Fall Begins
It’s the start of fall but you’d never know it. So far this year, the midwest can’t stop alternating between perfect temps and raining, or hot and with loads of sun.
Regardless of meteorologic disappointments, fall is my favorite season. The days are shorter, it’s usually cooler and that sun light! It’s low and bright, and the light at the beginning and end of the days is just about perfect. The golds, reds, and oranges of the trees peak and there’s a hint of chill at night when I’m chasing the dog around the backyard. Pefection? Just add a firepit.
The late mornings and early evenings mean I’ve been able to see and experience golden hour just driving around for morning errands and drop-offs. This light makes things pop in new and beautiful ways, like this industrial storage area and this funky green folding chair by the road. Would I have noticed this chair just driving around during the middle of the day or at night? Who put it there & why? I’ll probably never know but it’s fun to put a story together in my mind, and I think that’s sometimes the magic in just making photos as I go about my day.
I’ve been on a monochome kick for most of my work lately. When I took my camera out of the packaging I set the JPEG previews to black and white and that’s a huge influence on how see light and compose images. It’s going to change for a bit. My wife and I have a trip to Door County planned in a couple weeks and as of now, it should be peak colors for our trip. An astounding stroke of luck when we booked this a few weeks ago. And I just picked up a Mamiya RB67 with 90mm and 180mm lenses, so what better way to try a new system than a road trip? That can’t backfire, right? I’ll have Kodak Ektar, Porta 160 and 400 on hand for the trip, with slower speed films in one back and the Portra 400 in the other for walk around shots. There’s a literal tub of expired film in my basement, but I’m not confident enough in my film experience to attempt using expired slide film. Yet… I’ll have my rangefinder with 28, 35, 50 and 90mm lenses to round things out and since I can’t imagine not having that camera with me at all times.
