Bar (220/365)
Saturday, August 8, 2026
Coffee in Nashville. iPhone shot and processed.
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iPhone
Wilderness by Risa Serenity (219/365)
Friday, August 7, 2026
the leaves rustle in the breeze the lone wolf creeping around the brush an innocent rabbit in its unknowing last moments a half dead mother salmon making her way upstream she will not know her children, but they will follow at her speed a bear & her cubs find her spawn, leaving no room for empathy, for the fish are not mad at the creature, & the bear does not know hell the circle of life knows no bounds, life keeps going round ~ risa serenity
Arrived in Seattle early this afternoon, and while walking around, I came across a group of four kids offering to write you a poem on any topic, and if you like it, you can pay any amount you want.
I picked Risa to do mine and told her the title was Wilderness. She took about 12 minutes to type out my poem. I think it’s pretty cool. She pulled it off the typewriter, read it to me, and said this was the first Wilderness poem she had done.
Thank you, Risa. I think you’re a good poet.
Behind the kids was a bookstore where I found this card, and I just loved the creatures on it. I call them creatures because that’s the name of the card, “Creatures”. And I think they are pretty cool as well.
I love Seattle. Quirky, different, dirty, clean, unique, diverse, imperfect, and the smell of great coffee everywhere.
Nice Ride (218/365)
Thursday, August 6, 2026
Long day. Was supposed to end it in Charleston (CHS), but after a ton of weather delays, we are in Nashville (BNA).
Hopefully, Seattle (SEA) tomorrow.
Four more pictures down below.
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The Elephant in the Room (217/365)
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Today’s picture was shot a few days ago. The day has run away from me, and I’m feeling like it’s starting to hold my head underwater! Packing for work, ticking off to-dos, chores, and backyard work. We lost half of our backyard tree in the last windstorm, and we’re still cleaning up the mess.
I’ve finally jumped on something I’ve wanted for a long time. Found a “working” (we shall see) Polaroid SX-70 for a reasonable price. Film is on order. To properly highlight those on the blog, I’ve started working on a fun way to show them, inspired by Dan’s Polaroids. I have a working version one. I still need to wait until I get some film so I can scan the real front and back to use. I couldn’t find anything online, and it’s just better to make your own. You can check out version one if you’d like. I left it up so I can look at it over the next few days and see what changes I need to make.
I hope it was a beautiful day, and thank you for stopping by.
Clouds (216/365)
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
@alexandra@social.lol says it best in her post about Clouds.
Click for Stray Pixels and More Clouds!
Stairway to the Sky (215/365)
Monday, August 3, 2026
Busy day. Appointments, errands, and ToDos.
Finally sitting down to work on the Cliff538 blog. Updated the Film Journey & Resource Page and posted some new pages. Figured I’d put all my film scans for each film type on their own page, so if folks want to see what different film types look like before using them, they have this resource available. More will be added as I shoot different film.
Never Stop Learning!
Sobering Reality (214/365)
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. iPhone shot and processed.
Current elevation: ~1,043 feet.
Full Pool elevation: 1,229 feet.
Current State: About 27% full.
Hydropower becomes impossible below 895 feet.
“Dead Pool” occurs at 895 feet, when water cannot flow through the dam by gravity.
Colorado River system provides water for roughly 40 million people and 5 million acres of farmland.
Some sobering books I’ve read and highly recommend about water:
Kobo Links
Another three day trip in the books. Always good to be back home, even if it’s 110°F. The greeting/love you get from two dogs swells your heart and makes you smile. đ
Quintessential Summer (213/365)
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Another nice 20-hour layover in BOI. Extremely smoky skies and brutally hot. Got in a 4.5-mile walk, and I was able to get today’s picture. Many similar shots from previous overnights, but I’m always trying to improve the ones I really like.
All iPhone shots today.
Six more shots down in Stray Pixels.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Window Light (212/365)
Friday, July 31, 2026
Light From Above (209/365)
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
This was such a quick shot; I regret not framing it better. In Silvertone, it looks pretty good.
Had a doc appointment for my bi-annual FAA physical today. Then spent the rest of the day developing a roll of Tri-X, scanning it, and converting it.
Hopefully, I can get a post up about it tomorrow. I thoroughly enjoyed the process and am stunned at the old-school grainy beauty of Tri-X even shot through a cheapo Kodak Snapic camera. My wife had no idea what I was doing, and she came into the office while I was converting photos, looked at the monitor, and said, “What is that? It’s beautiful, just so classic. It reminds me of photos from my childhood.” (She is 59).
