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Route 66 Trip, 2009
February 7th and 8th: California
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2009: February 6th    7th & 8th     9th      10th

 

February 7th, 2009, Saturday

First thing in the morning we headed off to Newberry Springs — in the rain.

Newberry Springs

Red Mailbox. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 85C, f/11 at 1/15, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

Last thing in the afternoon we headed to Amboy.

Amboy

Amboy. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 81A, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

 

Molvania

Holiday in Molvania. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 50mm f/2 and 81A, f/5.6 at 1/45, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

 

February 8th, 2009, Sunday

We had spectacular light at dawn. The golden sun rose and lit up everything against the black storm cloud background.

This is what a blank wall of shame looks like in God Light:

Vermillion

Vermillion Cliff, Barstow. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 90mm f/2 APO ASPH and 81A, f/5.6 at 1/250, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

This light lasted just a few minutes. I snuck out the door of the Holiday Inn's breakfast nook to snap this.

Then we went down the street to the junkyard. This shot is made under overcast light:

Ojos Rojos

Ojos Rojos. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 90mm f/2 APO ASPH and 81A, f/2.8 at 1/60, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

And this is what happens when the sun pops out:

Orange Ford

Orange Ford. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 81A, f/11 at 1/90, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

Next we went to the train museum.

Fe

Fe, sin Santa. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, Leica 135mm f/4 Tele-Elmarit-M and 81A, f/8 at 1/250, +1/3 stop exposure compensation (for naturally bright yellow/red), Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

 

Casa del Desierto

Casa del Desierto. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 81A, f/8, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

We went towards Victorville and bid well to the first Route 66 tour group at The Bottle House. We met the next group in Barstow and promptly headed back to Newberry Springs and the Bagdad Cafe.

Most of the time we were under storm clouds, which is fine by me, because the few moments the sun pops out gives us the light worth waiting for:

Space: Life on Mars

Life on Mars. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 81A, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

 

Motel Henning

Motel Henning. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 21mm f/2.8 ASPH and 81A, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

We headed from Newberry Springs to Amboy, and the setting sun peeked out of the bottom of the storm clouds and gave us the best light I've seen here in all my decades of going to Amboy.

God Light is when the golden beams come out and highlight your subject against black storm clouds in the background. Get this light, and anything, even the blank wall above, looks great.

Roy's, Amboy, California

Roy's. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 50mm f/2 and 81A, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

 

Roy's Sign, Amboy, CA

Roy's. enlarge.       top

Leica M7, 50mm f/2 and 81A or 85C, f/4, Fuji Velvia 50, NCPS develop and scan. Tech Details.

We spent a lot of time shooting here. We realized that this was as good as we were going to get, so even though the second group had just arrived, we realized that if we gave up now we already had everything for which we had come.

We hung around a long time, and as dark fell many of us were shooting reflections in the rain puddles.

Along blasts a Chevy Astro minivan at about 90 MPH (150kph), and it suddenly swerves off the road into Roy's. It almost ran over half of us. That would have been bad, but seeing the great light we had, most photographers would be ready to die now anyway. It never gets any better than what we just had.

A guy runs out of the Chevy Astro so fast that he didn't even close his door. He ran out of the dust cloud he just created and made a beeline straight for the toilets.

I figured, "Wow, that dude really has to go!"

Yes, and no. He comes out and is in a trance. Most of us figure he's totally wasted on God knows what. He's talking to himself, kneeling and lying on the ground. He's speaking in tongues, mostly Spanish.

Someone asked who he was, and he answered "Jesus." Not Jesús, as a name in Spanish, but Jesus, as in my English RSV bible.

In the time exposure below you'll see his fleeting spirit.

Visión de Jesús

Visión de Jesús. enlarge.       top

Canon SD880, lens at 6.8mm, tripod, ISO 80, f/3.2 at 5 seconds. Tech Details.

The camera didn't move (blur), Jesus and the clouds moved over the course of the long time exposure. I explained how to do time exposures on any Canon compact at the bottom of the previous page.

 

Next: February 9th

 

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