little cool

Oct 22, 07
morning
Shingle Springs
little cool - clear - predicted high in the 70's today - no wind

Friend of a friend's home - out with plein air painters today for the first time in a long while.


Driveway leading up to the house, surrounded by oak woods -

Wandering around the property - the vineyard is past it's prime, leaves turning and grapes waiting to be harvested. A cow's lowing travels across the little valley. (I think it's called French Creek Valley.)



The ground is fairly dry - a little moisture from recent rains has encouraged fresh green grass shoots under the vines -





Farther down the hill, I hear lots of little birds in the nearby trees - see a couple sparrow types in the vineyard flitting about, others look more like some kind of fly catcher, no doubt finding insects about - as a bee buzzes by my head.



It's gotten warm enough to shed my jacket, a welcome light breeze brushes by.



Wandering all around the edges of the vineyard, back up to the top of the hill.



Sitting under the arbor, relaxed, chatting with artist friends about art, business, life - watching the light change on the hills on the other side of the little valley.

We take break for lunch, then I wander off a little farther.



The charms of quiet 'country' roads still exist - this would fit in the 'crazy woman in the middle of the road' series.

A car comes just as I snap the shutter, then I walk to the side - the car actually stops & the driver kindly asks if he can see, too.

While I sit to pull the print & scribble, the resident horses come to see what I'm up to, watching me over the fence.



Wandering back across the road for my next shot, a young dog on a walk with her mistress is a bit concerned about me as well, until she's allowed to smell me and see I'm alright.



On my walk out, the auto drive sees me again and wishes me well...


Technical Post Script: most of these images appear to be overexposed, which happens to be true of the positive Polaroid prints only. The particular film that I'm using, Polaroid PN, is a bit quirky exposure-wise, and the photographer can basically choose between a perfectly ptinted positive or a negative worth printing from. For myself, the negative is the ultimate goal, so the positive prints in my journal often appear very light - that just assures that the negative has all the detail it needs to print a wonderful darkroom print, which is my ultimate goal.