Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

A few shots from my trip to Boston last month. What a beautiful city! I loved it. Those of you who know me know that I’m awfully skeptical of that strange land east of Denver, as well as that other coast over there that sometimes comes up in conversation. But Boston blew me away for its fantastic food (my key factor), friendly people, and ample picturesque scenes for any photographer. (As an aside, if you’re looking for good Indian food while you’re in that area, see my post of 11/9/07 on Hartog’s Den.)

These all with the Elan 7ne on Kodak Gold 200 and Kodak BW400CN.

Beautiful fall colors… hooray for lovely New England! This one in is actually on Harvard campus in Cambridge.

A churchyard in Boston at night.

The T is Boston’s very clean and convenient public transit. Definitely worth not dealing with that traffic and those parking rates!

Walking through the Italian district in the North End is one of the best experiences your nose (and tastebuds) will have. The food here is *so* good… I don’t even know where to start in describing it. I had better Italian food here than I did when I was in Italy (granted I was on a student budget when I was in Italy, but still).
Try the fettuccine napolitano at Cibo… heavenly. They had a fantastic pinot noir that went perfectly with it too. I don’t remember the name, but it was the only pinot noir on their menu, so it should be easy to find.

Don’t gorge on dinner too much… the canoli and dessert at this and other pastry shops is to die for. Mmmmm canoli… *so* not on my doctor-ordered low-cholesterol diet, but… whatever.

A cool graveyard in Cambridge. Em and I took a nice quiet walk through here one evening and I found it very picturesque.

A different graveyard in Boston, taken in black-and-white… I love how the light came out in this one. A little erie and a little beautiful. Note the “Franklin” tomb isn’t Ben, who was of course from Philly; this grave is his parents. (Thanks to Emily for the historical note).

Sorry about the two month hiatus without any updates… work hit me like a tidal wave these last few weeks. I’m on three projects, and on top of that I’ve had to travel all over the place as well as keep up with my community theater committments. Oof! The good news is that I have indeed been taking pictures here and there this whole time, and I just got a bunch of rolls back from King that have been gathering up. So, coming soon: the Butterfly Garden at the Boston Science Center, a desert sunrise out by a farm, the old west town of Coloma, CA, and some nice B&W street photos from Boston.

Scanning, scanning, scanning….

N.

Looking off the side of the boat, the water was surprisingly still, and I snagged this shot while we were waiting to cast off.

Elan + Fujicolor Superia 200.

Sunset from the Channel Islands backpacking trip… these from Del Norte Camp.

Elan + Fujicolor Superia 100
Tiffen Circular Polarizer

Emily and I recently went backpacking on the Channel Islands, hiking to the Del Norte campsite on Santa Cruz island. A wonderfully romantic weekend of 1,200 ft climbs into the middle of nowhere carrying 35 lb packs so that we could get up at the buttcrack of dawn to photograph sunrises. And she hasn’t broken up with me yet! See why I love her?

It was fantastic really. The whole time it really felt like we were the only ones on the entire island… there were only two other campers we saw. There is no fresh water along the trail or at the campsite (except maybe during a few weeks in spring). Pack in plenty of water and supplies, because the boat doesn’t return until the next day! We took 7 liters of water, and used the better part of six with the hike in and out, normal drinking at camp, as well as for coffee and oatmeal in the morning.

These photos with the Elan + Fujicolor Superia 400.

The trail is arduous, especially with packs. The net 1,200 ft elevation gain over 4.5 miles includes descending into and climbing out of two canyons along the way. We were almost bushwacking at points.

A few signs along the way helped.

Spectacular mountain views… less spectacular on the way up than down as I recall.

Sunrise at Del Norte Camp.

On the decent from Mt Waterman, we passed through several little valleys and canyons, most with some kind of yellow wildflower. I caught this bee up close. I really need a macro lens…

Elan + Fujicolor Superia 200

A couple of weeks ago I went out to Mt Waterman at the butt-crack of dawn in an attempt to photograph the sunrise from the top. We left Palmdale at 4:00am… oof. Didn’t quite make it to the peak by sunrise, but definitely got a lot of good photos. I’m still scanning the ones of the actual sunrise, but here are some B&W shots I took about an hour after sunrise in the slanted light.

Elan + 28-105mm + Kodak BW400CN

Is it me or is there a face in the one at left?

A curiously leaning tree. I like how it came out as a silhouette.

A stump.

Someone had built this contraption in attempt to extend the standing room at the peak, overlooking the valley. I didn’t trust it, but it made a good photo in itself.

B&W is all about interesting exercises in contrast and luminosity.

TRAIL STATS:
Mileage: 7.0
Elevation delta: ~1,300 ft
Time on trail: 5 hrs (lots of photography stops)
Nearest highway: CA-2, mile marker 58.00

Photos from a sunrise climb of Mt. Waterman in Angeles National Forest, as well as 4 rolls from backpacking on the Channel Islands, should be posted this weekend. Safe travels everyone!

Finished off the roll of Fujicolor Superia 100 with the sunset from Barrel Springs, just on the south end of Palmdale.

Andrew and I decided to hit the lake last Saturday for some relaxation. He spent the day exploring the many mountain biking trails in the area while I hiked into the hills surrounding the lake and played photography. I took a small notebook this time to keep track of my settings for interesting shots.

Camera: Canon EOS Elan 7ne 35mm
Lens: Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM
Film: Fujicolor Superia 100

Many boats and jetskis use the upper part of the reservoir. Being an easy drive from LA as well as the AV, this place is pretty popular. We were almost alone when we arrived (~6:00am) but by mid-morning the upper lake was roaring with engines. Oh yeah, and one really annoying waterskiing group that was blasting music loud enough for me to rock out over a mile away and roughly 500 ft above in elevation.

A feather fallen on branches. I’m glad I caught it before the wind picked up and blew away the photo opportunity.

About half an hour after sunrise, looking over Castaic Lake.

Interesting color balance on this one. I think its the scanner, because the print doesn’t have the weird blues at the top… I’ve noticed a weakness in differentiating blues on some others as well. I may pull back the cyan saturation and lightness in PSPXI and repost later.

There are many shaded groves up in the hills, which provided a welcome respite from the heat once the day got going. I caught this interesting light pattern on the rocks next to me… the blur may be a bit much here, I had it opened to f/3.5 intentionally to get some blur in the background, but it may actually almost have worked better with more of the rocks in focus. (shrug).