Time has flown by since my last post in October.

I did get out some to take in some of the very late Autumn colors that finally hit here in Ohio, and lasted all of about 3-4 days before the rain and wind put the leaves on the ground.

Morning Hike at Caesar Creek with some fog and great light - Nikon N80 on Kodak Porta film:

Fall Colors at Woodland and Calvary Cemeteries - Mamiya 645 Pro TL and Carl Ziess Jena 80mm lens on Kodak Potra film:

Also in November I shot another musical - the local production of Les Miserables. This was a tricky shoot for me for a few reasons.

It was SUPER dark - much darker than other productions I have shot, so dark that even with good f/2.8 glass wide-open on both bodies I was still at 12K or higher ISO to freeze action.
I had to shoot it solo - my second shooter had to teach class that night.
One of my D750 bodies died in the middle of the shoot - it just stopped working. I had to quickly swap over to my back-up one in the middle of it all. I still don’t know what happened. I thought it had grenaded the shutter but a few days later when I turned it back on it seemed to work fine - I can’t seem to replicate it. But since that body is on its second shutter and is suspect, I may just have to send that one in or put it up on the shelf.

Here’s a few shots from the show. As usual the Springfield Youth Arts Ambassadors killed it.

In late November, Renee and I went to Aullwood Audubon Center near Englewood, Ohio to check out the newest Troll sculptures from Thomas Dambo. There are three huge trolls now residing at the park - all made from recycled materials. I definitely recommend to stop by and check them out.

Some images shot with a Nikon N80 and Fuji Superia film:

December has pretty much just flown by!

I co-hosted a hike for Beavercreek Wetlands out at Siebenthaler Fen regarding birds and how Winter affects them. That was a lot of fun! And it was nice to use some of the knowledge I’ve learned from being a bird photographer for the last several years and my OCVN training.

I also got out and shot a few times when we had some bad weather and fog, which is fairly normal here in Ohio in December. I picked up some rolls of “cheap” 400 speed Kentmere film and I’m fairly impressed at how good it is at half the price of Kodak’s Tri-X 400. I haven’t pushed it yet to see how it handles that since that’s where Tri-X really shines in my opinion. A few shots with the Kentmere with a Nikon N80 and various lenses:

So what’s in store for next year in 2022?

Well, if 2020 and 2021 have taught us nothing else, its to know that any plans you make are likely to change or be cancelled. There are a few workshops that I would like to attend but at this point with where Covid 19 is and the Omicron variant who knows?

I did sign up for Kenneth Wajda’s “Photography Game” - a new prompt comes every Saturday at 8am and your image or images are due the following Saturday by 8am. Film images only, and you have to send him a shot of the negative along with your image. Don’t make the deadline? Then you’re out. I thought it would be great motivation if nothing else. The latest prompt was “Shadows”, which caused me to get out on Sunday and shoot in downtown Dayton looking just for Shadows. It was nice to have a specific focus and a deadline. Here’s a few shots - Hasselblad 500C with Tri-X film pushed to 1600.

I also gave up on the PressPan and sent it on it’s way to a new owner. That said I am working on another way to shoot panoramas with one of my Mamiya 645 Pro bodies and a custom 135 back that I’ve modified to produce a 24mm x 56mm panoramic aspect ratio image on 35mm film. I’ve only put a few rolls thru it this month so there’s more time to be spent with it in the coming year. I’’m considering offering it as a turn-key product for folks that want to shoot panos in their 645’s and be able to rewind the film afterwards without a dark bag. A few examples shot on Cinestill 50D in downtown Dayton last week:

That was a lot of info - if you’ve made it this far thanks for reading! Obviously there was enough info here for a few entries since October but sometimes there are just other things to be done!

How was your 2021? What’s planned for 2022?

All the best,

Jeremy