St. Joseph and Grande Mere

10-19-02
Danny B, Evan, Frank P, Jim T,  Mark C, Mark &  Rebecca S, Mike S, Yong-ran Z, Sherman D,

On Saturday, October 19th the group met in St. Joseph, Michigan.  The day consisted of photographing in St. Joseph, especially the St. Joe Lighthouse in the morning and then a quick trip down to Grande Mere State Park near Stevensville for some photography in the dunes and along the Lake Michigan beach.  After a couple of hours in Grande Mere the group headed over to Warren Woods which contains the last stand of virgin forest in southwestern Michigan.

This was the largest group yet for a MWLFA group photography trip.

Starved Rock State Park

01-18-03
Art B, Frank, Mark C, Mark S, Sherman

This time the group decided to brave the cold of an Illinois January and head to Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL.  The weather actually cooperated and though it never got warm the sun was out most of the day and the temps were in the upper 20s.

Since we dressed for the cold the only casualty was the bellows on Mark Cudworth's Linhof.  The cold proved too much for it and as Mark put it the pinholes in the corners became pan-holes.  Mark has since replaced the bellows with a new one and received the replacement in time for the next outing to Turkey Run!

It was on this outing that the group got its name.  Imagine a group of photographers carrying large format cameras, tripods and backpacks up and down hundreds of stairs, most of which were snow, ice and mud covered while the temperature was in the upper 20s.  Now imagine they are doing this because they think it is fun!  The name fits!

The canyons were a photographic challenge this day because the steep canyon walls cast deep shadows while the bright sun was able to penetrate to the canyon floor without leaves on the trees.  The light snow covering reflected even more light in the sunny areas.  I truly appreciated the incredible range of TMax 100 film!

Turkey Run State Park

03-08-03
Frank, Mark, Mike, Sherman

The weekend of March 8th members of the Asylum met at Turkey Run State Park in Parke County Indiana for a little photography and death-defying canyon climbing.  (Actually we had no intention of defying death but since the stone steps down into the canyons were impassible because of sheets of solid ice we had to find alternate ways down in some cases, anything for photography!)

The Inn at Turkey Run

The Turkey Run Inn provided clean, inexpensive accommodation for some of the group.  Especially appreciated were the breakfast and lunch buffets!

Mike, Frank and Mark- it isn't as cold as it looks!

In the morning the temperature was around freezing when the group hit the trails.  By lunch time it had risen into the 50s!  By the end of the day the temperature was around 60 degrees.

Climbing down and bypassing ice-coated stone steps!

Many of the canyons are accessible via steps carved into the stone.  Unfortunately many of the stairs were covered with sheets of ice making them totally impassible.  We climbed down alternate routes, passing cameras, tripods and packs down to the next safe landing.

All in all it was a great day with weather as good as one could hope for in early March in the Midwest.  Many sheets of film (and more than a few pixels) were exposed and the trip was great fun.  Everyone agreed that a return trip was in order later in spring.

New Salem Village

05-03-03
Sid Cammeresi, Larry Kruzan, Frank Pittel, Sherman Dunnam

On the first Saturday of May the Asylum descended on Lincoln's New Salem Village.  New Salem Village is a reconstruction of the town of New Salem in which Abraham Lincoln lived during the 1830's.  What makes this reconstructed village unique is that it is located in the exact spot as the original and each building is in its original location.  For more information see http://www.lincolnsnewsalem.com.

This outing was spectacular in terms of exposures made.  Frank and Sherman each set personal records in terms of numbers of large format exposures made in a single day.  Frank exposed 23 sheets of film and Sherman exposed 16 sheets of black and white, one of color, four Polaroids and a couple of 6x9 frames.

Larry made 30 plus 4x5 exposures divided between his Speed (or was it a Crown?) Graphic and his Cambo 45NX.  He then switched tohis "point and shoot" (a Mamiya RZ67!) and went through 10 rolls of film.  Sid exposed 14 sheets of 4x5!  He shot a mix of black and white and color transparencies.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the prints!

I&M Canal Passage

06-28-03

Art, Frank, Sherman

On June 28th the Asylum hit the I&M canal passage.  The I&M (Illinois and Michigan) canal was built in the late 1800's to make a navigable connection between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River.  The canal only operated a short time before being made obsolete by railroads.  The I&M Canal Passage is a trail that parallels the canal from Lockport, IL to Aux Sable.  One can view original locks (though they are not operational of course), some lock tender's houses and aqueducts.

