Author Archives: John Thurston

Streamside Snapshot

by John Thurston

Back in August, I had found an awesome cave at the edge of the ice. I had been under the ice for about 30 minutes trying for some images of the stream running at the bottom of the cave. The light level was low and I was having to guess at 1.5 or 2 second exposures while the melting roof falling all around me. These two ladies climbed and slid down to where I was and asked if they could take a few pictures without disturbing me.

“Sure thing!”, I said. They weren’t going to interrupt my process, and I really wanted some pictures of them against the blue.

While they took each others’ pictures, I tried to advance to advance the film, open the aperture enough to get the shutter-speed down to a more realistic number, compose a new image, and focus for the shallow depth of field. I think I got off three exposures before they were done and ready to climb out and head home. This is the only one which is close to useable, and it’s still too dark. I really need to carry a small flash and learn how to use it šŸ™

This is in the same cave in which I made Crack of Doom. I’m turned 180 degrees and thirty feet farther in.

Tripod mounted TL120-1, Provia 400X, un-recorded aperture and shutter.

 

Crack of Doom

by John Thurston

Some glaciers are relatively stable. The Mendenhall is not one of these. At this fissure, the race is on between the melt action from the outside edge and thinning ceiling caused by the increasing depth of the crack. When I found this ceiling crack, I knew I had to try to get an image of it before it disappeared.

It’s shot on Provia 400X with about a half-second exposure. Because of the height of the ceiling and the orientation of the crack, I was unable to get everything in focus with the TL120-1. Yep, the foreground is soft, but I feel it isn’t too distracting. A greater distraction is the stream of water very near the camera. Again, there was nothing I could do about it, so I made the image as best I could.

This is one image I whole-heartedly suggest experiencing inverted. Flip that slide over and see what’cha’ think.

This is also an image which I have found impossible to color-match between the slide and the computer screen. The colors just don’t exist in the sRGB space to present the colors on the film.

August, 2011 – Tripod mounted TL120-1, Provia 400X

Hanging Ice Cubes

by John Thurston

This is another image from under the Mendenhall glacier. I have done several images of the surface and the caves. Here, I’ve screwed up the courage to actually get in the gap between the ice and the bedrock, put a camera on a tripod and try to compose some images. It’s pretty hard to concentrate on images when the ceiling is melting and the resulting ice-water-rain is running down your back. Then there are the streams (a little visible in the middle-ground), tumbling rocks, and falling ice-bits to keep you jumping!

I really wanted to get more light so you could see the distance better. Even though I had brought my flash (and all of the cables to make it go) I was unable to control it enough to get any light in the distance without blowing out the rocks in the foreground. What I needed was a Chimney Boy to slither in and rig a couple of remotes part way down the cleft.

Created with a tripod-mounted TL120-1

Decker Way

by John Thurston

Juneau has more than a few steep streets, and quite of few of these become too steep to remain a paved roadway. Decker Way is a downtown street which becomes a staircase to finish its run down to South Franklin St. The staircase streets are named and numbered just like the roadways, and commonly haveĀ  houses along both sides. I visit them on my lunch break, and I don’t envy the folks who live there who get to carry their groceries up (or down) in all kinds of weather.

This is not labeled, but is probably from my TL120-1.

Tours!

by John Thurston

Down on the docks, the cruise ships tie up and the passengers disembark. Those who bought package tours on the ship need to find the right person with the sign for their tour. Those who didn’t buy their tickets on the ship, can talk to one of the tour representatives in the kiosks. The cruise lines would rather sell the ticket on-board (as they pocket a large commission on each sale), and make a point of warning their passengers of unscrupulous dealings elsewhere. I’d rather deal with these guys who are here rain or shine, every day of the week.

This was a fun image to make. I was framing the image and chatting with the barkers in their kiosks.Ā  All day long, they see the tourists clicking away with cameras, but my TL120-55 on a tripod was a bit different and caught their attention. I tried framing this with the TL120-1, but I really think the 55mm lenses let me better capture the scene.

Tripod mounted TL120-55, April 2010.

Cranberry Crush (with crabapples)

by John Thurston

The back of the mount says ā€œTL120ā€, but it lies. This dates from 2005 and I didn’t have a TL120 until 2006. I found another unmounted image from this same roll and it is obviously from my Rolleidoscop.

The girls are working on crushing Crabapples (which they have just picked off the tree in the yard). They had a recipe for “Cranberry Crush”, and lacking any cranberries, decided to see what they got using local ingredients.

