Night Stalkers

 I live in the typical California urban neighborhood, the homes are about 16 feet apart, separated by a 5 foot, wooden privacy fence.  (I use the word "privacy" loosely.)  Anyway, my neighbor was describing unusual nighttime activity occurring on his back fence, the noise of an unseen animal, and a barely seen figure looming in the dark.  

I have a Stealthcam which I've used on trails around our neighbor and have captured images of deer, coyote, and bobcat in the canyons.  I decided to set up the camera on my fence looking toward the area where my neighborhood has seen and heard the unusual activity.  I wasn't convinced that coyotes or bobcats were lurking about.

I've seen coyotes strutting down the street, oblivious to the humans who have taken over his space.  They've rewards us by killing our small pets; we've lost four cats over twenty years at the teeth of the coyote.  I saw on my Ring camera two of them chase a poor cat to our door then savagely kill it. 

So, after two nights of filming the dark, I checked the SD card and was rewarded:

A bobcat peering into the lens of my Stealthcam.

The bobcat sauntering down the fence line toward my neighbor's residence.

The familiar possum walks the fence.

The ghost of the neighborhood.

Using Film

 

Film… do you remember?  Yeah, film. The stuff encased in a cassette that you put in a camera, expose, and then have it developed in a lab.  Analog, not digital.  You use a camera to take a picture, not a cellphone.  And you have to wait till it is developed to see what you captured. 

I have a number of old film cameras in my collection which I used to use back in the pre-digital days.  They sit on a shelf in my office; a small fridge is stuffed with unexposed film.  I occasionally look at both and think, mmm maybe I should go back to doing some film work.

The other day, I just happened to see a You-tuber discussing using a film camera to make some interesting images.  He was a Noblex panorama camera; a rotating-lens pano camera in both medium format and 35mm models. 

I had a poor-man’s rotating-lens pano camera, a Zenit Horizon 202, 35mm camera which I bought twenty years ago to take wedding photos which would be different than the usual images which were normally given to the bride.  I especially liked the images taken at the beach, the bride’s veil flowing behind as she and her groom strolled the beach.

Shortly after buying the Horizon, digital photography began sweeping the photo world and all the great film cameras were being shelved.  Including all of mine. 

The Horizon has a fixed 28mm f2.8 lens; there is no focus to deal with as it is set to infinity.  This can be a problem if you are shooting a subject close-up.  The only way to deal with minimum focus is to set the aperture at various f-stops which will allow you different depths of field.  F16 will yield a minimum of three feet to infinity focus.   There are six shutter speeds on the camera.  So, it is truly a manual camera.

So early this week I went out with the Horizon, went to the Oceanside, California pier and shot three rolls:  two black and white, one color.  I had the images processed and scanned at North Coast Photographic Services in Carlsbad, CA. 

Several things:  I used a hand-held light meter to make exposure readings to strive for some accuracy.  Remember, there is no digital screen to review your work.  Due to the cost of film and processing, you don’t take “lots of images” of the same subject to get the best one; you find the subject, you decide on composition, and you make the exposure. 

Secondly, the “horizon” must be level if you want a decent image.  There is a bubble level built into the viewfinder to help level the camera.  It really helps your compositions.  (Of course, you can break the rule for a unique image.)  Also, there are some banding issues and artifacts which occur to the film, including some “light leaks,” which can be worked on in Photoshop.

On a roll of 35mm film, if you remember back to those days, you have a rectangle of 24mm x 36mm on the film surface.  With the Horizon pano camera, the image is twice as wide and uses “two rectangles” of space for one image.  (NOTE:  If you have a lab process your film make sure you tell them not to cut it in strips as it may cut through a pano image!!)

I love doing “street photography,” looking a images of ordinary things happening around me.  Here are some samples from my photo shoot (I plan on using the camera more in the next few weeks):

That Umbrella Stand

 

So, last week I was hired to photograph a reception at a local outdoor venue and as is my custom, I arrived early to photograph the place settings, decorations, and any other interesting item that might be messed up by the guests.  Also, it documents the items for the hosts so that they know what they paid for, as often they are busy greeting guests and can’t see all the items and decorations which are at their event.

As I approached a standup table and looked it over to get a good angle and coverage, a laborer walked past me to another standup table and dropped onto the ground a heavy metal umbrella stand with a discernible thud!   I looked at him and thought, “next one he brings, I’m going to photo him…” not for the party but for my portfolio! 

I continued to look over the flower arrangement and made a couple of snaps then decided to move around the table to my left for a different angle.  As I quickly moved around the table, I was suddenly met with a smashing pain in my left lower leg.  I could only see stars, as I stumbled a bit. 

