Garden

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Things just grow here. We are always fighting back the plants that encroach on the driveway and yard. We’ve had a bit of a sunny, dry spell that has been great for climbing and hiking, and for the plants as long as we water them. Many of the plants that grow are from our compost. Every year orange and red cherry tomatoes sprout up. Last year we were given strawberry plants. They survived outside all winter. Now, every few days we pick as many sweet, flavorful strawberries as we can eat. Beans have started growing up the trellis. We also have garlic, wild flowers, and morning glories that have yet to bloom.

Clingmans Dome

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Tonight I drove to Clingmans Dome to see the sunset and try to see the Milky Way. This was a new moon, and I expected the sky to be clear. This area is also has the darkest skies in the region. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of haze, so the sunset was not as pretty as I’d hoped. Two days ago I saw the most beautiful sunset while driving home from the Rocky Top hike. There was also a lot of light pollution, but I did see more stars than I had in a while!

Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet, is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the highest elevation along the Appalachian Trail. I drove to the top because I do not like hiking alone in the dark and was short on time. However, there is a 0.6 mile, 350 foot hike from the parking lot to the tower. At elevation I was out of breath just trying to jog.

I captured the mountains in blue hour. It was a very still, quite night, so longer exposures turned out well

Rocky Top

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“Rocky Top you'll always be / Home sweet home to me.” I’ve gone to the University of Tennessee and lived near Rocky Top for a decade and hadn’t hiked it! So, today I hiked 12.3 miles and 4087 feet of climbing to see beautiful views of the southwestern Smoky Mountains, Cades Cove, and Fontana Lake. The weather was clear with blue skies and fluffy clouds. “There ain't no smog, no smoke on Rocky Top / Ain't no telephone bills”. The trail wasn’t the best. It is also a horse trail, very wide, like a gravel road. No overlooks. A few rhodadendron have bloomed. The peak was much better than the trail and worth the hike. I took a nap at Spence Field overlooking the blooming azailias, mountain laural, and Fontana Lake. On the hike back I saw a black bear with her two, cute cubs 100 yards ahead of me on the trail. They crossed and I waited as they walked deep into the woods.

I can’t get over how beautiful the film photos look. I wanted to compare the color, look, and feel of film and digital, so i took photos of the same scene with the NEX-3N and the FM at Spence Field with azaleas in the foreground. Left is the NEX-3N and right is the FM, both have a polarizing filter. The colors on the NEX-3N are more punchy possible due to the film being overexposed. The mountains and sky are also much more blue on the NEX-3N, but I think the mountains look more life-like on the FM; they look flat on the NEX-3N.

The photo of the cairn was taken on the NEX-3N and the photo of the fern was taken with the FM. While they are different subjects the contrast on the cairn is similar to the fern, but it lacks the same feeling of depth and dimensionality. I used f/1.4 to take the image of the fern. Here there is greater contrast between the background and the fern. The flowers are not quite in focus and they are overexposed, but the fern still looks pretty and three dimensional. Finally, I used Kodak Gold 200 (fern) and Fujicolor 200 (other photos) to compare colors. I think I like the Kodak better. The green in the Fujicolor looks a little yellow.

I was inspired by this photo by u/embroideress, (Lands End on Portra 400, Mamiya C220, 80mm lens). She used the shallow depth of field of the medium format camera to isolate a spot on the path and in the forest near the camera. I tried to replicate it with the grassy field. I tried to focus on the fern as it is the only immediately obvious subject, but I was off slightly. It is still a pretty photo with only a thin strip of grass in focus. It also has the same look that I saw when I was there, very soft, green grass. Part of this is due to the polarization filter that cut out the glare of sunlight off each blade of grass.

Unfortunately, the shutter release and film advance lever on the FM stopped working at Rocky Top. Hiking and jostling it around might have shaken some small part. I’m looking to get it fixed because I love the photos it takes!

Ijams

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This weekend I hung out at Ijams, both at the quarry and crag. It has been a very warm week. My friends and I had a day out on the water paddle boarding and canoeing. We then had lunch in the shade. I also climbed at the crag. My friend and I tried leading Suttree (5.10b). We also climbed Madelade (5.10a), a classic, and struggled up Scruffy City Blues (5.11b). These photos have an odd yellow tinge to them. I don’t know why. I cant’t wait to take photos while hiking in the mountains.

Film

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The first roll of film has been developed! I have the negatives and high quality digital scans. I love the look. It has a nice feel to it that I can’t quite detail or explain. There is both a soft look and a lot of detail. The shallow depth of field in this first photo is really pretty (though the aperture was not completely open because there was too much light). None of the photos were too over or under exposed, and I didn’t feel the need to make any changes. A few things about the film, Kodak Gold 200. There is more grain than I was expecting. I am not yet a fan of grain. The greens are beautiful, especially the Magnolia grandiflora leaves. I have a few more rolls of Kodak Gold, and then I’ll try a different film.

