Oly Shooters:
I'm back on list after a ten-day trip to Utah. This was my fourth
photographic excursion to the Four Corners area and my most extended one
in Utah. Traveling from Chicago (my brother) and Iowa (me), we got
midway through Nebraska on a Friday night after work and then raced
through Colorado on I-70 the following Saturday and dropped down to
Arches NP briefly but didn't do much there. We continued to Monument
Valley, which is for all intents and purposes a Navajo national park. We
bedded there in the campground and shot for a full day there following,
bedded in the campground again, and then arose before dawn in
disappointment to overcast skies. With dogged hopefulness, however, we got
ourselves out of bed and set up at the classic Ansel Adams location, where
many a bus load of tourists has been snapped and shot, and set up our gear.
To our wonderment and great reward, through a sliver of open sky at the
horizon a gorgeous wave of red buffeted across the ribs of clouds. Never has
a dawn seemed so meager and provided so much. Even the lady who ran across
the campground in her slippers with P&S blazing ("That ought to turn out
fine, good thing the flash worked") couldn't spoil the moment.
The next part of the journey took us to Page, AZ and the lower Antelope
Canyon area and then to the Paria Wilderness area just to the west. This
wilderness area has some of the most interesting curved sandstone I've
ever seen. We had just a great day there.
Our last stop was Capitol Reef NP. I had been here once before and found
it just so different from anything I'd ever seen before. This time
greater familiarity increased my affection for and enjoyment of the
park. The highlight was a drive into Cathedral Valley. The road is
passable for a regular car (ours was a Honda Odyssey -- "Hotel O" as we
refer to it), but a little scary. We spent the night near a set of
relatively famous monoliths called the Temples of the Sun and Moon. I
had trembled a little at the thought of camping here because on our last
trip there we were chased out by a snow squall. But this night was
absolutely magical. There was of course no one else around. (I'm not
sure that it was OK for us to park there -- we were actually car
camping, not tent camping -- but we didn't expect the ranger to drive
out and roust us.) In any case, though the moon was a sliver less than
one-quarter, we could see our shadows by its light and discern the main
details of the monoliths. The next morning as we set up our shots, the
silence was so profound that as one of the few life forms out there
other than ourselves -- a crow -- was flying past I could hear the air
whoosh through its wings. In the distance coyotes yipping were a
welcome rather than a plaintive sound. The commonwealth of mammals.
We left for home from the Temples area and I wanted to linger the drive
as long as possible until we hit paved road. But then it was guts
driving all the way back to the midwest.
I'll use this occasion to announce my acquisition of the fabled Zuiko
35-80/2.8 zoom. I spent quite a bit of time becoming familiar with the
35-80 before the trip. I have to say I simply love this lens. Though
heavy, it handles great. I missed the DOF scale of my
35-105/3.5-4.5, but I seem to have done OK without it. F16 is the stop
that got the most wear. It's a good one.
I took the 90/2 and did not shoot it even once! I anticipated as much,
but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it at home. Aside from the
new zoom, my 85-250/5 covered all the long lens duty with the exception
of a few handhelds with the 135/2.8. For wides I used Zuikos 28/2.8,
24/2.8, 21/3.5, and the Viv 17/3.5.
The OM-2S loaded with Velvia was my main tripod camera. I used my OM-4T
on a winder for handheld shooting, particularly with the wides. In the
Paria Wilderness area, with its spectacular curved sandstone, I used the
OM-4T and the wides quite a bit. I used a little bit faster film in the
OM-4T -- either E100VS or Provia F. With the bright sandstone for
subject matter, the OM-4T's multispot metering was really useful. I
still bracketed but felt a lot of confidence setting the multiple-spot
reading in memory and then, with my right finger on the winder button
and my left thumb and index finger working the exposure comp dial,
clicking off the brackets without taking my eye from the composition. I
had always felt that the OM-2S exposure comp dial was hard to beat, but
in this kind of handheld shooting, the OM-4T was just outstanding and
pleased me no end.
The equipment worked flawlessly and if the USPS would deliver the one
remaining roll that Fuji has mailed to me, I'd be completely happy about
the trip. I've done a bit of scanning already but have changed ISP's
recently, so I'll need to get back to you all when I've got a site to
show some highlights.
The list seems in a healthy remission from eBay-itis at the moment, so
it's a good time to be back. If you are planning to enjoy the Spring
Renewal Ritual of your choice today, I hope it's a good one.
Joel W.
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