Recent Polaroids

 

On October 5th, I took the last three packages of Polaroid film for my SX-70 out of the fridge, and went for a long walk through North Beach and out to Fort Mason before the heat got to me, and I returned home.

The heat appears to have gotten to my film as well, as the newer era of integral films seems to change sensitivity in heat.

I went out today, in similar conditions, using the same settings, and had different results - and had to adjust my exposure settings significantly.

Setting the dark wheel to my preferred settings (25% darker) got me... very underexposed images despite well lit subjects.  This was a shock, considering my results on the 5th.  I also had a couple images which had odd streaking...  but the rest came out more like I was hoping.  So I figured it out with the last two in one cartridge, and the entire last cartridge.  Note that the camera tried in that last image for make the details of the building come out despite the dark palm tree shadow - it wants to show the texture on the white wall, and I love it for trying that!

The heat got to me again, but I lasted longer this time, and even got to see some of the (non-US-military) airshow.

International Orange (Bridge and Round House)

 

It still feels funny to call a shade of red orange, but it is a very specific shade of red, so...

Young gulls in conversation

 

A birdwatcher friend tried to explain how young gulls have very different plumage, and it isn't worth figuring out what they'll be until their mature feathers come in.  But the patterns are pleasing - look at their tails!

Sunday afternoon, Stables and Crissy Field Area, Presidio National Park

 

I love those stables!  In black and white, especially - some of my nicest black and white, handmade darkroom prints are of this building...  And who can resist the festive colors of these buildings with fancy roofs?  NO ONE CAN, I'm telling you.

Halloween enthusiasm (8 October 2025)

 

This neighbor is COMMITTED.

Early morning moon (7 October 2025)

 

My phone generally refuses to photograph any features of the moon, but in the low light of early morning, it surprised me by remembering what infinity is from its small-aperture point of view.

Other colorful scenes (5 October 2025)

 

Colors and other house frosting (5 October 2025)

 

So many colors!

Signs of North Beach part(ial) 3 (5 October 2025)

 

Another neon sign, plus the surfaces of wooden residential buildings typical of San Francisco...  It's a well-textured neighborhood.

Signs of North Beach part 2 (5 October 2025)

 

It was good to be out early, with clear light from the East.

Signs of North Beach part 1 (5 October 2025)

 

Old neon in North Beach.

Facets and Geometry (4 October 2025)

 

So many shapes to enjoy...

SF Chinatown Signs in color (4 October 2025)

 

I love the old neon most, but the new, brightly colored signs (in wood or metal) are also welcome!

Orange October (1 October 2025)

 

I continue to have feelings about posting content in the era of AI-theft, but... the world is still beautiful, and I'm still photographing it relentlessly.  So I'll at least post some collages (which I'm pretending are harder to work with, because the images are smaller).

The sunrises have been autumn-themed, just as they should be!

Instax Mini from Chase Center to Potrero Point

 

I went for a walk with my Lomo Instant Square camera, with its Instax Mini back on, and enjoyed the bright sunlight. Perhaps too much (as if).

It was a very pleasant day…

I only returned home when I ran out of film

I need to find a new way to post when I’m excessively enamored of the world visually…

Wednesday morning

This was lovely, plus the moon was visible…

Instax Photo Walk

I went out with my Lomo Instant Square with the Instax Square back (it also comes with a mini back), and looked at things...

Mission High Tower

 

Origin Mural

The playground was popular, a game was happening on the soccer field, and this mural looked fabulous. 

Daedalus (mural)

Somehow, I hadn't spotted this one previously... 

Soy De Aqui (Sirron Norris Mural)

 

August in brief

I have been… occupied with other things, but don’t want to forget August’s many highlights. So this is a shorthand entry for many things. 

Sunday was fun

I had a great photo walk, learned that a fellow commuter is also a film photographer (and she appreciates monochrome films), and wore myself out after weekends without direct sunlight. 

Grey Sunday Morning

Clearing my mind before returning to my audiobook…

My favorite dry dock

I'm just saying: the west-facing wall looks like a contemporary painting, and gives me many painting ideas... 

Sun on our eastern shore

My neighborhood remained tucked under blankets of fog and clouds all day; and yet, just across town, the skies were so blue... 

Union Square Station (Powell) Public Art in Greens

 

A few nights in Seattle

I went to Seattle on business for a few evenings this week...  It was warm, the skies were clear, and it was generally UNLIKE Seattle is for most of the year!

After hours in a plane the first night, and in meetings all day the second, I needed to walk.

It's been perhaps ten years since I was last there...  The waterfront (in what I think of as the tourist district) has been built up significantly during that time, with new buildings bursting from older industrial ones, and vast blocks of new apartments with gorgeous views of the water...

The Seattle Aquarium has expanded dramatically since my last visit!  The cycle lanes, pedestrian overpass, and theater-like plaza are all lovely on a warm night.

Ranier, so often hidden in clouds, was fully visible from Mercer Island...

In short: it was a lovely trip with improbably glorious weather.  

 

Nowhere In Particular (boat tram)

One of the conductors pretended to row…  I ran my errands in style today!

Reddest Bathroom

SFMoMA is a rare place where I am glad to use the bathrooms, because they are visually so satisfying.

 

Art: Possibly Watersheds (5 July 2025)

I like the arrows and topographical forms! This is a detail from one of several panels on (South) Van Ness between Market and Mission Streets.

Good font (5 July 2025)

Good font, good shadows. 

Out and about on Independence Day (4 July 2025)

The sky was clear and the light was great by the time I got downtown on our national holiday...  I had two types of expired film to use, and so visited downtown to continue my architectural details series in Lomochrome purple, and the botanical garden for expired color slide film.  

The fact that it is expired makes for low expectations and the opportunity for the pleasant surprise of my expectations being exceeded. 

I shot the slide film with a portrait lens, and realized that my golden era of plant photography involved the special recipe of a single lens reflex camera, a fast (f1.4) lens, and various cheap close-up lenses which provided soft backgrounds of high quality.  I've been trying to get the same results with other equipment (including my newest digital camera), and hope to be pleased with yesterday's experiment, but must admit that my old approach gave me unusually good results...  I understand how special they were more now that I struggle to achieve similar looks.  (I can't easily go back: work I had done on the camera created new problems...)

So let me say: I appreciate phone photos very much: they give me very satisfying results.

June Highlights: Arms Alone (26 June 2025)

There was no reason for these to be here, on a utility box, and yet there they were...