You Have To Go Further Than That! (208/365)
Monday, July 27, 2026
Have you ever had those days? Feel like you’ve walked a mile, only to find out ⤴ď¸.
Click for Stray Pixels & a Film Journey Update
Spent some time today setting things up in the spare bathroom, making a “task card” of the process, and dry-running it to make sure I haven’t missed something. It’s always worth taking the extra time; I learn something each time.
The crazy problem I have right now in the Summer is my water temp. My cold running water is at 34° C, and I need my chemicals and wash water around 20° C. So, I’ve put a 3-gallon jug of water in the fridge and will mix it with warm water to get my desired temp. Kind of crazy.
It’s all kind of exciting. Hopefully tomorrow I can get the first roll done.
Sleeping Giant (207/365)
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Crater Lake in Silvertone.
Crater Lake last erupted 6,600 years ago but is still considered dormant and may remind us whoâs boss whenever it chooses. Itâs the deepest lake in the U.S., at 1,949 ft (594 m) deep.
Shot and processed on iPhone.
I hope today brought you a little laughter and lots of smiles.
Ripped Earth (206/365)
Saturday, July 25, 2026
Good day on the photography front. All the shots today were shot and processed on the iPhone. Had a nice 4-mile walk around Boise today and was able to shoot two rolls of film, as I need some “test” rolls to make sure my developing process is sound. Hopefully next week I’ll get my first black & white rolls developed.
Today was my first day walking around with the Kodak Snapic. I liked it. It’s very small and light, fits nicely in your pocket, and certainly small enough not to cause attention while shooting pictures. I’ll post the pics when I get them developed and scanned.
May we live in less interesting times.
Four more shots in Stray Pixels.
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Airport Sunrise (205/365)
Friday, July 24, 2026
One of the good things about getting up so early is seeing sights like these. A good start to the day.
Desert Trail (203/365)
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Two hours before sunset, I loaded up two bags of gear: three cameras, 5 lenses, two tripods, a big jug of water, and a very large towel to wipe sweat off with, and headed up the trail, trying to find a nice high vantage point for sunset. One backpack on your back and the other one worn on your front works pretty well. The hardest part of the evening was keeping sweat off the gear.
Sunset was a bust, just hardly any colors, and very few clouds in the Western skies. My saving grace was this big thunderstorm starting to brew off in the distance, which gave me a nice subject to focus on. It ended up petering out, leaving me with just about nothing, but by that time it was getting too dark, and it was time to head down. I wanted a bit of light because the area is rife with rattlesnakes. The last thing I need is to be out there alone and trying to deal with a rattlesnake bite.
I know there is a weather app out there that is focused on photographers and alerts you to good sunsets, fog, the Milky Way, and things of the sort. I would like to read some reports on how it’s working for people. All sunsets are beautiful, but only some are worth lugging gear up a hill in 100°F/38°C heat.
135 frames with the Z8 and I came away with about 7 that I like. Hopefully some good film shots as well.
The daily shot and the others in Stray Pixels are from the Nikon Z8. I also used the Rollei and the Nikon F3, but of course those will come later. I’m very interested to see how I did with my exposure settings; sunsets can be challenging.
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Shade, in Two Forms (202/365)
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Struggling with adding more film photography to my allotted time, which reduces my daily photo stock. The past few days I’ve been shooting with my Rollei and the Nikon F3, but that doesn’t give me anything for my daily post. I still haven’t started developing my own film yet, and I haven’t been to the lab. This is a problem I need to sort out. Hopefully, when I get a good developing routine down, I’ll have more photos to work with.
When I go out for dedicated photography time, I’ve been carrying one digital and one film camera, which increases complexity and weight. Not sure if I should keep doing that or just make dedicated time for one style. All good problems but ones that need tweaking.
Click for Film Journey Update
Film Journey Update: Getting really close to trying my first few rolls of B&W developing. My nature makes me read and study far too much before I do something, so that is slowing me down but should minimize errors.
You can go super simple and use a developer/fixer combo (Cinestill DF96) and just be done, but I want to understand some of the chemistry and the pros and cons of different developers with the film I’m using: Ilford DDX, Rodinal, Bellini RDL, Pyro, Cinestill DF96… which Stop to use, which Fixer to use. Pros and Cons of using a WashAid or PhotoFlow. How hard is my water, etc. You don’t need to know any of that, but I want to. I’ve been watching YouTube videos, reading Darkroom books, reading blog posts, and mostly reading film and developer documentation. That has been the best source of factual information.