Only three Asylum members were able to make this trip with the threat of rain and severely sunburned feet (it hurts just thinking about it!) keeping others away.  We met at the Gaylord building in downtown Lockport.  The Gaylord building is itself a photogenic and historic structure.  There are also several historic buildings, mostly log structures adjacent to the Gaylord building which are worth burning some film on.  At 8:30 we decided no one else was going to make it so we followed Asylum tradition got something to eat.

After breakfast traveled the four or five blocks to lock #1 in Lockport.  From there we went to Dellwood Park in Lockport. There is a dam in the park that is no longer functioning but the structure is fascinating.  After a few exposures at the park we headed for the Joliet Iron Works.  On the way to the Iron Works site we passed the old Joliet Prison where we decided to stop for an other couple of exposures.  Again, the structure is fascinating with local limestone blocks used to build the walls which are five feet thick at the base and are twenty-five feet tall (and topped with razor wire).

After the prison we continued on to the Joliet Iron Works.  This is the site of an old iron smelting operation.  The buildings have been knocked down but many of the foundations still exist and the area has been turned into a park.  There are signs describing the process and people who worked at each of the locations such as blast stoves, blast furnaces, gas washers and the gas engine house. The park was essentially empty which was surprising to me as it is a very interesting place.  We all managed several exposures and I am already planning a trip back.

After the Iron Works it was on to Channahon. At Channahon we stopped for lunch.  We lost Art after lunch as he was exhausted after a late night.  The rain which had been threatening came in earnest while we were eating and stopped just before we finished.

Channahon is the site of two locks which are very close together (maybe 100 yards apart), a lock tender's house a sluice gate and a dam.  At Channahon the canal joins the DuPage River for the 100 yards between locks.  Lock number six has the lock tender's house next to it but we couldn't find a good vantage point (and the blue plastic fencing in the front yard didn't lend itself to photography).

We made a few exposures at lock number seven and Frank took a shot of the sluice gate and stream.  The gate was apparently used to divert some water from the DuPage River into the canal.  It has three wooden gates that can be individually raised and lowered to control the flow of water.

I had to leave at that point but Frank continued on to Aux Sable.  Aux Sable is the site of both a lock and an aqueduct.  There were four aqueducts on the canal.  The canal was level between locks.  In some areas the path of the canal intersected existing streams but the streams were lower than the level of the canal at that point.  The solution was to build an aqueduct which is a sort of bridge over the stream.  The aqueduct supported an iron trough through which the canal flowed, some twenty feet over the stream!

Frank says his luck ran out at Aux Sable and the rain hit again.  He managed to keep his equipment dry though.  All in all another great Asylum outing!

Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve

07-19-03

John, Frank, Sherman

The Waterfall Glen outing was... interesting. We met at H&H Restaurant a little late. Frank and I waited outside for a while and decided either no one else was coming or that we had missed them, so we went inside to have breakfast.

While waiting for our food Frank spotted someone leaving with a camera bag.  I jumped up and accosted the stranger who turned out to be John (Argon3) who was looking for the group. We've decided we need some identifying system so we can meet and those who haven't been with the group before can locate us.  (I'll have a sample idea at the next outing!)

John joined us while Frank and I ate our breakfast and then we were off to Waterfall Glen. We parked on the south east side of the preserve outside a locked gate and walked in. Our path in took us through a "poverty savannah" which was a different type of area than I had expected. It was actually a heavily wooded area without a lot of shrubby undergrowth. One could see great distances through the forest.

I made my first exposure in the poverty savannah. John was using a Pentax 645 and made several exposures in that area. When we emerged from the poverty savannah we found a map board and after some "discussion" decided on a direction. We followed a trail and came to the "poverty prairie". Such depressing names for some interesting landscapes!

The poverty prairie was of course not wooded though there were scattered trees. The plants were a mix of prairie grasses and forbs (broadleaf plants). The broadleaves included Black-eyed Susan, bee balm, some vetches and many others I couldn't identify. Some of the standing dead trees were very picturesque and we all attempted some exposures.

The sky was unfortunately cloudless and the sun at this time was almost directly overhead further increasing the difficulty of creating some type of interest in the images. It will be interesting to see the results!

