Northern Michigan - Minnesota

[Wayne]

If you go to Grand Portage you could also lug your 80lb pack of large format gear up and down the 9 mile hill of the great portage itself, documenting your misery and being thankful you aren't carrying the 200 lb packs of the voyageurs. This would be true "eccentric nature". Late May would be a good time, right after the blackflies emerge.

[John Layton]

I often carried 200 lbs. (a Duluth pack with a tumpline and a canoe) per carry on some of the portages when I guided in the Boundary Waters. Time was money, but the end result of this was a very painful case of separated achilles tendons - took months to heal properly.

[johnmsanderson]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! It was a great trip, but I need to go back!

[Two23]

Good to see you again, John. Upon returning home I opened my box of Ilford HP5 and loaded holders for my 1920s Gundlach Korona 5x7 and lenses vintage 1905-1925. Last week I started taking some RR inspired landscapes I'm thinking of as my "Prairie Bits" series. I've started by taking shots of just a small part of a large scene. The prairie here looks monotonous, but it's actually made up of tiny bits. This forces you to slow down, look more closely, and carefully think of what you DON'T want in the photo. I think of it as distilling down a rambling view into it's most concentrated essence. I've lived on the Northern Plains all my life, and in South Dakota for the past quarter century. I've roamed all the counties and most of the roads, but still every week I find something I've not seen before. If you do make it back out, give me a holler.

My wife and I spent a week in downtown Chicago. I mostly took photos of the subways and Loop trains--something very exotic for me. I used a c.1983 Nikon F3/T with AiS lenses and Ilford HP5. Chicago in the rain really works when shot in b&w film, I think. My Flickr page with some of the photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/


Kent in SD

[johnmsanderson]

Good to see you again, John. Upon returning home I opened my box of Ilford HP5 and loaded holders for my 1920s Gundlach Korona 5x7 and lenses vintage 1905-1925. Last week I started taking some RR inspired landscapes I'm thinking of as my "Prairie Bits" series. I've started by taking shots of just a small part of a large scene. The prairie here looks monotonous, but it's actually made up of tiny bits. This forces you to slow down, look more closely, and carefully think of what you DON'T want in the photo. I think of it as distilling down a rambling view into it's most concentrated essence. I've lived on the Northern Plains all my life, and in South Dakota for the past quarter century. I've roamed all the counties and most of the roads, but still every week I find something I've not seen before. If you do make it back out, give me a holler.

My wife and I spent a week in downtown Chicago. I mostly took photos of the subways and Loop trains--something very exotic for me. I used a c.1983 Nikon F3/T with AiS lenses and Ilford HP5. Chicago in the rain really works when shot in b&w film, I think. My Flickr page with some of the photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/


Kent in SD

Great to see you too at the Center for Railroad Photography & Art ... it's a great yearly tradition! Your work looks great.

Definitely want to visit soon.