Gary, Indiana
Cancelled
This was the first Asylum outing cancelled due to weather. Actually, since Dave showed up it wasn't technically cancelled! Ice covered roads and forecasts of further freezing rain plus fog kept the rest of us away.
Starved Rock
Utica, IL
Bob, Don, Evan, Mike, Sandy and Rich, Sherman, Zhu
This outing was impromptu and "instigated" by Bob H. Since he had some business in the area anyway he decided to take some time to photograph in Starved Rock State Park. When mentioned on the mailing list the response was very positive and several Asylum members made plans to join him. I arrived at Starved Rock about 9:15 or so and found Evan and Zhu already there. They arrived around 8:30. We waited for a while in the parking lot and I put my tripod on the roof of my car as a marker for anyone else who might be coming. After another ten or fifteen minutes we decided to go into the lodge and see if anyone was inside that we may have missed. Finding noone inside we went back out and about that time Bob H came driving up. He was a little late because he had stopped on the way to make some photographs.
When we went inside we met Sandy and Rich Mendez who are friends of Bob. Sandy is a photographic artist who formerly worked in 4x5 making transparencies of various objects and then combining them. She has moved to digital work using a flatbed scanner to scan objects individually and then combine them digitally. She had a few sample of her work in small sizes and the images were quite beautiful and imaginative. Rich runs a landscape company so he and I had something in common. They came over from Indiana to explore Starved Rock and to meet the group. Don came in as well so everyone except Mike was there.
After meeting Sandy and Rich we moved to the dining room where Bob had reservations for us for the excellent Sunday Brunch at the Inn. The food was excellent as was the conversation. Our table in the dining room was next to the window overlooking the river. It was decided that we would try St. Louis canyon first as it had the best probability of having an intact frozen waterfall. While we were finishing up with brunch my mobile phone rang and it was Mike Kirta. He was in the lobby and looking for the group. (I'm glad he had my phone number!) We directed him back to our table and he joined the group.
We left the lodge and headed for St. Louis canyon. It is a relatively short and easy walk from the parking area unlike some of the canyons. Upon turning the last corner at the head of the canyon we were greeted with the site of a beautiful 60 foot tall frozen waterfall, completely intact! Alas, surrounding the base of the fall was a group of about fifteen people.
Undeterred we all staked out our positions and began setting up for the shot. About the time we had all set up our cameras, composed, focused and metered the group of people left! We were rewarded with un-people-obstructed shots of the frozen waterfall. I think we all made several exposures moving down to the base of the falls and making a couple of closeups. Don was using a Kiev 88 and I will be anxious to see his images, particularly the ones he made with the 30mm fisheye! (I've been thinking about that lens for my Kiev.)
After St. Louis canyon we decided to go into "downtown" Utica which is the town closest to the park (about a mile away). Bob had a monostand he was dropping off at a photography studio there. We all went into the studio and met the owners and had a good time looking at the images they had on the gallery side of the space. Bob wanted to show us a couple of interesting sites so we left the studio and made our way to a bed and breakfast around the corner. The outside of the main house was painted in what I can only describe as an "exhuberent" style. Reds, yellows and lots of trim! The owner wasn't in so we weren't able to get inside but from what we could see through the front door the interior was more exotically decorated than the exterior. Bob assured us that was the case. Behind the house were three buildings each containing two apartments which were all decorated in a "theme" such as Serengeti. Of course we couldn't go in them either but just the backyard area was full of photographic opportunities and Evan took advantage using his Canon digital.
We then wandered a bit through the town, checking out a couple of antique stores including one selling dinosaur fossils including dinosaur eggs and a complete dinosaur nest! Bob pointed out a couple of restaurants that would be good places to eat in town. By this time were were getting a bit cold and as Zhu had to be back in Milwaukee by early evening we decided to call it a day. It was another great Asylum outing and this time Starved Rock cooperated with the waterfall!
Kankakee River State Park
Kankakee, IL
Art, Bob, Dave, Don, Evan, Frank, Glen, Larry, Mike, Rheinhold, Sherman, Zhu
Another location and date suggested by Bob H worked out great! The day dawned clear and cold but the weather persons were promising a high in the upper 40's with clouds moving in later in the afternoon. The group met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel just of I57 in Kankakee/Bourbonais. Many of the group brought images to show and a couple of "new" members made the trek as well. After a hearty breakfast and sharing of images and stories we caravanned to the park.
