September 10, 2020
Half of my photos from my 1991 bicycle tour from Boston to Kansas City
In the course of scanning my old slides I came across some of the slides I shot on my solo bicycle ride from Boston to Kansas City in 1991. I found a loose leaf notebook containing pages 8 through 16 of my slides from that trip (20 slides per page). Pages 1 through 7 are somewhere, but I just haven't come across them yet. These pages cover the span from the Indiana/Ohio border to Kansas City, and include photos from around the Kansas City area. You can see all that I have here. They're not in strictly chronological order, but they tend to go from west to east generally. Below are a few samples:
Pretty obviously a county courthouse, but I have not been able to identify the specific location. It's likely to be in Indiana or Illinois. If you know, tell me!
Mike's Pizza in Royal Center, Indiana, where I had a great lunch.
Central Park torpedo in Henry, Illinois. The most recent Google streetview shows that it is still there.
Also in Henry, Illinois, but I can't find it on streetview now.
2nd Street in Clinton, Iowa, where I lived for three years.
The bike shop in Clinton where I bought my first 10-speed.
Crossing the Mississippi from Illinois to Iowa.
Entering Kansas from Nebraska.
The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City.
Checkout lines at the Walmart Hypermart in Kansas City. This was a Walmart experimental store before there were any Super Walmarts. It was, at the time, the biggest store of any kind I had ever seen and was at least as big as any Super Walmart today.
"The Scout," a sculpture by Cyrus E. Dallin who also sculpted the Paul Revere statue on the Paul Revere Mall in Boston.
I also traveled to the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in southern Missouri. This was our Boy Scout summer camp location.
permalink | September 10, 2020 at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2020
More Photos
Tip O'Neill Federal Building behind the elevated Green Line, May 1985.
The John Hancocks in Boston, April 1986.
Marshall Field's clock in Chicago, September 1987, Kodachrome.
Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, Chicago, September 1987, Kodachrome.
On Kauai, November 1986, Kodachrome.
Merchandise Mart, Chicago, September 1987.
On Kauai, November 1986, Kodachrome.
In Concord, Massachusetts, November 1984.
Somewhere in Boston, March 1985.
World Trade Center shadows, September 1985.
Calder's "Stegosaurus" at the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford in the 1980s.
John Hancock, Boston, May 1986.
Provincetown Pilgrim Monument, June 1986.
Ilford SFX 200 film, June 2020.
Desert Hot Springs, Kodak TMax ASA400 film, June 2020.
Palm Springs, Kodak TMax ASA400 film, June 2020.
Desert Hot Springs, Kodak TMax ASA400 film, June 2020.
Covington Flats, Kodak TMax ASA400 film, June 2020.
Covington Flats, Kodak TMax ASA400 film, June 2020.
San Francisco Bay Area, June 1985.
The AIDS Quilt on display in Washington, 1987.
permalink | July 26, 2020 at 09:04 PM | Comments (1)
July 10, 2020
New Slide Scans
I've recently begun scanning slides again. Here are some of them.
Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, 1985.
Friends on Kauai, 1986, Kodachrome.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, including a bit of Harvard Yard, late 1980s.
Autumn leaves, 1986, Kodachrome.
Illinois East-West Tollway, 1980s.
Architectural detail, probably in Boston, 1980s.
Bill Shepardson in San Francisco, June 1985.
Boston, 1980s, on Polaroid PolaChrome instant slide film.
Brooklyn on the East River, 1980s, Polaroid PolaPan instant slide film.
Tanglewood, 1983, Agfachrome. The woman is using an Olympus XA camera which is the first 35mm camera I bought, but I shot this photo with a Pentax K1000.
San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, 1985.
South Boston, 1980s, Ektachrome.
Seen in Hawaii, 1986, Ektachrome.
South End Boston, 1987, Kodachrome.
Michigan Avenue Chicago, 1987, Kodachrome.
You can see more of my slide scans by clicking here.
permalink | July 10, 2020 at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2020
Some Recent Photos (on film)
The city's newest marijuana dispensary.
The trailer park on 5th Street.
permalink | May 31, 2020 at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2020
A few more infrared shots
permalink | April 13, 2020 at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
April 1, 2020
Photos from around town
Not observing social distancing in Desert Hot Springs.
The bougainvillea growing along the south side of Las Palmas restaurant.