After the prairie we entered a wooded area again and began following a mowed pathway. There were no further photo opportunities (actually we were getting warm, thirsty and tired; a combination which makes seeing photo opportunities very difficult). We finally found our way out of the woods, past the model airline field, back past the prairie and finally to our cars.

We made our way back to downtown Lemont and into a local watering hole to slake our thirst. After that we decided to call it a day though I believe there may be enough interesting architecture and structures in downtown Lemont for a return visit there. If the sky would cooperate with some interesting clouds the savannah and prairie at Waterfall Glen would definitely be worth another trip.

Green Bay Trail

08-16-03

Frank, Len, Sherman, Sid

The Asylum met at the Green Bay Cafe in downtown Winnetka for breakfast at 8:00 AM.  The location was great as we were planning to photograph at the Winnetka train station which was located only about a block away.  Len was able to make his first outing with the group on this trip.  It was good to finally meet him in person.

Frank had sent an email earlier saying that due to the blackout in New York he might not be able to make the trip as the company he works for has offices there and he might have to work providing technical expertise from Chicago.  However as we were seated in the restaurant Frank came in, so now there were four of us for this outing.

After a good breakfast we went over to the train station and began investigating the possibilities.  We all made some exposures there except for Len.  Len lives close enough to make the trip in fifteen or twenty minutes and plans to return.  We ended up spending the entire morning at the station.  I made a couple of exposures and shot several Polaroids, Sid made several exposures and Frank only made one or two- he's slipping as this is the second outing where I've shot more film than Frank!

At noon we decided to head to the Chicago Botanic garden about fifteen minutes away.  The station and other places on the Green Bay Trail still had more to offer but the trail is on the east side of the stations and the sun was moving to the west making for impossible lighting conditions.  Just as we were getting ready to leave for the Botanic Garden Frank's phone rang.  It was his office; they were having some issues and needed Frank's help so he unfortunately had to leave.  (As it turned out they were able to resolve the problems before Frank arrived!)

Sid, Len and I continued to the Botanic Garden where we ate a quick lunch at the restaurant there.  We then headed into the gardens.  Len was using his baby jogger stroller to carry his gear.  I have to say it appeared to be an excellent large format field "assistant".  His backpack and tripod fit easily into the seat area and the large wheels allow it to roll easily over gravel, grass and uneven terrain.  The shade hood over the seat area, when extended makes a great place to lay a dark cloth, film holders or a light meter.

Our first (and as it turned out our last) stop in the Botanic Garden was the "English Walled Gardens" area.  The photographic possibilities in this area are almost endless.  There are some interesting gates and walls, both brick and stone.  There were incredible flower displays and picturesque trees such as weeping beeches.  I made a few more exposures there and a few more Polaroids as well.  As primarily a black and white photographer I was thinking it would have been nice to have some color film!  (I actually went back the next day with my medium format camera and some color film.)

We finally decided to call it a day but followed a path around the gardens rather than take the most direct route back to the parking lot.  We all saw many, many more photographs to be made.  These locations are worth a return trip!

Turkey Run State Park

09-20-03

Carl, Ed, Evan, Frank, Mark S.,  Mark C.,  Mike, Yong-ran

This was a repeat trip to Turkey Run State Park for the Asylum and one of the best outings yet, at least in terms of numbers and enjoyment.  Frank, Mark S., Mike S. and Sherman arrived on Friday to spend the night at the campground.  Mike's daughters Heather and Monica (I hope I have the names right) came along and were troopers for putting up with a bunch of LF photographers and quite cold nights in the tents.

Saturday morning was beautiful and as Frank began cooking a camp breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausage Mark and Sherman pitched in by brewing some coffee.  Sid, Mark C. and his fiancé Denise arrived for breakfast.  After breakfast we headed to the nature center parking area to hit the trails.  Frank discovered after checking a map that parking at the nature center would save a half-mile of walking compared to parking at the Inn which is where we had always parked before.

On the trail Ed A. caught up to us, there being some confusion over the meeting place.  Ed hadn't been on an Asylum outing before but at least we were an easy group to spot.  We were also met on the trail by Evan and Zhou, in from Milwaukee.  They had joined us for the St. Joseph trip previously where Evan was shooting with a Nikon DSLR.  He said he was inspired by the view cameras and in the past year he has purchased five!  Today he was shooting with an Arca 4x5 and later on an Arca 6x9 which is a jewel of a camera!

