-N- – Page 462 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Raindrops & Thorns

Another shot taken with Kodak UltraMax 400 and the Olympus XA4. I don’t know if it is me, or the camera, or the film, or a combination, but I don’t think the sharpness is quite where I would like it to be. Despite that, I think this is a helluva a great little camera – so quick and easy to use. Maybe I’ll pick up the XA later on as it is a true rangefinder, not a zone-focusing one as is the XA4. What I do like about the XA4 is the wider angle, and the ability to do some macro work with a point-and-shoot sized film camera.

That Strange Light Before It Rains

If you have ever experienced the scudding light – bright, shadow, dark, bright – as clouds race before the wind, you know what I mean. Suddenly one patch is brilliant against the ominous dark, then vanishes before your eyes.

This was taken with an Olympus XA4, a very small rangefinder from the 80s. The XA4, from 1985, sports a five element Zuiko 28mm f3.5 lens focusing to 0.3m (12 inches), with the help of corded measuring devices for macro work. The cords attach to the camera and extend for measurement. I acquired on which was new old stock, and it’s quite a fun little 35mm camera. It is also – I swear – the last film camera I plan to buy (for awhile)!

I had the film developed at a local lab, and scanned it myself with my Pakon 135.

Into the Mist

Another phone picture . . . today, at the end of October, we are having nearly 100F here in SoCal. Rain next week . . . or so they say. The drought continues.

Up the Hill

Jack and Jill went elsewhere.

Early Morning

Another photo from the misty, moisty morning I climbed out of bed . . . . While the Galaxy S5 takes OK panos, I like the stitching-together process better. Here is a view of Mount Clef across the grasses of the small valley in Wildwood Park nearby my home. Today we expect 86F, and tomorrow 91F. I think I live in hell sometimes, even though it is very pretty! I am tired of this heat – ongoing heat – and dream of water falling from the sky.