Wednesday, August 7, 2024

The elk did not disappoint, but my cameras did

About four miles east of Reedsport OR, along highway 38, is a designated Elk Viewing Area, complete with benches, a gazebo, and restrooms. I had driven past there a few years ago, fixated on some other destination and therefore not wanting to stop — especially after a quick glance at 65 miles per hour revealed no obvious elk.

But yesterday I was in an exploring mood and the viewing area was my goal. And, man, were there elk! Somewhere between 50 and 60 of them happily grazing or lounging in the field for our entertainment. There was also a single very large bovine bull that I guessed was being separated from the lady cattle for a while, or being put in time out because of belligerent behavior.

The zoom on my phone’s camera didn’t get close enough, so I dug out my 15-year-old “real” camera and the 250mm telephoto lens. That got me closer, but its pixel count (which I thought was amazing back in the day) is rather lacking compared to today’s cameras. Anyway, here are some of the elk.

About a third of the herd



9 comments:

  1. I continue to be amazed at the quality of pictures that my Samsung S22 takes. It supposedly has the capability of taking over a 100 megabit picture, but I have not approached that yet. My old digital sony camera is sitting in the back room gathering dust. Almost as outdated as an old Nikon film camera that I have had for years. Once the pinnacle of 35mm cameras, and now both not much more than an exquisite small boat anchors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup. Among the things I had to finally let go of when I radically downsized for van living were my 35mm film camera and lenses. It seemed so wrong.

      Delete
  2. It's been a few years, but I sold my Pentax K1000 on Craigslist to a photography student at the Univ of New Mexico who was interested in film.

    There may be a few holdouts still out there...rather than let 'em gather dust.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Most of them will probably end up in collections somewhere. People still collect almost anything. Being a hold out is getting more difficult, film is becoming more and more difficult to find, except maybe on line. But my S22 is and will be my camera from here on out. Unless they come up with a workable 3D version.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "People still collect almost anything." Yes. I also had a collection of old 8mm movie cameras, mostly for their Art Deco and Machine Age designs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, and the collection of panoramic group photos. And folk/outsider art...

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. I enjoyed working in the darkroom. One weird thing, though: the aroma of one of the chemicals — fixer, I think — made me want to pee, even if I had just peed before going into the darkroom. In one of my apartments the bathroom was the darkroom, so that was convenient.

      Delete