Despite September having long been a favorite time of year for wandering the northwoods, ten years ago this month when I first set off on the original Odyssey the timing was no more than a happy coincidence.
My job had ended, as scheduled. I was ready. So too, the season.
Hell, could've been stinkin' February and then what, right?
Originally, the gig was intended to run a year and done. Maybe a bit more, if it went really well. There'd be times I'd want to report 'live' from the field. Some form of digitally transferrable capture was a must.
Shopped around for a new style magic wand that if the canoe dumped and it (not me) was lost, it'd prove easy (cheap) to replace.
Settled on the Toy Canon. Plastic body, plastic lens and camera bag equipped with the even then pretty measly 12.2 megapixel captures.
No fool I. Except here we are, a full decade later. Go figure.
Typically, on the Odyssey I carried my Toy Canon most everywhere I went, whenever I did. Just in case.
Took random chances with it that I would never, with my ever-shrinking pile of precious film.
Or simply pressed the shutter idly as I walked. What the hell, pixels were free. There was just to get them off the puny card and onto the laptop for review.
That miserable plastic lens? It was a long(ish) zoom, which reminds me now that for all my solitary wandering, I was rarely if ever alone.
I've been rummaging through the vintage Canon folders recently, another happy accident of timing. Mostly, I'd forgotten. Over fourteen months starting ten years ago now, I got pretty much everything I wanted from the film.
And while the old pro in me still understands the basically crappy nature of the product…
…it turns out they hold up fairly well when tossed into ether and the content stashed in those neglected file folders is not inconsiderable.
Especially when it comes to September, which I was once fortunate enough to freely indulge.
#upperpeninsulafall
So the images here are taken with an inexpensive (cheap) digital camera with a plastic lens? That's pretty amazing, Frank. I have always looked forward to September as the month when the summer heat breaks, but I think our changing climate is pushing that back now till October.
ReplyDeleteYep. Considering the exceptionally high quality work I was getting on film with the Linhof/Mamiya, I always disrespected the poor little thing. Turns out, they translate pretty well to the ether. Thanks. And of course, you're right - third week in September was for years peak or sometimes even past peak autumn color and we timed our trips for that. Now it's mostly October. Plus, in my lifetime the Presque Isle River - a true wilderness river with minimal human intervention - has gone over from a cold water environment to more temperate water. Bullhead and weeds, where there NEVER used to be those. There's simply no way that happens naturally. It's squarely on us.
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