
If only for a minute.
Ricoh GR Digital II.
I am not above snapping pictures of my neighbors’ roses. There must be some variation of the 5-second rule about trespassing to get a shot, right?
I have this.
I also have a half-dozen 4×5 film holders.
And three boxes of black and white sheet film **.
And a Polaroid 405 back, not t’mention a healthy stash of fuji peel-apart.
And a shade cloth.
And a Toyo focusing loupe.
And light meters.
And a sturdy old Calumet tripod.
Using all that was one of 2020’s goals.
Getting out with all this stuff is now a 2021 goal.
Wish me luck.
** I also ordered that cool LomoGraflok 4×5 instant back (and 10 2-packs of Instax Wide film. That’s 200 shots!). Their site lists an April 2021 ship date – here’s hoping it arrives before Spring ‘Roid Week, which starts on 4/18. Fingers crossed!
October 2007. Polaroid Spectra AF + Spectra 990 film.
Described as “Fall ‘Roid Week 2007, day two!”, here’s what I wrote about it for my original Flickr post…
“I tried walking into this place once before. It gave me the heebie-jeebies! I had to leave. Really!
I was on my way home after work yesterday and knew this opportunity was presenting its spooky self once again. Since I was carrying my Spectra with me I decided to stop. I’m glad I did. I went in. Got permission from the owner. Took two shots. This was the better of the two. Still gave me chills, but I got the shot I’d envisioned.”
13 years later, I still have this camera. But no film. Polaroid Originals stopped making film for these cameras earlier this year and I know the Impossible folks aren’t producing any, either.
eBay prices are a little out of my comfort zone, so I guess my Spectra AF will be for display only.
Sad.
It took me a coupla’ years to get into the rhythm of these trees. March, leaves. April-May, catkins. September, acorns.
Their shade is relief from the hot Texas summers, but the rest of the time they’re messy as hell and a ton of work.
We have old-growth Live Oaks out front and in the backyard, one of the relatively few homes in our young neighborhood where they were saved.
This past November we had them all trimmed back substantially, leaving a decent canopy. It’d been 3 years since that last happened.
They look so much better. I doubt they’ll be any less messy, though…