Nikon FM

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I have a new camera, the Nikon FM, a full manual, all mechanical, 35mm film camera. This camera will compliment my mirrorless Sony alpha NEX-3N digital camera.

I got a film camera for a few reasons. First, I want to see what kind of resolution I can get out of 35mm film, mainly while hiking. Though 35mm is not really used for landscapes I hope I can coax out sharp images with a tripod, cable release, filters, and timer (mirror lock-up). The FM is a step up from the NEX-3N’s 16.1 MP APS-C sensor to “full-frame,” and 35mm film (especially on a manual camera) is a good introduction to medium and large format film that have even more resolution.

Second, lenses for old film cameras are cheaper than the same lenses for modern digital cameras, so I can try out different lenses. I am particularly excited to use a telephoto lens for landscapes and a macro lens for flowers and other details. Both lenses could be had for the FM for around $50. The only lens I have for the NEX-3N is a 16-50mm f/3.5-f/5.6 zoom lens which has been wonderful to use. However, a telephoto lens for the NEX-3N is around $300, likely because of the electronics (autofocus, zoom, image stabilization). My first lens for the FM is a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens. Being a prime lens, I hope the details in photos are sharper than those taken with the NEX-3N’s zoom lens. In addition to lenses, I can also add neutral density and polarization filters. Neutral density filters will allow me to use the wide open aperture even in bright light. The f/1.4 aperture is much larger than the NEX-3N’s f/3.5, so I’m excited to see how smooth and blurred background elements get, especially with macro shots.

Third, though film photography is challenging, it has a unique, classic look. I am already shooting in manual mode on the NEX-3N and am familiar with the basics of photography. In particular, I do not like the pixel noise (or grain) of higher ISO settings. Recently, I’ve been shooting with the NEX-3N on 200 ISO only, even if it means slower shutter speeds. The FM can use ISO film down to 12! I’m interested to see how slower film and slower shutter speeds impact the contrast and saturation in photos.

Finally, I hope to use the FM to slow down and think more about each shot. Photos on the NEX-3N can feel documentary at times, just taking a photo to record or remember a particular detail. With the FM, I hope there can be more focus on the emotions in each photo.

Bull Head

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Today I hiked to Mt LeConte. There are five ways to hike to Mt LeConte: Alum Cave Trail, Boulevard Trail, Rainbow Falls Trail, Trillium Gap Trail, and the one I hadn’t done, Bull Head Trail. Some people count Brushy Mountain Trail too, but it shares 3.6 miles with Trillium Gap Trail. The hike today was 13.4 miles with 4900 feet of climbing. The views along this trail are similar to those on the Alum Cave Trail. From Mt LeConte cliff top I could see the jagged, V-shaped ridges made of Anakeesta Formation, a type of slate common in The Sawteeth. Judging from the look out of Mt LeConte cliff top, I think the distant peak to the far left in the last photo is Clingman’s Dome (the highest point in the park). Zooming all the way in, I can maybe make out the observation tower. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of Clingman’s Dome at 50mm. Today I focused on using larger apertures (f/8-11) to take landscape photos. I learned that lenses are not the sharpest at the smallest aperture. I had been taking landscape photos with the smallest aperture (about f/22), but the distant mountains always seemed a little blurry. The results from today look better.

Roan Backpacking

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This weekend my friends and I backpacked in the Roan Highlands. I have day hiked Roan Mountain a few times before but only a couple miles along the trail. This was my first experience backpacking. My friends and I had a wonderful time. We had beautiful, cool weather. This section of the Appalachian Trail strings together a series of balds (mountain tops covered by grasses or shrubs instead of trees). Unlike higher peaks with an alpine zone that prevent trees from growing, Appalachian balds are short enough that trees could grow but, for unknown reasons, do not. Balds are great for hiking because there are unobstructed view all around. Hiking on balds, and so many in a row, is such a different experience than most hikes in the area. It felt like hiking through a Lord of the Rings film.

According to our route on Caltopo, we hiked 21.7 miles total with 5579 feet of climbing. Starting at Carver’s Gap, we hiked 5.5 miles to just below Yellow Mountain Gap with full packs. We set up camp at an old, converted barn. We then hiked 7.6 miles with day packs to Hump Mountain and back. I found this cool site that shows what other peaks are visible & how far away the horizon is. On the map, the red region is what is visible (not obstructed by a closer mountain) and the lavender line is the horizon. From Hump Mountain, the farthest bald we went to, we could see Sugar Mountain and directly behind that was Grandfather Mountain, 11 miles away as the crow files. The farthest peaks that would have been theoretically visible was the Pinnacle and Crowders Mountain. Both 75 miles away and almost in South Carolina! The first photo is from Hump Mountain looking northwest toward High Knob. On Sunday we hiked 3 miles round trip to have breakfast and see the sunrise on a nearby bald. Finally, we hiked 5.5 miles back to the car with full packs.