A memorable outing to Niles Canyon

It is that time of the year and work has me buried with no time left for photography. As such, I have only been able to run two rolls of 120 films through my new "used" RB67 Pro SD I bought in Feb. This past weekend I finally had the negs scanned by a "pro" lab so I could use them for my blog entry. I have to say I am not entirely happy with the resulting scan, the overall color seems off with a light blue hue to it. Since I won't be able to do any darkroom printing myself for a few more weeks, I will have to contend with using these scanned images for now. The negs do look 200% better on my lightbox.

Below are a few images from the second roll. It was a Neopan 400. What happeded to roll #1? Ah, that is an embarassing story, I messed it up. (and it was a Velvia! uugh!!) How? you ask. Simply, I loaded the film the wrong way, with the paperback facing the camera body. Not until I was removing the exposed film from the cassette did I realise I had made such a blunder! (silly me. It is easy to do though. The way the cassette comes apart for loading can be confusing first time around. Long story short, I learned my lesson and I will never do it again)


"stone statuette of a child playing at the park, entrance to Sunol city park, RB67 Pro SD, 95mm f/3.5, low res digital scan"
Did not have to work that day, sunday March 28th for a change, and I was looking for a new place to visit for photography. A good friend had told me about Niles Canyon a charming town of quaint saloon style storefront....It sounded rather promising and off I went, heading northeast early morning on 680N. Gorgeous oak studded hills and crisp fresh morning breeze greeted me as I drove on Niles Canyon road along Alameda Creek. Unfortunately there was no way I could pull over for photography as the 7 mile long winding country road was also rather narrow. Population of about 900, (I was told), Niles Canyon has one main street of beautifully restored saloon style shops (remember old westerns?), a beautiful church named "the Little Brown Church of Sunol" built in 1885, a small post office, a city park and a historic Sunol train depot (circa 1884). Nestled in the charming hideaway are many private homes, pied-à-terre for some perhaps and homes for others that I would be imagine are so inviting to come home or escape to on weekends.


"A man chatting with the crew of locomotive 2472 before the train set out on its 5 mile excursion. RB67 ProSD, 95mm f/3.5, Fuji Neopan 400, low res digital scan, Lightroom Beta Sepia filter"
As you can see, I got lucky :) The Sunday morning I was there happened to be the weekend of the first of three Golden Gate Railroad Museum excursions of 2010. Organized in partnership with the Pacific Locomotive Association, the Golden Gate Railroad Museum train ride takes families aboard vintage Southern Pacific locomotive No. 2472 through the beautiful canyon hills. Many families came to join the fun and kids got their history lesson. There were photographers from as far as Santa Cruz and it was a real treat for all.

"Crew of locomotive 2472, (a scene one could only find in the movies today perhaps?). RB67 ProSD, 95mm f/3.5 Fuji Neopan 400, low res digital scan, Lightroom Beta Aged Photo filter"

"Southern Pacific locomotive 2472, Canon 10D, Tamron 17-35"

Finally for all you steam engine enthusiasts, here is a link to Golden Gate Railroad Museum, one of the organizers of the March 27-28, 2010 excursions. Be sure to mark your calendar for the next family event.

Livermore Wine Country and Altamont Pass Wind Farm

The weather was wintry, forecaster had called for a partly cloudy day. I wanted to take a drive and get some fresh air away from the city and thought I should venture out to Livermore to see how the grapevines are shaping up thus far. Northern California has had a whole year's worth of rain already - could it wreck havocs to the year's vintage? I wonder...Anyhow, my excuse for driving 50 minutes northeast to the pretty rolling hills countryside despite the menacing rain clouds hovering over my head most of the journey. .
I was not too optimistic about getting decent shots. Well, the sky did clear (long enough for me to take a couple of nice shots of the wind generators towering on the hills along Altamont Pass). I did not really mind the cloudy sky, to me it just added to the mood. The intermittent sun and dark clouds and its shadows falling on the rolling pastures made for beautiful landscape. There is always photo ops I reminded myself. The real reason for my little escape today was that I had acquired a nice (well used) Mamiya RB67 Pro SD with 90mm f/3.5 KL/L lens and a 120 film back last Sat all for a mere $280 and I have been dying to use it. I had a roll of 120 Velvia in hand and thought I should take it out for a "test drive". The RB67 Pro SD is soooo heavy, weighs a good 6+ lbs not counting my tripod :(. I weigh a mere 110 lbs and have a 5 ft frame!! This is going to be fun.....My shoulder will probably hurt tonight but what did they say about chasing your hobby (my passionate pursuit of something called photography). I had just the right backpack for it though....a new backpack I got last Xmas (it even has a touch of champagne pink fabric on the front) See pictures below. It is pretty large but not overly large for me, with straps on both sides so I could strap a tripod on it (barely though) (the main selling point of the backpack). I was able to pack my RB67 ProSD body with the 90mm lens and 120 film back, my Pentax digital spotmeter, Canon 10D with a wide angle lens and even a Holga which I had a couple of frames left that I wanted to finish. I quickly loaded everything in my car, and drove north on 680 and then 84 in the direction of Livermore at 7:30am.



