Photography: January 2004 Archives

Dave Marquis Zenit ET

 It was a little warmer today. When I mean a little warmer, I mean that is wasn't horribly below zero like it has been for about 4 days now. I hope it is a trend that will continue on into Spring. I bet we have a long road ahead if last year is an indicator. It is tending lately to snow a lot in the last months before Spring, whereas 10-15 years ago the major portion of the snow fall was in the earlier months of winter. This is a picture that I took at the Minnesota Zoo's Dolphin Exhibit. Not to bad, I think for a begianer in photography with a all manunal Zenit ET and $.75 rolls of film bought on E-Bay. I used the Helios 44-4 58MM lens set on infinity and I beleive the aperture was set at F4. I don't remeber the speed, maybe 1/125.

Dave Marquis

 We made it to another weekend. I am working this weekend so I am sure that not a lot is going to happen as far as getting out to take any photos. Also there is the fact that it is still brutally cold out. I don't want to end up in the hospital with my fingers frozen around a Zenit. It was so cold in the apartment last night I went out to the hardware store to get a window insulating kit to keep the cold drafts out. Now we have the front windows in our apartment covered and it seems to help. Now if I can get the heat to come on more often and not have to pay for it.

Dave Marquis

 We are facing another cold night here in Gods foresaken land. It was -16F this morning when I headed out to work at 9:00 AM. The lil'blue care really didn't want to start at all, but thankfully it did. You know, when it is this cold the car really doesn't run well. I am wishing for those warm days when I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Will they ever come back? Will the grass ever be green again? I guess so but in about 5 months or so. Spring is really nice here in Minnesota and well worht the wait if you ask most people. I think they shoudl roll up the streets and not open this state until May. This is a picture of the Catherdral that is down the street from here. I took it this summer and I hope it brings warm thought to you.

Dave Marquis Zenit ET

 Well it is snowing here in Minneaota and the roads are horrible. What is this state's government thinking? They have cut back on the plowing of the streets causing it to be very dangerous out on the interstate with the crazy drivers thinking that they can drive as fast as they wish with 4X4 trucks. They spin off the roads and crash into whatever is in their way. I just hope that they don't take me with them. This is a picture from our trip to the Minnesota Zoo, taken with my trust Zenit ET and a tripod on Polaroid HD 400 ISO film.

Dave Marquis Zenit E

 We just got back from the grocery store. Man am I tired. It has been a long weekend full of running around seeing friends and looking at the Winter Carnival going ons. I am in serious need of a weekend from the weekend if you know what I mean. This is another picture from our Ice Castle 2004 outing. I took it with one of My Zenit Es and a Jupiter 9 85 MM lens. I used Fuji 800 ISO Superia film at F4, 1/125 sec exposure. This was my real first time with this model Zenit and lens. I think the pitures turned out great.

Dave Marquis Zenit E

 I got the pictures back from one roll of film that I took at the Ice Castle and I have to say that I am impressed with the results. I really didn't know if they would turn out at all, but I am pleasently surprised. What do you think? Please let me know by leaving a comment. Unfortunately, the place that the Ice Castle was built isn't one that provides a very good spot to capture the entire scene. This picture was taken with my Zenit E, using a Jupiter 9 85MM Lens =. I used Fuji 800 ISO film as I wasn't sure if the pictures would turn out with anything slower.

Zenit ET

 Well today was the coldest day yet this winter here in Minnesota. It really was misserable to be outside. My little car really didn't want to work today. It took a long time to warm up and then the heat wasn't really that warm. Now it is snowing and they are predicting that we are going to get about 3 inches. Can you believe snow when it is 5F or -15C if you prefer... Hmmmuff. In other news, the Ice Castle is open finally. I am thinking about going to see it tomorrow night. I want to take some pictures of it at night when the lights are so pretty. Well I will have to scout out a good place to set up my tripod and dress warm because I don't think that it will be much warmer tomorrow and I have to go out to Wisconsin to work on a computer. I am sure that it won't be a very fun drive tomorrow AM.

