January – Icy Straight Point, Alaska – This “phantom pier” caught my attention partially because I had recently completed the Ukiah Phantom Businesses 2018 project. I liked the geometric patterns and felt that the boat prevented the otherwise symmetrical composition from being too static. It also reminded me of the Alaska “bridge to nowhere” controversy of a few years back. Shot with a Fuji X100F then tweaked in Lightroom.

February – Icy Straight Point, Alaska – This digital photo of an old boat, shot with the Fuji and converted to black & white in Lightroom, worked better than a Minolta CLE Tri-X version taken immediately afterward. I’m seeing a pattern here – symmetry altered by the light.

March – Ketchikan, Alaska – More symmetry, this one not modified by a stray boat or strong side light. Perhaps this is the “stairway to nowhere” to accompany the January photo. X100F and Lightroom.

April – Skagway, Alaska – This X100F shot of the front of a locomotive is more rule-of-thirds than symmetrical. I like the minimalist color palate. Suz says that it looks like a robotic nipple.

May – Skagway, Alaska – What I see here are the three black triangles, more than the door. The technique is called Dutch angle, which I’ve used to good effect on the Mendocino County courthouse and Big Ben in London. X100F and Lightroom.

June – Scottsdale, Arizona – I spotted this on one of my early morning photographic wanderings during a Spring Training trip a couple of years ago. Shot with a different Fuji, a GF670, on Kodak Ektar 100 medium format film, developed and scanned by thedarkroom.com, then coverted to black & white in Lightroom. My mistake was not noting the identity of the artist.

July – Cloverdale, California – This staircase was photographed on Tri-X with the CLE. My interest in photographing stairs goes back to my first attempt in college, which required carefully stepping around a rattlesnake. traditional darkroom print scanned with Epson V600.

August – Hopland, California – Technical data same as July. This is one of the cars at Real Goods with, literally, a tree growing through each one. I think it’s a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix.

September – Redding, California – Sundial Bridge shortly before a Bonnie Raitt concert. Taken with my Fuji. No, not that Fuji. Not that one, either. A GSW690III that produces a 6×9 cm negative. Ektar 100. I dialed in this moody shade of blue in Lightroom. I was pleased that I was able to match the white of the bridge and the clouds.

October – Ukiah, California – This photo of the display window of Triple S Camera is my favorite from the past year. to see why go here.

November – Ukiah, California – I call this photo of the intersection of Church and State “Unconstitutional”. The early morning shadows bring me back here on a regular basis. GF670, Kodak T-Max 100, traditional darkroom print, scanned.

December – Ukiah, California – My most serendipitous recent photo. I needed to either pull further into a driveway to turn around, or back out. There was no compelling reason to do one or the other. I decided to go forward and was presented with this colorful grouping of chairs. X100F, Lightroom.