I quickly recovered and looked down at my pant leg which seemed normal:  no tear!  Then I felt my leg, on fire with pain, but no open wound was noted.  I looked around to find out what was the cause of this incident and there it was:  an umbrella stand (without the umbrella).  The heavy metal base with the pipe sticking up about 2 feet was there for me to stumble into.  I continued to soldier on and finished the assignment feeling the burn.

Over the course of the next couple days, the pain was really noticeable, the leg swelled, and the ankle turned black and blue as the blood from internal trauma collected at the lowest part of the leg.  I resisted a doctor’s visit as knocking a shin wasn’t something I hadn’t experienced in the past.

After putting it off for several days, I decided that I would make my way to a “Doc-in-the-Box” which I had used in the past, since they had an X-ray machine:  it would save me money and time, rather than going to the ER room at the hospital.

I arrived the next morning, second patient of the day to have the leg looked at. That was a whole crazy experience:  the lady attending to me whispered that it was her 3^rd day, and she was unfamiliar as to where everything was.  Anyway, the doctor checked me and told me that shin injuries are routine, but he would take an X-ray.      

While waiting for the results – did I mention what a fiasco that was – I heard the doctor say, “Oh, oh…”  I peaked out of the room down the hall and watched him look at the film.  He turned and said, “I think you have a broken leg…”  He requested more images and decided that he could see a fracture in my tibia.  He told me to stay off the leg until the weekend was over and he was referring me to an orthopedic doctor (I had one from all my mountain bike crashes!).  After going through crutches at the office to figure out a set for me – did I mention what a fiasco that was -- I was charged $50 bucks as “insurance won’t pay.”

Later in the afternoon, the doctor called and stated that the radiologist had confirmed that the Xray showed a fracture of the mid-tibia shaft. 

Monday morning as the orthopedic office opened, I called the receptionist:  she had an opening an hour later.  The lady asked me to bring the x-rays and the report.  Of course, I didn’t have one as they told me that they don’t provide a disc, but the doctor’s office could get a link to the radiologist.  The receptionist said, no she couldn’t do it.  So, I had to get a link, print out the report, print the x-ray images and race to the new appointment.  I hobbled into the car and drove myself to the office. 

Finally, the nurse looked at the leg, took vitals, and worked with me to figure out a link to view the x-rays.   After a bit, the Orthopedic doc, who knows me well, came in, sat down, and looked at me.  “Yes,” I thought.  Finally, he shook his head… that wasn’t a reassuring sign.  It turns out it was a moment of disgust, not of sympathy: “You don’t have a broken leg… there is nothing wrong with your tibia,” he said in a matter-of-fact way.  

 

 Come in here, look… oh, you don’t need your crutches he told me as he walked over to the viewing screen.  He showed me that there was no break in the cortical bone tissue.  However, he noted that I had an old fracture which had a significant calcium buildup which may have been misread as a piece of bone. 

“You remember this fracture, right?”  Well, no I don’t.  I broke an ankle or two but never a tibia, fibula, or femur that I was aware.  But there it was on the x-ray; it went untreated in the past.

So, the upshot is:  I walked in a cripple and walked out healed (on paper).  The shin still hurts, the leg is swollen, and the radiologist misread the X-ray.  I own a brand new paid of crutches, slightly used. 

Good thing I waited to cancel my east coast trip for next week till after seeing the Ortho!  Now to get over the pain.

Wrinkled Earth

My Travel Log: 

Continuing my travels along the beach which stretches from Oceanside to Torrey Pines (my foot travels so far) I have discovered some interesting things, to me anyway.  I've discovered the best beaches (without stones and rocks), I've seen palatial homes hemmed in by tattered and weathered shacks, and I've determined the favorite surf breaks by the number of surfers clamoring for a wave.  I've seen certain spots where excess seaweed is washed up from an apparent underwater seaweed field nearby, and I've witnessed the Snowy Egret feeding along the shore as the wave recedes back to the ocean uncovering a bug to eat.  

Something that is very familiar and obvious is the ever-present sign warning of bluff failure. 

Along our beaches we have high bluffs and cliffs scattered throughout the topography.  Some of them are really high and the dangerous.  The wind and weather and of course the ocean has had a severe effect on their stability.  Through erosion, soil and rock are being dissolved from the earth’s crust and washed down onto the beach.  As the bluffs weather, they become textured and wrinkled waiting for the gradual destruction from the elements. 

Some of the residences along the bluffs are in precarious positions.  Owners and the local governments collaborate to try and shore up the bluffs to prevent their collapse. And walkers and sunbathers are warned of their danger.

But there is something beautiful about the way nature slowly reclaims the land back to itself through time.  I found this spot where erosion from nature is making its mark; what texture, what design and style.  And in time it will all wash onto the beach and be swept out into the ocean.