Sera and I did our short walk along our loop near the house this evening. We were treated to a lovely sunset. Captured with TG-7, 2025-07-03 19:35:54, 6.37mm, 1/80sec, f/2.5, ISO-100, light editing in Photolab 7.
I think I am recovering from an intense weekend for Field Day 2025. I have in mind to write an AAR for that outing as there were some strong lessons to be learned. We will see if I can get it done.
My log remains to be processed. I started on it before we returned home. Now I need to set aside time to finish it.
The Girl and I walked late this evening, just after sunset. It is cooling nicely in the evening here in Carson City and I love it. On our walk, we were treated to a lovely sunset.
We stopped on the way back down the hill so I could make this capture. Captured with TG-7, 2025-06-20@12:29PST, 18mm, 1/400sec, f/6.3, ISO-100, SOOC.
On the way up the hill to our hiking spot near Spooner Summit, I noticed a plume of smoke rising from the Pine Nut Mountains. I made a mental note to stop on the way home to make an image or two. Then, on arrival home (or at a convenient parking spot), I would load up my fire watch app and find out more about the fire.
The location is some miles from home, so I am not concerned for my place and my things. A lot of south Carson City would burn before the fire got to my location and that would be very unusual. The risk is pretty low.
On the way home, just an hour or two later, I was shocked at the increase in the size of the fire. The plume had grown tremendously and it was clear that the fire was raging. The dry winds that blew in early Friday morning were not helping.
I paused at a turn-out on eastbound US50 and stepped out of the rig to make a couple of photographs. A few other motorists were also pulling out to gawk and take snapshots.
When we got home, I got The Girl settled in (she is always ready to nap) and checked on the fire. It is called the Connor Fire and began as a structure fire that spread from the house to the wildlands and got away from fire fighters sent to work on the blaze. It had abruptly spread to about 2,000 acres (~3 mi2) and the winds were rapidly spreading it. Assets were on station and being called in.
I noticed that the trend was not northerly, but to the northeast farther into the Pine Nuts. The good thing is that there are few domiciles in that area. The bad thing is that the terrain becomes rougher.
I hope folks are alright.
Edit Sunday Morning: At this time the fire had an area of about 20,000 acres (~31 mi2). I learned later that the Connor Fire is burning a burn scar from a previous blaze. That means there is reduced ground level fuel. I hope this means that it is more easily extinguished.
It was sure windy the afternoon I shot this. Weather was rolling over to Carson Range and put clouds over Mt. Scott. Shot with the Fujifilm X-E2 and Fujinon 28mm f/2.8 at f/8 and post processed in DxO Photolab 7 and NIK Silver Efex Pro.
After a long meeting and a little decompression (and some lunch), I got The Girl out for walkies at Silver Saddle Ranch. It is good we left when we did, because about halfway into our walk, I noticed clouds showing over Prison Hill. Further north, I could tell it was raining in Washoe Valley. The wind was up, gusting hard from the south/southwest.
The incoming weather added some impetus to making progress. I snagged three captures and then the battery in the Fujifilm X-E2 died. I should have known to bring a backup battery. Nonetheless, it felt like rain was coming and so we moved right along.
Even so, The Girl and I played a little. She picked up a huge stick that made me laugh out loud. It was just like all those memes in which a dog picks up a six-foot long stick.
At least she did not run into anything.
And, sure enough, it started raining when we were about five minutes out from the rig. It was good to get in and be dry.
In the end, it was a good outing. I came home with a keeper. We had fun. We got exercise. Life is good.
Gate in the ranch compound, Silver Saddle Ranch. Shot with the Fuji X-E2 and the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 at f/4. Post processed in DxO Photolab 7 and NIK Silver Efex 6.
I was not really in the mood to do much when we left the house yesterday afternoon. I left the Pentax 645NII kit, the Fujifilm kits, and the pack at home. I was hungry, so we drove by Arby’s for a sandwich (shared). Then we headed for Silver Saddle Ranch to get in a walk.
It was a beautiful fall day in Carson City. The sun was shining with maybe a little high clouds. It was strong enough to make mid-40ºF feel nice with a light cover. There was not a lot of traffic at the gate at 1330h. All of this raised my spirits, especially getting out of the house with The Girl.
