A few weeks ago I spent the weekend in Tahoe trudging through the snow and slush (to take a few photos) in my Sorel 1964 Pac boots. They were a much needed and welcomed Christmas present this last year. I'm hoping that they last as long as everyone elses - and that I will still be trudging through the snow with them in 2030.
Finally, I have a chance to share all of the Polaroids I shot several weeks back in Yosemite with my Land Automatic. Shooting the land is quite a different experience than that of integral film. I pulled it off by using my car as a "home base". I would take the camera out on short walks/hikes, take one shot, head back to the car, and develop inside where the temperatures were still much warmer than the winter chill outside. By doing this, I was also able to control all of the extra waste created by shooting peel apart film. I wish I had taken a photo of the inside of my car during all of this - I had processed Polaroids laying all over the place while waiting for them to all dry out and set.
On Friday, I came an ebay listing for an Ansel Adams book that I had no idea even existed. I was able to find several copies on Half.com, at great prices, if anyone else is interested in picking up a copy for themselves. 
Yosemite National Park.
I took these two shots from a gas station while we were fueling up in Jackson, Calif. just after coming down the mountain from Kirkwood (and leaving all the beautiful snow behind).
I have been wanting to shoot these trees along Highway 88 in the foothills just out of Stockton for YEARS now. Unfortunately, on this portion of the highway there is absolutely no shoulder to pull out onto. On the drive home from Tahoe yesterday, I finally decided to just roll down the passenger window and take a shot.
Thanks to Angie Harris of pinkiestyle for featuring my Polaroid "Amy's Owl" in her Etsy Treasury listing "It's a Polaroid Thing...."
Here she is, in all her glory, parked in my garage. We had to move the Corvair out of the shop and into my garage at home so a few other big projects could come into the shop. The engine restoration phase of the Corvair is almost complete (just needs some carb tuning & valve timing adjustments, a new exhaust and most likely a new battery after all the sitting). I'm getting antsy to get back in the drivers seat!
I love the weather we've been having over the last two weeks. Keep it up old man winter!
I shot these images just as a huge winter storm was moving into South Lake Tahoe two weeks ago. I'm sure it looks much different up there now that they've received several feet of snow!
I came across this shot the other night while scanning some old photos - it is my first Polaroid taken with a SX-70 (and time-zero film) back in 2004. This was the first time I experienced that dreaded moment with a SX-70 when one waits and wonders when the shutter will go back down after pressing the release button.
Fog and mist lifting over the Merced River at the entrance to Yosemite National Park.
I LOVE natural history museums. The visitor's center at Yosemite National Park has a particularly cool museum featuring interactive installations explaining the formation of the granite rocks and the valley floor. I would have to say though, that my favorite part were the little animal statues located at the entrance.
Yesterday we had some amazing weather which really made me miss living in Arizona. A huge thunderstorm rolled through, knocking out power and trees all over town. I took these two shots just as the sun was setting and the onslaught of rain, hail, thunder and lightning had passed by.
Here are some Polaroids from the most recent trip I made to Yosemite a few weeks ago (all shot with my SX70 and Artistic TZ film). This time around, it was considerably warmer outside and there was much less snow on the ground. I just can't get enough of this place - it is absolutely captivating: the granite, sky, trees, streams, rocks, and waterfalls. Every time I leave the park to begin the long drive home all I can think about is turning back around to stay a little longer. This time, I spent the morning exploring the valley floor more extensively and adventured out on two short hikes up to Mirror Lake and the Lower Yosemite Falls. While I was in the valley, I had a Bobcat run across my path - unfortunately at a speed to fast for my old SX70 to catch. At the end of the day, I ventured over to the south eastern exit and explored the Pioneer Center and Wawona Hotel. This area of the park feels as if one is literally walking through an earlier, more simple, part of the century. I also shot my Land Automatic while I was in the park and will share those images in a separate post as they have a completely different feel than my sx70 shots.
When I was in Yosemite this past weekend, I ventured into the pioneer cemetery located across from the Museum. As I was walking through the very ancient gravestones (dating back to the mid to late 1800's) I realized that many of the gravestones belonged to many of the famous faces of Yosemite's past. After just finishing the Ken Burns Documentary on the National Parks, it was really special to be able to pay my respects to those who made the idea of Yosemite possible.
