' with me, Non! You were great company!

I shot over 300 images with my digital camera for work, but as always, I packed a small assortment of cameras I actually like so I could take real pictures while I was there. I shot with my K1000 (images above, and more on Flickr), several Polaroids soon to be posted here and on Flickr, and one and a half rolls in my Banner. I need to shoot the other half of the half-roll, but I picked up the other roll a few minutes ago (and a roll I shot in Flaming Gorge over the Fourth) and can't wait to get scanning. Later tonight, perhaps...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Red Canyon & Green River





A few posts ago, I offered a few of my favorite digital images from our Fourth of July trip to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and the surrounding Ashley National Forest. I am finally catching up and can now post my favorite Polaroids. The sunrise over Red Canyon and the long green grass dotted with early morning dew was too pretty not to shoot with two cameras. It's no surprise that I like the Polaroid better, but I liked the digital image enough to use it as my blog's banner. Thanks Red Canyon sunrise!

Despite the lack of down time at Flaming Gorge, we had a really wonderful trip, and it's been so fun working through these Polaroids weeks after I shot them. It was kind of like another trip back. Red Canyon was my favorite place in the area. The pink sunset photos are from Greens Lake, a lovely little lake on the Red Canyon road. We had dinner at Red Canyon Lodge and walked outside to the lake dock while an evening thunderstorm boiled up from the Uintas to the south. I'd love to spend a couple of days with my tent and kayak at Greens Lake.

The highlight of our trip, and easily the highlight of my whole summer job with the Forest Service, was the nine-mile float trip down the Green River. I had to shoot six campgrounds on the Green below Flaming Gorge Dam that are accessible only by boat. That Sunday morning, we met up with Shaun, a BLM river guide, and his girlfriend Becky, who took us down the Green in a Forest Service dory. Doused with sunblock and bug spray, we put in at Little Hole, and worked our way down-river to Jarvie Ranch, our take-out. Along the way, we talked with some nice campers, met a dog who swam to pass the time, and saw a few Great Blue Herons. We got to Red Creek Rapids, a class II rapid, and after it was over (1 minute or so) we wanted more and bigger, but that was all that section of the Green had for us. It was our first whitewater experience, other than white caps out on reservoirs and lakes we've paddled on, and although it wasn't much, it was exhilarating and very fun. The entire trip down the river took about four hours, and it was filled with gorgeous scenery, great conversation, good laughs, and a little Widespread Panic. After the take-out, we stopped at Jarvie Ranch and Jackie, a funny and sweet volunteer who lives there, gave the four of us a tour of the ranch and told us some great stories. It was such a fun day, and a great end to the trip. We drove home once we got back to the ranger office. We'll have to go back with our kayaks again, but this time, we'll spent our time paddling the river instead of the reservoir.

All in all, a wonderful trip. We met some friendly people, saw amazing scenery around every corner, noshed on yummy food, cruised the reservoir with a ranger, paddled the reservoir in our kayaks, floated the river, snapped a lot of photos, and came home exhausted. Hope your Fourth was just as nice.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Cottages







I could live in any of these cottages in Cannon Beach, but especially the second, fourth, or sixth. The sixth cottage, the little purple two-story, is a favorite of mine and my dad's. It's just east of Hemlock on Van Buren, just up the road from where we stay in Cannon Beach. It's got beautiful copper rain chains off the rain gutters, and well, really, that's what we love most about it. The fourth cottage had a cozy hammock just to my right and was so dense with vivid green foliage that it seemed almost hidden. The second cottage, I just love. No reason other than it's just a lovely little place with pink flowers. I love Cannon Beach. It's very touristy, but so charming, and if you stay away from Hemlock and all the shops, you don't notice all the people. We've been not-noticing all the people for years now, which is what makes Cannon Beach so nice.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Round and Round


A couple of months ago, some friends and I started Words to Shoot By, a bi-monthly photography project where we choose a word and then shoot it. It's been so fun seeing everyone's interpretation of the theme, and this month was no different. I just love being a part of this project, and I hope my pals do too. This top triptych is what I went with this time, and the one below was my first idea for "round". We had the neighbors over for pie last night and right before I pulled the homemade frozen lime, strawberry lemonade, and pineapple pies from the freezer, I made a few digital images of the fresh fruit I grabbed to top the pies with. Of course, since they are digital, I don't care for them, so I came up with the other idea last night and shot my yellow and orange Argus C3, my rainbow Polaroid OneStep, and my pretty little Kodak Duaflex this morning on my deck while watering my new aspens. The potted lavender and a new family of blue jays kept me company.