Kankakee River State Park, as the name suggests, is along the banks of the Kankakee River and a beautiful creek, Rock Creek flows through the park and into the river in the park as well. Rock Creek has limestone bluffs lining both banks but there are a couple of places where there is access down to the shore line. After forming up in the parking lot and getting our gear together we headed into the park. Larry headed down the main trail while other members of the group split into smaller groups and hit the banks of Rock Creek.
The mouth of the creek where it joins the river has one bank lower and without the bluffs so access along that bank was easier. With driftwood and small rocks and boulders along the shore it was easy to find something interesting within the first hundred yards. This early in the morning there were still spots of ice along the banks which made for some interesting photographic opportunities. Footing was treacherous however as the surface mud was thawing over some still frozen ice. At least a couple of Asylum members went down but being true photographers as they slipped they turned so their bodies would absorb any impact rather than their cameras! Thankfully the end result was a little mud on some jeans and no serious harm done.
As the morning went on and the sun moved west the other bank of Rock Creek became illuminated presenting a completely different set of images. It never ceases to amaze me how a small shift in the light can create such a huge difference in a scene! Several members anticipated the change and set up for photographs of the opposite bank and waited for the light to be just right. Patience can be a virtue in photography! Finally the group began heading back to the parking area and talking about lunch.
We took the members of the group who were still in the area (we lost a couple over the course of the morning) and headed back toward town for lunch. Bob led us to a restaurant called the Green Briar where the food was good and the portions large. After eating and sharing more stories we headed back to the park. At this point we lost a couple more members who had other obligations for the afternoon but there were at least six of us left to try our hand in the afternoon light.
We went to an area where an old railroad bridge had once crossed the Kankakee. The railroad was gone as was most of the bridge structure. The limestone supporting piers were still there. The upstream side of the piers were damaged from debris being washed down the river during times of high water but it was amazing to see these monoliths standing in rank like guards. Braving the thorn bushes and other hazards I followed Bob down to the bank and we were able to locate a vantage point where all the piers were visible and there were no overhanging branches to block the view.
I set up my tripod and camera and proceeded to compose the image. After deciding on the lens and framing to use I began making some exposures. It was now late afternoon and the promised clouds were beginning to appear but the background sky was typical Illinois white. I made a few exposures with a yellow filter hoping to bring out whatever contrast I could in the sky and clouds. We then made our way back up the bank and Bob had a suggestion for one additional area of the park to try before we completely lost the light. We headed to another area with a "scenic lookout" point.
This third area of the park presented several photographic opportunities in a small area. First was a small creek flowing down to the river with a miniature canyon carved into the limestone rock. Second was the view from the lookout area on top of a small bluff overlooking the river itself. There were interesting possibilities both up and down stream. Third was an amazing cedar tree growing out of the rock of the bluff with wonderful roots twisting along the rock surfaces looking for purchase in the the cracks. Upon seeing the tree I knew that was what I would use my last two sheets of film on!
As the late afternoon light waned we gathered around Don who was still making some exposures of the creek bed and "canyon" using his Kiev. Bob performed a little "maintenance" on the scene removing some aluminum cans and candy wrappers. When Don made the last exposure we headed back to the parking area and went our separate ways.
Garden of the Gods
Shawnee National Forest, IL
Bill, Garry, Frank, Mike, Sherman, Sid
Garden of the Gods is an area within the Shawnee National Forest with some amazing rock formations.
Gary drove over from Columbia, MO on Friday afternoon. On the way he stopped at Fern Cliff and scouted other locations. I drove down on Friday afternoon as well, arriving around 5:30PM. Both Frank and I had seen web pages saying that the campground at Pounds Hollow had showers but upon driving to Pounds Hollow and checking out the campground discovered there were no showers there. That made Garden of the Gods the logical choice for camping since it was right where we wanted to be and the facilities were the same as at Pounds Hollow.
