Monterey Rock Rose

White-flowered rock-rose [Cistus ladanifer] and leaves in the morning sun

This flower was from a morning Basset walk in Monterey. These bushes line many of the streets in the cannery district of Monterey where we were staying. There are several different varieties of them and I will have photos of the others in the coming days.

I just scanned a few more rolls of film from my recent trip to Monterey. It is a slow process. I am a bit fanatical about getting detail out of the slides. So I push my scanner to the limit and I only get about 40 scans on a DVD. But I think it is worth it. I catalog the images on my computer and when I am ready to make a print for a show I do not have to go find the slide and scan it again. (I am much more organized in cyberspace than real space) :-)

Incidentally, this is one of the main reasons I still don't use a digital camera for "real" photography. To get a camera that would come close to the resolution that I can get from film and a scanner would cost $8000. (that still would not compare to the bit depth, the number of colors. Which is what allows me to pull detail from the shadows) And really, I would rather have an $80 camera with me everywhere than an $8000 camera wrapped in bubble wrap at home.

The other reason I stick with film is I really like the film feel. I am planning on renting some of the new digitals in the near future just to keep up on what they can do and see if they are getting close. But I have not seen anything convincing so far. I also like to be able to encourage people to get into photography if they are interested. Most people think it takes a huge investment. But it is more an investment in time and love.