We shot in the morning along Sugar Creek and then crossed the suspension bridge and hiked up the canyon.  We hadn't reached the end when it was time to head back for lunch.  The weather was cooperating (except for a breeze that was evident on a few of my negatives) and we were making exposures.  I had a couple that were in the 30-50 second range (those were the ones where the breeze was evident!).  For me those were long exposures but Sid was amused as he regularly shoots multiple minute exposures!  I also decided to shoot some color transparencies this outing since the colors of the rock formations are truly stunning.

After a morning in the canyon we headed back for lunch where we were joined by Carl, also on his first outing with the Asylum.  We enjoyed a lunch of hotdogs and baked beans before heading off for the afternoon.  We decided to hike along the creek side trail toward the covered bridge and grist mill hoping to get some shots of each.  The covered bridge cooperated by existing but alas the grist mill was long gone.  We headed back to the parking area to rendezvous, some of us hiking along the road and others taking the trail.

After some socializing in the parking area some of the group headed for their respective homes while others went back to the campground for another fabulous meal by Frank.  Pork chops and rice were on the menu for the evening and they were delicious.  Frank, if that computer stuff ever stops being fun you can have a career as a chef!  After dinner Sid, Mark and Denise departed for home leaving Frank, Mark, Mike, Heather and Monica and Sherman at the campground for another night.

After some socializing around the campfire the group called it a night.  The next morning, by the time I got up Mike and the girls had departed, the night being too cold for the sleeping bags they brought.  Another camp breakfast by Frank, and the three of us headed down into another canyon for another hour or two of photography before heading home.

Outings like this one make this group worth belonging to even if none of the exposures come out!  It is great to meet with so many other LF photographers and see such diversity in cameras and gear.  I learn something new every trip!

Monticello, IL

10-25-03

Having returned not to long ago from the latest MWLFA photo outing I thought I'd take a few minutes and describe the outing.

It was the best of days it was the worst of days. The drive to Monticello was a drive in the rain. In fact it rained for almost the entire day. As you can imagine LF photography do not go together. (at least for me they don't!!) On the positive side we did get out and expose some film. Today also marked the first outing by two new members of the Midwest Large Format Asylum. After today I am more convinced then ever that the term asylum is an accurate description of our group. :-)

Six (Larry, Ron, Bob, Sidney, Art and Frank) of us braved the rain this morning and met for breakfast at the McDonalds in Monticello. On the way from route 72 to the McDonalds we all thought to ourselves that there is a lot in town that's worth photographing. After breakfast it was decided that we would wait until the rain let up. During this time we all worked on developing our social skills, passed photos around and managed to have a good time. 

When the rain finally let up we decided that before going to the railway museum that we would take some time and photograph the silos that were just behind the McDonalds. From there we went to the museum. On the way we each got a look at some of the site of Monticello and I came to the realization that I wanted to come back and spend a day photographing the town of Monticello itself. It became clear that we all had the same thought!! 

After we got to the railway museum we decided to take a look around for a while before taking out our cameras. As we started to get out the cameras the rain started up again. Fortunately the rain didn't last and we managed to get out and expose film. Unfortunately after a short amount of time the rain started up again and we decided to break for lunch. We stopped at a restaurant that we past on the way to the Museum. We decided that after lunch we would go to a local park (I forget the name but it begins with the letter A). Unfortunately at 4pm we noticed that it was still raining and the impending darkness meant that there was no chance for anymore photography. At this point we decided to give into the weather and call it a day. Interestingly enough although I feel like I could sleep for two straight days and spent most of the day waiting for the rain to stop I feel that the outing was a success. Now all I have to do is process the film I shot.

Frank

Monticello, Illinois

11-21-03

Bob, Bob, Don, Frank, Judy, Larry, Mike, Palmer, Sherman, Sid

This was a first for the Asylum, descending on the same place two consecutive months!  The group was large and the weather was cooperative especially for late November in the Midwest.

 A few of us made it in to Monticello on Friday evening and spent the night at the Best Western.  The night was made more interesting when at about 3:50AM the fire alarm in the hotel went off.  I made an attempt to ignore it but hearing someone walking down the hall blowing a whistle and banging on doors convinced me it might be a good idea to get dressed and go outside.

Everyone was rousted out and stood milling around in the parking lot or sitting in cars.  The night was clear and the temperature was about 60 degrees so it could have been much worse.  It took about ten minutes for the first police car to arrive and another ten minutes for the fire truck.  After the police and firemen went through the building we were allowed back in at around 4:30AM.  We all hoped to catch a couple of hours of sleep before our planned 8:00AM meeting at the Red Wheel restaurant next door to the hotel.