I drove back to GOG and found Garry's truck at one of the campsites. Garry was nowhere around but I staked out the site next to his and paid the fee. I discovered that I could get a cellular phone signal if I was in the exact right position so I took advantage of it to call Frank and let him know we were at GOG. Frank called Mike to pass the word. I set up my tent and Gary and I sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee and get acquainted. While we were talking a man walked by and seeing Garry's license plate came over and asked what part of Missouri Gary was from. The guy proved to be quite a talker and finally said good night about two hours later!
Since it was about 10:00PM I decided to turn in and crawled into my sleeping bag. Sometime later I awoke to hear Mike's voice asking if I was in there. Frank pulled in about ten minutes later. They both found places to set up their tents though there really wasn't any place one could call level.
I think we were all up by six-thirty Saturday morning and Frank began trying to get us to eat a box of Danish he had brought. Garry made some coffee which he shared with me and we all explored the campground area for a few minutes. The camping area is on the top of a bluff and the rock formations there were pretty impressive. There were some interesting possibilities with various gnarled trees growing right out of the rock, twisted and weathered roots and views across the valley.
While we were walking around a woman in the campsite across the road came over and told us to keep an eye on our stuff as the group in the first campsite were thieves who had stolen all their food. She confronted them and one of them threw a bag of stolen food out of their car as they sped away, leaving their tent and a fire with food cooking over it. They had thrown their stolen cooler off the cliff. The rangers and police were called and it turned out the group was wanted in three states. We all made sure to keep our cars locked the rest of the time were were there.
Since we were supposed to meet Sid at the picnic area at 8:00 we piled into our vehicles and drove over there. Frank set up his Coleman stove and began cooking a breakfast of bacon and eggs while still pushing the Danish. As usual his cooking was excellent. Frank is modest saying only that his cooking is edible more often than not and won't make anyone sick. Actually he is a very good camp chef!
Sid brought his 11x14 Wisner. That camera is HUGE. Sid also had a few contact prints he made from 11x14 negatives. Very impressive. Of course Sid now subscribes to the Weston school of thought; there is nothing photogenic more than 100 yards from his car!
After breakfast we decided to go back to the campground area and photograph the bluffs and areas we had scouted earlier in the morning. The wind was making things difficult and it wouldn't get any better through the weekend. Fortunately a lot of the photogenic things at Garden of the Gods are rocks, boulders and cliffs which don't move in the wind!
We broke for lunch and Frank fired up his grill and made hot dogs and bratwurst while I contributed my own culinary expertise by heating some baked beans. The food was good as was the conversation.
After lunch we decided to try our luck along the observation trail. One of the good and bad things about the Garden of the Gods is that it is very accessible. That is good for large format photographers lugging large cameras and tripods but it also means crowds of people. Waiting to get a shot sans humans was the theme of the afternoon. We hit the observation trail at the right time. While the crowds were there so was the light. The sun moving into the western sky lit up the rock formations. The colors and patterns in the stone are hard to describe and while I rarely shoot color film I did expose about ten sheets that afternoon.
On the way to the observation trail the group got separated with Garry, Bill and I arriving at the trail but Sid, Mike and Frank were no where to be seen. It seems one of them took a wrong turn and Frank followed to set them right. That was fortunate as Frank found a few other photo opportunities for us to explore the next morning as he raced to catch up to Sid and Mike. They eventually came back to the observation trail parking area and headed out. Of course since the trail runs in a loop with both ends starting in the parking lot they went the opposite direction from us. We did eventually meet Frank in the middle but Sid had to turn back when a narrow slot between boulders proved too small to lug the 11x14 through!
There are patterns in the stones, swirls, dimples, ridges, which are called "Liesegang lines" (I hope I have the spelling correct.) These lines are caused by iron in the water being deposited in the sandstone of the area. The iron solidifies and when the exposed rock weathers the iron-laden areas erode more slowly. The iron contributes to the colors as well, causing red, orange and yellow veins of color.
After the observation loop we headed back to the campground. We all met there but Bill had to leave to go back to Indiana and Sid headed back home as well. The remaining four of us decided to take our smaller format cameras and take advantage of the late afternoon light to photograph the along top of the bluff. Mike decided he needed to find some Doritos so he headed off to find a store. He came back with some firewood as well as the Doritos.