New dispensary at 11522 Palm Drive (4th Street).
permalink | April 1, 2020 at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2020
Some More IR Photos
El Paseo in Palm Desert. I shot this from my hip without even looking.
permalink | February 16, 2020 at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 7, 2020
UC Riverside Botanic Gardens
Last weekend I went and explored a little bit of the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens (map). Somehow I had never heard of these gardens until just a few weeks ago. Here are a few of the photos. The complete collection of photos is here.
permalink | February 7, 2020 at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2020
No Spectators - in Oakland
Shot with film on my Lomography camera.
The Temple, behind the museum. The Temple and the replica of "Truth is Beauty" can be visited any time the museum is open. You don't need to buy a ticket to the No Spectators exhibit for these two.
permalink | January 16, 2020 at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)
January 5, 2020
Some Infrared Photos
Most digital cameras filter out infrared light before it gets to the sensor. The early Canon Powershot G cameras (G1, G2 and G3), however, allowed some through. I used to have a G3 and all I needed to do was put on a deep red filter to take infrared photos. But the G3 was stolen. Some years later I acquired a used G2 to do the same thing, but it was old and had a few burned out pixels. Those are easy to fix in editing if you've only got one photo, but it gets pretty tiresome to fix the same 12 tiny specks on every photo if you've got a lot to edit, so I haven't used it in a long time.
Last month, I acquired a Canon G12 from LifePixel that they converted to shoot infrared. They remove whatever internal infrared filter there is and then install an internal deep red filter. I already had a regular G12, so I was completely familiar with the camera and the two cameras could share some equipment. Here are some of the resulting photos:
The Amtrak station in Palm Springs.
New housing behind the Target.
At Pioneertown Mountains Preserve.
A cholla at Pioneertown Mountains Preserve.
permalink | January 5, 2020 at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
December 5, 2019
GoPro Hero5 Black, Night Mode
I recently acquired a used GoPro Hero5 Black. I am finding that when the price of a GoPro drops below $150, I feel like I'm getting what I pay for. I wanted to test the night mode, so I headed down to Palm Springs tonight to take a few photos of a friend's pool and then headed over to Village Fest for more photos. All of these photos are handheld. Almost all the photos turned out well, which is the opposite of what I expected. I would say I'm quite pleased with night mode. Here are some of the photos.
permalink | December 5, 2019 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2019
Some Recent Photos
The Camron-Stanford House in Oakland on Lake Merritt.
Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland.
permalink | November 30, 2019 at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2019
Lomography Diana F+
I recently acquired a Lomography Diana F+ "Mr. Pink" camera, a film camera. Here are the results from the first two test rolls.
The camera is cheap and cheaply made, which is supposed to be part of its charm. To my utter amazement and pleasure, the instruction manual is written in excellent, idiomatic American English. The camera also comes with a hardback book (over 300 pages) with stories, anecdotes and sample photos.
It takes 120 film. If I shoot full size, I can get up to 12 exposures on a roll. On my first roll, the color film (Kodak Portra 400), I made a mistake in setting which film image size to shoot at (I can shoot smaller images and fit 16 images on a roll), so the result was overlapping double images, but I edited out the overlaps. The camera has two shutter speeds 1/100 and bulb. It's got three aperture settings: cloudy, partly cloudy and full sun. I can also simply remove the lens and use it as a pinhole camera. It's got zone focusing. I can just rotate the (very loose) lens to 4 meters to infinity, 2 to 4 meters, or 1 to 2 meters. There are no automatic stops when advancing the film, as there are on 35mm film cameras, and nothing prevents double exposure. To advance the film I just keep turning the knob while I keep my eye on the little red window on the back of the camera. When the next number for a frame becomes visible, then I've moved the film far enough. One challenge is that I cannot see the dim number through the little red window in anything less than full sunlight. I will need to have a flashlight with me when I use this camera.
These photos came out a lot better than I expected. Very little light leakage and I guessed the focus range well enough on most of them. The black & white film is T-Max 400.
I have not tried the flash yet, nor the pinhole.
I found one review of the camera from someone who took it to Burning Man. The camera is so leaky, the dust penetrates all parts of it easily, ruining the film for sure, and maybe the camera too.
The complete set of photos is here.
permalink | November 18, 2019 at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 29, 2019
Burning Man 2019 Photos
My complete set of photos from Burning Man 2019 can be seen here. Below are a few samples.