I am working on framing an image, and trying to figure out how to drive the flash. My flash technique is terrible and this marginal success I can attribute only to luck. I have no idea how I managed to get the exposure this close with a Vivitar 285 bounced off the ceiling.

Wall

by John Thurston

In some earlier folio offerings, I’ve shown the raining ceilings and the smooth rocks. This image is all about the ice.

Up close and personal with the face of the glacier, you can see the facets and scallops created as it melts. The sand and rock in the ice has possibly been there for thousands of years. Its journey is nearly over and it will soon melt out and fall to the ground.

I’ve been trying some different methods of duplicating slides. This is a Gammatech duplicate made from a flat-bed scan on my Epson 4990. While it isn’t bad, it can’t compare with the original. But, for $10, it certainly isn’t bad.

August, 2010. Tripod mounted TL120-1.

Glare From the Noon Light

by John Thurston

Yes, this is the noon light, not the moon light. Early in January, the sun doesnā€™t get very high in our sky. It rakes in very low, and there are often shadows mid-day caused by the sun being obscured by some mountains. In earlier folios, you have seen where the ice meets the land. This is where the ice meets the lake.

Catching the dawn light on the glacier is a tricky business. By definition, it involves starting the mile and quarter trek across the lake (either by skate or by ski) before dawn. It requires a bit of nerve to lace up my skates and set out across the lake in the dark with a pack loaded with camera gear. Once there, in the pre-dawn light, the challenge is to find the image that will be there when the sun arrives.

In this case, I caught the light on the extreme face of the glacier.Ā  There is nothing for scale, but the hummock to the right is probably only four feet high. That makes the face about 30 feet high. The lake ice in front of it (as well as where I’m standing) is a mass of re-frozen crumble. At any time, the glacier may slide forward and wrinkled the ice for many yards. The lake is also littered with bergs which have fallen off the face. If that should happen, the resulting waves will leave broken ice for half a mile. I have never been there when it happens, but the evidence that it does happen is recorded in the ice at my feet.

This was shot with my TL120-55 on a tripod in January, 2010.

David Lee

by John Thurston
  • Oak Tree
    Cameras ā€“ A pair of Bronica SQA’s, 150mm lenses
    Separation – 2 feet.
    Film – Fuji Provia 100F
    The image was made in Del Puerto Canyon between Patterson and San Jose, CA.
  • Trees in Water
    Camera – 3D World TL-120
    Film – Fuji Astia
    The image was made in the Joe Domecq Wilderness Area off Highway 132 near LaGrange, CA.
  • Porch Windows
    Camera – 3D World TL-120
    Film – Fuji Provia 100F
    The image was made in Bodie, CA, the largest ghost town in the United States. This is the Conway House.
  • Two Boys
    Camera – 3D World TL-120
    Film – Fuji Provia 400X
    The image was made at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA.

Linda Nygren

by John Thurston

All of these images were taken with my Sputnik which was tuned/rebuilt by Ted Baskin. All taken with tripod. The exposure is unrecorded but most likely using f/32 (or whatever is all the way past f/22 on my Spud) and 1/25 second on Provia 100.

  • Beach ā€œCottageā€, Naples Florida
    The public beach at Naples Florida gives views of many such humble abodes. Note the Sea Grapes and Sea Oats in the foreground. A little dark, but I still like it.
  • Cypress Trees
    Near the Kirby Storter boardwalk in the Big Cypress Swamp area of south Florida
  • Shoreline at Solbakken Resort, Lutsen MN
    The Lake Superior shoreline is one of my favorite places, with special charm in winter. I try to visit every Jan or Feb, as well as once or twice yearly during other seasons.
  • Lake Superior Ice Breakup
    Unlike smaller MN lakes, the big lake does not freeze over completely in the winter. But during periods of calm more sheltered areas will freeze, then will break up periodically due to wave and wind action and the sheets of broken ice pile up along the shore. The sound when it is breaking up is also awesome (in the original sense).