Frank once again cooked a great meal, this time pork chops and Rice-a-Roni. There was one small mishap when Frank tossed the Rice-a-Roni box into the campfire and then realized he didn't know how much water to add! He somehow managed to get the box out without burning himself but the instructions were toast, literally and figuratively. He winged it with some input from Mike and his guess turned out to be correct or at least close enough as the rice was most definitely edible. We spent a couple hours sitting around the campfire and enjoying the evening before finally turning in around 11:00.
Sunday morning Garry took off early as there were a couple of places he wanted to photograph on his way home. Frank, Mike and I decided to photograph along the base of the bluff which was the area Frank saw when chasing down Sid and Mike the day before. The light was on the right side of the bluffs and we all made several exposures. Finally Mike called it a morning and headed back to Indiana. He intended to take back roads and do some exploring on the way. Frank and I decided to go the other direction along the bluffs for a bit and we discovered a natural arch. It was an amazing formation where part of the bluff had collapsed forming an indention and then the roof area apparently fell in separating the arch from the face of the cliff.
The light was directly on the outside of the arch while the interior was in shadow. With an exposure range of 8 to 10 stops depending on which highlights and shadows one was willing to lose it was difficult to shoot. We gave it our best anyway, each of us making an exposure or two from the outside and then we moved inside. The exposure inside was a little easier but framing it proved to be a challenge.
After those final exposures at the arch Frank and I decided it was time to call it a trip. We returned to our cars, packed up and hit the road. One thing we all agreed on was that Garden of the Gods should be on our agenda again!
Old World Wisconsin
Eagle, Wisconsin
Evan, Sara, Sid, Sherman, Zhu
This was the first Asylum outing in the state of Wisconsin! Old World Wisconsin was recommend by Zhu and Evan as a place with many photo opportunities, both outdoor and indoor and it did not disappoint! Thanks to Evan and Zhu also for arranging the beautiful weather which was almost perfect with sun, puffy white clouds and a high temperature of about 68 degrees. Old World Wisconsin is a "living history" museum, divided into sections, each devoted to an ethnic group that settled Wisconsin. There are trams that make a circuit of the property allowing visitors to ride from one area to another while the driver gives a bit of narration about each section.
The place is also large format friendly. We were able to set up our tripods and cameras indoors for some lengthy exposures in just about any building. Sid even set up his monster 11x14 inside to attempt a still life. (However after spending probably 20 minutes setting up, focusing and setting the movements he determined his exposure time would be an hour or more and he didn't make the exposure!)
We planned to meet at the Hen House cafe in Eagle, WI about 8:00AM. Since I was the first to arrive I erected the traditional Asylum totem (view camera on tripod) in the parking lot as a signal that this was the right place. Evan and Zhu arrived next and we spent a few minutes talking and looking at Evan's "new" Arca 8x10. A beautiful, relatively lightweight monorail camera that would make a good field camera after Evan's modification of cutting the rail. At about 8:00 Sid hadn't arrived and since there was one other restaurant in Eagle that might be open at that time we decided to walk over (Eagle isn't a very big town) and see if Sid had gone to that one. After walking about 1/2 block we saw Sid's car coming around the bend so we all went back to the Hen House for breakfast. Sid brought his friend Sara who put up with the group with an incredible amount of patience!
After an excellent breakfast, and since Old World Wisconsin didn't open until 10:00AM we decided to take some time in the parking lot to get a close look at Sid's 11x14 as Zhu and Evan hadn't seen it at Garden of the Gods and for me it is always worth another look! Sid also had some contact prints to show. An 11x14 contact print is pretty impressive. Zhu also had a portfolio with some new prints including a truly spectacular image of a waterfall he made during a trip to West Virginia.
We arrived at Old World Wisconsin right at 10:00 and were among the first visitors inside the gate. They do charge an admission fee so we had to choose our type of pass. It is $14 for a day, $30 for an annual pass or $50 for an annual family pass or a single pass that will also admit a guest. Sid and I each decided that it would be worth the $50 pass.
We then headed to the tram stop and climbed on board a tram. There was a large tour group also heading out on the same tram and they were planning on going to the farthest point from the entrance first, which was the Norwegian farm. We decided to go along, figuring that except for the tour group most visitors would start at the front and we would be able to set up without interfering too much. The plan seemed to work as we were able to set up and make our exposures with no problems.
