Yesterday, I set off for the Galisteo Studio Tour in Galisteo, NM. The tiny, liberal village has a population of about 265 (2000 census), of which half are probably artists of some sort: photographers, painters, potters, etc. I can’t say I liked too much of the art (there’s only so much weaving, jewelry-making, and pictures of horses I can take), but one artist I really liked was Sam Sloan. He’s a native Vermont photographer who shoots high-contrast, black and white images with a media format camera and develops everything himself in the darkroom. His local subject matter was stunning and the detail and dynamic range of his high-contrast images was phenomenal. It reminded me 1) how fun it was to spend time in a darkroom, and 2) how digital cameras just don’t have the dynamic range that film does; 12 bit (or now 14 bit) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) just don’t cut it. This especially an issue in high-contrast images (the type I like) and especially noticeable when looking at the detail held in the highlights and shadows of a digital image. Usually, if you have good detail in your highlights your shadows look like black blobs (or vice-versa). Sam’s images, though, held amazing detail in both the shadows and the darks. Maybe I should look more into high dynamic range processing (HDR).

Anyways, the fall colors were in full force and the weather was perfect for some nice shots around the town. The sun shining behind the yellow cottonwood leaves totally lit them (and me) up.

Today, my boy Zach took a group of us down for a day of paintball. Damn, it was fun. No pictures…my camera wouldn’t have made it out alive; I came out with 6-7 solid welts.