Random Landscapes Across 5 Counties

This year I vowed to shoot more Ektar 100. The colors seem to always render scenes as I remember seeing them. Ektar does have the propencity for producing highly saturate reds under the right lighting conditions. Even with the deep reds, I still love the turn out. However, I must admit that there is really only one shot in this post that I really like. The rest are not bad, I just was not overly thrilled with the final image. I would have to put most of the blame on lighting conditions. You have to make more compromises with difficult light. Sometimes you make the correct compromise and sometimes you are editing more than you would like in post processing. This first image was taken several minutes after sunrise. The soft light of dawn turned much harsher. I had taken a shot with my DSLR just before the sun broke the horizon. Despite the harsher light, I wanted to capture the scene anyway just to see how Ektar would handle it. These shots were taken in the Tennessee Counties of Cheatham, Davidson,Williamson, Dickson and Maury.

Narrows of the Harpeth State Park (Cheatham County) – Kingston Springs, Tennessee – Olympus OM1 / 28mm f3.5 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

You can see the dawn shot taken with my DSLR here. Fog was supposed to play a major role in my next picture. Since I had to drive awhile to get to my destination, the fog was gone by the time I arrived. I was left with a bright sun putting my subject in a shadow against a bright sky. It was not the shot I wanted, but I decided to grab a shot anyway. I usually make better plans for my early morning travels, but that morning’s venture was a last minute decision.

Red Barn in Williamson County, Tennessee – Olympus OM1 / 28mm f3.5 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

The next picture was taken at a familiar park. I have not been to Long Hunter State Park in several years. Our family used to go on occasion when we lived in Nashville. It’s a nice area to enjoy the outdoors with activities on land and water. It’s fun to watch the wildlife, too. I watched an Osprey dive into the lake for fish. If I had my DSLR and telephoto lens, I would have attempted to catch him in action. As far as the lighting that late afternoon, there was a constant battle between the sun and clouds. The lighting went from harsh to overcast and everything in between and back again over and over. I almost decided not to shoot, but I did not know when I would have the chance to come back. I decided to grab a couple of photos with my OM1.

Long Hunter State Park  – Hermitage, Tennessee (Davidson County) – Olympus OM1 / 28mm f3.5 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

Long Hunter State Park – Hermitage, Tennessee (Davidson County) – Olympus OM1 / 50mm f1.8 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

Is there a better place to advertise out in the country than the roof of a large barn? One of my favorite barn advertisements are the “See Rock City” signs on barns as you head into Chattanooga, Tennessee. Now that’s a barn I will have to put on my to do list. Once again, I had some cloud play to work around. I waited for some heavy shadows to pass before triggering my remote shutter release.

Iron Hill Barn – Dickson, Tennessee (Dickson County) – Olympus OM1 / 28mm f3.5 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

I saved the best for last. At least, I think it’s the best of the bunch. The evening lighting was really nice as you can see. I really love the color and contrast of this shot. A perfectly still reflection would have been nice, but I’ll take what was given to me any day. In fact, you can see a ripple making its way across the lake on the left side of the frame. I saw the encroaching ripple and hit the shutter before it could spread its distortion any further.

Williamsport Lakes – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus OM1 / 28mm f3.5 / Kodak Ektar 100 / The FINDLab

This shot has a very welcoming, calm and peaceful mood about it. It makes me want to be outside. Anyway, I had a good time making each of these images. It was a good exercise using Ektar 100 in different lighting conditions. I feel I have gain a little more insight to carry forward. I hope you have enjoyed these photos, too. This was my last post from my latest roll of Ektar. Stay tuned as I will be posting some documentation photography images from the Silent Inauguration and the Women’s March in Nashville. I shot these events in black and white, with Kodak TRI-X to be exact. I’ve seen the Silent Inaugural scans and they turned out great! As I write this post, my Women’s March film rolls are being processed. I hope they turn out also. Thanks for reading!

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