At 8:00AM the large format crowd was forming in the restaurant parking lot around the totem (Sinar) erected by Sid.  It was good to see such a large group for an outing in November.  A little after 8:00 we went inside to eat.  We found a table large enough to accommodate us and had some good conversation and food.

After breakfast we caravanned to the Monticello Railway Museum.  It was only about a half mile from the restaurant.  The museum has an interesting collection of rolling stock and locomotives and is staffed by volunteers.  It was officially closed for the season but be were allowed to wander the grounds and even enter the work sheds where several volunteers were working to restore some locomotives.  The people there were friendly and willing to answer any questions.  It made the morning's photography a lot of fun.

It was interesting to see how different photographers approached the same subjects.  I'm anxious to see some prints from this trip.

Around 12:30 we decided to head into downtown Monticello and have lunch.  We found a restaurant that was both wheelchair accessible and  able to accommodate the size of our group and settled in for some more conversation and some lunch.

After lunch most of us decided to spend the afternoon photographing in Monticello itself.  It is an old town with a lot of interesting buildings, a large grain elevator and was dripping with quaintness.  We agreed to meet back at the Red Wheel restaurant for dinner around five to share stories and show prints.

The weather continued to cooperate through the afternoon though the wind kicked up a little.  I think we all found something that caught our interest and a lot of film was exposed.  By the end of the afternoon a group of tired but happy large format photographers was glad to sit down without 40 pounds of camera gear on our backs.  The food was good and the conversation was better.  Prints were passed around and admired.  There are some truly talented photographers in this group!  After supper most members hit the road to return home.

Frank, Mike and myself spent Saturday night at the hotel and breakfasted together on Sunday morning.  After checking out Mike headed for Indiana with the idea of taking some back roads and exploring some small towns on the way.  Frank and I headed back to the railway museum.  I had two holders left unexposed and a Readyload packet with Ektachrome that Frank was kind enough to loan me, and it seemed a shame to head home without burning that film.  I used my remaining film and Frank made a few more exposures as well and then we headed home, Frank thinking he might check out some of the towns along I57 and me wanting to get home to mix the chemicals to process my film!

This was another great Asylum outing.  The group continues to grow and the talent is truly impressive!

Chicago, Illinois

12-27-2003

Art, Bob H, Don, Frank, Robin, Sherman

The last Asylum outing of 2003 was another winner.  This time the Asylum descended on the city of Chicago.  We met at the White Palace Grill at 8:00AM for breakfast.  Considering the date the turnout was great.  After breakfast we headed south on Canal St. past 18th street to a parking lot near the Amtrak yards.

There is a moveable bridge there (Chicago has more moveable bridges than any other city in the world) over the river.  This bridge has a center span which raises straight up rather than angling up like a drawbridge.  We all made an exposure or two there.

We then headed farther down the road to the Amtrak area which is fenced in with plenty of "No Trespassing" signs.  There is another moveable bridge there which is "counterweighted".  One end of the span has huge concrete weights which balances the weight of the span across the river and makes it "easy" to raise the bridge to allow tall boats to pass.

As we approached a policeman pulled up to the gate and Frank explained to him that we were in the area doing photography and we would like to get some photographs of the counterweighted drawbridge there.  He said as long as we stayed off the tracks and didn't interfere with the trains we could come inside and make photographs.

The bridge structure itself provided several vantage points for photographs and we all made at least a few exposures there.  I think I could have spent most of a day there.  But lunch time was approaching and we decided to head over to Central Camera before stopping to eat.  At this point Robin had to leave so he didn't get to investigate the wares at Central.  I think the rest of us all ended up with at least one purchase at Central Camera!

After visiting Central we headed to Potbelly for lunch.  After lunch we headed back down Canal but parked in a different area.  There was yet another bridge in the area to photograph along with some interesting industrial buildings.

As we began losing our light we met back at the parking area and decided to head back to the White Palace for some desert and to view some prints.  Don had several prints from the last Asylum outing in Monticello.  The Monticello prints were all "lith developed" giving them a surreal look that really captured the spirit of the place.

Bob also had several contact prints from Monticello as well.  It was interesting to see how two different photographers viewed the same areas.  There is always more than one photograph in every scene!