Each of the buildings in the museum is an original, not a reproduction. They have all been moved from various locations around the state and reassembled exactly as they were. Each log, timber, board, brick or stone is labeled and reassembled in its exact location. As a result the buildings are absolutely authentic and each represents what the structure was like at a particular point in time. Our first stop was Raspberry School which was a one room schoolhouse originally from the town of Raspberry up in far northern Wisconsin. The "teacher" gave a talk on the history of the building and also described what school life was like when the school was operational.
After the school we visited the Norwegian farm, Danish farm and Finnish farm. The location reminded me of New Salem Village but much larger and unlike New Salem we were able to shoot inside as well.
The first time I looked at my watch it was after 1:00PM and the next time I noticed the time it was 3:30! This was the first outing I've been to where we didn't stop for lunch! There was a special event planned for the evening so visitors had to leave by 4:30PM so we decided to keep going for the last hour and then caught a tram back to the entrance. It was a productive day for me as I exposed about 12 sheets of 4x5 and a couple of test polaroids. Evan shot quite a bit of 4x5 and then went back and picked up his RZ67 to concentrate on some indoor still lifes. I think at the end of the day he had exposed about 9 rolls of 120 in addition to the 4x5. Sid exposed 4 sheets of 11x14.
In the entire day we probably saw about 15 percent of the museum. I am definitely planning a return, possibly as soon as next weekend!
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Empire, Michigan
Danny, Evan, Frank, Joe, Mike, Nathan, Sherman, Zhu
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is an amazing place. It encompasses a long stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline in northwest lower Michigan and includes shorelines with huge dunes (one is over 400 feet tall and there are warning posted about going to the bottom of the dune by the beach as many people can't make it back up) forested areas of maple, oak and pine and large sand blowouts with a "ghost forest".
Frank was the first to arrive on Friday afternoon and he began setting up his tent in the rain, not a pleasant task. Of course as he finished setting up the rain stopped. I was having a similar experience on the drive up. I kept seeing scenes that I felt would make great images and wanted to stop to photograph them but each time it was raining hard. Finally the rain stopped and I rounded a bend and was presented with a great image. Pine trees planted in rows had grown to quite a large size. The sunlight was slanting in low from the west highlighting the tree trunks with the dark pine needle forest floor and the dark needled canopy. I couldn't resist. I stopped the car at the side of the highway, pulled out my tripod and camera bag and turned toward the trees.
At that moment there was a deafening crash of thunder and I was pelted with some of the largest raindrops I've ever seen! At the same time the clouds lowered in the west and the magical light disappeared. I decided that was a sign that I should just concentrate on getting to the campground. I reluctantly put my gear back in the car and headed north.
I received a call from Mike inquiring about my location, it seemed he was about an hour behind me. About 30 minutes after Mikes' call I was at the campground setting up my tent with Frank nowhere to be seen. I assumed he was out looking for photographs. A little while later Mike appeared and we moved my tent around slightly to make room for Mike's and in a few minutes we had quite the tent grouping. Mike and I sat and talked for a while and then Frank and Danny pulled in.
Frank immediately went about cooking one of his amazing camp dinners and Mike and I got a campfire going. Except for not getting to make any photographs that first day it turned out to be another excellent start. Good food and friends and lots of discussion of cameras, photography and life in general. The next time I looked at my watch I realized it was 12:30 my time, 1:30AM local time! I decided to turn in for the night and the others soon decided to do the same and Frank and Danny made plans for an early morning expedition in search of sunrise photographs.
Saturday morning dawned clear and cool. I got the fire going again from last night's embers and put on a pot of coffee. Around 7:30 Joe Smigel pulled in and joined me in a cup of coffee and Mike got up and had his Diet Coke. Nathan had gone out to look for photographs also but came back to camp shortly after Joe arrived. A few minutes later Frank and Danny came back and once again Frank put together a great breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs. About then Evan and Zhu came into camp. Another great turnout.
After breakfast and after purchasing park passes for our cars we headed toward Glen Haven and the point where the dunes had covered a wooded area creating a "ghost forest" of dead trees poking up through the sand. Some of the stumps had fantastical shapes like miniature castles or cathedrals. Most of the group busied themselves looking for the right angle and lighting to capture some of the amazing images. The wind was blowing hard and incessantly so we had to take care not to get sand in the equipment but of course some got in anyway. Danny's light meter seemed particularly hard hit.