Dave Marquis - Zenit ET

 Man is it cold here in God's Frozen Land. Yahoo.com is telling us that it is going to get down to -10F or -23C for you folks that need the conversion. Let's just say that skin will freeze in quick time outside. Brrrr! Well anyways, here is a photo of a orchid that I took at Asuko and Jason's wedding reception. I hope that you can warm your heart with it. I know that you will need all the help you can get on these fridged nights. I am hoping to go out this weekend and get some photos of the Ice Castle here in St. Paul Minnesota.

Dave Marquis - Zenit ET

 Tonight I bring you another picture of my Niece, Jillian. She is such a cute baby. Well I am am looking forward to our baby, though. Is it possiable to blind your own kid with too much flash photograph? I hope not, but I will find out, I am afraid. This baby of ours will be well documented in the most emberessing poses that we can pull out and show her/his love interests when her/he isn't looking. What great fun!

Dave Marquis - Zenit ET

 Here is a picture of my mom, Carol and Zackary, my nephew. Isn't he cute? Well of Course! Well I love to take baby photos, if you can't tell from the number of them that I have posted here. In other news, I meet with my college advisor about my capstone project and it looks like I will need about 6 months to do all of the research and typing to get it done. I feel the energy as I am nearing my goal of earning a college degree. Oh man, more late nights at the keyboard begging the ideas and thoughts to come and show themselves.

Dave Marquis

 Well we are at the end of another busy weekend. How come weekends are supposed to be relaxing, but why do I feel like I need a weekend from the weekend? Yuko and I dropped off the 7 rolls of film I took yesterday at Walgreens. I am hoping that they turn out. This is a picture that I took at Thanksgiving whith Kodaks 35mm color B&W film. I love this picture, eventhough Yuko is a little washed out. It is from the window that they are sitting by. It is notorious for ruining many photos. I have been trying to get Carol, my mom, to sew some thicker curtains to save me on film costs....

Dave Marquis

 Today Yuko and I went to the Minnesota Zoo. Boy was it cold out! We went out to see the animals outside and try out my new tripod. We froze in the bitting wind and the few snow flakes that were falling. I hope the pictures turn out!! We got a good seat for the dolphin show and they had them doing some really cool jumps and tricks. I guess we will see. This is a picture of Jillian, my niece. I took it at our Thanksgiving get together with the folks. It is a little grainy as I cropped out poeple's legs and zoomed in on her. I wish that I had a studio space that I could use to take pictures at. There is always something annoying or distracting in the backgroung that takes away from the shot.

Dave Marquis

 Today Yuko and I went to the doctor's office for here third vist. It was pretty quick. I think it took about 15-20 minutes in total. Yuko felt the baby pretty strongly last night two time. I am so excitted! I just wish that I could feel our baby also. I guess I will just have to wait until she is a little further along. There seems to be a standard routine that we go through each time we go, 1. Yuko measures her weight. 2. Yuko give a urine sample. 3. Then the doctor measures Yuko's belly. 4.The doctor uses a microphone to listen to the baby's heart beat. This time we could hear the baby's heartbeat but also we could hear the baby kicking! It seems that the baby is going to be a kicker. So there is still hope for me to feel the baby moving before it is born. This is a picture of my sister and Jillian my niece taken at Thanksgiving 2003 in my folks house. In other news, Yuko and I went with our good friends Amy and Brian to eat at Yummy. It is an awesome Chinese resturant and I highly recommend it. Of course I got the same thing as last time as it was so good.

Dave Marquis

 I made it through another week of slavery. Well I'm just joking. I really love my job. My co-workers are awesome and they really go out of their way to get the job done. So to show my gratefulness to the team, I am planning on getting everone's favorite pie on Monday, key lime. In other news, Yuko and I have an early morning appointment at the baby doctor's office. Yuko is now 18 weeks along and we are so excitted to meet our baby. We will be ready pretty soon for the ultrasound. We might wait a couple more weeks so we can hopefully be able to tell the baby's sex. We are hoping for a girl, but of course we will take a boy also. I guess the biggest thing that we want is a healthy baby. It has been on my mind.... This is a photo that I took at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Dave Marquis

 Here is an orchid photo that I took when we attended our friends wedding reception, Ausuko and Jason. What is really interesting to me, is that Jason grew this orchid in his green house. He helps run, Orchid Limited with his parents. I will have to hit Jason up some time to let me take some more photos with better lighting. I have a set of bellows and a Industar 50-2 3.5, lens on the way from Russia to help me take some macro photos. I am excitted to give it a try. In tother news, I went to my second last of this semester and it appears that it is going to be fun, but a lot of reading. We'll see how it goes.

