Old Boat

Driving around the panhandle of Florida I often find old fishing boats abandoned along the shore.  Many of these boats were used for oyster fishing and have either become too old for use or were washed up from a tropical storm that hit the area.  I have aways been drawn to things that are abandoned and left to decay.  I am sure there is a story behind this old boat and these subject matters always intrigues my imagination.  That is part of the mystique of finding these old abandoned objects from the past. 

Scanning negative film

I have many black and white negatives that I had made during my darkroom days.  Most of my work back then was done with a Linhof 4x5 view camera using Kodak films.  Tri-x was one film I enjoyed because of it's exposure latitude and the way I could easily manipulate it.  When Tmax films came along it was a challenge at first to know how to use and process the film.  Tmax was revolutionary because of the grain structure and the very fine detail it could record.  It was a film that needed a strict processing procedure, and I used a calibrated Jobo processor to do all of my development.  The time and temperature was extremely critical to getting satisfactory and repeatable results with Tmax.  Recently I have   been scanning a few of my old negatives to use on my web site.  I have an Epson V750 flatbed scanner and use a fluid mount scanning procedure. The results are alright for web images but when compared to my finished fine gelatin silver prints they can not compare.  Certainly there are better quality scanning devices such as a drum scanner.  Someday I may use a custom lab to make a high end scan of some of my favorite negatives to see if I could print them to my satisfaction.  The above image, called Roger, is one I made with Tmax-100 film and scanned with my flatbed scanner.  

Buckskin Gulch

In Northern Arizona near the Utah border is a wilderness area that I love to hike called Paria Canyon.   There are wonderful canyons and river beds to explore and one of my favorites is Buckskin Gulch.  It is a long canyon that extends nearly 28 miles from one end to the other.  I have never hiked the entire canyon but hope to someday.  This canyon has narrow slots with high walls towering a hundred feet or more overhead.   It is always advisable to check the  weather forecast before going into these remote locations.  A sudden storm can drop a lot of rain in the mountains and all of that water will be draining down and out of these isolated canyons.  You can see in this image the log that is wedged between the canyon walls and can imagine the force of water that flowed down through this canyon at one time.  My rule for hiking into these locations is to keep track of time to know when to turn around and head back.  It is important to keep in mind that a four hour hike in equals a four hour hike back out.  It is easy to get infatuated with the magnificent surroundings and lose track of time and your energy.  The Southwest offers some great opportunities to explore some remote and rugged landscapes, and with a little research and planning you can enjoy some scenic wilderness. 

Technical notes:  I made this image with a 4x5 view camera using Kodak TMax 100 film. I scanned the negative using a fluid mount process on a 

On the Water

I had a chance to get out on the water this past week end and do a little photography.  Typically it can be windy here in Florida in the wintertime, so when I saw a calm day I immediately got my kayak out on the water.  We recently purchased new kayaks and decided to buy the sit on top style over the sit in style we had.  The new ones are easier to get in and out of, but as I found out, much easier to flip than our old units.  I was out a few weeks ago by myself and managed to flip it twice.  Once when I reached for something behind me and again trying to gather up my stuff floating in the lake in my water tight bag.  Luckily for me I didn't have any camera equipment out, and the alligator I just passed didn't make a meal out of me.  After this experience I decided that I needed to make my kayak flip proof so I can photograph without a concern of losing my equipment and not have to swim with the alligators.  I spent the next couple of weeks engineering outriggers that are fully adjustable to put on the kayak.  This week was the first time out with them installed and they worked perfectly.  Now the kayak feels much more stable and I can focus more on making photographs and less on flipping over.

I have a new web site I just constructed.  You can view it at  http://www.johndoddato.net/

Sapelo Island

                                                                                          Sapelo Island, Ga. - Kodak T-Max Film

I have been too busy lately with computer work.  I had a very important backup hard drive fail and it cost me a couple of weeks of intense work retrieving my files.  I am usually very good at backing up and duplicating files in case the worst happens, but sometimes I let things slide and get sloppy.  Luckily I regained most of my photo files, but some were corrupted and lost forever.  The digital world is always a moving target.  It seems I can never get to a leveling off point where my software and hardware are all up to date and compatible.  It is a marketeers dream to have planned obsolescence.  It keeps a steady customer base for business.  I just recently purchased a new Sony A7R11 camera.  I have used Canon for years but decided that I wanted a smaller and more light weight camera to backpack with.  It has some nice features, but it is over engineered for my liking.  I really don't need ten different ways to do the same thing on a camera.  The learning curve is pretty steep and most of the time I don't have the patience to learn settings I will rarely use.  I have always preferred to set my cameras up as being totally manual just like my old film cameras.  I like having complete control over the equipment I use.  The one nice thing the new Sony camera has is a very nice manual focusing system.  I have never really trusted the auto focus systems on digital cameras for giving the sharpest focal point in the scene.  I know I would feel differently if I was still doing professional sports photography.  In those days, an auto focus camera would have been great to have.  I have been working hard the past couple of weeks finally getting a new web site up and running and hope to have it online in a few days.  Checking on my domain name I have had secured for a number of years, I found out that it just expired and was no longer available for a reasonable price.  Again it is the never ending chasing your tail of the digital world.  Somedays I sit and try to remember what I used to do before all of this technology came into my life.  Certainly younger people can't relate to my concerns because they were born into a world of technology.  I guess if I want to continue with photography I will have to adjust to the numerous changes that come with modern technology.

Old Growth Forrest

There is a magical place in Pennsylvania called Cook Forrest.  It is located in the western area of the state and has some grand old growth forrest where you can walk among trees that are over 150 feet tall. When we lived in that region of the country we would go tent camping there and hike the trails in these forrest.  We often encountered the numerous black bears that roam the area without any problems, and had several frightening moments with the large timber rattlers that populate the area.  I remember our first night camping in this area and seeing large bear.  It was twilight and we were getting ready to enter our small tent when I spotted a black bear walking past us.  We remained still as we watched him move through and out of the area.  A few days later we were hiking down a trail and the sun was directly in our eyes.  I noticed what looked like a large limb laying in the trail only to find out it was a timber rattler that quickly coiled up and gave its rattle alarm with it's tail.  We were momentary frozen by the surprise and stood still thinking how we can back out and get away from this angry snake.  Cautiously stepping back out of striking range we quickly moved back up the trail and waited for the snake to calm down and move off the path.  Later in the day we spoke with a ranger and he said that the area is heavily populated with rattle snakes and suggested caution and a sharp eye is needed to roam around the dense forrest area.  If you are an outdoors enthusiest you know the rewards of being in such locations is worth the risk.  Back home we had to be mindful of the bears and rattle snakes, and here in Florida it is the alligators and water moccasins.  I made the above photograph just after the sun came up from our little camp site.  The early morning light filtering through the trees captures the quietness of being in a deep forrested area.

In search of soft light

My typical time to photograph is in low light situations.  I realize this usually requires me to be out at first light or at the end of the day after sunset.  Other times when the sky is overcast with no wind can be an ideal time to capture the soft light in a scene.  What I like about soft light is the glow that a scene can take on in these lighting conditions. The above photograph was taken in the last few minutes of day light when the light was soft and after the stirring winds have calmed down.  The time is limited so picking a location and setting up is usually done just before or after the sun has set.  I can usually get a couple of setups before the light is completely gone.  An important thing to look for is the side lighting in the scene.  If you look at the trees in this image you will noticed that the trees have a side lighting giving them deminsion and shape.  The open sky to the West is usually the source light for the scene after sunset, so setting up with that in mind can help you achieve the best light available for low light landscape photography.