Pretzel got a haircut

Pretzel got a haircut, originally uploaded by mhall209.

With the warming weather the goats needed a haircut. Fortunately I have a son who came home from college, took out the goat shears, and got to work. All I had to do is come home and bam, done. So the goats have fresh haircuts and fresh pasture. At this time of year they have free range along the Jesus Maria creek. Lots of fresh running water and tons of fresh green stuff to eat. The goats are living large!

grey tractor

grey tractor, originally uploaded by mhall209.

It seems like it has been raining forever. A few days of rain, a few days of sun and repeat. I have been loving it. But the dry season is coming. Slowly the grasses are turning from green to brown. It starts in the lower elevations and slowly moves up the hills. This tractor is at about 1200 feet elevation. In another couple weeks the green will be brown. A couple weeks after that our house will be surrounded by brown. And then we start worrying about fire, and hoping for rain.

Bill

Bill, originally uploaded by mhall209.

On the main road into town there is a house with a bunch of old equipment out in the front. I saw someone in the yard so I stopped by to ask if it would be ok to take some pictures. That is where I met Bill. Bill seemed to think it odd that I would want pictures just to put on the Internet, but said sure, and proceeded to give me a tour. This piece seemed to have a special place for him, it is a giant fork lift. He told me it will lift 15 tons, and I believe him. It took a little bit to get it started, but he did. Clearly he was proud of it.

Then he brought me to his saw mill. It was the third one he built he said. He wasn't sure how long ago it was, but he remembered his kids "swamping for me as little bitty guys. And they are well into their 50's now."

After the saw mill and a few other choice pieces of old stuff, he asked "want to see my garden?" Silly question. His garden is clearly vi sable from the road, and it is awesome. It is all raised beds, about 4 feet off the ground, each about 3 feet wide and 15 or 20 feet long. They are built out of metal heat shields from an old saw mill that he welded together. All on a concrete floor he put in because his wife said he couldn't.

After the tour he told me where I could find other pieces of equipment he has stashed around. Go over this or that bridge, over the hill, up the dirt road, don't worry there is a place to turn around eventually. You get the idea.

And then he invited me back. I am going to take him up on that.

Foundry WIndow

Foundry WIndow, originally uploaded by mhall209.

We took another trip over to Sutter Creek. It is not that big of a trip, we can easily drive over for lunch or dinner. But this time the light was a little better than past times. I used a borrowed old school film camera for this shot and just got the film back from the lab.

Using film is a challenge. First, you need to slow down and think about what you are doing. You don't get do-overs like you do with a digital camera, and each click of the shutter costs money. I don't get prints, just a CD, so it only costs about a dollar a click, but that adds up fast!

I started carrying both a film and digital camera and shooting both to see the difference, and on these rural scenes the film camera is way beyond what I can do with a digital camera. I just can't reproduce the color with a digital camera. I have heard people say that in the past, and I just scoffed, but now that I am actually trying it, the film rocks.

There are a couple problems though. I cannot replace the lens on the camera I am using. The only zoom abilities I have are my right and left feet. If I can not move closer I can not get closer. With the fences around, that's an issue.

The other issue I am up against is the ISO of the film. ISO is a sensitivity rating. For the last several months I have been using an ISO 400 film, which is great for low light, like cloudy winter days. With summer coming up I need a faster film, one with a lower ISO, like say 200. But when is is cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, you can't just replace the film. Well, you can, but that wastes the rest of the roll!

Well all that to say I really like this image. The light, color, and composition are what I was looking for.

Chapas Concessions

Chapas, originally uploaded by mhall209.

Behind the school I work at are the county fairgrounds. In the back of that is a storage area where you can find those trailers that are set up at fairs across the state selling hot dogs, cotton candy, and who knows what all. This truck is parked back in a corner of that area. It is about 4 blocks from school, and so far not one student has recognized the truck. I guess you just don't notice things when they have always been there.

In the fall I will be teaching a digital graphics course that will focus on the use of digital cameras. It is not really a photography course, but sort of a desktop publishing class that uses original images. Between now and then I need to gather example images for the course, and I want to emphasize the school neighborhood, and see if I can get the kids to see "the hood" differently.

So the images in this blog will probably start to change in the near future. Less country, more inner city. We'll see if you notice.

Enjoy a Coke

coke, originally uploaded by mhall209.

When we were teenagers my brother collected Coke advertising. He had quite the collection and people came from miles around to buy, sell and trade items. So when I was driving down the road and saw this, I thought of my brother. This is something he would have wanted back then.

Altaville School house

Altaville Schoolhouse, originally uploaded by mhall209.

This is a well maintained one room school house in town near where I live. Its one of those treasures that everyone knows about but no one pays it any attention. While I drive by all the time, I think I have stopped by here a total of three times ever. Once before we lived here and we were considered flatlander tourists. Once because there is a geocache (just to the right of the image). And once to take this picture.

I really like the colors with this film under these light conditions. They really pop.