Create Your Own Fireworks

Digital SLR + Slow shutter speed + Flailing arms & mad zooms = a whole lot of fun with the Christmas tree :)

Avalanche Creek

One of my favorite places in one of my favorite places! Avalanche Creek in Glacier National Park, on the west side of the continental divide in Montana. I've never been able to photograph it quite like i wanted or with the perfect film. This was shot with my Yashicamat 124 on Kodak Portra 160 NC, which is an indoor portrait film not really meant for this sort of thing. I used a polarizer and several neutral density filters in order to get a very slow shutter speed (I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was probably 10-20 seconds). This provides the smoky-smooth effect to the water which leaves it looking more like fog than liquid.

The boulder which is caught in the gorge is the size of a small car. To get this angle one has to climb down into a rather dangerous spot inches away from a deep, violent waterfall, which probably would have gained me a stern talking-to had a park ranger (or my wife!) spotted me.

Some day I'll retake this shot to my satisfaction. It needs more saturation to better portray the beauty of the scene; the film this was shot on simply isn't made for that.

Hands & Ribbon

Olympus OM-2N, Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5. I believe the film was Kodak TMAX 100 but I could be mistaken. The film was processed manually by myself and scanned by a local camera store which I patronize for such things, then adjusted for contrast and the ribbon colorized digitally.

Old Fence

Rural Okotoks, Alberta.

Olympus OM-2N, Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, Ilford Delta 400 B&W film developed in Agfa Rodinal, printed on Ilford Multigrade IV Resin Coat paper, scanned via flatbet scanner.

Agfa's Rodinal developer is an old and well-respected formula, known for its ease of use and extreme shelf stability, even in an opened bottle. It really brought out the grain in this roll of 400 speed film. The subsequent print shows this gorgeous graininess which in my opinion fits the subject well.