What I did bring (besides The Girl), was the little Fujifilm X-E2 with the 27mm f/2.8 pancake lens mounted. This is the smallest digital camera I own1. I have it on a wrist strap, so I can let it dangle when I am busy with The Girl or want both hands free.
I made a few captures as we walked along. I made sure she checked in with me frequently. There were only a couple other walkers that I saw and none crossed paths with us. That made for a really nice walk.
The Girl got frisky a couple of times along the way and we paused to play. Those interactions always raise my spirits, and the did this day.
I grew more cautious as we approached the segment of the trail that has more traffic, but we saw no one. We paused at the ranch compound to look for possible photographs. I noticed this old gate and the light was just about right to bring out the texture in the wood. There was a power pole peeking out above the cross bar, but a judicious adjustment to my point of view hid it from the frame.
I made the capture. I am glad I decided to carry the camera along.
We ended the hike with some more play. She brought a stick and we wrestled over it for a few minutes as we walked.
The drive home was uneventful. The Girl crashed on her bed under my work table. It was a good day. Life is good!
1Well, that is not *exactly* true — I have a Panasonic ZS-40. I used it as a field camera for the Wilson Creek project. Its EVF and image quality make it such that I do not want to use it. Neither a very good. For a slightly larger package, I have better options that are much more enjoyable (and easy) to use.
I came across this bag of office supplies left in the grass at the old flume. I wonder why they were just dropped. I will never know.
While The Girl and I were walking here in town a few days ago, she hunted ground squirrels while I looked at the roses growing along the old flume. I saw this bag of office supplies that were dumped in the grass. It made me wonder why there were left behind… Was someone interrupted? Were they stolen from the nearby Office Depot? Why were they just dropped?
Lately I have been shooting normal(ish) lenses during my daily walkies with The Girl. Yesterday I carried an old Hanimex 135mm f/2.8 along and shat a few frames with it. This one I like, captured with the Sony A7Sii with in-camera black and white conversion at f/8. I did post-process a bit in Iridient Developer, made some contrast adjustments and added a bit of sharpening.
Over the last month or so, with the exception of two outings, my images were captured with normalish lenses. The two exceptions were some captures with the Nikkor 85mm f/2 and the Zuiko 85mm f/2. On a full-frame camera, like the Sony A7Sii (which I carry a lot), 85mm is a short telephoto focal length. It is most commonly used for portraits.
I start to see the telephoto effect (compression of distance, shallow depth of field) at a focal length of about 105mm. Yesterday I carried a Hanimex 135mm f/2.8 in the bag. The Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/2.8 Tessar was on the camera (Sony A7Sii) during most of our walk. Near the end of walkies, I decided to mount the Hanimex and see what that gave me.
The Hanimex was reviewed and recommended by Nigel (Zenography channel). It is not an expensive lens. They are quite common (East German Cold War era). But, they are also quite sharp, good quality, and have good contrast. I picked one up off fleaBay a few weeks ago for not much money.
Nigel is right — the lens is quite sharp, even wide open. It has good image quality. And I quite like the telephoto look of this shot of River Road from the Silver Saddle Ranch gate staging area.
The Girl and I had a good walk. The weather is cool, very much fall-like. We have had some rain and I am hopeful that keeps the wildfires away. My thought for today is that maybe we will drive up to our current favorite portable operation site this morning. We can walk some and I might set up a station and see if the bands are better (yesterday they were poor). I think I will take makings for coffee or tea.
Whatever we do, it will be good. I am grateful The Girl is strong and healthy. I do not mind that she is a bossy-bitch. Life is good.
On walkies I spotted this cart sitting in the shade. I had the Nikkor 82mm f/2 mounted on my Fuji X-E4 and made the capture. I think the shot was captured at f/2, but I did not record it. Straight from camera with the Tri-X 400 film simulation.
The caption pretty much says everything that needs to be said. One thing I will mention is that the bokeh of this lens with the subject/background distance is a little crazy in the upper right. That is not pretty.