Dave Marquis

  Sorry I didn't get around to posting last night. It was Yuko and my anniversery. Plus the fact that I had class untill 9:00 Pm or so. Well here is the last of my Lake Peppin Pictures that I will post here. The prints are a lot better than the scans that I made. The output DPI has a lot to do with the final sharpness of the scan. I think I scanned these at 200 dpi and now that I know better I am disapointed. Well anyway, here is the link to the gallery.

Dave Marquis

 We made it to the weekend! I don't know about you, but I am darn tired. It has been a long week for me. Next week is the start of the new semester and and a new round of classes. It should be a busy one again for me. I am trying to finish my degree by next fall. I don't know if it will happen but I am going to give it the o'college try, no pun intended. :-) Well I am thinking about going out to take some photos, but as I am on call this weekend for work, it might be tough to do. If I can, I am going to load up the holga and take it along with me. I took some color shots with it and they are get if there is enough light, that is the secret. Of the 12 shots on the roll, I only got about 2 or 3 that turned out. What a disappointment for waiting 2 weeks for them to come back from Kodak. I ran across a cool site, Pinhole.cz, that has a cool printout camera, here and information on making a Pinhole Enlarger. Now I am off to find some "stong paper".

Dave Marquis

 I ran across this cross in St. Mary's Cemetery here in Minneapolis. I haven't seen one of these before and I find it interesting. I guess it is a cheap alternitive to the massive granit / marble stone that fill these spaces. I am hoping to get my tripod for this weekend, but I know that it won't be here in time. I am hoping that I can improve my photography with some more equipment. The weather is supposed to be nicer this Saturday rather than this Sunday and I am hopping to get out. I don't know where as of yet, so please stay tuned as the time gets closer.

Dave Marquis

 Well it is a slow night here. I have been working on the 14 rolls of developed color film that I have sitting here. Man oh man! I can do about 1 roll to 1.5 rolls a night. The weather is getting better now, but they are predicting snow. I am hoping to get out and take some more pictures, where, I don't know yet. I have set up a portfolio on Usefilm.com so I can get some feed back on my photos. It seems that a lot of people like my statue pictures so I want to focus on this subject for awhile. I have ordered a tripod to improve my sharpness and now I am on the look out for a cable release to be assured of the best pictures. I wonder what people are going to say when they see me walking around the cemetery with a camera and tripod on my shoulder...

Dave Marquis

It is durning these dark days of winter that our emotions well up. I know that I am not the only one that feels this but many people across this frozen tundra. Tonight it is nearing -10F and the chill runs to my bone.

I took this picture a couple of months ago when the wind wasn't so cold and the snow had yet to cover the ground. So I offer the mourning lady statue, who to me mourns for spring.

I was out a little bit ago and you know what? My nostrils froze shut! Man is it killer out there here in the frozen trundra of Minnesota. Oh when will the spring return and the grass grow green?

Dave Marquis

Boy, is it cold out and they are saying colder tomorrow. I am really wondering what I was thinking when I moved north to the frozen tundra. Well it has been a slow day here. I went out to look at tripods and you know what? I forgot my wallet. Well chalk it up to a sunday.

Dave Marquis

Today was a really cold day, but they are saying that it will be colder tomorrow and colder still on Monday. We froze today when we went to StillWater, MN to do some shopping and picture taking. It really is no fun holding an all metal camera in 15F weather. I need to get some of those gloves with exposed fingers or the ones that the fingers flip up to allow finger operation.

Yuko got her birthday present early! A cat clock!

Dave Marquis

Well we made it into 2004 with out any hickups. Todays was a super relaxing day for Yuko and I. I did manage to get 8 rolls of B7W pictures developed. It looks like there will be a lot of nice shots there for me to print.

In other news. I have solved the fuzziness problem I was having with my pictures. It was the scanning that was the cause. Now I am scanning at 1200 DPI and then resizing from there. Here is a picture that I took at St. Mary's Cemetery.

Tomorrow we are going to try and get out of the house. Maybe we will go to Stillwater. I haven't be there for a couple of months and it would be nice to relax and take some pictures.