A 2023 Autumnal Odyssey

✍️ • 🕑 October 13-15, 2023 • Tags: fall foliage • State/Provincial Parks • haunted houses • corn mazes • antiques • Places: Buckley, WA • Flaming Geyser State Park • Centralia, WA • The Huntting's Pumpkin Patch and Haunted Forest

My desire to go out of town, to explore, and to get up to something fun is, perhaps, rivalled only by Chelsea’s.

After I finally finalized plans to be away for the first week of October visiting Northern California and Southern Oregon (mostly solo), and to be away later in the month for a wedding and an eye exam, Chelsea had some travel plans of her own (with me).

The goal: haunted houses and corn mazes.

Looping Lake Quinault

✍️ • 🕑 • Tags: Olympic National Park • rainforests • waterfalls • lakes • logging • dreary days • Washington State • Places: Kestner Homestead


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During my 2019 visit to the Olympic Peninsula, I passed by the Quinault Rainforest, in the dark, without stopping.

2023 would be different.

I would not pass up the opportunity to be transfixed by the beauty of Lake Quinault, the luscious rainforest, and everything I could easily see along the Lake Quinault loop, a scenic 30 mile drive just off Highway 101.


Shooting Svema 64 at Dusk

Slowing Down in Capitol Hill & West Seattle

✍️ • 🕑 Mid-February 2023 • Series: Steve in Seattle • Tags: film photography • black and white photography • slow film • Places: Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook • Cal Anderson Park

Around when I decided to sign up for time class last February, I decided I was going to try to shoot some lower ISO film. By this, I mean, film that is less sensitive to light, or, film that requires slower shutter speeds in order to get a similar final exposure.

I actually purchased a few rolls, which I will gradually get around to shooting. This one is Svema 64, which is actually one of the faster (and probably more sensible) slow rolls that I picked up.

Svema was a large film producer for the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union, their Ukraine-based equipment was picked up by another company, Astrum. Their films seem to be in short supply these days, and I wish them the best considering the ongoing war. Mine was a roll of 24, cut from a bulk roll by the Film Photography Project.

I loaded it in the Ricoh 35 ZF, a fixed lens viewfinder camera. Mine has a broken meter, so exposure is done fully manually.

My main goal was to try getting some longer exposures by the Puget Sound, but I started out with a few snaps in Capitol Hill, starting on 15th Ave. I used a cable release and a mini tripod.



Image On Where-Is-Steve


Image On Where-Is-Steve


(Some of these scans are a bit half-assed. Please, forgive me. 😆)