I have been in Las Cruces visiting an old photographer friend who is soon to have open heart surgery. At our age it becomes a big deal. I will be returning once again, for a few days after he returns home from the hospital stay. This being the case, in tandem with the snap of autumn in the air, finally, begins a very good period for capturing the Arizona scene. The next day out will be with the Burke & James 5x7 view camera. I have been wanting to capture many of the buildings and homes of the old Barrios of Tucson. The Barrios snake around the downtown area and appear again in South Tucson, a city of its own, and the flavor there comes in many flavors, from various regions of Mexico. Known locally as Little Mexico. For my friend in Las Cruces, Mesilla, N.M. is their traditional Mexican Puebla known to have hosted Poncho Villa and his riders.
Flavor is everything for every photographer, looking for something that really grabs your attention, the brain calculating density ranges and lighting conditions, what to leave out what to leave in.... the very best of setting up a shot with a view camera. All of the view camera photographers I know also shoot digital images, but they all keep attached to their view cameras and use them. I'm likely preaching to the choir.
I will also be digitizing negatives differently now. Due to incompatibilities between the otherwise awesome Plustek scanner, and the fact that there is no useful software to actually make it work on Windows 10, I will be shooting the negs on a light box using my Canon 20D. An entirely new experience. Embarrassingly enough it took way too long for the light to go off when I was working to find said scanner, which, by the way, came all the way from Australia. I'll be back soon, either with new negs to show, or perhaps I'll have time in between jobs to get more prints made. Thanks for taking the time to visit the page.
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