I love loquats! They are an odd fruit to most Americans, but they have a mild taste, beautiful seeds, and are borne on bushes or trees with glossy leaves. Over time, I have taken many photos of them and painted or drawn them.
I don’t remember where or when I took this photo, but it really shows the loquat in its full beauty. The fruits are pale yellow to a more deeper orangish color.
This is my most recent rendition of loquats, done in oil on a 12×12 canvas panel.
Above is one done in pen, ink, and watercolors.
And the above is done in gouache.
The round shapes against pointy, glossy leaves is always a pleasure for the eye.
Gouache, oils, watercolor, pen and ink on various surfaces.
I haven’t done any photography in awhile other than a snap or two out of my window. Yesterday, off to the local botanical garden with a new photo buddy. It was really nice to get outdoors again to take pictures, to sit and look and savor all the details the end of summer brings, from the last of the summer flowers to the turning of the leaves.
First stop here was this little brushy bush with red flowers. I don’t recall the name of the plant, but there were bees everywhere (in case you haven’t figured that out!). I had a 24-200 Z mount lens on my Nikon Z6ii, so I had no real macro lens, but at 200mm, I could keep my distance and wait for a bee. I cropped the photo considerably to show the bee and flower. And then this morning I thought up this rather bad title.
I bought the Pentax 17 half-frame camera soon after it came out. And only a couple of weeks ago did I finally finish the roll and get it processed. I scanned the film myself – the first roll in what seems ages – and it took me awhile to get familiar with my film scanners. I have a Pakon 135 which I use with my very old XP eMachine laptop, and my newer Pacific Image PrimeFilm XAS scanner which works with Windows 11.
Pakon 135 Scan
The above image was done using TLXClient (the professional part of the Pakon software – may have the name a bit munched), a part of the Pakon software. It is limited in size for the final scan. I used it with scratch and dust removal along with whatever else was in the arsenal. The image was a tad dark so I lightened it a bit in Lightroom. It has a warm cast which is very nice to the eye.
The above image was scanned as a negative – not a negative turned positive as the Pakon does. From there I converted it to a positive image using Negative Lab Pro and the “Cine” color interpretation. It is a lot colder and more blue of an interpretation. I rather like it. Post-processing of film images is a lot like painting – you can interpret things as you wish.
I used the Pentax 17, one of the two newest film cameras manufactured in the past couple of years. It is a simple camera which uses zone focusing but is automated in a lot of ways which make for some fun times. What I have seen so far in image quality is pretty good – and when you remember to take the lens cap off, you get pictures, too! (There is a light on the viewfinder which blinks at you if you have no incoming light – but I forgot that!) The biggest thing is that this is a “half frame” camera, meaning instead of one image, you get two. Thus, a 36-exposure roll should net you 72 images.
Image quality has been discussed back and forth for different film sizes, so I will leave it to you, dear reader, if you want to find out more. The link above takes you to the Ricoh website for the Pentax 17, and if you use the tabs on the web page, you will get a lot of information. I think the pictures I got look great – when I remembered to do things right! Using the Pentax 17 is easy and fun, and its compact size makes it easy to take with you.
Today I had planned to go to my painting class but when I got out of my car for a dental appointment this morning, I felt a sudden stabbing pain in my hip. So, I am staying home and have an appointment with my orthopedist tomorrow – this is just too weird, and having worked ER and radiology for years, it is a bit scary. Better safe than sorry.
To amuse myself, I scanned some long overdue photos from some Fuji Pro 400H color film I took sometime ago and had processed. Truthfully, most of the photos were rubbish and rather horrid. I thought this photo matched my mood – gloomy, dark, and definitely not one of sunny cheer, which is what this day started out to be! Instead, the humor of it all – or perhaps irony – is here in this photo . . . because I have photographed this little creek in a local park and can honestly say I have seldom gotten one I really like. Sort of matches my mood.
Agfa Isolette, Fuji Pro 400H film, scanned on Epson V600.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 