Saturday I stopped by a really interesting historical site on the Central Coast - the Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove, Calif. The lighthouse has been guiding ships away from the rocky shoreline since 1855. Along with being a fully functioning lighthouse, the building is also a pretty neat little museum to visit.
I found this old chevy truck sitting in the parking lot of a general store at Yosemite and couldn't resist taking a shot with my sx-70. Seeing the truck generated some excitement for spring to arrive so I can start photographing all the classic cars that will once again emerge from their owners garages (including my Corvair!).
Sunday I took another road trip up to Yosemite. On the early morning drive, there was an intense amount of tooley fog. I shot these two images with my SX-70 just as the sun was rising, and I was emerging from the fog, outside of Cathey's Valley, Calif.
Photo: George Waldman for The New York Times
I found this small donkey a few weeks ago while digging through some storage boxes from my old apartment in Arizona. This is the only souvenir that I brought back from my trip to West Africa several years ago - I purchased it in the Dakar airport on our way home. At that time, I was desperate to pick something up before leaving as a memento. Shopping while in Africa was extremely difficult and I had major space constraints due to all the camera equipment I was carrying in just one small day pack.
SX-70 with Artistic TZ
Polaroid Spectra film and camera
I have a little explaining to do about my adventures with peel apart film and Polaroid Land Automatic cameras:
This year I decided to do something a little different and instead of focusing on making New Year's resolutions I would make "end of the year resolutions" in which I did things that had been on my 2009 list of New Year's resolutions. One of those items included visiting Yosemite to explore and take photographs (although technically I had already visited Yosemite on New Year's 2009 to snowboard at Badger Pass). It was supposed to snow up there every day last week so we threw the snow tires on the Subaru and headed east - to the crisp winter air, some amazing partly cloudy skies and the most magnificent granite mountains.
Just got back from spending 2 awesome days in Tahoe snowboarding up at Kirkwood. Woke up yesterday morning to several inches of new snow from a small storm! We're headed to Yosemite tomorrow for some sledding and back up to Kirkwood again on Wednesday for another day of boarding.
Had to do a huge car shuffle at the shop last weekend in the rain when the mustang came in. Shot this with the camera on my iphone.
Saturday we went up to Gilroy to pick up Bill and Claudia's very rare California Special Mustang and brought it back down to the shop for restoration work. The car is very special, as it is a family heirloom passed through brothers.
I have been attempting to perfect a shot my two Virgin of Guadalupe figurines to give as a Christmas present. My second attempt is much better than the first - but could still use a little tweaking.
A few rainy day shots taken with my trusty SX-70 over the weekend.
Sardines - The Outer Bay.
Jellyfish - The Outer Bay
Hammerhead - The Outer Bay
The Secret Lives of Seahorses
The Secret Lives of Seahorses
I've been meaning to re-shoot this as it turned out a little darker than I'd like.
Taken with some of my "blackfriday" artistic tz film that I purchased from Polapremium.
Came across a few kodachrome slides of my great grandparents the other day. The first image is of the Regnier's (Xmas 1959 or 1961, I believe). I actually found out over Thanksgiving that my great-great-grandfather Regnier was raised in a box car after his family arrived in America from Belgium. The second slide is of my Great Grandma Sarah Early (whom I was named after). She was a really impressive woman in that she ran a farm entirely by herself (pictured), mothered 9 children, and went through a divorce in the 1920's.
Once again I've been digging through countless kodachrome slides looking for images to scan for xmas presents for the fam. I was really excited to come across this one of my grandmother's first car. The image was taken on the farm in Gill, Colorado. Not quite sure what it is exactly, but now I understand why she was so excited about the color of the Corvair the first time she saw it. She would have been REALLY excited had I purchased that seafoam green Falcon with a white top that Matt and I went and looked at a few years back.
Jan 1961
Shot with my Polaroid SX-70 One Step Sonar and Artistic TZ film from Polapremium.
Images from my trusty Polaroid SX-70 Sonar One Step camera shot with Artistic TZ film.