First morning on the playa, just before sunrise. You can see the moon about to set to the right. Klank is camped in the larger trailer and I'm in the Scamp.
Looking the other way, toward what will be Black Rock City.
How I stabilized my shade structure. It worked perfectly. The shade structure stood there for three weeks and wasn't damaged in any way. That sphere is a light, not any part of the stabilization.
Box Office still under construction.
DPW (Department of Public Works) putting up the shade structure in front of Box Office.
Early in the construction of the Temple of Direction.
The Man viewed along the 3 O'Clock road.
A week after I got there, some neighbors had begun to move in.
Fomogenesis Camp's shade structure.
Fomogenesis Camp during setup.
Segways with shiny decorations.
The 747 was there for its, presumably, last time. It's been sold to someone in Las Vegas.
Burner Buddies on the corner of 4:30 and J.
An official map showing the locations of all theme camps. (Full size image here.)
David and his sister Nancy. David sold his Scamp to me after last year's Burn.
A history of the temples displayed at the Temple of Direction.
Burner Buddies trying to get photos of the wedding party.
Pan and Flavio renewed their wedding vows in the Chapel of Chimes. (Here is the album of their wedding photos.)
Poppy and friend waiting for the start of the Naked Pub Crawl.
Some of the art behind Center Camp.
During the burning of the Temple of Direction.
The Temple of Direction starting to collapse.
permalink | September 29, 2019 at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 6, 2019
Putting Up A Shade Structure
Erecting A Burning Man Shade Structure In The Wind. This was the Dr. Bronner's camp.
permalink | September 6, 2019 at 07:17 PM | Comments (0)
The Flying Whale at Burning Man 2019
The Flying Whale at Burning Man 2019
permalink | September 6, 2019 at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2019
Los Angeles City Hall
Last month I went on an L.A. Conservancy tour of L.A. City Hall.
Union Station seen from the observation deck on top of L.A. City Hall.
The complete set of photos can be seen here.
permalink | August 6, 2019 at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
August 3, 2019
Los Angeles World Naked Bike Ride Photos for 2019
I rode only the afternoon loop on this year's World Naked Bike Ride in Los Angeles. I had three GoPros, each shooting one photo every five seconds during the ride. Two of the cameras faced rearward and on forward. The complete collection of photos is here. There's an icon for a slideshow near the upper right corner of that page. I tried to sync the clocks on the three cameras, but they don't allow you to set the seconds, so they're out of sync with each other over a spread of a minute or so. The route changed some this year, partly due to construction on the LA River bike path, so if you enjoy looking at these photos for what's in the background, you'll see some different scenery in this year's photos.
What follows are a few of the photos:
There were a lot of motorcycle cops along on the ride. They were tremendously helpful and had to stop at least a couple of drivers who thought they could just drive right into us, as if we would magically disappear out of their way.
A naked bystander. Not part of the ride at all, but an observer from the side of the road. I guess we inspired him. Too bad he didn't have a bike!
We entered the LA River bike path at the point where we exited in previous years.
A stop along the LA River bike path.
And we exited the bike path via a little dirt path.
The first time I rode the LAWNBR we went past this church and they called the cops. This is the first time we've ridden by it again. No problems this time.
And then we re-entered the LA River bike path.
We went through this rotary twice, for a total of 360°.
This guy was back with his sign - this year, no typos!
permalink | August 3, 2019 at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)
July 4, 2019
Fireworks in Desert Hot Springs
July 4 2019, Desert Hot Springs.
permalink | July 4, 2019 at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)
April 24, 2019
Desert Water Agency Tour
I went on the Desert Water Agency tour of their facilities at Snow Creek, Whitewater and the Mission Creek recharge ponds. Took some photos. Below are most of them.
The weir on Snow Creek where Snow Creek water feeds into the DWA water system.
Flood damaged road at Snow Creek. The car on the other side is staying there until the road is repaired.
Water from the Colorado River Aqueduct flowing to the Whitewater River after having been given a spin in the hydroelectric facility there.
Whitewater River on the left; water from the Colorado River Aqueduct on the right. We're facing downstream.
The hydroelectric generator at Whitewater.
In the hydroelectric facility at Whitewater.
Whitewater viewed from Snow Creek.
A recharge basin at Mission Creek. Mt. San Jacinto in the background.