But It Makes Me Happy







Three summers ago when I went to Cannon Beach with my dad and nephew, I took my DSLR and my Holga. I shot about 50 digital images, but only one lonely roll with my Holga. Last fall I returned with my friend Wendy, and shot mostly Polaroid, a few DSLR images, and a roll through my SuperSampler. This past June, I went back with my dad and nephew, and good Lord, you'd think I'd never been there before. I purposely left my DSLR in the closet at home, but took my Polaroid SLR 680 and made 34 photos, and my Polaroid 104 and made 17 photos. I also shot three rolls through my Banner, and two rolls through my Duaflex, and I'm STILL not finished posting them on Flickr. I have this thing where I can't post images out of order. I have to post them in the order that I shot them. I guess my blog is different because two posts below, all those photos were made a couple weeks after Oregon. Oh well. But on Flickr, I have to keep them in order. It's a weird freakish thing but it makes me happy.

That being said, I now have a massive backlog of images to post because I've been shooting like mad this summer. I really don't think I've ever shot this much, ever. I guess that's a good thing. I mean, I've had the film sitting in my fridge for how long?! Some of my 120 film expired three years ago, and I bought it a good year before its expiration date. I don't exactly feel comfortable with my current Polaroid stash, but it's still pretty sizable. The way I measure is if I can get into one of my crisper drawers, and yes, I can stick my whole hand in there. I'll have to look into another buying frenzy soon. Anyway, point of my story is that I'll be posting summer photos long into fall, I think. This backlog has forced me to stop shooting everyday little things like the zucchini bread we baked last weekend; our first garden that's about to burst with ears of sweet corn and warm, sun-baked zucchini; my lavender, hyssop, and rosemary plants that are growing so well in their terra cotta planters; our outdoor movie nights with friends and neighbors; and last but not least, simple little things I've noticed around the house and yard, the neighborhood, and my town. It's a span of time that will have to be carried by our memories rather than Polaroids. I'll get back in the swing of things soon, I hope.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Five





I feel like I've not been on this planet for a couple of weeks now. This summer has already been way too busy for my taste and it doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon, but I'm doing my best to stay caught up and still have fun. These five images are from my June trip to Oregon with my dad and nephew and Josh (my nephew's friend). I flew into Portland and spent the day with Elizabeth downtown, and out at Fort Stevens State Park before joining my family for the rest of the week. I had a wonderful time and am just so happy that my dad has this thing for the Oregon Coast because it means we can go together. Thanks for a great trip, Dad!

Taking cues from the lovely Alison Garnett, here are five good things:
1. my husband's new laptop and watching a movie on it in bed last night
2. the crock pot
3. awesome neighbors
4. zucchini bread
5. backyard movies

Monday, July 06, 2009

Mo(u)rning

First off, thank you to all of my friends for the kind condolences. My grandma was a wonderful person and the best grandma in the world and she will be sorely missed. It still doesn't seem real, and I still feel like I've got a dark rain cloud over my head, but I know my grandma is at peace and is with my grandpa after 17 years apart, and also with her parents and sisters, and they're all having a good ol' time together. I will always remember all the fun we had together and I know I'll meet up with her and my grandpa again someday...

A few weeks ago, we planned a trip to Flaming Gorge in northeastern Utah so I could do some Forest Service photography work, and with the tough week we had last week, we thought about canceling the trip and just staying home, but my granny wouldn't have wanted us sitting around moping, and we thought it would offer a nice distraction, so we hit the road Friday morning. It was a very busy weekend and we were running all over the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area the whole time. We put 800 miles on the car in three days, but saw some beautiful country and met some nice people. Here are just a few photos from Red Canyon, where we camped Friday night. As my husband snored away in the tent, I got up and watched the sunrise at 6 o'clock. More photos to come, including several Polaroids and a couple rolls through my Banner.





#15 on my list can officially be crossed off, but I'm sure we'll go on several more camping trips. I shot this last photo Saturday morning, which was morning #5 in a tent.