by Matthias Pfau
2020 was photographically speaking not the most exciting years, hazy skies from forest fires in the west for most of the summer, monsoon cancelled, winter a no show, until this week and today the clearing winter storm with Ansel Adams like drama in the sky. Of course this happens right on a day when the calendar is full with work […]
For all practical purposes winter was cancelled this year. But over the past couple days he made a short visit. Thanks to Presidents day I had a little time this morning to check out the neighborhood.
Just took 2 years to find a nearby trail, popular with locals. A friendly neighbor pointed it out and showed it to me. So I returned another day, when we had least a few clouds. Most likely will require another visit when there is a little more drama in the sky. For now the few black and whites form yesterday […]
Took the dog up a hill in Seaton Village to admire the sunset over the plane. Just by coincidence the only battery charged was the one for my black and white camera, so it turned into a walk in black and white, and I didn’t mind one bit.
New Mexico landscapes are really cloud-scapes. With horizons as wide and they sky a big as it is, clouds are really an integral part of the scene. They promised us snow, but it didn’t come. Instead we got some clouds which is an improvement I am happy to take advantage of. Along the way I met a local and we […]
There are plenty of hikes around Santa Fe NM. Today I discovered yet another one. As usual things did not quite work out as advertised. The road to Apache trail head was gated and the gate was closed. So instead of walking from the trail head I had to walk to it. Either way the views are rewarding and for […]
In the middle of nowhere lies a small settlement, Lamy station, which to this day is the stop of a 2000 mile Chicago – Los Angeles Amtrak connection. The average speed of this train ride is a comfortable 40 mph. Clearly Amtrak wants to offer its customer some nostalgia and that distinct old time, wild west feel. Forget about Shinkansen, […]
Work, family , Covid … no time for photography that is until recently when a welcome Christmas break offered me the opportunity to take few more images. One after the other the fun of it returned and so today was the time for another joiner, paying homage to Dave Hockney. This is a quick version but it has me wonder […]
Trying to show my youngest one how to make something ordinary look interesting with light we took a look at Edward Weston’s pepper no 30. He didn’t even recognize it as a pepper. Of course you can’t blame the kid, Monsanto and Co have made sure that all peppers arriving on super market shelves look pretty and picture perfect and […]
Another trip out to Diablo canyon followed by a little experiment in the non existent dark room. So all development happens in a tank over the sink. Calibrating the water temperature to the required 102F and keep it there is a little tricky. So I checked online and developed using Cinestill C-41 the Kodak Portra 160 for 13min at room […]
Another uninspiring morning with rather dull light. But, this is merely a testing phase, so who cares? I went out and tried my hands at 4×5 in color. Back home I quickly set up the chemicals. Maintaining a constant temperature proved to be a challenge. Another mishap had two negatives on top of each other in the development tank. In […]
Returning to analog photography
This will be a short post. North west of Santa Fe is Diablo Canyon, you reach it on Rt 77, passing through some ranch land and finally stopping at a dramatic gorge. It is the entry way to a nice hike down to the Rio Grande. I headed out there on a grey day but towards evening the sun came […]
This is a bit of a personal journey back in my own history. Some 25 years ago I spent a year in Strasbourg France, the year and place where my oldest son was born. From my parents I had learned a little bit of black and white darkroom technique using two old folding cameras, one of them a Zeiss Ikon […]
Over the past two weeks I got a lucky break and was able to take some quick morning trips, while kids where still sleeping, and an evening trip to do a little shooting in medium format. Of course whenever you leave home the first thing that you encounter are these never ending roads. Along the road you run into some […]
As you can see I am taking a short break from my Greek travel posts, to create a post from my morning drive. Usually I get up before sunrise, kids are still sleeping, and for an hour or two I can practice some photography . This morning I headed south on HWY 285. This route takes you immediately away from […]