Around 1:00PM we headed back to Glen Haven and set up for a picnic lunch of brats, hot dogs and baked beans. After lunch it was decided that we would drive along the Pierce Stocking Scenic drive and stop at any place that grabbed our attention. During the drive in the morning we had passed a white barn in a field of tall grass and that was in the back of everyone's mind also. We found several places along the drive to make photographs and many of the group broke out some of our smaller cameras, medium format, 35mm and even digital for many of those photographs.
Late in the afternoon Zhu and Evan announced they were heading back to the barn we had passed that morning and I decided to go with them. When we arrived the light was just starting to get that late afternoon glow and the barn was beginning to light up nicely. We set up at a leisurely pace. While setting up more cars arrived and the rest of the group began setting up. After fifteen minutes or so the light began to really glow and quite a few sheets of film were exposed. I am anxious to see the results from that location.
After the barn most of the group headed back to the scenic drive and then wound back to the campground. We all eventually arrived at the campground except for Evan and Zhu who were staying in Manistee, almost an hour away. They decided to head back to their hotel for a meal and a good night's rest before heading home the next morning. The rest of us enjoyed another great camp dinner prepared by Frank and another evening of conversation around the campfire. Once again Frank and Danny decided on another early morning outing and then we all turned in.
When camping we are careful to clean up around the camp putting trash into sealed bags and all the food back into the coolers. Saturday night though we left a bag of potato chips and a bag of cheese curls on the table. Of course during the night a raccoon came into camp and found those bags. It was a noisy fellow and he seemed to be quite enjoying his meal. In the morning both bags were completely empty!
Sunday morning was also bright and clear. I began packing my tent and gear and making a pot of coffee. Frank and Danny returned from a disappointing scouting trip. They had seen a location the previous morning and decided to return a bit earlier and photograph it. This time though whatever had caught their attention previously just wasn't there. Frank was of the opinion that someone had come during the night and rearranged the trees. I've had that same experience several times so I can sympathize.
We finally got everything packed up and I headed home in the late morning. I think that Sleeping Bear Dunes is a place that will go on the Asylum list of places we must return to. I know I could have literally spent the entire day Saturday just photographing the partially buried stumps and driftwood on the beach and around the ghost forest. There are many places along the scenic drive that deserve much more attention than we had time to give.
Turkey Run State Park
Parke County Indiana
I just thought I take a few moments to type up a few words on the trip to Turkey Run this weekend. I got to the campsite in the middle of the afternoon on friday and began to setup camp. By some miracle we managed to get the best camping area in the campsite. Although technically two campsites there was "green-space" all around us. We were in the center of a loop in in the road out of the normal traffic
area. This meant that for all practical purposes we had ~4 campsites worth of space to ourselves in an out of the way part of the park. At the edge of the sites was a water faucet across the road was parking and we were a few minutes away from the restroom that included showers.
After setting up my tent and emptying my car I headed out to get some firewood and for a walk on some of the trails. While on the trail I noticed a lot of chipmunks and marveled at how they had no fear of humans or dogs. I couldn't help thinking that if I let my cats run free in the park next spring they wouldn't be seen again until winter and by that time there wouldn't be any chipmunks, rabbits, or squirrels left in the park. :-) By the time I finished my hike it was time to go back for dinner. Unfortunately I found that cell phone reception in the area to be spotty at best.
