Words and Light

Late last week, I had two rolls of film developed. One was a roll of Fuji 400 that I’d taken over winter break. The other was a roll of Fuji Superia 200 that Jeff and I shot last weekend when we went on a 10-mile walk with Esten on the MKT trail (beginning at Flat Branch Park). Now that the rolls are finally developed, scanned and edited, I am proud to present the following to the world.

[Note: All photos were shot on my OM-1. It’s old.]

• This photo was shot out of a moving car on I-40 at the beginning of winter break. In all technical respects, this photo is horrible and disgusting. It’s out of focus, terribly grainy and overall blech-y. But I still love it. All the bad technical aspects kind of add up to make it almost dreamlike. [Fuji 400, 35mm]

• The interior of one of the Anheuser-Busch brewing facilities. This and the stablehouse were the most architecturally fascinating in the general complex. [Fuji 400, 35mm]

• Chelsea’s little sister Abbi, in their living room and ready for the family portrait. This negative is horribly scratchy and the exposure is grainy as all out, but somehow I still like this shot. [Fuji 400, 50mm]

• This is at the beginning of our 10-mile walk last weekend. Here I am, with ridiculous sunglasses on my face and a ridiculous apple in my mouth and a ridiculous knapsack on my shoulders. [Fuji Superia 200, 35mm, photo by Jeff Lautenberger]

• Some long stalks of grass in a field we found after going off the MKT trail, via a smaller side trail. The field belongs to the MU Conservation Department, or something like that. [Fuji Superia 200, 135mm]

• The MKT trail as we began to head back. This was probably somewhere between the 3.75- and 3.5-mile marks. Love the way the sun hits the trees. Love the dynamic range. Love the light at magic hour. [Fuji Superia 200, 35mm]

• Both Jeff and Esten questioned why I took this photo when I took this photo. I think I liked the way the trail forked off. And the way there was a lone, bare tree in the middle of it all. [Fuji Superia 200, 35mm]

• Here’s Esten with his Leica. Lucky. [Fuji Superia 200, 135mm]

And that concludes this first official photo blog post. Hopefully this will be a regular thing — that is, shooting photos for fun. Unfortunately, my schedule doesn’t often allow for photo adventures, but this is something I’d like to do at least once a month. We shall see!