I have a Zuiko 85mm f/2 sample in my collection. I think it should be taken for a walk and tested. My other Olympus lenses render out of focus areas well. This Nikkor does not.
Captured with the Fuji X-E4 and the Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 at f/1.4.
After I spent much of the morning puttering at my desk, I decided it was time to get out. We are experiencing the remains of a hurricane from the south. Our weather is cloudy, very cool, and a bit rainy.
The Girl asked to go with me. So, she did.
I had a lens to put into return mail. It was not what I expected. So we walked north to the post office and I dropped the parcel in the bin while chatting with Older Son. Then we walked the reverse of our normal circuit to Station 51. There was no one at the park, so Sera got some time off leash. She had a blast chasing the ground squirrels.
On our way home, I stopped at the planters outside the NDEP building and made a few images of the flowers there. I missed the focus on most of the shots with the thin depth of field of the 35mm f/1.4 wide open. I still got a few decent captures.
Once home, I made some lunch and shared some of my chicken with The Girl. She is doing much better today.
This poor cottonwood is hanging on, but it sure has seen better days. Capture with Fuji X100S, 23mm/2 at f/8.
On walkies out at Silver Saddle Ranch this morning, The Girl and I paused for me to make an image. I have been looking at this old cottonwood tree for a while now. This morning I thought that a black and white image with some red filtration might make an interesting capture.
So, while The Girl sniffed around looking for a lizard, I made a few captures with the Fuji X100S. After getting home and reviewing the lot from today’s outing, I like this one the best.
Post processing was simple. I used Iridient Developer to make a small adjustment to the contrast of the image and then exported it. That was all I did. The black and white conversion was done in-camera.
I bought the Fujifilm X100S a couple of years ago as an experiment. I wanted to know if I would like carrying this kind of camera in lieu of a more substantial kit. In many respects, this is a continuation of the street photographer’s kit started long ago by some excellent 35mm film photographers. The preferred camera of the time was a Leica rangefinder with a 35mm lens and black and white film.
The Fuji X100 series of cameras continues this tradition in a digital format. For the right subject (and mindset), this is an excellent approach and quite simple.
The sign at the main entrance. I have walked past this sign many, many times.
Over the last eight years, there is no telling how many times I walked past this sign for the Nevada Department of Transportation. I know Ki and I walked past it many times on our daily sojourns. Now Sera and I are walking past it as I give her foot a rest from the rough sand and sharp brush of the sagelands.
A couple of weeks ago I started carrying a camera (other than my iPhone) on a daily basis. This was written about before. So long as the carrying of said camera nourishes me, I will continue to do it.
I am sure that not every outing will be fruitful. My Instagram feed is full of these images from daily outings. Much of it is not very good work, but it represents a substantial body of work. There are years’ worth of images on my IG feed. It is a pity that FB ruined IG so.
I started posting on VERO again a few days ago. VERO is much like IG was before FB bought it. Then (and there) I followed a double-handful of other photographers and creative types. Every morning there was some joy at seeing what other interesting people were creating.
Now I find it a doomscroll — looking for the dopamine hit from finding something interesting or amusing or odd. I do not really want to leave IG, because there are people there I follow that are doing interesting things. But the signal-to-noise ratio is poor and I am wasting part of my day every day looking at things I do not really care to see in order to find the very few I want to see.
I do not know if it is possible to offload my images in a stream. If I could, I would be very tempted to reclaim my work from IG and close my account.
But, I ruminate. Today’s image is a reflection on the many times my companions and I walked past the NDOT entry sign. The lot is nearly empty on weekends, when the workers are off doing their own thing. It gives Sera and I a chance to take in the space and for me to be aware of anything interesting to capture with my camera.
This morning’s walk was a good walk, if a little late and a little warm. The Girl enjoyed the hunt for ground squirrels and the wet grass. I enjoyed the chance to ruminate on all those times Ki and I walked a good part of this route.
Tomorrow we head out to Summit Lake, Nevada for field work. I will be in the field most of the week collecting supplemental topographic data. There will be some different things to photograph and I will have Internet service in the evenings at the research station. I hope to post a few images while out there.