Jim Harp

by John Thurston
  • Seattle ā€“ August Sunset
    TL120 on tripod, Provia 400X Ā½ second at f/22
    Taken August 2009, this was a candid shot. I noticed this guy was very still and thought it would be interesting to contrast that with people moving in the background. I use a Hasselblad waist level finder, so itā€™s very easy to take pictures unobtrusively.
  • Terminator
    TL120 with half power Vivitar 285H flash, handheld, Provia 400X 1/60 @ f/22
    This is the skeleton of a T-800 Terminator Cyborg. Furtunately for me he was in standby mode when I encountered him at the Univeral Studios Hollywood gift shop in August 2008. I go the sense that he was romantically interested in my TL120.
  • Jim and Maureen in the Stocks, Williamsburg VA
    TL120 on tripod, Vivitar 285H flash, 1/4 @ f/22, DR5 processed Illford Pan F
    A canā€™t miss photo-op at Williamsburg, VA. My daughter Erica was kind enough to trip the shutter after I set the shot up. I rated the Pan-F at ISO 25 as per DR5s suggestion.
  • Wonder Wheel, Coney Island
    TL120 on a tripod Provia 400X 1/250 @ f/22
    I took this prior to the Mermaid Parade, June 2008

Frank Roberto

by John Thurston

All photos ā€“ Sputnik, ISO 400

  • Concrete Factory – f/4.5, 1/15 second
    This is in Concrete, WA. The plant supplied concrete to many WAS cities. It has been in ruins since the late 1970s, I believe. Iā€™m interested in silhouettes in 3D, and a fan of a shallow DOF.
  • Greenhouse – f/4.5
    I always keep an eye out for reflections when shooting 3D, though you donā€™t get much depth in the reflection itself here.
  • Fire Spinner – f/8?, Bulb for about a second
    After much trial and error, I got a few shots of fire spinners frozen by my flash, but with a longer exposure to get the fire trails.
  • Abandoned Dairy – f/4.5, 1/15 second
    On highway 20 outside Sedro Wolley, this is an abandoned dairy which was run by the nearby Northern State Hospital.

Re-seeding Images

by John Thurston

My contributions for re-seeding our folio are all from the Mendenhall Glacier area of Juneau. These are near-duplicates of some work I offered in FolioA-Loop 23 (Raining Under Ice, Path To The Underworld, and others). As the folio-box fills and we need the space, I’ll have these images pulled and returned to me to make room for others’ work.

  • Pulled Out TL120-55, tripod, ProviaPulledOut
    Two kayaks are pulled out of the Mendenhall Lake on a scrap of gravel which, two years ago, didn’t exist. As the glacier melts, the rock face on which I’m standing was been exposed to the light of day and the creek (in the foreground) which used to tunnel under the ice falls freely into the lake. I walked in over the peninsula behind me. These two folks were able to take the easier route and paddle around.
  • Freshly Exposed Rock TL120-1, tripod, Kodak EGFreshlyExposed
    As that ice melts, new rock appears. This is rock which has never before been exposed to the light of day. The bit of ice on the right is actually the edge of the glacier. Two weeks ago, the rock in front of my camera would have been under the edge of the ice. It has been ground and polished by the weight of the ice being pressed up it. When I walk the peninsula, I have the opportunity to be the first to tread on a patch of ground.
  • On The Edge TL120-1, tripod, ProviaOnTheEdge
    This is a bit farther down the rock face. In another week (or maybe two), this face will be free from the press of ice and out in the light. If you were to crawl and down, you would probably reach the lake. I, however, feel too mortal to attempt the journey.
  • Under The Blue Dome TL120-55, tripod, ProviaBlueDome
    This is rock which has not yet been exposed to the light of day. It has spent centuries under the ice and will likely be exposed next year. Until then, it is lit only by the filtered blue light that makes it through the ice. Photographing here is a bit of a challenge. The light is dim, it is always raining melt water, and the roof is going to collapse; it’s just a question of when.

Raining Under The Ice

by John Thurston

Scan001098

This image is made much farther under the ice than Path To The Underworld. It felt, however, much less dangerous and I spent almost half an hour enjoying the space and composing images. A cavern like this this has required months to open and is fairly stable and mature, while the sliver revealed in Path is probably only weeks old and still changing rapidly.

If you have a wide-angle viewer, this would be an excellent time to bring it out. In any case, you will need a bright viewer to reveal the details in the wet floor, but this is my favorite from the set of images I made that day.

This was shot with my TL120-55 on a tripod.

Path To the Underworld

by John Thurston

Scan001099Another image shows what’s going on above the ice, but here we’re down under the edge of the ice. We’ve gone back in time far enough that this section of rock has never seen the light of day. The wear-grooves are visible in the rock as are the gravel and sand which the ice used to make the the grooves. Next August, I may be walking on this section of stone, though I doubt I’ll be able to locate it exactly.

Walking around the cliffs above the glacier can make you feel small. But screwing up the nerve to climb down and place a tripod under the glacier makes me feel mortal (and upsets my wife).

Tripod mounted TL120-1