I started taking color transparencies while still living and working in Colorado. I shot super slides with my little Yashica 4×4 because I couldn’t afford color prints in those days. This frosty, early-morning transpareny was shot in South Park about 1962 with my trusty 4×4 on Kodak Ektachrome film.
Beautiful South Park in Colorado
For a number of reasons, I didn’t take any noteworthy color pictures for a few years after this shot was taken. I was either working with black and white in the news business, or just plain lazy I guess. My next notable image was taken 2000 miles away at Mirror Lake near Mt. Shasta in Northern California in 1967. I’m not sure, but I think the camera was the same.
Mirror Lake and Mount Shasta
Scenics like these two have always been a weakness of mine. The other shots on this page are representative of those I have taken since 1967. Note that there is about a 30-year gap before I got back into serious color shooting , mostly scenics. I have not differentiated between landscape and seascape scenics, either. As far as I’m concerned, they are equally appealing. My next scenic is a seascape 35 miles from my home at Mendocino on the Pacific coast. It was taken with my Chinon 35-mm SLR in 1998 – 31 years after my Mount Shasta shot:
Mendocino Headlands in 1998
This was just the beginning of my adventures with seascapes, culminating with revisit to the Mendocino Headlands earlier this year. But first, three shots from my last vacation trip to the Southern Oregon coast. All were taken with my brand new (at the time) Olympus C-765 Ultrazoom.
Vista south of Port Orford
This shot is nearly identical to one taken by a lady I correspond with in Maine who visited the same spot many years earlier. How about that for a coincidence. The lady is also a very avid amateur senior photographer who enters many contests and has a page on Flickr, which is more than I can boast.
The Gold Beach Gull
This gull was happy to pose for me at my destination of Gold Beach, Oregon, a great spot for taking photos. Another gull was not quite so dominant in this re-visit to the Mendocino Headlands later in 2009:
Mendocino Headlands in 2009
Its good to know that not a lot has changed in 11 years, except the emergence of digital image technology as a satisfactory substitute for film and chemicals, at least for the amateur.
While I love shooting all kinds of scenics, I’ve have had some of my best success with flower photos, especially close-ups. Most of the images from here on were taken within a fewf hundred feet of my home and all of them since 1998. They were taken with either the Olympus digital or Chinon 35-mm SLR.
My neighbor's pink rose
I used the Chinon for this subtle rendering in the early morning.
Coral rosebud in sunlight
By contrast, I caught this sunny rosebud near noon with the digital.
Lupines along the coast
In the wild flower category, I caught these California Lupines near the ocean at Needle Rock Visitor Center in the King Range.
Stargazer lily in my yard
Before the bulb accidentally ended up in the trash, this Stargazer lily bloomed faithfully every August with one additional blossom each year.
Blossoms on Desert Willow tree
This set of blossoms actually identifies the Desert Willow tree, which I had difficulty identifying initially. It is not a consistent bloomer, so you have to catch it when you can.
White Primroses
These white primroses just caught my eye while walking near my apartment, as did this super Daffodil in another neighbor’s yard:
Super Daffodil
The last of my flower favorites featured on this page is of my sister-in-law’s African Violet, photographed under a single incandescent spotlight with the digital. No need for color correction with this baby.
African Violet on dining room table
Well, that’s all the favorites on display here, I will feature more of them in photo-journalistic articles as time goes by on this blog . Please stay tuned.
- Dutch