I’m getting closer and will probably start with a Paterson tank, AP reels, and Ilford DDX developer, Stop and Fixer. Next, I’ll try Adox Rodinal developer, then the Cinestill DF96 Developer/Fix combo, which seems to have mixed results, so I’ll use a roll of film with nothing too important on it.
I’ve had three sessions of practise in the dark bag transferring film onto the different reels. Which I will say is mandatory. You will find problems, I promise. Use gloves? Which reels do you like? What happens when the film binds on the reel? What are your options if you can’t do it and need to take a break? How sweaty do your hands get? Which scissors work best for you? 35mm and 120 are two different animals; you need to practice with both. Just bite the bullet and sacrifice two rolls of film and practice with them. Trust me, it will pay dividends.
I’m happy with my film scanning setup, so no issues there for now. Just need to shoot more film and start developing.
These Legs Ainât Made for Walkinâ (201/365)
Monday, July 20, 2026
A Window Into The Night (200/365)
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Reflections (199/365)
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Two mornings in a row getting up at 1 A.M., my body clock time, has turned me into a zombie.
Still, I zombie on.
The Quiet Between Days (198/365)
Friday, July 17, 2026
Blue Morning (197/365)
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Back on the road.
Alien Bloom (195/365)
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
I really like the city’s utility box art program.
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Do Good (194/365)
Monday, July 13, 2026
Hope it was a great day!
Gate 15 (193/365)
Sunday, July 12, 2026
I love big gate numbers. Maybe I’m just getting old, but some jetways have really small numbers, are hard to see, or have no markings at all. Boise does it right. Big and Bold!
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Aero Lines (192/365)
Saturday, July 11, 2026
Very nice day todayâsmooth flying, great weather, no drama, and happy, friendly people.
Had a nice walk around BOI, but damn, itâs still way too hot: 103°F / 39°C.
iPhone shot and processed.
Stray Pixels Bonus: Three more pictures and no rant this timeâLOL.
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You Shall Not Pass (191/365)
Friday, July 10, 2026
Back on the road. Short overnight in RNO.
BOI tomorrow. I haven’t had an overnight in Boise in a long time, looking forward to it.
Hope it was a good day.
Light the Way (189/365)
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Well, what a day. I had planned to get up early, take two cameras to the Wildlife Park, and wander around before the heat really ramped up. But I woke up to text messages and emails saying I had used airline miles to buy tickets on Qatar Airways, along with two credit card charges for additional mileage purchases. I logged in to my account and found 185k miles missing. The one damn account I did not have 2FA on. WTF OVER!
So it took all morning to clean that up. By the time I was done, it was quickly climbing toward todayâs high of 113°F/45°C, so my photo walk plans went by the wayside.
So you get this mediocre iPhone shot instead. I do like the moody feel, thoughâŚ
Iâm aiming for the Wildlife Park photo walk tomorrow. Planning a digital-and-film camera walk. I was able to get out a short while today with the Nikon F3, trying to get through a 36-exposure roll of Ilford Ilfocolor 400 Vintage Tone. I wanted to start tomorrow with a fresh roll.
Hope your day went better than mine.
Click for Stray Pixels and a Film Journey Update
Well, I’m convinced that developing at home will save money and might just be fun. Might be fun, heck, I know it will be fun! I have such fond memories of working in the dark room, and this will be a tiny step toward that feeling.
I’m waiting on some C-41 chemicals, and I have my black-and-white chemicals to start with. I’ve watched numerous videos to refresh myself and have practiced rolling film onto the spools in the dark bag a number of times, both 35mm and 120. I’m sticking with the AP plastic spools for now. You can see what I’m using, what videos I watched, and other resources here.
I’m going to start with a few rolls of black-and-white film. Get comfortable with that, then dive into the temperature-sensitive C-41 developing.
I’m starting with rolls that don’t have anything precious on them to make sure I know what I’m doing. Any great shots will be brought to the local lab until I get my process down. Too many ways to screw it up.
I hope to get a blog post up soon about my process, what I used, and how it went. I’m guessing within a week or so, I’ll have time to start.
Equipment for this first round of B&W developing
ILFORD:
- Developer: DD-X
- Ilfostop
- Rapid Fixer
- Washaid
- Wetting Agent
Paterson Tanks, AP and Paterson spools/reels, dark bag, scissors, film retriever, hanging clips, Pec Pads, and distilled water.
The Day Begins (188/365)
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
World Class Clown Show (186/365)
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Presented without comment.
Dark Skies (185/365)
Saturday, July 4, 2026
