vacation – Page 2 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Between Thanksgivings

Yesterday, here in the U.S., was Thanksgiving. We celebrated it with a few members of our family out of town. Tomorrow, members are coming here for the big family gathering, from east and south and west. So, Wednesday we made pies, and today we set up the tabbouleh, tzatziki, zhuk, and marinating chicken for tomorrow’s feast. Lots of chopping and such, along with a fun grocery trip to a market that sells all sorts of foods not seen in the ordinary middle class market . . . this one caters to Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian, and Mexican tastes, so there is a lot of fun and strange food to be had. On top of it all, it’s so reasonably priced! If you enjoy cooking, nothing like an exciting market and a family which loves good food.

So, did I spend my entire day prepping? No, I didn’t. I did some napping, had some coffee, edited some photos, and then had an epiphany: I can use my photos for subject matter, whether sketching, ink-and-color, or pure watercolor. I went through a few photos from our summer on the road throughout the Southwest and Western U.S., to places like Mesa Verde, Ft. Laramie, Yellowstone, and Teton National Forest. Lots of wonderful things to see. Now, a lot of wonderful things to recall with a drawing . . .

Photo from Fort Laramie in Wyoming:

A quick ink-and-color sketch of the same:

They don’t really look like each other, but what the heck. I liked the roof and chimneys against the blue of the sky.

Traveling Light, and the Laptop Adventure

In about 5 days we leave for a 2-week road trip throughout the American Southwest. We leave California and head to Flagstaff, AZ, for a few days, then on to Four Corners in Colorado and Mesa Verde National Park. Then, a stopover in Colorado Springs. From there, we will be in Laramie, Wyoming about 4 days, to explore as well as to visit the University of Wyoming and Fort Laramie as there is family history related to Fort Laramie in particular. After that, on to the Teton National Park and Yellowstone, home of beautiful mountains and hot springs and geysers like Old Faithful. Then, Salt Lake City, Utah, and St. George, Utah, and finally, home.

There will be four adults, two of whom are photographers. We take up space. Then there is the need for technology, too. Not to mention knitting and drawing and reading (thank goodness for the Kindle!). Space needs to be considered very, very seriously. I’ve narrowed it down: I am going to take only my Nikon V3 and its small lenses – I can pack them up quite tidily. I am also going to bring the Olympus OM-1n and its 50mm and 35-70mm lenses, the latter of which has a close-focus element. I also want a point-and-shoot film camera, which will be either the Trip 35 or the XA4 – possibly the latter as it is more versatile and has a wider lens, having close-up and 28mm capacities. I will also tuck a medium format folder in amongst the camera selection, and maybe a tripod, though I seldom use them.

And then . . . there is the laptop. It pays to have a serious IT guy in the house. He restored the laptop to Windows 8.1 by doing some research and installing it as a bare-bones system. I need to still install Lightroom and such on it – but I’ve decided I am not going to spend the time on it between now and the day of our departure. I will bring my Chrome Book and use Pixlr and Polarr for post processing, and use an external 1.5 TB mini hard drive as storage. This should do. I would prefer to bring the laptop – thank goodness I have a genius of a husband! – but don’t want the time hassles at the moment.

Film is another decision which needs to be made. I have JCH B&W in the OM-1n at the present, and a yellow filter as I want to try my hand at b&w landscape and nature photography (and maybe some street). The 120 film decision can be either Kodak or Fuji . . . I chose the Perkeo as it has an automatic film stop that works, and with Kodak not having numbers dark enough to read through a red window, it’s important when choosing cameras and film.

By choosing the V3, I am going to give myself an opportunity to master some of its features that I have not yet done. I want to try long exposures with it, to smooth out waterfalls or just the rivers we will cross. I may need to bring a bushing for the Perkeo if I want to use it for landscape and a tripod . . . but that may be more than I want to think about! The OM-1n should be fine as it is, and the point-and-shoots are fine in the hand. The Chrome Book and affiliated software will be another learning curve, and it should be fun. Polarr seems to leave a signature on all the images, but it might be it can be removed. I haven’t had time to fidget with it too much, but like what I see. Pixlr is like Photoshop, and some of its key features should work well in conjunction with Polarr.

So, the technology and camera questions have been sorted. Now I have to do the bills and begin putting things in the suitcase, tech bag, and camera bag. So much to do! So little time!

Vacation Choices #2: Voigtlander Perkeo II 80mm f3.5 Color Skopar

Here is another camera I have taken pictures with, and which I am considering as a 120mm folder for our road trip. The Voigtlander Perkeo II and the Color Skopar lens are a great combo. I used Kodak Portra 400 in it, and really did not appreciate what the camera and lens and film can produce together. These were taken last year in August, and produced some of my favorite images.

What are your thoughts about this camera for a road trip?

Hummingbird Moth

The very first day of our vacation to Mammoth Lakes earlier this summer found us arriving at our B&B on a fine, sunny day. The balcony behind the house was brilliant in the sunshine, and to greet us was this Hummingbird Moth, fluttering around, and for all intents and purposes, looking and acting as a hummingbird does – quick darts, sudden stops, hovering in the air. Luckily my camera was able to capture this beauty. Interestingly enough, I had never heard about Hummingbird Moths until only a few days before I saw this one!

Tourist Stop: Bodie, California

For what it’s worth, Josh and I went up Highway 395 to see what the Eastern Sierras has to hold. I’ve never been up there.

We decided to visit Bodie, the old silver-mining ghost town in the high desert of eastern California. It was amazing – not so much that it was a ghost town, but that at one point, it wasn’t a ghost town. The road in is about 13 miles long, the first 10 of which have been recently blacktopped, but the last 3 of which are gravel and washboard. We were there under a noonday sun.

Historically, about 5% of the original buildings remain, many of which had been destroyed by a fire sometime ago (1920s??). While it is rather desolate and barren, visiting and learning a bit of its history, you are amazed to see the civilization of an age past come to life.

Click on the images below for the slideshow!