As is his custom Mike arrived after dark and after setting up his tent and blowing up his air mattress we sat down at the campfire. Although the weather was perfect I managed to forget to bring a pillow which resulted in me not sleeping to good. As it turned out it was a good thing since a raccoon managed to figure out how to open my cooler. Once open it proceeded to try and steal our dinner for saturday. Fortunately I heard the cooler being opened and thinking that we were being robbed ala garden of the gods I rushed out to stop the thief. Fortunately for me the raccoon was scared off by the noise I made and I didn't actually have to confront it. :-)
Since Mike wanted to try and get a shot of the stairs at the creek end of the Turkey Run canyon in the early morning light the two of us got up early. However a lack of sleep friday night and cloud cover kept us from actually going. As Mike and I finished breakfast, Joe Smigel and Bill Riley arrived. Since at that point we had everyone that we were expecting we headed out to expose some film. The first trail we went on was Turkey Run canyon. Unfortunately is was a bit wet which resulted in me not taking a few shots that I would have liked to. This time out I found myself concentrating on getting shots of the ferns, moss and lichen. I got some in a shot I took a few years ago and really like the tonality of it. We finally got to the end of the trail near the Inn at about lunch time. I spent some time and Polaroid film on getting a printable shot of the stairs at the end of the trail. We also spent some time exploring compositional ideas that Bill, Mike and I had. I used Polaroids and we got instant feedback and proof that while the ideas seemed good while we were looking at them they didn't translate into anything more then alright B&W photos. In the end we got no further then shooting polaroids. I did get some interesting experience at calculating the reciprocity for Polaroid though.
After lunch we decided to go to trail 9 and explore the canyons there. This meant going on trails marked very rugged. We discovered that a trail at Turkey Run marked very rugged is in fact VERY RUGGED. Unfortunately I discover that after a while one Turkey Run canyon looks about the same as another and didn't end up exposing much film there.
One of the few I took was spoiled when Mike turned a corner in the trail and walked toward me as I was making a 45sec. exposure!! (thanks Mike :-)) I quickly re shot it before the light changed and anyone else appeared. Bill had the same problem and afterwords Mike mentioned that during the exposure he could have closed the shutter when he saw the people entering the frame and continue were he left off after they left. A piece of knowledge that he made frequent use of on Sunday!!
When we got back to our cars Mike treated us to much appreciated ice cold water. After we regained a bit of strength we headed back to camp. By this time we were all worn out and had burned off lunch so we decided to have dinner. The idea of having kabobs was a popular one as Mike, Bill and I brought enough to feed the entire group. This was complimented by the Brats and bread Joe brought as well as cole slaw (or was it potato salad?) and dirty rice without the dirt. We all eat or fill and more. Even so there was enough left over to feed an army.
Afterwords we sat at the campfire and exercised or social skills. We were expecting a couple others at ~10pm and struggled to stay up after a long day. Joe having gotten up at ~3am that morning called it an early night. The rest of us didn't last much later then the expected 10pm arrival time. By 10:30 nobody arrived and we gave in to exhaustion. All the while hoping that we would wake up in the morning with two additional tents. An interesting thing happened while we were enjoying the fire. A family of three raccoons managed to walk up and start digging through the garbage bag while I was sitting less then five feet away from it. When I hear d the rustling I turned to look. The raccoons looked up and me and showing no fear or concern of my presence went back to digging through the garbage. By this time I told Mike about what was going on and he chased them off with the lantern. Although they left they walked off slowly and grudgingly. I've never seen Raccoons acting that boldly!!
Being an early riser Bill beat us all out of the tents and built a nice fire to chase away the cold when the rest of us got up. He also cooked a dozen eggs and pan full of sausages for breakfast. Mike had the best timing of the bunch and got up just as breakfast was being server!! :-)
After breakfast we broke down camp and packed up or vehicles. We did so at a relaxed pace since we were also waiting for Guoming Shou. We were expecting him to arrive at ~10am. Unfortunately he called and left a message that I didn't get until much later as a result of the spotty cell coverage. Mike wanted to explore the canyon and gulch along trail number 2 so we headed out that way. After we finished up with box canyon Joe found that he had one sheet of film left that he wanted to save for the ride home so he left from there and headed back. The rest of us continued on. We were each rewarded by a number of scenes that we got exposures of.
When we got back to the cars Mike and decided that it was time to call it a weekend and start heading home. Bill however being the dedicated photographer that he is decided that he was going to go back to Turkey Run canyon and take a shot that he had seen and actually composed on saturday morning but for reasons that he was now questioning decided not to take.
The sad news is that while packing up our cameras for the ride home Mike and I got to talking about how after five trips to Turkey Run in two years that we had photographed it out. We then agreed that we should give the park a rest for at least a couple of years as we explore other locations and spend some time going through the prints and negatives that we have of the park and find new ways to photograph the canyons.
Frank