A few comments from the trip:

First of all I love the RB67 ProSD...I am all smitten by it. The waist level viewfinder is so very bright, what a world apart from the viewfinder of 35mm SLR. Second, there are a few safety locks so one will never accidentally click that shutter without cocking the level and winding the film forward. Third, multi exposure on same frame is a breeze, just set it and adjust for stops and shoot away. Fourth, I don't have to rotate the entire camera to change from vertical to horizontal shot or vice versa, just rotate the film back, WOW!! (that is such a brilliant idea). Finally, it is all mechanical, no worries of camera battery dying on me just when that perfect moment presents itself!!

It is HEAVY!!! but it is such a joy to use....The only way for me to use it is to shoot on a tripod (a good habit anyway)

The images posted above were from my Canon 10D, as I need to finish the roll of 120 Velvia and as soon as I have it develop, I will update with some images...can't wait.

Finally, this is the day I decided to leave all my Canon DSLR lenses at home except for the wide angle because it would simply be way too heavy. I wish I had them expecially the 70-210 f/4. Anyhow, I had also inadvertently set the image size on the Canon 10D to small (uugh)!!! I was so grateful I had shot a roll of Velvia on the RB67, I never have to worry about accidentally setting the wrong image size with film camera. I was reminded of how pros used polaroid to do test shots before the advent of digital camera. Well mine sure look like polaroid samples now, good for web use:(. So much for agonizing over whether to leave my other lenses at home. On a good note, I did find a couple of spots that would be awesome for black and white photography and as soon as my films arrive from Adorama this week, I shall head out there to shoot more!!







"my beloved new backpack" It has a rather large top camera compartment where I put the medium format camera and a second bottom compartment for a second camera, seen here in the picture. Here is a link to Amazon's Cuscus Amazon store I can't seem to find the same backpack on their store anymore, I remember reading that it was out of stock. They have some really nice hiking backpacks tho :)
Find Camera Backpackson Amazon

Looks like dust spots have found their way into my Canon 10D again, time to cough out some money to get the sensor cleaned again!! With film cameras, one never have to worry about sensor dust spots.

A footnote about the wind farm, these towering wind generators do make a constant swirling (humming) noise (sort of like sound of a quiet engine running constantly). It is very audible indeed at the foothills some 400 ft down and I understand now why some farmers in the midwest objected to their neighbors starting a wind farm as a way to subsidize their farm income

A trip to the city...

A San Francisco travelogue

Having read that there was a camera swap meet in south San Francisco Saturday, I decided to take the BART to town which is really the best way to travel to the city. I did plenty of walking and savored the sights and sounds and spent a good hour at the swap meet. I struck up a nice conversation with an old school commercial photographer on the Mamiya C33 twin lens reflex medium format camera he was selling. We chatted, mostly with me picking his brain...and wishing the good old days had not gone away so quickly. We talked about how producing beautiful photography is still about having your techniques solidly grounded, and knowing your wares....having the eyes for the light.....and that his very first used medium format camera he bought from some guy when he first started and how he produced great pictures with it. Later that morning, I walked to the waterfront of Embarcadero. As it was a Saturday, a bustling outdoor market was in session. Crowded with locals and tourists alike, it was at times elbow to elbow walking room. I did the quick tour, and some photography and soon found myself checking out the artists selling their work under big white tents in the park away from the crowd.


"Who is this man?"
I soon struck up another long conversation with an artist whose attire was rather nomadic, who interestingly has a Chinese sounding last name but grew up in Nicaragua as I later learned (not surprisingly, as many set sail to seek work and fortune some two hundred years ago and many went to South America). A photographer who spends a few months each year outside the country in search of inspiration, his works of brightly colored weathered buildings from Cuba to Nicaragua and Rajistan first caught my attention. There was also the image of two canoes in the morning light with the Bay Bridge in the background still shrouded in fog. Then as I looked to the floor, there was a photo of a young boy cloaked in red sitting on the floor of a monastery. He was holding up a long stick, pointing to a chalk board of sentences as if to repeat after his master. On the left, soft light flooded the dim room casting a small shadow on the boy sitting cross legged on the floor. The image stopped me in my track. I lingered on and looked at it for a long time. My mind wondered back to Asia, to the people and the colorful cultures, to the villages. Sometimes an image speaks to the soul and it takes one on a journey....may be because I grew up in Asia and had traveled to many corners of Southeast Asia where life is simple and yet plentiful...and learning and acquiring knowledge is what every parent wants for their child. It was the very poignant scene that moved the photographer and caught his eyes as he took that one and only shot.

"I am the proud owner of the photo - getting it framed...in dark wood with border"
It no longer matters if I took any photo at all with my camera. The sights and sounds of the San Francisco waterfront, the hustle and bustle had suddenly taken a back seat without my knowing.

Sometimes a photograph speaks to one's soul and it is that simple. I could not help but remembering the works of Dorothea Lange, her photographs of the "Migrant Woman" and the "Man in the Bread Line". Humanity and the ability to connect and feel is such a rare commodity in today's material world, I was so very glad to know it has not completely gone away.


"The artist's gallery along the San Francisco waterfront"
As I sat on the BART train heading back to Fremont and San Jose, I was deep in my thoughts. It was a good thought. I had bought the photograph from the artist whom I had gotten to know and we made some plans for collaborative projects in the coming weeks, stay tuned......