Daffodil Journal

We're having some unseasonably warm weather in Alabama. It's hot, humid, and sunny. The temps are currently in the mid-70s, but because it was humid, I was sweating while gardening this morning. It has me a little worried about the daffodils. They're exploding into bloom very fast, and some of them do not have long stems yet. 

This week the following are flowering:

'Abba'
'Sweetness'
'Gigantic Star'
'Grand Primo'
N. jonquilla var. henriquesii
Unknown N. jonquilla
'King Alfred' type
'Twinkling Yellow'

'Stella' has already finished blooming
Crocus tommasinianus is also about done flowering.

Opening today or tomorrow are:

'Odoratus'
'Cragford'
'Trevithian'

I'm trying to take a lot of photos. Here's one of N. jonquilla var. henriquesii:

Ash Wednesday

I went to confession today for the first time in several months. To be honest, I haven't received communion in several months. It's not that I lost faith; it was more that I felt I needed to work on some things before I could approach the sacraments again. One of my friends warned me against this. He said you can't fix your life without Jesus's help. Well, he is right. The problem is that there were some things about my life that I knew were incompatible with the Catholic faith and I wasn't sure that I was sorry for them. Since I wasn't sorry, I didn't want to go to confession or receive communion. During that time, when I prayed, I mostly told God that I was sorry that I wasn't sorry, and asked him to help me be sorry. Mostly, though, I avoided talking to God, because I didn't want to have to think about those things. Last night, though, I woke up in the middle of the night, and suddenly I had it on my heart that I was ready to talk to God, and I did. I told him everything that I didn't want to say, and I told him I was ready to listen to all that I didn't want to hear. This morning, I went to Mass, and I didn't receive communion, but the priest said he was going to hear confessions afterward and, though I hadn't planned on it and it made me late to work, I went to confession. Actually, I didn't need to say much to the priest. He knew me well enough to understand my case. He gave me warm advice and encouragement. I'm glad to be back.

Also, a couple of phone pics:

Viola odorata 'Duchesse de Parme'

This is a violet I'm growing in my greenhouse. It's in full bloom. It's a Parma violet, a flower beloved by Napoleon's Empress Josephine. They are essentially highly-fragrant double violets. The flowers have a powerful, old-fashioned scent that reminds one of his grandmother's house. Since violet is the color of Lent, I thought I'd post the flower that gives the name.

Film that arrived today

A bunch of film I ordered came in a day early. The CineStill films are the same films used to make IMAX movies cut down to be used in still cameras. They have a cinematic aesthetic. The 50D is designed for outdoor bright conditions and the 800T is for low- or -poor-light situations. I've already shot a roll of the 800T in 35mm, which I should get back this week. Portra 800 is a high speed Kodak film with vibrant colors. I ordered two boxes of FujiFilm Velvia because I've read rumors that this film might be discontinued in a year or so.

Another look at 'Wintersun'

I've been scanning negatives I got back from the photo lab. I'm finding that the (sometimes) unusual colors from the lab's scans differ from the colors I get. From what I've learned, scanning color negatives is largely a subjective exercise. Since I'm the one who saw the original scenes in person, perhaps I'm the one best equipped to make the subjective choices, if realism is the goal. 

Most striking are the differences in how the lab interpreted my photos of Narcissus 'Wintersun' vs. how I did. In a previous post I wrote about how the colors rendered on film (from the lab's scans) differed from real life colors. Here I show my scans, which are much closer to real life, compared to the lab's scans.

Lab scan

My scan

Lab scan

My scan

Lab scan

My scan

Lab scan

My scan

Lab scan

My scan

As I said, every scan is an interpretation, and I like the aesthetic of the lab's scans. I think they do a lot of weddings, and I kind of get a wedding vibe from their scans. Still my scans have more accurate colors.

Another Roll of Provia

I received back a roll of Provia 100F film I shot in October, the week of my trip to Indiana. I scanned it in myself and there were some differences between my scans and the film lab's. In other news, I had three daffodils bloom this week: N. jonquilla var. henriquesii, 'Sweetness', and 'Stella', a historic daffodil I'm growing for the first time. Photos are already sent to the lab and should be back next week.

Part of the Civil War armory in Tallassee 

Tallapoosa River in Tallassee

Alabama Highway 14 crossing the Tallapoosa River in Tallassee

Cemetery at the Oratory of Ss. Philomena and Cecilia in Brookville, Indiana

View from Ruffner Mountain in Birmingham, taken on my way up to Indiana

Another view from Ruffner Mountain. The lighting was gorgeous that evening.

Some asters and vegetation at Ruffner Mountain

My harpsichord

This was the film lab's scan of the same photo above. They tweaked the color, perhaps to make it daylight-balanced, resulting in a green wall (it's actually a white wall). My scan is more faithful to the original, which was taken in incandescent lighting, but I kind of like the green too.

Pitcher plants at sunset.

My dad's dog Fancy

Fancy

Snow Day in Auburn

A few weeks ago, we had a snow day in Auburn. I got up early and walked around town with my Hasselblad, loaded with Fuji Provia 100F film. Here are the photos on that roll of film:

La Palma Mexican seafood restaurant. I liked the palm trees covered in snow.

"Twice the Ice"

Juniperus

Auburn University

Samford Hall

View from Toomer's Corner

Pine Hill Cemetery 

Pine Hill Cemetery

One of my Buddha's hand citrons

Camellias and snow - Pine Hill Cemetery 

Cara Cara, a pink navel orange

The film held up to light (sorry for the dirty window - it's at the shop)

Two films

I saw two films this week that I enjoyed.

The first was Lady Bird, which I saw in theater on Sunday. I loved a lot about this film: the quirky young lady who was the protagonist, her friends, her relationship with her mom. The movie, I thought, painted Catholic schools, priests, and nuns in a very positive light, which I would not have expected. One of the nuns turns out to be a wise and caring mentor for the girl. The movie is also, but not overtly, pro-life. I say this because it portrays abortion not with euphemisms but shows its reality: the death of a real human being with long-term consequences for the world. I also love the film just because it's a full-hearted, fresh coming-of-age story, one of my favorite genres.

The second film was God's Own Country. This one was mildly uncomfortable to watch, because of some graphic (gay sex) scenes and brief (male) nudity, but I fell in love with the story. There were some parts that seemed unrealistic, but it didn't take away from the story as a whole. It's basically the story of a broken, motherless young man living on a farm in Yorkshire, England that has no hope of a future. He lives with and works for his dying father, and also a grandmother. He drinks heavily and engages in anonymous, degrading, emotionless sex. It all changes when a foreigner comes to help on the farm and he falls in love for the first time, and gradually becomes a full, vulnerable human being, which you see for the first time in a kiss. I love how the film progresses with little dialogue and mostly by gestures and silent moments. It's a sweet story with a surprise ending.

Moonlight

Moonlight has been fascinating to me at least since Hurricane Opal in the 90s, when we lost our power for a week. I love to go outside on bright moonlit nights with low light pollution. One reason why I got interested in film photography is that it allows for long exposures without noise, which is great for moonlit photos. Check out this pile of chinotto oranges I took under moonlight over Christmas break:

Chinotto oranges, lit only by the moon (40 minute exposure)

The same oranges, lit by the sun during daylight.